Match Stats/Report - Wilander vs Agassi, French Open semi-final, 1988

[Waspsting]

Mats Wilander beat Andre Agassi 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 6-0 in the French Open semi-final, 1988 on clay

Wilander would go onto win the title, beating Henri Leconte in the final. It would be his third and last title at the event. He’d won Australian Open earlier in the year and would go onto win US Open later to finish the year with 3 Slams. Agassi was 18 years old, playing his first Slam semi and would finish the year ranked 3

Wilander won 165 points, Agassi 145

(Note: I’ve made fully confident entry regarding serve direction and corresponding return type for 1 point based on partial footage and deduced serve type for 1 other point)

Serve Stats
Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (135/161) 84%
- 1st serve points won (80/135) 59%
- 2nd serve points won (13/26) 50%
- Aces 4 (1 second serve), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (22/161) 14%

Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (106/149) 71%
- 1st serve points won (54/106) 51%
- 2nd serve points won (23/43) 53%
- Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (8/149) 5%

Serve Patterns
Wilander served...
- to FH 42%
- to BH 53%
- to Body 5%

Agassi served...
- to FH 11%
- to BH 86%
- to Body 2%

Return Stats
Wilander made...
- 140 (23 FH, 117 BH), including 7 runaround FHs & 2 return-approaches
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 7 Errors, comprising...
- 5 Unforced (2 FH, 3 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 2 Forced (2 BH)
- Return Rate (140/148) 95%

Agassi made...
- 137 (72 FH, 65 BH), including 12 runaround FHs & 4 return-approaches
- 4 Winners (3 FH, 1 BH)
- 17 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (5 FH, 2 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 10 Forced (6 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (137/159) 86%

Break Points
Wilander 12/21 (15 games)
Agassi 8/21 (12 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Wilander 37 (11 FH, 11 BH, 3 FHV, 6 BHV, 5 OH, 1 BHOH)
Agassi 65 (21 FH, 11 BH, 10 FHV, 11 BHV, 11 OH, 1 BHOH)

Wilander had 15 passes (9 FH, 6 BH)
- FHs - 7 cc, 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 longline
- BHs - 3 dtl, 2 lobs, 1 running-down-drop-shot dtl at net

- regular FHs - 1 inside-out, 1 dtl at net
- regular BHs - 1 cc, 2 dtl (1 return), 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 inside-out

- 4 from serve-volley points - 2 first volleys (1 FHV, 1 BHV) & 2 second volleys (1 OH, 1 BHOH)

- 1 from a return-approach point, a BHV

Agassi's FHs -6 cc (1 at net, 1 pass), 1 dtl, 7 inside-out (2 returns), 4 inside-in (1 return), 1 drop shot, 2 lobs
- BH - 1 cc, 5 dtl (1 pass), 1 inside-out/dtl, 1 inside-in return pass, 1 drop shot, 2 lobs

- 3 from serve-volley points - 2 first volleys (1 FHV, 1 BHV) & 1 third volley (1 BHV)

- 2 from return-approach points (1 FHV, 1 OH)

- 1 other BHV was a pass from the baseline, a drive dtl/inside-out & 1 other OH was on teh bounce

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Wilander 70
- 31 Unforced (6 FH, 24 BH, 1 OH)
- 39 Forced (20 FH, 15 BH, 3 BHV, 1 BHOH)... with 2 FH running-down-drop-shot at net & 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 42.9

Agassi 105
- 79 Unforced (30 FH, 32 BH, 7 FHV, 7 BHV, 3 OH)... with 1 BH at net, 1 swinging baseline BHV, 2 OHs were on the bonce from baseline & 1 other OH can reasonably be called a FHV
- 26 Forced (12 FH, 6 BH, 4 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 3 BHV)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49.0

(Note 1: All 1/2 volleys refer to such shots played at net. 1/2 volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke numbers)

(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Wilander was...
- 27/45 (60%) at net, including...
- 5/10 (50%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves...
---
- 1/2 return-approaching
- 1/3 (33%) forced back

Agassi was...
- 58/99 (59%) at net, including...
- 7/16 (44%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves...
---
- 4/4 (100%) return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

Match Report
Magnificent match, overflowing with using-every-part-of-the-court action. Agassi is dashingly brilliant in attacking from back and forecourt, while Wilander is superbly solid in handling it all, not even look fully strained in doing so. Anti-climax though, with Agassi folding in the last set, sans which, match is top drawer and neck-&-neck

Scratch last set and replace with ‘last 5 games’. First game of the decider is wonderful game, in line with all that’s come before. Its only after that that Agassi folds

Its not at all a serve shot shaped match. Points won across the 4 serves lie in the 50%-59% range (Wilander on both high and low end, Agassi in between). Which means every game is a contest to make up the bigger match contest (as opposed to both players dominating their serves on level of games to make up an even contest on level of sets and match) and the focus is on the rallies

Mats wins 59% first serve points, and 50% seconds
Agassi 51% and 53% respectively
Both with large in-counts (Mats mammoth 84%, Agassi 71%)

Mats with 37 winners, 31 UEs (and forcing 26 errors)
Agassi with 65 winners, 79 UEs (and forcing 39 errors)

Sans last 5 games, those figures shift to -
Mats 32 winners, 29 UEs (forcing 24 errors)
Agassi 64 winners, 68 UEs (forcing 38 errors)

… so in the last 5 games -
Mats with 5 winners, 2 UEs, forcing 2 errors
Agassi 1 winner, 11 UEs, forcing 1 error

- great stuff top to bottom from Mats. Just as great from Agassi for all but the end. And the end one sided

After 4 sets, points won read Mats 139, Agassi 137. Mats holds a 10 point game, with action and quality in line with match to start the 5th set. And then the fall-away by Agassi to settle

Especially important, result determining stats -

A) Mats' 95% return rate. ‘Not serve shot shaped match’ would typically mean something like Agassi’s very impressive 86% return rate, but 95% is almost literally giving nothing away. With things so close, every little bit counts, and Mats is as stingy as they come with donations

B) Mats’ FH with 6 UEs. Remaining 4 groundies have 24, 30 and 32. Speaks for itself

C) Agassi’s 15 forecourt UEs. Some are tricky, as tends to be against Mats, but these probably cost him the match. Very similar to how Ivan Lendl would get it from Mats at the US Open final later in the year. Its not a simple situation (more on that later)

In context of action where there’s very few freebies (Mats 14%, Agassi 5%) and Agassi attacks, Wilander defends (winners - Agassi 65, Mats 37, errors forced Agassi 39, Mats 26, net points Agassi 99, Mats 45)

Serve & Return
Unreturned serves - Mats 14%, Agassi 5%

First serve points won - Mats 59%, Agassi 51%
Second serve points won - Mats 50%, Agassi 53%

Looks like a roll-serves-in-to-get-rally-started match
There is some good or fun stuff going on with the serve

In ad court, Agassi often serves from very wide out, maximizing sharp angle out wide to BH. Its tactic he’d successfully employed in quarter-final against Perez-Roldan and would continue to do occasionally for much of his career on clay. He serves powerfull at such times (he has to, for it not to be dispatched BH dtl) and gets ball well wide

1 or 2 attacking dtl returns by Mats, including a winner. Mostly returns cc/down-the-middle. Occasionally, Agassi gets what he wants out of it - a middling ball in center that he can spank FH cc to open court aggressively with Mats in opposite corner

Largely, Mats taking it in stride and returning matter-of-factly. And obviously, without trouble making the return
Mats with some good, down-the-T serves to Agassi’s FH

Agassi’s been marked with 10 FEs and 7 UEs on the return. On clay, with Mats Wilander serving at 84% and Agassi returning at 86%, would have expected something 12 to 14 out of 17 errors to be UEs, so some forceful serving from Mats

Agassi returns from on baseline, which helps Mats catch him out lunging to FH. He even has a second serve ace that way in ad court. Mats returns couple paces further back
Agassi spanking reutrns harder and earlier. He’s got 4 return winners, to Mats’ 1. Mats is a BH dtl captilizing on Agassi’s very wide serving position. 3/4 of Agassis’ are with Mats on baseline, with the others step-in and whack jobs

Agassi also perfect 4/4 return-approaching. Hammered shots that could potentially end points on their own without an approach. Mats also sneaks out a couple return-approaches as a surprise move

Its not a Agassi always looking to return aggressively showing. His returning is similar to his play in rallies; choice, controlled aggression, with staple, powerful but orthodox strikes. At 86% return rate, excellent
Mats more conventional, less aggressive. At 95% return rate, also excellent

Agassi serving 86% to Mats BH. Seems to a default thing with him in general. He’s ok with almost every return coming back apparently
Mats does play around with his patterns, ending with 42% to FH, 53% to BH

Agassi spanks returns off both wings, but FHs harder. On top of 3/3 winners with Mats on baseline being FHs, he’s also got 12 FH runaround returns
Generally, Mats likes to serve majority to FH and for him, 42% there isn’t large. He tones it down in light of the big stick it gets

Gist - some forceful serving going on. Not much, but more than very low unreturned rates might suggest. Mats matter-of-fact wall-like on the return, Agassi also very consistent, but with returning with more power and aggression, and earlier

 

[Waspsting]

Play - Baseline & Net
Fantastic action, with Agassi taking initiative to attack quickly, Mats holding the forte against it

The staple hitting alone would qualify as high quality. Both players hitting cleanly and securely. Agassi taking ball early as he’s doing that. He moves up court and almost half-volleys groundstrokes. Contrast to the moonball session that opened previous years final between Mats and Ivan Lendl

Amidst it, Agassi always with an eye to getting on the attack. And gets on it he does, usually quickly but not rashly. Hits wider and/or earlier, not necessarily against short or weak ball and sticks to hammering wide, attacking shots off both wings

He’s very quick to adjust to coming into net when it becomes apparent that even his best combinations groundstrokes aren’t ending points. Mats runs ‘em down and pokes them back in play. The very hard forced errors he gives up would undoubtedly be winners against all but handful of opponents. Agassi starts coming in - both to enhance attacking groundstrokes (that is, be ready to putaway ridiculous, but not unpredictable Mats ‘get’) and as an attacking ploy on its own (normal hard hit groundie + approach)

To defend as he does, Mats is of course very quick. If anything, Agassi’s even quicker about court, without his footspeed being tested or needs anywhere near as much

Mats calculatingly manufactures attacks of his own occasionally. Almost has to do it by coming to net. Doesn’t have the power to trouble Agassi from the back. Direction changers off both wings are met readily by the very fleet Agassi

Agassi’s attack is dashing, full of flair. Leads slightly more with BH. Big pounded cc, which he comes in behind fairly often. Also attacks with dtl the shots. FH is even more powerful then BH, but plays line less often from that side. Bakcs away to play FH inside-ins and inside-outs with about equal comfort. While stepping in and taking ball early, virtually half-volleying from pace and half inside court. Sprinkles in a few drop shots too - rarely, and usually to good effect (he has 2 winners and forces 3 errors with them)

And coming to net to finish along with all that, because all that still can’t penetrate the wall that is Wilander consistently

How does it look in numbers?
Winners - Mats 37, Agassi 65
Errors forced - Mats 26, Agassi 39
UEs - Mats 31, Agassi 79

Net points - Mats 45, Agassi 99

For starters, neutral UEs - Mats 24, Agassi 28

In matches where one player is attacking, the other countering, its usually case that aggressor has to attack because he’d get slaughtered just trading groundstrokes ‘til someone misses

Not here. Agassi’s apparenlty fine trading groundies with the Mats wall. Agassi attacks because that’s just his way, not out of necessity. He’d probably be a successful who-blinks-first player were that were his inclination (in fact, he largely became one 10+ years in future)

Agassi as secure as Mats from back, while hitting earlier and harder and changing directions more readily. And just as quick. Usually, that’d be good enough to draw more weak balls and attack along standard lines (draw weak ball and attack it) with little risk and probably come out on top

Not here. Finishing points against Mats Wilander is like pulling permanent teeth. Agassi’s got his work cut out getting ahead even proactively taking action by the scruff of the neck. Waiting for short ball and attacking is no guarentee of winning bulk of such points

Ground UEs -
- Mats’ FH 6
- Mats’ BH 24
- Agassi’s FH 30, Agassi’s BH 31 (Agassi also has 3 volley/OH UEs from baseline)

At net, Mats has 1 UE, Agassi 15

Attacking UEs - Mats 5, Agassi 31
Winner attempt UEs - Mats 2, Agassi 20

Mats’ FH rock of the match, giving virtually nothing away even by his standard. Encouraging Agassi to push envelope to attacking (not that he needs encouragement). Few more FH UEs from Mats would give Agassi little more scope to lose points when attacking. One of the keys to the match - an exceptional feat of consistency from Mats against tough opposition

Ground-to-ground winners (including returns) - Agassi 24 (17 FH, 7 BH), Mats 6 (1 FH, 5 BH)
Ground-to-ground errors forced - Agassi 11 (8 FH, 3 BH), Mats 9 (8 FH, 1 BH)
(as in, Agassi forces 8 FH errors and 3 BH errors)

Good yield of errors forced by Mats in baseline rallies. He’s able to do so with relatively simple depth, with Agassi playing inside court and trapped to half-volleys ball if Mats can get such a ball off. Agassi easier to force an error out of than Mats for this reason. On the run, Agassi’s not too far behind Mats (and far less often tested) and his shot tolerance isn’t likely to bothered by the average force of Mats’ shot

Agassi’s FH dominating winners colum and he goes every way with it. 4 cc, 6 inside-out (2 returns), 4 inside-in (1 return). Just 1 dtl. Mats’ sole FH winner is an inside-out. He needs to to stay even, given Mats’ uber consistent FH

Rallying to net -
- Agassi 47/79 or 59%
- Mats 21/33 or 64%

‘Volley’ winners - Agassi 32, Mats 15
Volley UEs - Agassi 14, Mats 1
‘Volley’ FEs - Agassi 8, Mats 4

Passing winners - Agassi 7, Mats 15
Passing(and running-down-drop-shots) FEs - Agassi 9, Mats 24

High end stuff. For starters, Agassi comes in off very strong approaches. The kind that’s likely yield 70% net points won. Mats still a pain to finish off. Even points Agassi wins involves hitting multiple volleys or even OHs, where approach shot looks good to have set up easy finish

In that light, 15 passing winners, 24 FEs is very good from Mats

Mats coming in more conventionally, without particularly looking for chances to. As with everything else, barely giving anything away and just the 1 UE at net (an OH). Agassi outstanding with 7 passing winners, 9 FEs to keep Mats down to 64% rallying to net points won. His ground game promises such a hot reception for incoming Mats

Very efficient, able volleying from Mats, great passing from Agassi

14 volley UEs at net for Agassi is biggest, outcome determining factor. As strong as his approaches are (early taken, hard hit, wide shots), he doesn’t get nearly so hot a reception at net as he dishes out
Some increadible, low percentage passes by Mats. Nothing to do about that from Agassi’s perspective
Scampering and putting one more ball in play by Mats. Giving Agassi room to mess up
Typical, ‘tricky’ passing by Mats. Little wide, little low… nothing tough to put in play, can even be putaway, but a little more testing than routine volley

Combo of giving Agassi one more ball to volley and the ‘tricky’ thing bears fruit of 14 volley UEs. Some credit to Mats, but they are very much UEs and more discredit to Agassi. Given room to mess up, he messes up enough to keep himself from getting ahead

Throw in Agassi almost compelled to come in so much because finishing Mats off from the back is so diffcult, and fuller picture of the effectiveness of Mats’ scampering, defence, shot tolerance emerges

In all (net and baseline combined) -

Attacking UEs - Agassi 31, Mats 5
Errors forced - Agassi 39, Mats 26

Winner attempt UEs - Agassi 20, Mats 2
Winners - Agassi 65, Mats 37

Those are top drawer, amazing efficiency ratios from Mats. They’re not as good as the numbers look, with large lot of winners being passes and volleys, but a quarter as good as they are on paper would be good

In light of how tough Mats is to finish, good stuff from Agassi too

It’s the missed volleys and UEs that keep Agassi from nosing ahead for 4 sets. To clear, good lot are easy shots (fair few of those, not the first volley he plays). Putting a few more points to bed at net that are immenintly there to be so dealt with, he probably wins match in 4. His not being a comfortable or good volleyers shows

Mats has been extremely successful attacking, and makes attacking for Agassi as difficult as possible. But relative amount of time he’s defending to attacking, which is under-reflected in his trailing winners 37-65 and errors forced 26-39, ultimately probably still leaves Agassi to win or lose the match. He fails to win it in 4 sets, due to missing a few too many easy volleys

 

[Waspsting]

Ending is different story. After Mats holds tough 10 point game to open the decider, Agassi finally falls apart. Last 5 games -
Mats with 5 winners, 2 UEs, forcing 2 errors
Agassi 1 winner, 11 UEs, forcing 1 error

… and they’re sloppy errors from Agassi, early in rallies. Rest of match, invariably tough, long rallies before UEs end them

Gist - fantastic, first rate stuff. Wonderful baseline rallies, with Agassi stepping up and looking to get on attack, Mats rock solid. Anything that can happen, does once Agassi gets on attack and from every corner of the court

Dashing aggression from Agassi from all parts of court, springing from solid base
Machine like game from Wilander - solid, superb movement, defence, shot tolerance, perfectly picking and choosing when to attack himself and very successful when he does

Match Progression
Agassi takes charge of baseline rallies early on - hitting hard, early, wide, going cc and dtl off both wings. It could be overwhelming, but isn’t for Mats who scampers, defends and keeps putting one more ball back in play, and Agassi ends up missing follow up attacking shots no infrequently

Agassi switches immediately to coming to net, on top of all that baseline aggression for insurance and does better finishing

3 breaks in first set, with 2 other games having break points in them (1 for each player). Agassi takes it 6-4. Almost every game is a cracker… this report would be 10 pages long were one to even briefly describe every good rally or shot

Mats breaks for 2-0, coming away with net-to-net FHV winner and forcing a wide BHV error to wrap up
Has to save 2 break points to consolidate, which he does with a FH cc pass winner and an approach of his own, before sealing game with ace
Agassi’s coming to net in earnest game after, and saves break point. He has a third volley BHV winner serve-volleying in the game
Then snags break back for 2-3 - couple of net points, and finishing with a FH cc winner from up the court
Wouldn’t think this pace could last. It does all the way to 1-0 in the fifth set. At this stage in match in last years final, Wilander was trading 50 shot moonball BHs with Ivan Lendl

Back to back BH dtl winners from Agassi next game. He breaks for 5-4 awhile later in game featuring FHV winner (set up by powerful BH cc) and lovely BH lob winner from him, and perfect FH cc pass winner from Mats against a BH dtl approach to erase first break point. He double faults on the second

Agassi serves out to love, finishing by drop shotting Mats win and BH lobbing him for winner

In second set, Agassi isn’t as net hungry or going in for winners from the back, but he is bossy and dicatates baseline rallies. Mats is pushed back, but doesn’t fall back and stays very secure of shot

4 breaks in the set, that Mats takes 6-2. Breaks in for 3-1, with Agassi stumbling some (missed putaway BHV, bad drop shot that gets dispatched at net and third ball BH UE). There’s an aazming rally early in the game too, that ends with an Agassi smash winner

Next 2 games are breaks too. Agassi pounding a FH inside-out return winner to wrap up his, Mats outlasting Agassi from baseline to hit back
More baseline blinks by Agassi to get broken to end the set. He’s directed rallies, but Mats has been a wall

4 breaks in a row to start the third set, and a whole bunch of tough, long games after that, with sole remaining break to end the set
Agassi misses some easy volleys and has the odd, frustrated, lash out
Mats serves gently, with second calibre first serves that Agassi runsaround to return with FH
Tennis is still good

3 winners from Agassi to break (BHV, OH after return-approaching and BH dtl) to start
Mats breaks back from 40-0 down, with Agassi blinking up errors in good basline rallies, missing difficult wide FHV serve-volleying and on break point, missing a putaway easy FHV he’d set up nicely with a powerful BH cc
Good game from Agassi to break after that, but he’s off at net game after to keep things on serve (easy BHV miss, bad BH at net miss and a not good approach that’s dispatched for pass winner)
2-2

5/7 games that follow go to deuce, no breaks. Game 9 in particular (Wilander hold, 14 point game, 2 break points) is particularly good and the 10 point game he holds next go around isn’t far behind. Lots of approaches from Agassi

Mats breaks to end the set, striking 2 BH lob winners in last 3 points. The second one is fantastic and Agassi applauds it. He was apt to applaud opponents shots around this period, but you won’t see too many instances of a player applauding a shot on set point

Action changes slightly in the fourth. Slightly shift to looking to shorten points by Agassi early on (emphasis on slight). Mats also employs more direction changing attacking shots. He makes 37/40 first serves for the set

Second half of the set is riddled with fabulous games
Games 4-8 sees sees 4 breaks and the excpetion sees Agassi save 3 break points. To leave things on serve at 4-4

Agassi scores the decisive break for 5-6 in a 10 point game. Knocks away a cc angled, BH inside-in return pass winner and an error forcing BH dtl to seal the break but stand out is Mats double faults and missing a routien third ball BH. The BH miss standing out like a sour thumb is indicator of how rare it is for Mats to give up anything easy

He misses a routine return next game as well, but most of game is dashing stuff from Agassi - 2 thrid ball FH winners and a FH cc pass one after drop shotting Mats in

Decider starts like a bang too, with Mats saving 2 break points in holding a 10 point game. Very poor BHV miss by Agassi early in the game keeps Mats’ head above water. He serve-volleys to draw return error in saving second break point, before winning a BH cc rally to hold

Agassi hits BHV winner to start his first service game. Its last winner he hits in the match. His play falls off, gives up sloppy errors quickly (starting with a crazing swinging BHV from baseline next point). Mats remains as he has all match - solidly perfect, and with Agassi dropping off, runs away with rest of match

After Agassi’s last winner -
- Mats with 5 winners, 2 UEs, forcing 2 errors
- Agassi 11 UEs, forcing 1 error

Summing up, fantastic match (with unforunate anti-climax). The play-maker is Andre Agassi, who freestyles his way through - hammering groundstrokes off both wings in all directions while taking ball early and coming to net to put (necessary) exclamation point on his aggression. For all the exuberant brilliance, he’s solid too and very quick

Mats Wilander is a machine. Supremely solid, usually forced to defend, but even against what he’s up against, seemingly does it all without overt strain. He’s more secure off the ground, especially on FH side, but often out-hit or outmanuvered. He has to be pushed back, he doesn’t fall back. And he makes finishing as difficult as possible, somehow poking one more ball and giving opponent one more chance to miss. For all that, he’s almost perfect when attacking himself, though he’s usually on the defensive

Bad volleying (missing easy volleys) by Agassi keeps things even, with Wilander giving him maximum scope to miss so, and Agassi fold at the end

Top drawer match, and great showings from both players

Stats for the final between Wilander and Henri Leconte - Match Stats/Report - Wilander vs Leconte, French Open final, 1988 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)
Stats for Agassi’s quarter-final with Guillermo Perez-Roldan - Match Stats/Report - Agassi vs Perez-Roldan, French Open quarter-final, 1988 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)

 

[HBK4life]

Did Andre punch himself out of energy?

 

[bigbadboaz]

I'd imagine this was simply an Early Andre flameout. Had the game, couldn't handle the hype or pressure and checked out in all the biggest moments until Wimby '92.

 

[Galvermegs]

You would fancy andres chances against leconte. Gomez in 1990 was not really a better player than the frenchman but had the experience and the freedom of knowing lendl was out of the way the entire event. All the same its also a question if andre would be mentally ready to be the favorite. He ended up doing that better as he got older. As it was he needed to be the underdog at wimbledon 1992 to break through.

Wilander did well in epic matches in 1988. He didnt get the chance to turn his qf at wimbledon into an epic.. simply outplayed by a nemesis opponent.

 

[Waspsting]

Did Andre punch himself out of energy?

possibly. He doesn't look particularly tired at the end, though that can be deceptive. He just conveys a sense of having fun out there, which exactly how I remember his young days

Its actually Wilander who shows minor signs of fading at end of 4th set. Misses routine third ball BH and double faults in getting broken in game 11, misses routine return on the serve out
For him, that's faltering

Then a typical high end game to start the 5th that Mats holds in 10 points, saving 2 break points
Then Agassi opening next game with a BHV winner
Then Agassi goes away

You would fancy andres chances against leconte. Gomez in 1990 was not really a better player than the frenchman but had the experience and the freedom of knowing lendl was out of the way the entire event

Agreed Agassi would have been favourite in the final
How he handles Leconte's big serve would be important and isn't predicatable. He was favoured against Gomez too, and not being able to get a grip on the return was largely why he ended up losing

Mats can be counted on to return with clockwork efficiency regardless of opponent, Agassi no
How much the crowd effects Agassi also likely to be a factor

 

[buscemi]

You would fancy andres chances against leconte.

Leconte was Agassi's nemesis at the Majors in 1987, beating Andre in 2 of the 3 Majors he played, a four set win at the U.S. Open and a 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 demolition job at Wimbledon.

OTOH, Agassi beat Leconte at Stuttgart on clay a couple months after the French final in 1988, 7-5, 7-5.

All of which goes to say that I think it would have been a competitive final.

 

[Galvermegs]

Leconte was Agassi's nemesis at the Majors in 1987, beating Andre in 2 of the 3 Majors he played, a four set win at the U.S. Open and a 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 demolition job at Wimbledon.

OTOH, Agassi beat Leconte at Stuttgart on clay a couple months after the French final in 1988, 7-5, 7-5.

All of which goes to say that I think it would have been a competitive final.

Yes its hard to know as best of 3 is often a different beast. We all know how much better zverev is in that format.

Agassi starting out at wimbledon is not really much to go on. A shame he didnt play there more at first but he ended up with a grass record that stacked up surprisingly well with his efforts on clay.

 

[buscemi]

Yes its hard to know as best of 3 is often a different beast. We all know how much better zverev is in that format.

Agassi starting out at wimbledon is not really much to go on. A shame he didnt play there more at first but he ended up with a grass record that stacked up surprisingly well with his efforts on clay.

Yeah, I agree that the Wimbledon result is largely meaningless. Leconte's win over Agassi at the 1987 U.S. Open (6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3) is probably more pertinent. The question is whether we put more weigh on that (both BO5) or Agassi's Stuttgart win (same surface). In the end, it might be in the middle and likely would have been a fun match, regardless.

 

[Galvermegs]

Yeah, I agree that the Wimbledon result is largely meaningless. Leconte's win over Agassi at the 1987 U.S. Open (6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3) is probably more pertinent. The question is whether we put more weigh on that (both BO5) or Agassi's Stuttgart win (same surface). In the end, it might be in the middle and likely would have been a fun match, regardless.

The actual final that year was a let down for pretty much everyone but mats and his fans.
Poor henri got a lot of verbal abuse after losing that match and yet he still had another great run in 1992. Kudos.

 

[dryeagle]

Peak Mats vs young Agassi with the eye of the tiger in him.

Probably a classic, but never seen in US which was a true crime. Per NY Times:

PARIS, June 3 (AP) - Tennis fans in the United States were prevented from seeing live coverage of the Agassi-Wilander semifinal match on ESPN today because of a contract between the French Tennis Federation and NBC, which televises the matches only on the weekends. Officials said NBC had the right to a semifinal blackout so it could hold a match on tape to fill airtime in case either or both of the singles championship matches were rained out.

 

[Galvermegs]

Peak Mats vs young Agassi with the eye of the tiger in him.

Probably a classic, but never seen in US which was a true crime. Per NY Times:

PARIS, June 3 (AP) - Tennis fans in the United States were prevented from seeing live coverage of the Agassi-Wilander semifinal match on ESPN today because of a contract between the French Tennis Federation and NBC, which televises the matches only on the weekends. Officials said NBC had the right to a semifinal blackout so it could hold a match on tape to fill airtime in case either or both of the singles championship matches were rained out.

Its hard to see much of rg in general online when compared to the other majors. A real frustration.

 

[bigbadboaz]

The official RG YouTube posts some great stuff though. Full matches - clean, no commentary, no cuts. Like you're there.

 

[I get cramps]

The official RG YouTube posts some great stuff though. Full matches - clean, no commentary, no cuts. Like you're there.

The RG organization's stinginess amazes the Xia Dynasty. Do they expect to lose money by uploading the Thomas Muster vs. Albert Costa match, for example?

 

[Galvermegs]

The RG organization's stinginess amazes the Xia Dynasty. Do they expect to lose money by uploading the Thomas Muster vs. Albert Costa match, for example?

Very true. Earlier rounds can be belters.

No commentary is fine but every so often it saves on day internet google time.