Stats for 1995 Davis Cup final (Sampras-Chesnokov)

[krosero]

Sampras d. Chesnokov 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4

This was played on indoor red clay in Moscow.

Sampras started cramping up in the fifth set, and collapsed after hitting his last shot on match point.

The match lasted 3 hours 38 minutes.

Sampras won by going for his chance to break at 4-all in the fifth, opening the game with three FH winners.


My counts:

Sampras won 164 points overall, Chesnokov 144.

SERVICE

Sampras won 57 of 76 points on first serve (75%), and 43 of 77 on second (56%). He won 17 straight points on serve, including the first 13 of the fourth set.

Chesnokov won 63 of 93 on first serve (68%), and 28 of 62 on second (45%).


Sampras served at 50%, making 76 of 153 first serves. Percentages by set: 35, 47, 61, 50, 55

Chesnokov served at 60%, making 93 of 155 first serves. Percentages by set: 38, 71, 60, 61, 63.


Sampras converted 7 of 12 break points, Chesnokov 5 of 10.

Sampras got his first serve into play on 3 of 10 break points. He was broken four times on second serve and once on first, and faced no break points in the second set.

Chesnokov got his first serve into play on 10 of 12 break points. He was broken twice on second serve and five times on first.


Each man had 11 aces.

Sampras had 30 other unreturned serves (26 on first serve). Chesnokov had 16 (including 9 on first serve).

Sampras had 5 double-faults (including one on the last point of the fourth set), Chesnokov 6.


WINNERS

Sampras made 49 clean winners apart from serves: 30 FH, 3 BH, 6 FHV, 8 BHV, 2 OV.

Chesnokov made 30 clean winners apart from serves: 8 FH, 19 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV.


Sampras had 2 clean return winners, both FH's, neither of them passes. But he did have 5 passing shots (3 FH).

Chesnokov had 2 clean return winners, neither of them pass. But he did have 12 passing shots (9 BH, including two lobs).


I gave Sampras 9 additional winners on judgment calls (7 serves, 1 BH, 1 FH). And I gave Chesnokov 1, on a serve.


Washington Post:

On paper at least, Sampras should have blown Chesnokov away. Sampras slapped his forehand into the net again and again, racking up 73 unforced errors, nearly twice as many as his opponent.

The Independent (UK):

Sampras, winning many points with lightning long shots, advanced to the net more than his 29-year-old opponent but committed nearly twice as many unforced errors.

The 24-year-old American, who is more at home on faster courts, landed only about half his first serves in.

Stats from NBC Super Sports:

At 5-6 in the fourth, Sampras led 49-11 in approaches and 32-6 in net points won. He had 58 unforced errors to Chesnokov’s 35, and led 17-15 in “active points won.”

I'd never seen that last phrase before. Googling it, I've found it being used to mean all points won by hitting a winner (not an ace) combined with shots that force the opponent into an error. That combined category is similar to the term "Aggressive Points." But the network's "active points won" are too low for that definition; and they don't correspond to anything on my sheet or to anything else that I can make out.

 

[380pistol]

Thank you.

 

[krosero]

Sampras started cramping up in the fifth set, and collapsed after hitting his last shot on match point.

Was just reading in "A Terrible Splendor" how the same thing happened to Budge in a Davis Cup match in May 1936. It was in Philadelphia, temperature around 100 degrees, U.S. vs. Australia. He won his match over Crawford 13-11 in the fifth, lunging at the end for a shot that he couldn't reach but which landed out. He was down on the ground with leg cramps and had to be helped to his feet by the team captain.

 

[pmerk34]

Sampras d. Chesnokov 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4

This was played on indoor red clay in Moscow.

Sampras started cramping up in the fifth set, and collapsed after hitting his last shot on match point.

The match lasted 3 hours 38 minutes.

Sampras won by going for his chance to break at 4-all in the fifth, opening the game with three FH winners.


My counts:

Sampras won 164 points overall, Chesnokov 144.

SERVICE

Sampras won 57 of 76 points on first serve (75%), and 43 of 77 on second (56%). He won 17 straight points on serve, including the first 13 of the fourth set.

Chesnokov won 63 of 93 on first serve (68%), and 28 of 62 on second (45%).


Sampras served at 50%, making 76 of 153 first serves. Percentages by set: 35, 47, 61, 50, 55

Chesnokov served at 60%, making 93 of 155 first serves. Percentages by set: 38, 71, 60, 61, 63.


Sampras converted 7 of 12 break points, Chesnokov 5 of 10.

Sampras got his first serve into play on 3 of 10 break points. He was broken four times on second serve and once on first, and faced no break points in the second set.

Chesnokov got his first serve into play on 10 of 12 break points. He was broken twice on second serve and five times on first.


Each man had 11 aces.

Sampras had 30 other unreturned serves (26 on first serve). Chesnokov had 16 (including 9 on first serve).

Sampras had 5 double-faults (including one on the last point of the fourth set), Chesnokov 6.


WINNERS

Sampras made 49 clean winners apart from serves: 30 FH, 3 BH, 6 FHV, 8 BHV, 2 OV.

Chesnokov made 30 clean winners apart from serves: 8 FH, 19 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV.


Sampras had 2 clean return winners, both FH's, neither of them passes. But he did have 5 passing shots (3 FH).

Chesnokov had 2 clean return winners, neither of them pass. But he did have 12 passing shots (9 BH, including two lobs).


I gave Sampras 9 additional winners on judgment calls (7 serves, 1 BH, 1 FH). And I gave Chesnokov 1, on a serve.


Washington Post:



The Independent (UK):



Stats from NBC Super Sports:

At 5-6 in the fourth, Sampras led 49-11 in approaches and 32-6 in net points won. He had 58 unforced errors to Chesnokov’s 35, and led 17-15 in “active points won.”

I'd never seen that last phrase before. Googling it, I've found it being used to mean all points won by hitting a winner (not an ace) combined with shots that force the opponent into an error. That combined category is similar to the term "Aggressive Points." But the network's "active points won" are too low for that definition; and they don't correspond to anything on my sheet or to anything else that I can make out.

One of the most dramatic matches ever.

 

[krosero]

Sampras-Kafelnikov

The was the fourth match of the tie and it clinched the win for the U.S.

Sampras d. Kafelnikov 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4)

I took most of these stats a couple of years ago, and I was missing a few games. But the whole match is now on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tS5u602E5w&playnext=1&list=PL5BD90333410477EA

My counts for the whole match:

Sampras won 111 points overall, Kafelnikov 87.

SERVICE

Sampras made 54 of 95 first serves (57%).
Kafelnikov made 69 of 103 first serves (67%).

Sampras won 42 of 54 points on first serve (78%) and 25 of 41 on second (61%).

Kafelnikov won 41 of 69 points on first serve (59%) and 18 of 34 on second (53%).

Sampras had 16 aces and 3 double-faults.
Kafelnikov had 7 aces and 1 double-fault.

Sampras had 14 other unreturned serves, of which I judged 2 as service winners. Kafelnikov had 12 other unreturned serves, and I gave him no service winners.

Sampras converted 5 of 13 break points, Kafelnikov 2 of 7.

Sampras made his first serve on 5 of 7 break points, Kafelnikov on 6 of 13.

Sampras didn’t face any break points until his first service game of the third set. He did not lose his serve until 3-1 in that set. But he was broken at love trying to serve out the match.


WINNERS

Sampras had 42 winners apart from service: 18 FH, 7 BH, 6 FHV, 8 BHV, 3 OV.

Kafelnikov had 18 winners apart from service: 6 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV.


Sampras made 2 FH return winners. Neither was a passing shot, but he did have 3 passes in the match (2 FH).

Kafelnikov made 5 return winners (3 FH), including 4 passes. He had 6 other passes in the match (3 FH).


ESPN put Sampras at 16 aces and 58 winners for the match. My own stats line up exactly, if I do not include the two service winners I gave Sampras.


Part of a report from Bud Collins:

The role of one-man crowd in three acts, that he hadn't even considered a couple of weeks before, concluded with Pete's immaculate clincher, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(4), over Kafelnikov. He called it, "considering the situation, Davis Cup, the Cup maybe on my shoulders, the best match I've played on clay."

Absolutely.

He was more attack-minded than customary -- "I have to do that if I'm going to win on European clay." His serve was mammoth (16 aces, three service winners in 15 serving games), his forehand murderous: down the line, crosscourt, inside-out (19 winners). Kafelnikov scrounged two points against serve in the first set, five in the second, finally grasped at five break points in the second game of the third, but nothing doing.

"Pete was getting tired," he said. "If I can win that third, who knows?" Pete agreed. "I couldn't let him do it" -- and didn't. Sampras slugged .568, 64 winners of 111 points.

This was Sampras of Wimbledon slickness -- pirouetting touch volleys, elegant running forehands, onerous smashes and serves -- only he was a dirtkicking dandy, too, patient enough, a mixmaster of pace and spin from the backcourt to position the forehand blasts and rushes to the net.

Not since John McEnroe's two singles and a doubles (with Peter Fleming) in the 5-0 win over France in 1982 had an American tripled in the final. But merely 10 triples have been registered in Cup history when the tripler scored all the points. Henri Cochet in 1931 was the first, for France, 3-2 over Britain; Smith in 1972 the fifth, 3-2 over Romania; McEnroe in 1981 the ninth, 3-1 over Argentina; Sampras the 10th.

 

[krosero]

The court in this U.S.-Russia tie was playing fast. Fred Stolle said that the Russians had watered down the court in the semis against Germany to the point of making it play like mud. That drew a $25,000 fine from the ITF. Stolle said that the Russians were complaining about the court in this tie against the U.S. because it was like concrete with a little dirt thrown on top. Stolle added that such a court would help Sampras’ game.

Carillo remarked late in the Kafelnikov match that Pete was playing the kind of tennis that wins French Opens. Stolle said he wouldn’t go that far because the courts at the French Open were a lot slower than this one.

Stolle did say that Sampras was playing one of the cleanest claycourt matches that he had seen from anyone in a while.

 

[Moose Malloy]

Sampras made 49 clean winners apart from serves: 30 FH, 3 BH, 6 FHV, 8 BHV, 2 OV.

30 fh winners on clay(only 3 of them passing shots) vs a baseliner. Wow! And a lot of posters here don't seem to think his fh was particularly great. Offhand, is that the highest total we have for him off the fh?

We need to really start logging some of these stats somewhere. I forget a lot of these great stats(like this one)

 

[encylopedia]

30 fh winners on clay(only 3 of them passing shots) vs a baseliner. Wow! And a lot of posters here don't seem to think his fh was particularly great.)

I noticed that as well. "slapped his forehand into the net again and againr"...really Washington Post??! Um....maybe, but regardless of errors, thirty forehand winners against one of the most capable and determined defensive clay-court players of the era is......HUGE. I'll take quite a few UE errors if I were Pete's coach if he puts up winners like that against Chessy on clay - a good tradeoff for that opponent on that surface!

 

[krosero]

30 fh winners on clay(only 3 of them passing shots) vs a baseliner. Wow! And a lot of posters here don't seem to think his fh was particularly great. Offhand, is that the highest total we have for him off the fh?

Not sure but it could well be the highest. His rate of FH winners was almost exactly the same (18 winners in 31 games) in the Kafelnikov match, and only 2 of those were passes.

 

[NonP]

I'm trying to get all the DC stats for Sampras and Federer (maybe not a full set, but at least the # of aces, service/return games won, etc.), and while revisiting the Kafelnikov match I noticed this curiosity (around 7:13):

When ESPN says Pete's '95 record on clay is 7-5 here I'm guessing they don't have some supernatural power of prognostication and haven't included the outcome of this match yet. So that suggests Pete had played 12 matches on clay before this one, but I only see 11 per the ATP and can't think of anything else. Can anyone help?

Also @krosero, do you have the breakdown of service/return games won by Pete for the Chessy match? Thanks in advance.

 

[krosero]

I'm trying to get all the DC stats for Sampras and Federer (maybe not a full set, but at least the # of aces, service/return games won, etc.), and while revisiting the Kafelnikov match I noticed this curiosity (around 7:13):

When ESPN says Pete's '95 record on clay is 7-5 here I'm guessing they don't have some supernatural power of prognostication and haven't included the outcome of this match yet. So that suggests Pete had played 12 matches on clay before this one, but I only see 11 per the ATP and can't think of anything else. Can anyone help?

Also @krosero, do you have the breakdown of service/return games won by Pete for the Chessy match? Thanks in advance.

That's odd, Bud Collins reported after the tie that Sampras arrived there with a 5-5 clay record for the year, same as what the ATP has.

He won 20 of 25 service games, and 7 of 25 return games.

 

[NonP]

That's odd, Bud Collins reported after the tie that Sampras arrived there with a 5-5 clay record for the year, same as what the ATP has.

Yeah, I actually had 12 off the top of my head and double-checking with the ATP confirmed my suspicion. Can't recall Pete playing anything approaching an exo on clay that year either (as you know he had lots going on both on and off the court). Must be a mistake by ESPN then.

He won 20 of 25 service games, and 7 of 25 return games.

Grazie. BTW do you happen to have match stats for any of Fed's DC matches before '10? (I've PMed @slice serve ace about Pete's DC stats and hopefully he'll see it next time he logs in.) FYI I'm mainly interested in # of aces per service game/match and % of service/return games won (I'd love to get per-point stats but that's admittedly beyond the reach of most mortals). Thankfully the DC site seems to have begun keeping scorecards for most of the playoff ties/rubbers, like this one for the Isner-Fed 1st-rounder in '12, so that made it fairly easy to fill in the gaps for Fed's 3 DC matches each in '11 and '12 (though I had to do the Machado match stats myself). But I'm pretty much stuck on everything pre-'10.

 

[krosero]

Yeah, I actually had 12 off the top of my head and double-checking with the ATP confirmed my suspicion. Can't recall Pete playing anything approaching an exo on clay that year either (as you know he had lots going on both on and off the court). Must be a mistake by ESPN then.



Grazie. BTW do you happen to have match stats for any of Fed's DC matches before '10? (I've PMed @slice serve ace about Pete's DC stats and hopefully he'll see it next time he logs in.) FYI I'm mainly interested in # of aces per service game/match and % of service/return games won (I'd love to get per-point stats but that's admittedly beyond the reach of most mortals). Thankfully the DC site seems to have begun keeping scorecards for most of the playoff ties/rubbers, like this one for the Isner-Fed 1st-rounder in '12, so that made it fairly easy to fill in the gaps for Fed's 3 DC matches each in '11 and '12 (though I had to do the Machado match stats myself). But I'm pretty much stuck on everything pre-'10.

I would think it's ESPN's mistake.

Nothing for Fed in Davis Cup. I believe the only other Davis Cup I did for Pete was '97 against Rafter: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=257594. I know he was unbroken in that match.

 

[LeoFulgencio]

The whole match is visible on youtube. Last two games:

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