Stats in the media
There are many contradictory stats for this match.
New York Daily News:
"I didn't have a chance to hit too many tennis balls out there," Becker said after winning only 24 points off Sampras' serve[,] seven on double faults.
Washington Times:
Becker won just 22 points off Sampras' serve, seven coming on double faults.
New York Times:
"I think I won just 20 points against his serve, and 7 of them came from double faults, so you can imagine how many chances I had to actually hit a few tennis balls out there," said the bearded Becker, who called Sampras a fearsome front-runner.
The Washington Post:
Sampras served 23 aces and never faced a break point in rallying to overwhelm the former three-time champion 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in 2 hours, 28 minutes....
There were few rallies of longer than five shots - and none more than seven. It was similar to the brutal display of power tennis in Sampras' victory over Goran Ivanisevic in last year's final.
"People that know the game understand that this is grass-court tennis," Sampras said.
The third-seeded Becker was virtually helpless against Sampras' rocket deliveries. He won only 20 points on Sampras' serve, and seven of those were on double faults.
Taken to deuce only twice, Sampras won seven service games at love and took 91 percent of the points on his first serve. He hit his first serves at an average speed of 116 mph, with a top delivery of 129 mph.
"He hits those bombs and you hope for rain," Becker said.
The return of serve also was a key. Sampras got back 60 percent of his returns, while Becker was successful on only 44 percent.
While Becker never earned a break point, Sampras had 16 break points, converting five times. He had nine return winners and 10 passing winners.
By my count, Becker won 24 points on Sampras’ serve, including 7 double-faults; so the Daily News got that right.
The Post has some other numbers wrong: Sampras actually had 12 return winners and 12 other passing winners.
The other stats in the Post’s article are correct, though the wording is deceptive on one stat. Sampras didn’t get back 60% of “his returns”; he got back 60% of Becker’s good serves (including aces). Same deal with Becker.
Macon Telegraph:
With serves often topping 120 miles per hour Sampras was so overpowering that Becker never had a break point the entire contest, losing eight games at love.
He only lost 7 love games, all on Sampras’ serve.
International Herald Tribune:
Practically unfettered by now, Sampras won his first 16 points on serve to take the third set.
Rocky Mountain News:
He won 24 of 26 service points during one stretch, including his first 20 of the third set.
He actually won only his first 16.
Greensboro News and Record:
Sampras never lost his service, never faced break point and was taken to deuce only twice.
York Daily Record:
Sampras won all of his first-serve points in the second and third sets. And in the fourth set, he allowed only seven points on serve.
No problem with either of these sources.
A boxscore in The Independent (UK):
THE FINAL RECKONING
Sampras Becker
23 Aces 16
7 Double faults 15
54% First serves in 52%
86% Second serves in 78%
77% Service points won 60%
91% Points won on first serve 79%
61% Points won on second serve 39%
116 ave 129 max First serve (mph) 113 ave 123 max
95 ave 106 max Second serve (mph) 100 ave 113 max
56% Total points won 44%
I got exactly the same numbers except Becker’s aces (I have him at 15 because Pete got his racquet lightly on one of Becker's serves).
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Sampras had 23 aces and seven double faults. He won 55 points on unreturned serves.
This is also fine. By my count he had 23 aces and 32 other unreturned serves.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Chicago Tribune:
In a match of brutal power and efficiency, without a rally longer than seven strokes, Sampras hit 23 aces and 22 service winners to beat Becker.
This is interesting because I counted 32 serves that Becker reached but did not put back in play. Apparently somebody judged 22 of them as “service winners”.
Sports Illustrated:
Even more disheartening to Becker was that Sampras committed just seven unforced errors while striking 68 winners.
I have Sampras making 58 clean winners including aces. That leaves him getting 10 judgment calls, and that makes sense, because I judged that he made 9 service winners and one FH return that could be judged a winner.
So the statistician who gave Sampras 68 total winners (I think the number comes ultimately from NBC) was not the same one who (generously) gave him the 22 service winners reported in the Sentinel and the Tribune.
As for the 7 unforced errors, it looks like those were his 7 df's. During the ’95 U.S. Open final, Mary Carillo said that Sampras' only unforced errors during the Wimbledon final had been double-faults.
And every time I saw Sampras making an error, he was attempting a passing shot or a difficult volley. So zero unforced errors apart from service seems believable.
The BBC’s stats are all in line with my counts, except the approaches which I didn't count myself:
After two sets, Sampras was at 63% and Becker at 45% on “Return”. As in the Post, the term refers to how many good serves, including aces, were returned successfully.
At 3-1 in the fourth, Sampras had made 10 “return aces”, with Becker at 4. Pete then made another return winner, and a regular pass in a rally (his 12th such pass by my count); at that point he stood at 12 on “Passing”, with Boris at 3.
At 4-3 in the third, Sampras was 20 of 27 at net, Becker 28 of 49. I didn’t get my own net counts but I know that not including double-faults, aces and other unreturned serves, Sampras had served 27 points and lost 7 of them. However, I have Becker serving 58 such points and losing 29 of them.
The ATP again counted aces and double-faults twice. If the aces and df's are subtracted once, the Total Points Won line up with my count.
Incidentally, the ATP gave Becker 16 double-faults, one too many. And they gave him 17 aces, instead of the 16 in all the sources I’ve seen.
The only correct ATP stats: Pete’s aces and double-faults; and the break points.
