USO 2001 QF: Sampras vs Agassi

SPOILERS AHEAD!

“Neither man lost his serve, neither gave an inch as the drama unfolded. It came down to one error here, one ace there”

— The Guardian

No break of serve in the entire match!
- Sampras saved 3/3 break points in the entire 4 sets, while Agassi saved 6/6.
- In the 2nd set, no player had any break point opportunities!
Both players extremely efficient at net:
- Sampras 103/147 (70%), Agassi 15/20 (75%). Obviously Sampras’ volume is on an entire different level with serve and volleying
- What’s interesting is that Agassi was far more efficient at constructing points via baseline and converting it at the net— Agassi: 14/19 (74%). Sampras, when not counting serve & volley, won 9/17 (53%).
Shot Selection:
- Tennis Abstract keeps track of 5 major shot locations for the forehand: Cross Court, Down the Line, Down the Middle, Inside Out, and Inside in.
- Sampras avoided the inside out forehand almost entirely in this match up. In the entire match, he chose the FH inside out 7% of the time and FH cross-court 61% of the time. Compare that to his career averages of 41% FH cross court and 23% Inside In. This is almost certainly a match up decision, where Sampras wanted to avoid BH cross courts at all costs.
- Compare this to Agassi with a 27% Forehand Inside out, who was actively targeting Sampras’ backhand.
176 points won by Sampras vs 162 won by Agassi