1 Response to gsc92chang_ivanisevic

1. Voo de Mar says:

   July 16, 2026 at 2:05 pm

   Points won by each set: | 44-44, 30-17, 32-27, 20-29, 40-33 |
   Unreturned serves:
   39 % Chang – 67 of 168
   43 % Ivanisevic – 65 of 148

   A few weeks after their first meeting (Masters) they had an opportunity to face each other again in Germany, on the same surface (different colour though). After a 6-7, 2-6 loss in Frankfurt not creating BP, Chang [6] was very upset and criticised the tennis path of the early 90s featured by the increased speed of serves making life super tough for receivers. He must have made some adjustments because in Munich he manufactured break points in Ivanisevic’s first two service games. The Croat [4] took the first set in a 7/3 breaker, and led 2:1* in the 2nd set, but lost his good mood due to foot faults. Perhaps he began to overthink the position of his legs before serving because within an hour he was broken as many as four times. It means Chang led 1:0 on serve in the 4th set. The Croat (playing in a bandanna with the Croatian flag) came back to his normal disposal and the decider was required. Chang led 2:1 when Ivanisevic played several poor volleys to lose his serve for the last time that day. The end of the contest was quite dramatic, Ivanisevic had break points in Chang’s last two service games, the last game when the Croat was intertwining impressive baseline winners with casual errors, was the longest (7 deuces, Chang saved three BPs). Ivanisevic – the best server of 1992 – lost two five-setters that year to Americans on fast surfaces, and it’s a testimony to their exceptional reflex as well as their superb quality of returns and passing-shots. The other top American baseliner, Courier, the best player of 1992, didn’t possess those skills and lost a match that year to Ivanisevic in similar conditions, 6-3, 6-7, 6-7 in Stuttgart.

   # Comparison of Ivanisevic’s two 5-set defeats in 1992:
   Wimbledon (F, grass): Agassi d. Ivanisevic 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4… 2 hours 50 minutes… Total points: 163-159… Breaks: 3-2
   Grand Slam Cup (SF, carpet): Chang d. Ivanisevic 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3… 3 hours 38 minutes… Total points: 166-150… Breaks: 6-3

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