2 Responses to ao91becker_camporese

1. Voo de Mar says:

   January 12, 2026 at 7:12 am

   Points won by each set: | 41-36, 43-41, 12-25, 33-36, 81-74 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   32 % Becker – 67 of 206
   29 % Camporese – 64 of 216

   There was 3:10 pm, the weather was perfect (22°C) when the match started on Court no. 1, and they would leave the arena (photo) just before the sunset, having co-produced one of the most amazing matches in the Open Era as far as majors are concerned – for the first time a Slam match lasted more than five hours (5:11 hrs to be precise) and this record would be broken 18 years later by the Spanish guys Nadal & Verdasco, who spent only a few minutes longer on the centre court… Becker [2] struggled to win the first two sets against a relatively unknown opponent, more associated with clay-courts at the time. The German was three and two points away from losing those tie-breaks (7/4, 7/5), but the 2nd set was tougher for him as he trailed *1:3 (deuce) and saved two-mini set points at 5-all (at the second one a few centimetres separated him from being broken). Given the status and experience of both players, the rational assumption before the 3rd set could be that Becker would win it 6-2 or 6-3 – he lost it not winning a game though! At 0:2* he squandered a triple break point and decided that it’d be better to focus on the 4th set. He began it breaking [45] Camporese’s serve, but the Italian broke back immediately, and won the set having some troubles in four successive service games. At 1-all he fought off a break point, in the following games he trailed 0/30 twice and 0/40 at 4-all. The first twenty games of the decider went with serving games, then occurred five breaks in a row! Becker, who was serving to stay in the match six times, was close to be defeated only at *4:5 (15/30) – Camporese attacked the second serve, but sent his difficult volley long. The German led *11:10 (40/0) as he made two errors on the first two match points, then the Italian found himself in the zone to deliver three winners in a row (forehand on the line, then two backhands); Becker served to close the match out at 12:11 (30/15), but failed again – facing a break point he committed his lone double fault. Camporese led 40/0 on serve at 12-all, but couldn’t hold. At 13:12 (30/15) Becker fired two consecutive aces (the first one off his second serve) finishing the crazy contest with his arms raised in the air; 2 out of only 8 aces he served in the entire match – it’s astonishing given the fact throughout his career he was able to serve 8 aces per set many times! It’s worth mentioning that from start to finish Becker was using his service bombs only from time to time, therefore he ended with a very high percentage of first serves in (68%). Only two weeks later, they face each other for the second time, and Becker prevails in five sets again, winning 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in Dortmund (Davis Cup on carpet).

   Serve & volley: Becker 7/24, Camporese 2/5

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2. Voo de Mar says:

   January 13, 2026 at 5:34 pm

   ☆ Longest Aussie Open matches of the 1990s by each edition:

   1990: Sampras d. Mayotte 7-6, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5, 12-10… 4 hours 59 minutes (1R)
   1991: Becker d. Camporese 7-6, 7-6, 0-6, 4-6, 14-12… 5 hours 11 minutes (3R)
   1992: J.McEnroe d. E.Sanchez 7-5, 7-6, 4-6, 2-6, 8-6… 4 hours 42 minutes (4R)
   1993: Steven d. Fromberg 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 8-6… 4 hours 36 minutes (3R)
   1994: Courier d. Shelton 4-6, 6-1, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4… 4 hours 42 minutes (1R)
   1995: W.Black d. Doyle 7-6, 4-6, 6-1, 1-6, 7-5… 4 hours 2 minutes (1R)
   1996: Courier d. Woodbridge 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 3-6, 8-6… 4 hours 33 minutes (3R)
   1997: Roux d. Stark 1-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 13-11… 4 hours 33 minutes (1R)
   1998: Golmard d. Henman 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, 3-6, 11-9… 4 hours 19 minutes (1R)
   1999: Ulihrach d. Cherkasov 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4… 4 hours 17 minutes (2R)

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