1 Response to milan96ivanisevic_rosset

1. Voo de Mar says:

   May 23, 2026 at 9:52 am

   Points won by each set: | 25-18, 40-33 |
   Unreturned serves:
   61 % Ivanisevic – 36 of 59
   42 % Rosset – 24 of 57

   Even though both Ivanisevic [6] and Rosset [14] belonged to the best servers in the world, for a few years their matches were pretty one-sided, enough to say that the Croat won 15 sets in a row (including the Hopman Cup ’96) needing just two tie-breaks in the process. After the Milan final, their next two matches (Doha ’98, Toulouse ’99) were very dramatic, adequate to expectations… In Italy the only break occurred as Ivanisevic led 4:3 (30-all) – he played two successive return winners, the first one with his forehand off Rosset’s fastest serve that day (207 kph). The Swiss also had a break point at 4:3, obviously in the 2nd set, but the Croat fired an ace down the T. In the tie-break there was the only baseline exchange (a short one), Ivanisevic lost it, but he already led *4:1 before it, having everything under control. It was a period of time when Ivanisevic was enjoying a terrific form in sterile, fast conditions under the tutelage of his friend Vedran Martic who replaced Bob Brett at the end of 1995. Everything started at the Grand Slam Cup ’95 (carpet) – he got there his biggest check. Then he began the 1996 season winning the Hopman Cup (indoor hard), and after an Aussie Open disappointment, within six weeks he reached five finals (!): Zagreb (indoor hard), Dubai (one of the fastest hardcourts outdoors; he played all matches under floodlights), Antwerp, Milan & Rotterdam (three events on carpet).

   Ivanisevic’s route to his 14th title:
   1 Martin Sinner 7-6(5), 6-3
   2 Francisco Clavet 6-2, 6-4
   Q Adrian Voinea 7-6(0), 6-1
   S Guy Forget 6-7(1), 6-3, 7-6(4) ☆
   W Marc Rosset 6-3, 7-6(3)

   ☆ Ivanisevic squandered two match points serving at 5:4 not facing a break point until that game;
   if Forget had won that match, it’d have been his second miracle day-by-day as in the quarterfinal he ousted Medvedev 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 despite 4:5* (15/40)
   A few hours after defeating Rosset, Ivanisevic also triumphed in doubles alongside Gaudenzi (in the final they defeated the Forget/Hlasek pair)

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