rg87noah_carlsson

By | Published May 28, 2026 | Full size is 533 × 403 pixels

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2 Responses to rg87noah_carlsson

  1. Voo de Mar says:
    May 28, 2026 at 11:25 am
    Points won by each set: | 43-37, 31-22, 37-40, 41-34 |
    Unreturned serves:
    31 % Noah – 43 of 136
    8 % Carlsson – 12 of 149

    The most anticipated fourth round match of the ’87 French Open edition between a former champion Noah [6] and a potential future champion Carlsson [11]. You couldn’t find more contrasting styles at the time at the top of the game:
    – the serve: Noah belonged to the best servers throughout the 80s; Carlsson’s serve it was actually just introducing the ball to a rally, he aimed to keep a very high percentage of first serve in (78% in that match)
    – the forehand: for Noah this shot meant just keeping the ball in play; for Carlsson it was his main weapon being the first successful player using graphite racquets who implemented the extreme western grip thus balls he produced off his right side had a tremendous top-spin, incomparable to forehands of other players then
    – the net-game: Noah was attacking the net as a receiver (being a serve-and-volley player) more often that anyone else taking advantage of his extraordinary athleticism, because of it he could successfully move forwards with poor approach shots; Carlsson was quite often retreating to the baseline after hitting the ball being close to the service boxes which is unusual… admittedly his volleys were rather wooden, but his overhead was on the money
    Noah enjoyed a great service disposal (67% of first serve in) that day on Centre Court, and quite astonishingly he wasn’t broken for 3 hours 34 minutes! Carlsson created his chances in the first game of the 3rd set, and at 5:4 in the 4th set – he had the ball on his Prince racquet on both set points, but made two errors. Noah was relatively close to finish the contest in straight sets leading 5:4* (30-all) in the 3rd set. The tie-breaks: 7/4 and 5/7. If Noah hadn’t won in four sets, the match would have been suspended due to darkness.

  2. Voo de Mar says:
    May 28, 2026 at 12:03 pm
    ☆ Despite the loss, the 19-year-old Carlsson was happy with his performance (he had destroyed his opponents in the first three rounds) – it seemed he had time to win the French Open in the years to come; he was already a Top 10 player in 1988 with a first big title on clay (Hamburg), but lost again in the Parisian fourth round (to his compatriot Svensson in five sets), and never took part in this event in the future because a serious knee injury forced him to finish his career when he was only 21

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