1 Response to stuttgart91stich_mancini

1. Voo de Mar says:

   July 26, 2026 at 2:15 pm

   Points won by each set: | 13-29, 43-42, 32-26, 28-18 |
   Unreturned serves:
   38 % Stich – 44 of 114
   17 % Mancini – 20 of 117

   Two weeks after his sensational Wimbledon triumph, Stich [4] confirmed how amazingly gifted he was: he conquered London playing pure serve-and-volley tennis while on clay in Germany he was selective in attacking the net behind his 1st serve, yet defeated five very good opponents, including clay-court specialists in his last two matches. The beginning of the final was abysmal for the German, he faced a set point trailing *0:5. In the 2nd set he significantly improved his serve, but Mancini led *4:3 (30/0). In the crucial tie-break, the German came back from ‘2:4’ and withstood a set point with a big serve at 7:8. Mancini [35] threw his racquet after the set, and lost his will to fight – in the last two sets Stich’s advantage was quite overwhelming, nevertheless the Argentinian had two break points when Stich was serving to close the 3rd set out. At *0:4 (30/40) in the 4th set, Mancini played his lone S/V action. Stich finished the event with an overhead which landed in the stands. He was playing four weeks in a row, 15 singles matches in total (+4 in doubles), he felt overworked and skipped two Mercedes Super 9 events on hardcourts (Montreal, Cincinnati). Mancini plays his last main-level final one year later (Kitzbühel), and is similarly hopeless with his backhand returns against the other top server of the 90s, Sampras.

   Stich’s route to his 3rd title:
   2 Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 7-6(3)
   3 Javier Sanchez 6-3, 6-3
   Q Richard Krajicek 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2) ☆
   S Francisco Clavet 6-4, 6-2
   W Alberto Mancini 1-6, 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-2

   ☆ Only two break points in that match (!), in the decider Stich was serving first

   Serve & volley: Stich 10/22, Mancini 1/1

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