Flashback to 2000 US Open Quarterfinal

Every now and again I like to have a look at some of the classic matches of yesteryear.  This time we go back to the year 2000 and one of the classic rivalries of the previous generation between Pete Sampras and Richard Krajicek. Their last ever meeting took place at the quarterfinal stage of the US Open in the year 2000; and it turned out to be a brilliant match but so different to the type of tennis we see today. Also surprising is that they never played each other again, despite the fact that both players retired in 2003.

Their previous meeting took place at the quarterfinal stage of the 1999 ATP championships in Cincinnati, and before that they met in the 1999 Miami Open also at the quarterfinal stage. Interestingly, their meeting in 1998 Stuttgart Super Nine (Masters) took place in the quarterfinal and their famous Wimbledon encounter in 1996 was also a quarterfinal. They played a lot of quarterfinals! The winner of these matches either went on to the final or won the tournament so each player got a lot of confidence out of beating the other.  In their 1999 Cincinnati quarterfinal, David Mercer said on Eurosport that “they might be destined for another showdown at the US Open”. He was right but the match took place a year later, mainly because Sampras damaged his back on the eve of the tournament in 1999 and had to pull out.

This match is worth looking at because the tactics are so interesting, probably one of the last ever serve volley matches at the highest level.  In 2001 Sampras played Pat Rafter at the US Open and I don’t recall a match in 2002 at the Open between two serve volley players.  Had this match being played in 1999 and not 2000, it would have been a serve volley match but with tactical differences.  In their Cincinnati meeting in 1999, Sampras stayed back on his 2nd serve regularly intending to get some rallies going, however in 2000 Sampras more or less jettisoned the tactic of staying back on 2nd serve on hardcourts.  Who knows why, although in 1999 Krajicek chipped charged the Sampras 2nd serve often, forcing him to hit a lot of passing shots so maybe he wanted to avoid that scenario. As far as serve volley goes, I always enjoyed watching two serve volleyers play each other on hardcourts more than on grass. It could be that back then it was less of a pure serve volley battle but more of an all court match up. We just have to think back to the incredible battles between Sampras and Boris Becker for instance; on hardcourts and indoors players were more inclined to engage in longer rallies than they were on grass, which was perceived to have more bad bounces so getting to net was paramount in the eyes of a serve volleyer.

In this particular match, both players served and volleyed on both serves the entire match, Sampras stayed back on 2nd serve once and Krajicek skied the return so it didn’t count. Sampras went into this particular match not having much of a hardcourt season, getting knocked out early in Toronto to Marat Safin and in Cincinnati to Tim Henman. Meanwhile Krajicek took out Henman in the 3rd round of the US Open coming from two sets to one down to win in five. To put into context, Krajicek was the Juan Martin Del Potro of his day, a tall talented player who suffered a lot of injuries; consequently a top player could get him early in tournaments making him a threat. When Krajicek was at his best he was very difficult to beat and had a great running forehand plus one of the best serves of his generation, to go along with excellent volleying technique and reflexes around the net.

The match was played at night which gave an immediate edge to Sampras, putting aside the fact that Krajicek was probably the player he feared most at that stage of his career. The match started well for both guys, shadow boxing is the phrase that springs to mind as both tried to play themselves into form, neither really going after a break of serve early on, trying to find their timing. Krajicek hit the first quality winner in the fifth game of the first set, a cross court forehand followed by a brilliant crosscourt backhand passing shot on the run. Considering Richard is 6 ft. 5 inches (1m 95) and had to get down low, it was really well played and he got a good round of applause. The point by Sampras to close out the game really showed the capabilities of these players. Sampras missed the first serve and had to hit a second, Krajicek returned with his backhand and the ball was onto him before he could even get the swing going and it ricocheted off his racquet, as Krajicek walked off he looked at the speed gun, which said 111mph (179 kph).  A topspin kicker 2nd serve at 111mph :-0

The first serious issue occurred at 4:4 in the first set. Sampras was serving and everything was going fine at 30 love. Four points later Sampras found his serve was broken which left Krajicek serving for the first set, which he did to love. In their 1999 Cincinnati encounter, David Mercer queried whether breaks between the two players occurred early in matches, which co commentator Frew McMillan pointed out that he thought breaks occurred towards the end of sets due to the added pressure of holding serve, knowing any mistake and the other guy had the serve to close it out. It happened in the 10th game of the Cincinnati quarterfinal, Sampras hit three passing shots and the set was over, and the same happened here, Krajicek took his opportunity and that was it.

The 2nd set started with Krajicek in the ascendancy, he hit a great backhand passing shot which ricocheted off the net but would have been a winner anyway, that brought up 15:40 on the Sampras serve. Sampras was however able to serve his way out of trouble and in the next game had Krajicek at love 30 after actively encouraging the crowd to get behind him after a great inside out forehand passing shot. However, Krajicek came up with two of the best volleys you will ever see off two brilliant passing shots almost down at Krajicek’s feet. Krajicek closed out the game with an ace, putting Sampras under pressure again.  Before Sampras knew it he was break point down again but saved it with quality play.  That did not deter Krajieck, who hit a great backhand return but Sampras saved another break point. This went on for five deuces until Sampras eventually succumbed to Krajicek’s quality returns and passing shots.

The situation at 2:1 in the second set was looking rosy for Krajicek and grim for Sampras. Three minutes later, Sampras turned the situation around completely with three great returns in a row and it was back to 2:2. After a rather amusing sequence where Krajicek wanted a camera man removed and had towel string in his hair which amused the crowd, the rest of the set was quite entertaining and ended up in a tiebreak. This is where the match really exploded with one of the great comeback tiebreaks of the Open era. Krajicek asserted his superiority early on with yet another incredible backhand down the line passing shot.  After another scorching backhand, Sampras found himself down 2:6 and staring defeat in the face, coming back from two sets down against Krajicek would have been an extremely unlikely proposition. To save the first set point, Sampras hit a drop volley off a low return, any other player 2:6 down wouldn’t dream of taking such a risk.  That’s where Sampras took things to another level. At 3:6, Krajicek missed his first serve on the advantage court; the memo has always been to serve to Sampras’ backhand because he didn’t like it above the shoulder. However, for some reason Krajicek chose to serve to Sampras’ forehand, which he connected with and it floated in, I am not sure whether Krajicek left it on purpose. 

It could be that Krajicek tried to catch Sampras off guard but it didn’t work at such a crucial moment.  The next point is the one that got the crowd completely energised. Krajicek hit a big serve down the middle to Sampras’ backhand which Sampras blocked, Krajicek hit a great volley and Sampras answered with a brilliant crosscourt backhand passing shot off a very low ball, a clenched fist and with the crowd going crazy, tennis at its very best. Sampras then saved the final set point and then created his own; by now the crowd was besides themselves with excitement, as Krajicek stepped up to serve to save the set, confusion and bemusement was written all over his face. He served another first serve down the middle and Sampras hit a clean return winner with his forehand. Set over at 8:6 with people literally jumping up and down in the stands, an almighty roar by Sampras and a great climax to an incredible tiebreak. 

Ironically, two months earlier in the Wimbledon final, Sampras came from 4:1 down against Rafter in the second set tiebreak to win it 7:5 and level the match, Sampras just knew how to raise his level and take advantage of doubt in the mind of the opponent.  The only other time I saw a player come from 2:6 down to win 8:6 was the 1990 French Open final when Monica Seles came back to defeat Steffi Graf.

By this stage Richard Krajicek was shell shocked and despite starting the 3rd set with a love service game, found himself a break down early after another Sampras running forehand passing shot. One break was decisive and Sampras took the third set 6:4. The fourth set turned out to be another battle early as Krajicek tried to get back in the match. However, after constant return pressure by Sampras who really had his eye in, he broke Krajicek early after creating another batch of break points, Krajicek saved two but couldn’t save a third, double faulting at the crucial moment. Two games later, Sampras found himself under pressure again, having to save two break points after a brilliant Krajicek backhand crosscourt passing shot. Sampras managed to get through the game and Krajicek visibly tired suffering mental fatigue with the constant return pressure, making simple volley errors and was broken to love leaving Sampras to serve out the match;; which he did with his fastest serves of the match at 132mph (214kph) much to the delight of the crowd who stayed in for the late finish. The match finished 4:6, 7:6, 6:4, 6:2.

This match is remarkable for a number of reasons. First of all, the match stats are incredible, which you can see below.  Sampras served 67% first serves, exactly two thirds of his 1st serves in the box at an average speed of 188 kpmh. Sampras hit 46 winners and only 19 unforced errors, converting four of six break point opportunities. Out of those 46 winners only six were aces, we don’t have the stats for passing shot winners but there were a lot. Meanwhile Krajicek served 23 aces, hit 49 winners and 16 unforced errors, converting two of eight break point opportunities. On each side of the court there were over double the winners to unforced error ratio. Krajicek will feel he let the match slip in the second set tiebreak but Sampras was capable of taking his game to different heights at the drop of a hat.

Another reason this match stands out because once again it shows on hardcourts how the dynamic changes for two big servers. It would have been very unlikely to see six breaks of serve on a grass court in four sets during this era. You might say there was the predictable tie break, but even that was unpredictable with two breaks in the set and eight points against the serve in the tiebreak.

The rivalry finished 6:4 in Krajicek’s favour, Sampras won the last two meetings in Cincinnati 1999 and the 2000 US Open quarterfinal.