Duel Match Stats/Reports - Becker vs Agassi, Davis Cup semi-final rubber, 1989 & Becker vs McEnroe, Davis Cup relegation round rubber, 1987

[Waspsting]

Boris Becker (West Germany) beat Andre Agassi (USA) 6-7(4), 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-4 in a Davis Cup semi-final rubber, 1989 on in carpet in Munich, West Germany

The result levelled the tie at 1-1. Becker would partner Eric Jelen to win the doubles rubber over Ken Flach and Robert Seguso, and Agassi would lose the fourth rubber to Carl-Uwe Steeb to give West Germany the win. West Germany would go onto win the event, beating Sweden in the final, with Becker winning both his singles rubbers and being part of the doubles winning team. Agassi was 19 years old

Becker won 197 points, Agassi 175

Becker serve-volleyed off most first serves and regularly off seconds

(Note: 1 point has been tracked mostly by audio
Set 2, Game 9, Point 9 - unknown serve direction and return type, marked Agassi FH inside-out winner off third ball)

Serve Stats
Becker...
- 1st serve percentage (87/159) 55%
- 1st serve points won (68/87) 79%
- 2nd serve points won (33/72) 46%
- Aces 28 (3 second serves), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 11
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (61/159) 38%

Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (117/213) 55%
- 1st serve points won (72/117) 62%
- 2nd serve points won (45/96) 47%
- Aces 3 (2 second serves)
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (35/213) 16%

Serve Patterns
Becker served...
- to FH 39%
- to BH 53%
- to Body 9%

Agassi served...
- to FH 35%
- to BH 64%
- to Body 1%

Return Stats
Becker made...
- 173 (84 FH, 88 BH, 1 ??), including 27 runaround FH, 20 return-approaches & 1 drop-return
- 9 Winners (7 FH, 2 BH), including 4 runaround FHs
- 32 Errors, comprising...
- 13 Unforced (6 FH, 7 BH), including 4 runaround FH & 2 return-approach attempts
- 19 Forced (12 FH, 7 BH)
- Return Rate (173/208) 83%

Agassi made...
- 87 (40 FH, 47 BH), including 5 runaround FH & 1 runaround BH
- 12 Winners (6 FH, 6 BH)
- 32 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (2 FH, 4 BH)
- 26 Forced (15 FH, 11 BH)
- Return Rate (87/148) 59%

Break Points
Becker 12/26 (16 games)
Agassi 9/13 (9 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Becker 64 (26 FH, 9 BH, 10 FHV, 13 BHV, 4 OH, 2 BHOH)
Agassi 65 (28 FH, 27 BH, 1 FHV, 6 BHV, 3 OH)

Becker had 19 from serve-volley points -
- 12 first volleys (6 FHV, 5 BHV, 1 OH)
- 5 second volleys (2 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 BHOH)
- 1 third volley (1 BHOH)
- 1 fifth volley (1 FHV)

- 6 from return-approach points (4 BHV, 2 OH)... 1 OH was on the bounce from the baseline

- 1 other BHV was a diving shot

- FH returns - 1 cc, 3 dtl (1 runaround) and 3 runaround inside-out
- regular FHs - 8 cc, 3 dtl (1 pass), 4 inside-out, 1 inside-out/dtl, 1 inside-in, 2 running-down-drop-shot at net (1 'cc' parallel to the net, 1 lob)
- BH returns - 1 cc pass and 1 inside-in
- regular BHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 4 dtl and 1 inside-out/dtl

Agassi had 34 passes - 9 returns (3 FH, 6 BH) & 25 regular (10 FH, 15 BH)
- FH returns - 1 inside-out and 2 inside-in
- BH returns - 1 cc, 2 dtl and 3 inside-in
- regular FH passes - 6 cc (1 possibly left by Becker), 3 dtl and 1 lob
- regular BH passes - 5 cc, 7 dtl, 1 inside-out/dtl and 2 lobs

- regular FHs (including returns) - 2 cc, 1 dtl, 5 inside-out (1 return), 6 inside-in (2 returns, 1 at net) and 1 net chord dribbler
- regular BHs - 1 cc and 5 dtl

- 2 from serve-volley points a first volley and a second volley, both BHVs

- the FHV was a swinging, non-net shot

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Becker 64
- 35 Unforced (10 FH, 21 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV)
- 29 Forced (13 FH, 6 BH, 6 FHV, 4 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49.7

Agassi 67
- 36 Unforced (10 FH, 22 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)... the FHV was a swinging shot
- 31 Forced (10 FH, 18 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BH1/2V)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50

(Note 1: All 1/2 volleys refer to such shots played at net. 1/2 volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke numbers)

(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Becker was...
- 71/122 (58%) at net, including...
- 47/77 (61%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 35/51 (69%) off 1st serve and...
- 12/26 (46%) off 2nd serve
---
- 11/20 (55%) return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back

Agassi was...
- 26/39 (67%) at net, including...
- 7/12 (58%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 6/11 (55%) off 1st serve and...
- 1/1 off 2nd serve

Match Report
One of the best matches ever played, with Becker at his absolute best and Agassi around his for the period on a fast, but healthy bouncing court

Everything in Boris’ game - serve, return, groundstrokes, volleying and even movement are as good as I’ve seen from him and in no other match are all parts in top nick together like this one. Agassi for his part returns and passes at his best (in this period or otherwise), is powerful and adventurous in his groundstrokes (though a bit different in some areas from what he’d come to be), moves very quickly ( normal for the period) and even serves pretty well (given his general limitations around the period)

Agassi serves for a straight set win at 6-5 in the third set. Closest he is to victory is when that game’s on 15-15. He’s broken to 30

The remarkable thing is that for all that, statistically its nowhere close to being that tight for Boris, who has comfortably better of things
Boris wins 53.0% of the points, while serving 42.7% of them
Break points - Boris 12/26 (16 games), Agassi 9/13 (9 games)

If you think those figures bend Boris’ way to that extent because of the last 2 sets that he wins 3 & 4, think again. Boris has better of things even when he’s down 2 sets to love

After 2 sets -
- Points won - Boris 89, Agassi 87… with Boris serving 70 points to Agassi’s 106
In percentages, Boris winning 50.5% of the points while serving 39.8% of them

Excluding the tiebreakers themselves, that shifts to Boris 80 points, Agassi 73 (Boris serving 59 of them) or Boris winning winning 52.3% of points while serving 38.6%

The gist of what those numbers are saying is that some combo of random chance, Boris choking and Agassi clutching make this match as close as it is. Make Agassi up 2 sets to love and serving for a straight set win. With trend of play as it is, Boris winning comfortably would be the safe bet, not one step shy of being straight setted

Particularly pertinent are break point figures. Agassi converts in all 9 games he has them on (and only has 13, which means he doesn’t extend Boris’ service games which has a hand in Boris serving so much less). Boris has break points in 16 games by contrast, and Agassi holds 4 of those. The substantial 26 break points Boris has results in the exact opposite of short games - also having a hand in Agassi serving so much more in the match. Its not a bad thing to serve much more, provided you hold in the end, and Agassi often does

So what is it? Luck? Chokey Boris? Clutchy Agassi? Why is the match is tight?

Its not Chokey Boris. Action is very high quality throughout, crucial points included. It is clutchy Agassi to secure his breaks - he has to be virtually perfect to earn those, and he is. Mostly luck or random chance falling one way disproportionately often for Agassi clinging on to serve (again, amidst very high quality play from both players) as often as he does - and not just when down break points

Gist of match progression - Boris doing sizably better getting into return games considerably more than Agassi does, Agassi doing enough to hang in and snatching 2 tiebreakers to have commanding lead, Boris general advantage eventually shining through to come away with the win

Progression and quality of action are different things. Agassi’s drops a bit (as in, he stops nailing passing winners from every normal, let alone good look he has on the pass, which is what he’d been doing earlier). What he had been doing seemed unsustainably great and he certainly doesn’t play badly in second half of match, just not as great as he had been. Then again, one wouldn’t think Boris could keep up his standard for 5 long sets either, but he does

More than that, one senses that the crowd awes him some. It’s a typical Davis Cup crowd and the German crowds are generally more supportive of their own than most places and especially of Boris. They get louder and louder as match turns more and more Boris’ way to the 19 year old Agassi’s seeming discomfort. Boris doesn’t egg them on, to his credit. He objects to line calls when he feels there’s been a bad one (crowd of course goes bananas at such times), but gets on with the game and gently gestures for quiet when they’re overdoing the noise (which happens to coincide with when Agassi looks particularly ill at ease). All part and parcel of Davis Cup

Remarkably, Boris plays his best from start to stop without a lull. He changes his game, serve-volleying less as match goes on, particularly off second serves which had come in for some ferocious stick from the Agassi return in first half. He rarely second serve-volleys in second half, and even stays back off firsts a bit. Smart move, given Agassi’s incredible returning, not that the incredible-ness ceases, but staying back, at least it doesn’t end points with winners (more on that later). More importantly a successfully move; Boris is better player from the back, slightly surprisingly

 

[Waspsting]

Finally, there are certain implications for the future coming out of this match and it might be a little like winning the battle but losing the war for Boris. If playing at his very best he’s 1 return game away from being straight setted by this 19-year old and assuming this isn’t a 1-off high quality showing from his opponent, future prospects for Boris against Agassi look like they could be hairy

Particularly, his getting better of baseline contest. This is Boris at his best from the back and his day-to-day playing level tends to vary more than most. If he thinks this match is an indicator of how he stacks up with Agassi from the back, he’s likely in for a rude awakening in the future

So it would prove. Boris would only win 2/12 remaining matches between the pair and never get the better of Agassi from the back over a substantial length of time again

Court action is 2 fold. Boris serve-volleing vs Agassi returning-passing. A fantastic contest, both top drawer in their respective areas. Boris serving big, Agassi thundering any return he can reach, Boris volleying fabulously, Agassi passing the same

Agassi does as well as possible there, but that game is usually loaded in servers advantage (especially when they have a serve like Boris’ bombs) - adjusting for expectations, just a slight advantage for Boris here

And baseline rallies, just as good. Attacking from both players, with plenty of open court, corner to corner running involved. Lots of great shot making from both players - Agassi off both wings, Boris mostly but not exclusively FHs. Even minority, stationary exchange of shots is pressuring and hard hitting

Boris maybe shades things here too, his FH in aggressive role (neither of Agassi’s groundies are far behind), his BH holding close to even with the heavier 2-hander of Agassi’s neutrally

Before all that, comes serve and return and there’s lots of goodies there too

Serve & Return
- Boris serve - typical high quality, ‘boom-boom’ stuff. Both serves
- Boris serve-volleying frequency - smartly done
- Agassi return - top quality, boom-booming the boom boom, right back at ‘cha
- Agassi serve - well placed, smartly done (within limits of his not having a strong serve)
- Boris return - exceptionally high quality and well judged in all ways

Boris serve-volleys virtually always early in the match, behind strong serves (including seconds). Agassi blasts anything he can reach. There’s a good lot he can’t, but whatever he does seems to be a winning shot (as in, goes for a winner or leaves Boris an impossible volley)

As match goes on, Boris serve-volleys less and less behind second serves, though continuing to do so behind firsts. It’s smart - as good as his second serves are, they’re taking a terrific pounding

Agassi continues to hammer 2nd returns, often right back to the baseline a’la Novak Djokovic. Misses more than necessary but probably worth it (or would be, if not for Boris playing so well off the baseline - more on that later)

Agassi has an average serve of pace, but puts them in right places. He goes for depth on first serve, and width off seconds. Executes both well, and on a court like this, that’s liable to be very troubling for opponent (especially when backed up by his aggressive play - more on that later)

Boris takes first returns early from about on the baseline. The depth makes it an awkward shot, but he misses little and returns with fair authority. Of course, sometimes leaving Agassi with initiative, but about as well as can do from Boris in the style he employs

Against second serves, Boris usually returns from a step further back and judges perfectly what to do with the shot. Drive-slices BHs that are wide (and many are), runaround FHs going for point ending shots (the serves are so wide that when moving over he often finds them ball on his body or crampingly close to it), and return-approaches (both of hard hit shots and chip-charges). Occasionally comes in behind FH dtl returns against first serves. The aggression isn’t overdone, the consistency is excellent and success rate with the aggression is excellent

Fabulous stuff all around

Some numbers coming out of all this -

Boris 25 aces, 1 service winner first serves comes to an unreturnable 30% of the time. Heavy stuff. He’s got 3 second serve aces too - its just first serves he’s booming down

With the big second serves comes high 11 double faults too. Product of going for a lot and having to because Agassi is so fierce with the return

Boris serve-volleying 84% off first serves (near always) and 45% of the time off seconds (having started match doing so near always. That’s well tailored to how rest of his game is doing - first serve is big enough (and he volleys well enough) for serve-volley to be best option even against the heavy counter-fire it receives and second serve isn’t. Continuous 2nd serve-volleying is likely to get him into a lot of trouble

Off second serves, Boris wins 46% serve-volleying and 56% not

Agassi with ‘just’ 12 return-winners - 9 passes, 3 not. That’s an under-reflection of how devastating his return is because a) bulk of Boris 10 volley FEs are impossible shots drawn by the return and b) Boris makes a ton of very, very difficult volleys against the return

He has no read on the serve and guesses direction of first serves in particular, which is apparent when he gets it wrong and is moving in wrong direction. But when he guesses right and ball is in reach, he absolutely blasts it. Would overwhelm any but the very top class volleying (which is what he’s up against) - and even that can’t handle the better returns. Can mostly reach second serves without having to guess - which isn’t easy either (as evidenced by the 3 aces)

Good job by Boris to throw in reasonable 9% to the body too against this counter-onslaught. And Agassi’s 3 non-pass return winners indicates he’s blasting returns even when Boris is staying back too. Good lot of third ball baseline half-volleying for Boris to do

59% return rate at the level of damaging that Agassi returns with should be good for breaks and it is. Should be good for more than it gets even, but for Boris’ court game, but the low rate explains the big discrepancy in points served during the match. Plenty of easy love or 15 holds for Boris on back of unreturned serves. It’s a matter of Agassi always capable of slapping a few returns together to threaten breaking, not his threatening every game

Average serve strength from Agassi but firsts are deep (Boris taking them from baseline without trying to hit too hard, or being able to because of the force/depth of ball) and seconds wide (enough that Boris after moving as far over as he can for runaround FH still gets the ball around his body). And court is quick enough that this kind of serving could be highly effective

Just 3 aces from Agassi and 2 of those are second serves. From 213 serves, that’s not good and indicator of his serve not having great pace to it, but to be clear, its not a roller either. ‘Average’ here means average, its not a euphemism for weak and with courts help, potentially troubling

Boris returns splendidly in all ways. For starters, 83% return rate is great. Gets tough first serves back without much trouble. Is selective in going for aggressive returns and seems to pull it off most of the time

He’s got 9 return winners, 4 of them runaround FHs, which are the highlight of the aggressive part of his returning. In deuce court, he likes to go dtl or more often, longline because he has to get so far over to meet the ball and hit very hard. Lot of tough wide third balls landing around baseline at great pace for Agassi to cope with. In ad court, he goes inside-out and has 3 winners (including match point)

Then there’s the 20 return-approaches - chip-charges, hit-&-runs even FH dtl against first serves and quick dash forward. He’s seen more than enough of how well Agassi passes in his service games to know that this ploy is likely to need a lot of net skills to pull off successfully. Still goes for it and largely succeeds, winning 11/20 on the play. That’s against more thunderous passing by Agassi or the hard-hit returns are deep and/or wide enough to make the pass very difficult

Lot of different things going on. Almost all of it is first class - great job by both players in both areas

Play - Net & Serve-Volley
Boris serve-volleys 84% of the time off first serves, winning 69% so doing (and 70% not doing)

He second serve-volleys 45% of the time, winning 46% (and 56% not doing)

Agassi throws in a touch of serve-volley himself (9% off first serve, to go with a solitary second), tending to do so on game point but occasionally when he’s in a bit of trouble

Boris is 11/20 return-approaching and rallying to net -

Boris 13/25 or 52%
Agassi 19/27 or 70%

Total numbers - Boris 71/122 or 58%, Agassi 26/39 at 67%

The main part of interest here is Boris at net vs Agassi on the pass contest. The opposite match up isn’t too important. Besides not coming in much, Agassi’s success at net is based on his baseline superiority - he comes in off commanding approach shots (particularly BH dtl) that do most of the work. His volley isn’t tested much and is neither good nor bad - being at net is sufficient for winning points

 

[Waspsting]

Boris’ volley vs Agassi’s pass by contrast, rocks the house. Both are top drawer

On volley/OH, Boris has
- 29 winners
- 4 UEs and 10 FEs

For starters, the UEs are very, very low for such a long match. Essentially, he misses nothing (and potential UEs against Agassi’s power would be on the harder side of being unforceful). Comes as a big surprise when he misses 1 late in the match - the highest testament to consistency of volley

Second, most of the FEs are virtually impossible volleys and as good as winners from Agassi. There’s more than 10 difficult or very difficult volleys (wide and/or low, including half-volleys and others right to feet) that Boris makes. He’s top notch on making tough volleys too

And the high winner count - just what it looks like. Boris putsaway whatever’s there to be putaway and what’s there to be putaway aren’t floaters above net but at least firmly struck balls. Puts volleys well away from Agassi when he doesn’t put them away. His proficiency on the volley extending to the OH is no surprise as he’s 1 of the best smashers around (though still impressive because Agassi lobs very well and has), but going to the BHOH (where he has 2 winners) wouldn’t be a given. Top notch here too from Boris

And Agassi on the pass?
- Winners - 34 (26 sans returns)
- Passing errors - 17 (sans returns)

Like Boris on the volley, fabulous from Agassi on the pass. And just as Boris’ volleying has extra shine for being up against such a powerful passer, Agassi’s passing quality is even better than it looks given what its up against

Top most of the top drawer contest - full marks to both players in their respective areas. The only volley-pass contest I’ve seen that’s of comparable quality is Patrick Rafter vs Agassi, Wimbledon 2000

Everything high end that can happen, does to the general advantage of neither player

Agassi hammers returns/passes powerfully in general and at least firmly. Whatever is on ‘weaker’ side of that, Boris dispatches while barely missing and just as rarely, not being decisive in the finishing

Agassi hammers untouchable returns/passes - go for winners or leave Boris with impossible volley

Agassi hammers very powerful returns/passes, often low and/or wide. Boris makes the volley, sometimes managing with decent authority, sometimes inevitably leaving a good-look pass. Agassi drills the follow-up for brute winning passes - including regularly against not good look chances

Its not all brute power either. Lovely lobs from Agassi (he has 3 winners) often on the run, wonderful back-pedalling OHs from Boris (including BHOHs, on which he has 2 winners)

And Boris showing moxie, but not foolhardiness in his approach choices. Not overly strong approaches (other than the serve). He’s 24/45 rallying to net + return-approaching, which moves to 36/71 when you throw in 2nd serve-volleying. About 50-50

It’s the big first serve that’s putting him over at net overall - and even that requires terrific volleying support

If the whole match were just this battle, Agassi would probably win, but Boris gets better of things from the baseline

Play - Baseline
Baseline-to-baseline -

Boris has 31 winners, forces 11 errors and 31 UEs
Agassi has 20 winners, forces 6 errors, 32 UEs
Aggressively ended points/UE differential - Boris +11, Agassi -6

Boris with better of things, though less so than the numbers suggest because large chunk of Agassi’s successful 29/37 rallying to net points is extension of his seizing the baseline rally by the throat (Boris by contrast comes in without gaining big advantage from the back)

FH stars for both players
Boris 24 winners, 10 UEs
Agassi 15 winners, 10 UEs

Even sans returns (Boris has 7, Agassi 3), both players in the positives on winners

Off the BH -
Boris 7 winners, 21 UEs
Agassi 5 winners, 17 UEs

FH play is marked by aggression, both players opening court with wide angles, both going for the kill shot amidst such lively rallies. Both players also looking for winners from close to even positions (Boris more) and usually making them. There’s point construction as well as shot-making on show. Contrast to the celebrated series of indoor matches between Boris and Pete Sampras, which are marked by hit-or-miss shot-making off the bat from both players

Agassi’s shots are less compact and with more of a flourish than they’d come to be. He doesn’t have time to be flowery with his passing shots, but indulges more with backswing when rallying. The other significant difference in his play from years to come has to do with his BH

He hops back to against deep balls (as opposed to hit them back neutrally on the rise) and is as open chested as can be on the BH. Problematically so. He’s so open chested, its difficult for him to get a BH cc wide enough to ensure Boris has to hit a BH back. Boris is able to move over and play FHs good lot of the time, and Boris’ FH is terrific, the best shot on show

Swings to roundabouts is Agassi’s able to go dtl that much more readily. And he looks to go dtl to attack whenever he can, sooner rather than later though not wildly so. Often comes in behind these shots to force ‘passing’ errors (shot would probably have ended point regardless or approach)

 

[Waspsting]

0 ground-to-ground BH FEs for Boris, but he has 6 FHs, mostly drawn by BH dtl shots

For both players, FH is play is about attacking, taking charge or ending point out of the blue. Boris’ 8 cc winners are telling here (Agassi has 2)… he’s better able to do the above and he’s also more apt to go for the kill shot. Agassi’s not far behind, but he is behind

BH play is about hard-hitting consistency. Lots of deep balls firmly struck by both players. Boris mixes in a few pseudo slice-drives too. Agassi attacks more readily with dtl shots, but Boris isn’t too far behind either

BH dtl winners - Agassi 5, Boris 4… with Agassi winning a bunch more points by forcing errors or coming to net

Ground UEs are virtually a wash -
- both FHs 10
- BHs - Boris 21, Agassi 22

… with neutral UEs reading Boris 14, Agassi 11. With neutral play being mostly BH based and there being so many more BH UEs, that’s an area where a time free version of Agassi would look to have a bigger lead, but here, he’s not too focused on strong BH cc’ng

Gist - another great contest. Both players attacking with FH and pressuring-cum-attacking with BH

Boris with better of things off the FH, where he’s more adventurous in going for the winner. Agassi a bit better of things off the BH, where he’s more willing to attack dtl, but his cc’s aren’t able to keep the ball off Boris’ FH

Match Progression
Becker serve-volleys 100% of the time in first set and its met by very powerful return-passing by Agassi. Boris goes for the odd, daring return-approach against Agassi’s first serve and very powerful runaround FH dtl returns against second serves. Agassi throws in the odd approach, including serve-volleying amidst baseline action on his service games, often looking for a swinging volley

There are 4 breaks in the set and Becker has 5 other break points across 2 games. He serves 32 points in the set to Agassi’s 57

Match opens with a pair of breaks, Agassi opening with a series of powerful return-passes and faltering with attacking shots to be broken back. Agassi breaks later to go up 3-2 in a stunning game with 4 passing winners broken up by aces (BH dtl return, BH inside-out/dtl, BH lob and FH inside-in return). He struggles through 14 and 10 point holds to stay ahead and serves for the set at 5-4

Double faults and deep returns thwart him and its onto tiebreak

2 perfect inside-in return-pass winners against first serves (1 of each side) puts Agassi up 4-1 and that’s enough for him to nurse through for the win

More of the same brilliance in set 2. Towards end of set, Boris starts staying back off second serves. His shot making of the ground is terrific

Again 4 breaks and this time, Agassi has to save break point in 1 additional game. He serves 49 points in the set to Boris’ 38

Players trade breaks early again. 2 double faults and a rare BHV UE get Boris broken, but he hits back with a strong baseline game to break right back

They trade breaks again in middle of set - both brilliant games. Agassi’s break in particular which features a BH dtl pass winner with 3 impossible volleys for Boris to make. This sets off Boris staying back off second serves

Tiebreak. Boris double fault sets him back 2-4. Strong play from both after that, but Agassi keeps his nose ahead and wraps up with a serve-volley, drawing a return error

4 more breaks in the third set, this time Boris leading for most of it. He fails to serve out the set, before Agassi fails to serve out the match at the death

Boris rarely 2nd serve-volleys but his shot-making from the back is on par with Agassi’s off the FH and close to it off the BH too. What hurts him is Agassi hammering returns right to the baseline and he wins 8/21 second serve points (Agassi wins 15/22). Both players serve 41 points in the set. Same great contest between Boris at net and Agassi on the pass

Boris breaks for 3-1 in a great game that he opens with a FH cc return winner and a diving BHV one. Throws in a couple of return-approaches and on third break point, Agassi misses a routine BHV serve-volleying

Agassi goes on a mini-tear towards what looks like the end. Serving at 5-3, Boris is broken by more power passes, returns and a net adventure from Agassi. He consolidates with a 4 winner hold - the last 3 successive cc passing winners (1 FH, 2 BHs). And then breaks again to leave himself serving for the match

Return-approaches and a particularly good running-down-drop-shot lob winner at net gets Boris to 15-40. Agassi misses a third ball FH inside-in winner attempt on second break point - and its onto the third tiebreak

Boris strikes early in it, with a big runaround FH return, ending with a FH cc winner to go up 2-0. There’s a wonderful exchange between a serve-volleying Boris and a just-behind service line Agassi that ends with Boris making a 5th volley winner. Boris wraps up with another big runaround FH return that leads him to ending with an OH winner

Things changes in the fourth. Boris occasionally stays back off first serves and rarely comes in behind seconds. From the baseline, Boris is at his best with the shot-making. When he misses a regulation BHV, late in set, it brings home just how well he’s volleyed in the match so far

Again there’s 4 breaks, but Boris gets 3 of them. He breaks to open, finishing with a BH cc passing winner. Agassi eventually levels with the by now usual lot of passing winners, ending with a flawless FH inside-out return winner against a body serve (with Boris on baseline)

He doesn’t win another game. Throws out the first, genuinely bad game of the match next to be broken to love - starting with a double fault and missing a putaway FH from middle of court to start. And he’s broken again to end the set, though this time, its due to Boris’ play - a brilliant BH dtl winner early in game and finishing a running FH cc one to send match into decider

Decider has 5 breaks. Action is still excellent. Agassi seems a bit put off by the enthusiastic crowd who are close to overdrive. Both players show exceptional stamina, neither appear more than a little tired, Agassi a bit more

Bad game by Agassi to be broken to love via 4 ground UEs - only one of them less than easy, but he breaks right back in a game where Boris doesn’t serve-volley at all

They trade breaks again after a 1 game lull. Pair of Agassi FH winners put him ahead for the first time in the set, 2 holds away from victory. It’s the last game he wins

Net play gets Boris back on serve and he breaks from 30-15 down to end the match with a bunch of aggressive returns against second serves - both powerful or/and approaches. Its these returns that win him last 3 points - a deep wide BH to force error, a powerful wide FH to do the same and fittingly a runaround FH inside-out winner to wrap up

Summing up, as good a match as there’s been with both players at the top of their games. When a player like Boris Becker maximizes his potential for a match on a fast court that suits him, one would think routine or easy straight sets would be the outcome

Instead, Agassi serves for a straight sets win, before results follow general trend of Becker having better of things

Becker serves big, serve-volleys off first serves and adjusts to not doing so off seconds after taking a fearful shellacking from his opponents returning. Volleys all but flawlessly - missing next to nothing, being decisive and dealing with a plethora of difficult low/wide/powerful balls. Is superb off the ground with aggressive FH shot-making and attacking play and hard hitting BHs, complemented with slices which he’s also not unwilling to attack from. Returns with great consistency while wisely picking his moments to be aggressive with point ending runaround FHs and return-approaches

Agassi returns and passes thunderously and hammers groundstrokes off both sides with vigour, aggression and a flourish while serving with good placement though limited of force. And is clutch enough to take all his chances, while thwarting many of his opponents to leave himself serving for a straight set win before things turn around

Becker has better of things, and ultimately the result follows that line. There have been few matches as good and none better

Stats for Becker’s singles rubbers against Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander in the final - Duel Match Stats/Reports - Becker vs Edberg & Becker vs Wilander, Davis Cup final rubbers, 1989 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)

 

[Mainad]

Fascinating reading as always @Waspsting. Thanks for all the work you put into these match reports!

 

[Mustard]

It was an incredible match when I watched it.

 

[Waspsting]

Becker (West Germany) beat John McEnroe (USA) 4-6, 15-13, 8-10, 6-2, 6-2 in a Davis Cup relegation round rubber, 1987 on in carpet in Hartford Connecticut, USA

The result gave West Germany a 2-0 lead in the tie. After USA won the doubles rubber, McEnroe would beat Eric Jelen in his second singles rubber to level the match at 2-2. Becker would beat Tim Mayotte in another 5 setter to give West Germany the tie 3-2. West Germany would win the event the next 2 years (1988 and 1989), the USA would return to the World Group after a year (1989) and win the event the year after (1990)

Becker won 234 points, McEnroe 210

McEnroe serve-volleyed off all first serves and most seconds, Becker serve-volleyed less than half the time off first serves, heavily concentrated early in match

Serve Stats
Becker...
- 1st serve percentage (132/204) 65%
- 1st serve points won (103/132) 78%
- 2nd serve points won (35/72) 49%
- Aces 18 (1 second serve)
- Double Faults 9
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (70/204) 34%

McEnroe...
- 1st serve percentage (149/240) 62%
- 1st serve points won (105/149) 70%
- 2nd serve points won (39/91) 43%
- Aces 16, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 12
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (85/240) 35%

Serve Patterns
Becker served...
- to FH 41%
- to BH 57%
- to Body 2%

McEnroe served...
- to FH 27%
- to BH 62%
- to Body 11%

Return Stats
Becker made...
- 143 (50 FH, 93 BH), including 11 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 21 Winners (7 FH, 14 BH), including 2 runaround FH
- 68 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (3 FH), all runaround FHs
- 65 Forced (25 FH, 40 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 1 double-handed BH
- Return Rate (143/228) 63%

McEnroe made...
- 125 (55 FH, 70 BH), including 7 runaround FHs & 13 return-approaches
- 3 Winners (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 52 Errors, comprising...
- 16 Unforced (8 FH, 8 BH), including 2 return-approach attempts
- 36 Forced (14 FH, 22 BH)
- Return Rate (125/195) 64%

Break Points
Becker 9/27 (13 games)
McEnroe 6/17 (8 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Becker 75 (26 FH, 28 BH, 10 FHV, 7 BHV, 4 OH)
McEnroe 50 (11 FH, 11 BH, 11 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 8 BHV, 8 OH)

Becker had 43 passes - 19 returns (6 FH, 13 BH) & 24 regular (10 FH, 12 BH, 2 FHV)
- FH returns - 3 cc (1 runaround), 1 inside-out and 2 inside-in
- BH returns - 2 cc, 4 dtl, 1 inside-out and 6 inside-in
- regular FHs - 6 cc, 1 cc/inside-in, 2 dtl and 1 inside-out/dtl
- regular BHs - 4 cc, 4 dtl (1 at net), 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 longline, 1 lob and 1 running-down-drop-shot cc (non-net)
- FHVs - 1 non-net and 1 swinging shot from near baseline

- 10 from serve-volley points -
- 9 first volleys (2 FHV, 5 BHV, 2 OH)... 1 BHV can reasonably be called a BHOH
- 1 second volley (1 OH)

- 1 other OH was on the bounce

- regular FHs - 2 cc (1 at net), 1 dtl runaround return, 5 inside-out and 2 inside-in
- regular BHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl and 1 inside-out return

McEnroe had 27 from serve-volley points -
- 15 first 'volleys' (6 FHV, 5 BHV, 1 OH, 1 FH at net, 2 BH at net)
- 11 second volleys (4 FHV, 1 BHV, 6 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 BHV)

- 1 from a return-approach point, a FHV

- 12 passes (6 FH, 4 BH, 1 FH/12V, 1 BHV)
- FHs - 2 cc, 3 dtl (1 return, 1 where Becker was on the ground) and 1 inside-out
- BHs - 1 cc, 2 dtl and 1 lob
- the FH1/2V and BHV were both played net-to-net

- regular FHs - 1 cc, 1 longline, 1 drop shot and 1 net chord dribbler
- regular BHs - 2 cc returns, 1 dtl, 1 drop shot and 1 net chord dribbler

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Becker 66
- 26 Unforced (7 FH, 10 BH, 1 FHV, 7 BHV, 1 OH)... with 1 FH at net
- 40 Forced (12 FH, 22 BH, 3 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 2 BHV)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net, 1 BH running-down-drop-shot (non-net) & 1 BH pass attempt at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50.4

McEnroe 77
- 26 Unforced (4 FH, 7 BH, 6 FHV, 8 BHV, 1 OH)... with 1 FH at net & 1 BH at net
- 51 Forced (12 FH, 19 BH, 8 FHV, 3 FH1/2V, 8 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 51.9

(Note 1: All 1/2 volleys refer to such shots played at net. 1/2 volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke numbers)

(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Becker was...
- 65/98 (67%) at net, including...
- 37/61 (61%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 32/49 (65%) off 1st serve and..
- 5/12 (42%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/1 return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

McEnroe was...
- 131/213 (62%) at net, including...
- 114/188 (61%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 88/132 (67%) off 1st serve and..
- 26/56 (46%) off 2nd serve
---
- 9/13 (69%) return-approaching
- 4/6 (67%) forced back/retreated

Match Report
FA good match that lasts very long, as opposed to a great match because it’s long. Becker again has sizable advantage beyond the scoreline for a number of reasons. High among them, McEnroe not being able to return his serve while Becker returns very damagingly against serve-volleying and Becker’s vast power advantage off the ground. Neither player volleys notably well. McEnroe serves quite well and that’s all that keeps him in the match. Court is quick and low

Of participants, scoreline and surface, this match obviously has plenty in common with the ‘89 one. Here, Boris plays the role enjoyed by Agassi in the other encounter

In ‘89, Agassi’s ground winners read 28 FH, 27 BH. Here, Boris has 26 FH, 28 BH

Its not a serve-volley match. Mac serve-volleys all the time (100% off first serves and 71% off seconds), Boris does not. Like the previous match, he starts out doing so and then just stops about quarter of the way into second set

In all, Boris serve-volleys 43% off time off first serves and 19% off seconds. Feels less than that because for bulk of match, its hardly at all. Serve-volleys off his first 23 first serves (including aces), after that just 24% of the time off first serves (and he only serve-volleys 12 times of second serves all match)

Why? Because he doesn’t have to. Mac proves simply unable to handle force of Boris’ first serve to a blackmark degree. Boris doesn’t even serve wide. Powerful stuff, but not aggressively placed wide. Mac can’t even return first serves he doesn’t have to move at all for or look likely to. He looks like a novice shooter, jarred by the kick-back of firing a gun. Powerful serve sure, quick court yes, but just bad returning from a player of Mac’s stature. Just looks out of his league on the return

It’s a relative shortcoming of his game in general. Ivan Lendl serving all out gets similar results against Mac. Boris would get similar results in the pair’s 1989 indoor matches. The usual balancing point is that he so savagely attacks second serves via chip-charges that a low in-count (which tends to happen when a player is hammering down power serves) becomes a problem for the server - who either lays off the fat serving to keep higher in-count or risks having his second serves attacked at will

None of that applies here - again, to blackmark extent on Mac’s returning. For starters, Boris isn’t even going all in with the fat serving and has high 65% in count with not large 12% of first serves being aces. Lets him get the freebies while holding something in reserve. And second, Mac isn’t chip-charging much. 13 times and 2 errors trying against Boris 63 second serves

He wins very high 69% return-approaching - higher than either player does first serve-volleying (Mac 67%, Boris 65%). But doesn’t do it much or try. The alternative is getting bashed to bits in baseline rallies because Mac’s no match for Boris’ force of shot from the back

Not the smartest of matches from Mac, who is usually on the ball on things like this. Gist of it on return is he can’t return first serves and he won’t try to attack seconds. The outcome is a boatload of freebies and Boris doing whatever he wants to from baseline rallies - beating him down like a step-child or if he feels like it, coming to net to finish

On flip side, Mac’s first serve is good enough to win him host of points, but even that’s getting whacked for return-pass winners regularly enough, while the seconds are regularly hammered so.

Boris has 21 return winners - more than either players aces (Boris 16, Mac 16)

Mac’s prospects for breaking seem to be centered around Boris double faulting. Which actually happens. 4/6 games Mac breaks in involves Boris double faulting

An easy way to look at this match is in terms of freebies and quality of returns

Freebies are virtually equal - Boris 34%, Mac 35%
Boris returns powerfully, frequently point endingly so. Mac returns feebly
Ergo, Mac has at least work to do on third ball, often very hard work and sometimes, impossible. For Boris, third ball is freestyling playtime

Just like the ‘89 match, all that doesn’t stop Mac from having his chances. He’s got 5 break/set points at 11-10 in the second set, which would have given him a 2 sets lead, but struggles to return from thereon

 

[Waspsting]

Gamesmanship & the Crowd
Throughout match, Mac takes oodles of time between points, including between 1st and 2nd serves. His average must be around 40 seconds. Considerably higher than his norm. He doesn’t up it from there towards end when he’s clearly tiring, which is wise since its easier to go with momentum of playing quickly than take the energy to play slower still. Occasionally, he holds things up as Boris is about to serve too - always on important points

No reaction from Boris

Mac does a lot of crowd orchestration too, often when he’s playing for time

No reaction from Boris

He gets into verbals eventually - angry outbursts at the Chair, the linesmen, the West German captain Pilic

No reaction from Boris

The two players have an unfriendly exchange of words once

No effect on Boris, who’d endured similar playground tactics from Mac in their ‘86 Stratton Mountain match

Pretty ‘good’ gamesmanship from Mac (as in, likely to throw off opponent). He extravagantly celebrates winning a point via net chord dribbling winner (as opposed to acknowledge/apologize for the luck of it in line with tennis etiquette). Doesn’t work, but a good try if that’s your type of thing. Hypocrisy of telling Pilic to shut up, while he himself and his captain Gorman are constantly yapping at/with the Chair is also likely to provoke someone making an effort to be not be distracted (though what good annoying Pilic would do Mac on court remains to be seen)

Boris though doesn’t seem to be “making an effort to be not be distracted”, he’s just focused on what he’s doing to the organic exclusion of whatever silliness is going on around it

Crowd aren’t so well versed in being effective. From early on, they cheer and clap whenever Boris misses a first serve. If your going to do that, save it for an important point when it might throw the player off. Doing so every time will likely just desensitize the player to it

To be fair to crowd, as things go, Boris missing a first serve is a thing worth celebrating, but whatever power they might potentially have to influence match is wasted by over-indulging the move

Crowd here is worse than the ‘89 one, even without Mac egging them on, in terms of trying to distract the visitor. The West German crowd simply cheered for their player and remained silent for the opponent. This one is more focused on the opponent, while just as vocal in celebrating their players success (and more regularly for more mundane things, but then again, their expectations are probably lower for match outcome). Boris’ winners do get some applause in a way Agassi’s doesn’t in ‘89… probably a minority German group in crowd at work

In ‘89, Boris was seemingly focused on game and indifferent to crowd. Gently asked them to be quiet when they were getting too loud. Here, Mac’s very aware of crowd and looks to use them to his benefit

Perfect equanimity shown from Boris, who like Agassi in ‘89, was 19 years old but already an experienced Davis Cup campaigners. Neither the crowd, nor Mac’s antics seem to bother him a jot - he seems to be focused on the game to exclusion of such trivialities, not making some great effort to resist distraction (which tends to not work)

Choice of Surface?
Match is played on indoor carpet, a quick and low bouncing one. Presumably, the host nation chose it

Doesn’t seem like best choice from their point of view. Anybody they could field would start under-dog against Boris Becker probably regardless of surface, with possible exception of clay, but there aren’t any particularly proficient clay courters to choose from there either

But they start more under-dog on carpet than outdoor hard courts - a surface Americans grow up and hone their games on

Assuming 2 losses to Becker, USA’s chances rest in winning doubles and the other 2 singles rubbers

In Flack and Seguso, they have the favourites for doubles (again, probably regardless of surface). In singles, Eric Jelen would be the target to take 2 rubbers off

In this tie, Tim Mayotte plays the other singles rubbers. A strong serving, serve-volleyer, a good game for carpet, but not a bad one for hard courts either. He’d have been favoured to beat Jelen (he doesn’t as things turn out). Would he have been any less favoured on outdoor hard court?

Match is played in July. An uncomfortable time to be playing outdoor hard courts, particularly with advantage sets, but that lack of comfort goes for both teams

Indoor carpet or outdoor hard court - American prospects of victory would center on winning the doubles and winning the 2 non-Becker singles rubbers. But hard courts are where they’re more likely to upset Boris and probably be stronger favourites against Jelen too than they are on carpet

Odd choice of surface from the USA, and not a good one

Serve, Return & Serve-volley
Mac’s 1st serve and 1st return and Boris’ returning are the major shapers of action

Mac’s 1st serve is everything for him. He doesn’t volley too well (more on that later), so it has to be for him to keep holding. Good second serve, but Boris’ returning of it is better

He does just enough with it. Not hitting lines all the time, not sweeping Boris off the court with it, but a good mix of flats and slices, and directions and body serves does the job to keep him holding

16 aces, 1 service winner comes to 11.4% of first serves being unreturnable - a touch below the much bigger serve of Boris’ which is at 12.8%

He serve-volleys 100% of the time off firsts, and comes away with 67% points won
Off second serves, its 71% of the time, winning just 46% (a bit oddly, he does better not serve-volleying, winning 57% off a healthy 23 points)

Success of all of it is based on the 65 return FEs he draws. Even there, good lot of it due to natural hit-miss rate of Boris’ attempts at passing winners. The number of hard forced errors due purely to the serve being too good isn’t too high. Just about good enough on a quick court

It has to be good because Boris does a passable Agassi impression with his returning, hammering everything in sight to the tune of 21 winners (all but 2 of them passes). More than either players aces and in fact, even creeping close to first serve ace rate (he has a return winner 9% of the time total and 15% when he makes the return). Lot more that don’t go for winners miss by inches and Mac gets fair share of shoelace bullets to handle (which he doesn’t handle too well, though it’s a difficult task)

The stick 2nd serves get not only keeps Mac down to 46% 2nd serve-volleying points won, but encourages 12 double faults

For Mac, high 62% in count is very important. Second serves are handled roughly, and though firsts aren’t safe either, lower count would likely be disastrous. Given he hangs in - despite even first serves getting a fair pounding and seconds a severe one + not being great on the volley - Mac’s hit perfect balance in how much to go for on the serve while keeping high in count.

As for Mac’s 1st return, he just can’t the pace. There’s no simpler way of putting it. Boris booms down powerful serves conservatively of placement with many within a step or two reach and smaller number requiring no movement at all. Fat serve, fast court, nothings easy, but this is about as easy as he could hope for returning. Looks like balls just too heavy/fast for him and even Boris’ ‘weakest’ first serves are likely to not come back

Its not a 1-off. Same things happens in pair’s 3 matches on carpet in 1989, when Mac finished the year ranked 4

That leaves Boris’ 2nd serve to do deal with. Off it, Boris -
- serve-volleys 19% of the time
- wins 42% serve-volleying, 58% not
- double faults 9 times (crucial for Mac)

And Mac is 9/13 return-approaching (all chip-charges), always against second serves.

He really, really should be trying to do so more. Boris faltering serve-volleying doesn’t last long because he stops doing it and is due to being off on the regulation volley. Clearly, he’s got Mac’s number from baseline starting point. Mac’s not great on the volley himself, while Boris is on the pass, but even so, return-approaching looks by far Mac’s best bet. Way things are on volley-pass contest, wouldn’t be a surprise if Boris won bulk of such points, but that’s not what happens and the alternative of rallying while outgunned aren’t inviting

Interesting choice by Boris to cease serve-volleying too. Though faltering some on the volley early on, he has little to fear from Mac’s return, but would be wise to be wary of the chip-charges. By staying back, he opens himself up to the only potential threat. Doesn’t hurt him much because of Mac’s choices

Gist - Mac’s first serve just about good enough to keep him holding, Boris smacking powerful returns all the time and missing enough to not be overwhelming, Mac’s hopeless at handling power of Boris’ first serve and erring in not attacking second serves with chip-charges

As is, looks like Mac’s chances to break are for Boris to double fault (which in fact, happens), while Boris seems bound to break sooner or later with his regular winners

 

[Waspsting]

Play - Net & Baseline
Effective part of Mac’s game is all about being at net and he’s there 213 times - more than double Boris’ 98. And a 188 of those are serve-volley, making the Mac serve-volley vs Boris return-pass contest key

It’s the serve that keeps Mac’s head above water. Looking at Mac’s net numbers(including net groundshots, 1/2volleys, OHs, excluding non-net volleys etc.)

Mac has 31 winners, 17 UEs and 20 FEs to be -6 on winners/errors. Not a good start

On the pass, Boris has 43 winners (including large 19 returns), 32 errors
Sans the returns, 24 winners, 32 errors

And a bad continuation from Mac’s point of view. It’s the first serve that keeps him ahead of the curve, statisitcally, the huge 65 return FEs he draws

Sans first serve-volleying, Mac’s only 43/81 or 53% at net (again, similar to how Boris did in ‘89 match)

In ‘89, Boris volleyed superbly, but Agassi’s passing was the same

Here, Mac doesn’t volley particularly well. Doesn’t putaway all that’s there to be putaway (relatively low winners). Misses reasonable lot of stock volleys (relatively high UEs). Isn’t great at making the tough volleys either - he makes about as many as he misses and they’re not impossible volleys like ‘89 match (good lot of FEs)

And Boris nailing passes from all over the place, particularly FHs, where he has 10 winners, 12 errors (excluding 6 return winners). On BH, its 12 winners, 22 errors (excluding 13 return winners)

Mac’s particularly prone to missing regulation volleys early on. For most of the match, he achieves sound consistency, and works the ball away from Boris (if not into corners). And he’s not bad at the difficult volley by a stretch, its just that there’s a lot of them for him to make and to keep holding with confidence, he’d need to make a few more than he does

Mac’s not particularly quick around the net either (and he’s strongly tested on that front), and shows none of the great anticipation he used to in years gone by

Boris is excellent on the pass, his numbers a fair reflection of it. Goes in all direction with it too. Power is such that he doesn’t have to get ball too wide out of Mac’s reach to get it by

These numbers confirm that its Mac’s serve, not volley, that keeps him in the contest. Lot of ducks lining up just so for that to be the case

Much more mundane stuff with Boris at net and Mac on the pass. On the ‘volley’, Boris with 19 winners, 10 UEs, 6 FEs… similar, grey figures as Mac - only he isn’t facing high quality passing

On the pass, Mac with 12 winners, 22 errors (including 3 return winners). Not as good as Boris, but not bad

Boris also misses routine volleys early on. Doesn’t volley badly after that, but he’s not tested much. Most of his net success comes from rallying forward, which is more a product of his being able to overpower Mac off the ground than it is his volleying

Rallying to net, Boris wins 27/36 or 75%. Everything else, 38/62 or 62%. Even just first serve-volleying is 65% - a good number, but it being lower than his rallying to net figure is indicator that the latter is about strong approaches, not great volleying. Boris volley vs Mac pass is banal stuff

Most eye-catching feature of baseline rallies is very large gap in hitting strength. Boris hits hard off both sides, Mac feebly resists and counter-pushes

In baseline rallies -
- Winners Boris 13, Mac 9 (2 returns for both and including 2 net chord dribblers for Mac)
- Errors forced Boris 9, Mac 2
- UEs - Boris 16, Mac 9
(aggressively ended points/UE differential - Boris +6, Mac +2)

Not as bad as action looks for Mac. He’s completely out-powered, but all the things he can get right, he does
Neutral UEs - Boris 9, Mac 5
Attacking & Winner Attempt UEs - Boris 7, Mac 4

No looseness from Mac and even accounting for 2 returns and 2 net chord dribbler winners, good efficiency attacking and more. Good shot resistance too. Even some of Boris’ BH cc’s are powerful enough to qualify as forceful (and many of his FHs in all directions certainly are), so keeping the FEs down to 9 (3-4 of them drawn by returns to baseline) is good outcome for Mac. By contrast, he gets potential error forcing groundie almost never

Boris does fine too, but in light of large hitting advantage, expectations for him to win bulk of points is higher. Not losing a lot is a good outcome for Mac, winning majority is almost given for Boris

Like the ‘89 match, Boris’ FH starring with 10 winners, 6 UEs (sans a net shot). 5 of the winners are FH inside-outs, a move which looks ahead of its time or bringing in a new one

Where Boris surges ahead is in rallying to net, where -
Boris 27/36 at 75%
Mac 8/12 at 67%

Not just well, but smartly done by Boris. Doesn’t over-rely on power and shot-making from the back - and given huge advantage, it’d be tempting to. He might not be serve-volleying much, but freely visits net (which said power advantage makes easy for him to do) to finish. The finishing itself is excellent, very few good looks on passes for Mac

Mac doesn’t have much chance to come in from rallies. His best bet if he wanted to take net would be off the return

 

[Waspsting]

Match Progression
Both players are serve-volleying virtually always at start of match, with just the odd stay back off second serve. Few easy volley misses and not-good volleys from both right at the start too, with Boris throwing in a few double faults for bad measure

As first set goes on, its Boris that gets testing returns off and Mac is tested on half-volleys and shoelace volleys. He makes them, but Boris dispatches the follow-up passes. Mac hangs in on back of unreturned serves, but isn’t threatening with his returns

They trade breaks early. Boris missing a couple easy volleys and double faulting twice (including on break point) gets him broken in 10 point game and he breaks back with in an untidy Mac game, finishing with 2 passing winners, the second allowed by Mac not putting away the volley twice that was there to be so dealt with

Great game in the middle that Mac holds without facing break point, where he seems off a fusillade of powerful returns for 4-3

Poor game from Boris ends the set as he’s broken to love. Loses both points he stays back on, misses regulation BHV and again double faults on break point

In second set, Boris cuts back on second serve-volleying and as set goes on, firsts too. It seems a strange decision. He’s lost the first set by not serve-volleying, he has little to fear in Mac’s return-pass and plenty to in the chip-charge returns. In fact, he gets himself broken by such returns. He keeps at it though - and at end of day, can’t argue with his result

Double faults are still his chief problem. After breaking early (couple return winners, couple of points donated by Mac), he’s broken back at once again double faulting twice and Mac picking up a point return-approaching

No matter. Boris makes it 3 breaks in a row to stay up 3-2 in 16 point tussle. He hands back the break for 4-4 - again, to love and this time, losing a pair of Mac return-approach points

Boris breaks with power returns to leave himself serving for the set at 8-7. Good game by Mac to break back - there’s another double fault, but Boris makes the pass against the inevitable chip-charge, but Mac plays some excellent shots (running BH dtl pass winner, a low, error forcing pass and moving forward to take on a 2nd serve-volleying Boris to come away with a net-to-net BHV winner) to keep the set going

Make or break game is game 21, Boris serving down 10-11 falls to 0-40 (another double involved). In his previous service game, Boris had for the first time habitually stayed back off first serves and he sticks with it now. Mac misses next 4 returns, all first serves, 1 ace and 1 marked a UE. Game goes on to 14 points and Mac has 2 more break points. Game ends with him missing an easy second serve return

Poor game by Mac to give up decisive break - double fault, missing a slightly harder than routine volley and on break point, a downright easy one. Boris serves out to love to even match

Boris has better of third set. He very rarely serve-volleys but holds very comfortably. Mac has the odd tough game, saving break points in 3 games while having none himself. Boris gets return winners off regularly enough that looks like a matter of time before he breaks. Mac can barely return first serves and doesn’t even look too capable against seconds by contrast

Boris serves 48 points in it, Mac 63

But its Mac who wins with a game out the blue. Chip-charge wins him opening point, Boris misses a high, body-ish BHV second serve-volleying and a couple of attacking third ball UEs (kind of shots Boris had been making like clockwork) gains the break and a pretty out-played Mac is up 2 sets to 1

Tensions rise in the 4th set, the two players have an unfriendly exchange. Mac’s movement drops off

He’s broken to start by consecutive BH passing winners (return dtl and cc), has break point in the next game on which he has a fair look at a pass he can’t make. Boris crowds the net for the game and finishes it with a third ball FH inside-out winner

2 BH inside-in return pass winners and a powerful, error forcing BH cc gets Boris another break for a 4-1 lead. Mac takes him to deuce on the serve-out

4 easy holds open the decider and Mac doesn’t win a game after that. He’s moving downright badly by this stage. Boris looks just as ready as at start of match by contrast. Some amazing shots by him to get his breaks as he continues to hold with comfort. Wraps things up by coming to net to dispatch a high BHV

Summing up, one great big struggle of a match but the tennis is a little disappointing in that context and given the players involved, the surface and the relegation stakes. Becker is superior with something to spare. McEnroe can’t handle the pace of his first serves and won’t attack the seconds, while Becker stays on the baseline to easily overpower him with hammered groundstrokes off both wings, which McEnroe feebly pushes back

On flip side, McEnroe’s serve-volleying is so regularly answered with very powerful returns that it seems unlikely he can keep holding for long. His volleying isn’t bad, but doesn’t stand out for finishing, for consistency or for handling difficult passes

While Becker makes his chances with such returns, McEnroe seems to be dependent on double faults to get a break

McEnroe’s first serve is just about good enough to keep his hat in the ring and even that’s not immune from some rough handling from Becker’s commanding returning

In that light, very gutsy and perhaps a little lucky showing from McEnroe to make the match an epic of length. Overpowered off the ground, but steady and not giving anything away. Working the volley towards side of court without nailing points down. A few timely and choice good returns amidst general inadequacy on the second shot. And most of all, mixing up his first serves pace, type and direction to hold a very strong opponent just outside gate for a very long time, before eventually, gates come crashing down and Becker rushes through

 

[urban]

Both contests manifested Beckers long time standing in Germany. If you ask a normal German now about Beckers most remarkable matches, he will name the McEnroe match at Hartford first (maybe then the Wim final against Curren in 1985, which catapulted him into the limelight). If i remember it correctly, then Boris decided the Agassi match in the third set tiebreaker, when he broke Agassis momentum with some nice reflex shots. I think, the match was suspended and finished the next day.
The McEnroe match was shown in Germany in the middle of the night and lasted for over 6 hours. I think, never again so many people in Germany stayed awake, to watch a tennis match. Only the Ali fights had similar attention rates in the middle of the night..

 

[Gizo]

Becker had a perfect and phenomenal 20-0 record in live singles Davis Cup rubbers at home in Germany. His overall record in live singles matches was 31-2.

I'd regard this as one of the very best Davis Cup matches that I've ever seen (and I've seen a pretty large number). It had everything in terms of high quality tennis, excitement, tension, contrasting styles etc. That crucial 3rd set was pretty exhilarating stuff, with winner after winner by both players.

I think this match was dubbed by Sports Illustrated at the time as one of the greatest matches ever.

 

[Waspsting]

If you ask a normal German now about Beckers most remarkable matches, he will name the McEnroe match at Hartford first (maybe then the Wim final against Curren in 1985, which catapulted him into the limelight)....The McEnroe match was shown in Germany in the middle of the night and lasted for over 6 hours. I think, never again so many people in Germany stayed awake, to watch a tennis match. Only the Ali fights had similar attention rates in the middle of the night

Sounds like Davis Cup was a really big deal

The American commentators here (Drysdale, Stolle and someone else) say somewhere in 3rd or 4th set that if Mac pulls this out, it'll be the greatest win off his career. They're not the melodramatic type (like Mac himself has become) who say that about everything

I'd like to hear your thoughts on just how big the Davis Cup was (both in general and how it changed over time)

From what you've said and other opinions I've heard from reliable sources, it sounds as big as Slams... but I don't see how that can be when some of the very top players (Connors in his heyday and Lendl I think was skipping it when he was top dog) didn't seem to value it much

I'd regard this as one of the very best Davis Cup matches that I've ever seen (and I've seen a pretty large number). It had everything in terms of high quality tennis, excitement, tension, contrasting styles etc. That crucial 3rd set was pretty exhilarating stuff, with winner after winner by both players.

I think this match was dubbed by Sports Illustrated at the time as one of the greatest matches ever.

What are some of the others?

Glad to know someone at Sports Issultrated actually watches the matches. Some of the matches that have been dubbed "greatest ever" that I've watched makes me pretty certain that half these takes are based on fast forwarding to the ending, looking at the scoreline, lenght of match, names of players etc. instead

Would like to hear your take on status of Davis Cup too

 

[Gizo]

What are some of the others?

Glad to know someone at Sports Issultrated actually watches the matches. Some of the matches that have been dubbed "greatest ever" that I've watched makes me pretty certain that half these takes are based on fast forwarding to the ending, looking at the scoreline, lenght of match, names of players etc. instead

Would like to hear your take on status of Davis Cup too

The other matches they ranked this alongside, were the big Rosewall-Laver final at Dallas in 1972, and the Borg-McEnroe 1980 Wimbledon final. In general I wasn't a big fan of the writer Curry Kirkpatrick, and thought that he could often seem pretty clueless (some of his takes about Sampras and Agassi were quite embarrassing IMO).

In the 80s, I considered the Davis Cup to have the same level of importance as the non-Australian majors, and to be more important than the Australian Open pre-1988. For example in 1988 and 1989 when Becker and Edberg played each other in both the Wimbledon and Davis Cup finals, it felt to me that their Davis Cup matches were just as big. However I think that definitely changed and the balance very much shifted in favour of the majors in the 90s.

Lendl was pretty committed to the Davis Cup until he fell out with the Czechoslovakian head honchos and quit the team. His final contribution was in the doubles rubber of West Germany-Czechoslovakia 1985 SF, when there was excitement about a potential Becker-Lendl singles contest, which didn't materialise (though there were doubts over where Lendl would feature at all in tie as he was struggling with an arm injury which ruled him out of singles action on the opening day). Plus he was seeking US citzenship. But before then, he won all 7 singles matches and all 3 doubles matches that he played in, to lead Czechoslovakia to Davis Cup glory in 1980, including hat-tricks in the semi-final in Buenos Aires and final in Prague. The fact that he has straight sets away victories against both Vilas and McEnroe (albeit with a 14-12 2nd set) on his Davis Cup record, is notable.

In terms of Connors' paltry Davis Cup activity, it was said that 'Jimmy was all about Jimmy', plus there was the lack of pay, fact that he didn't like the format of the competition with ties spread out throughout the year (I think he would have preferred the current format which I personally dislike), had feuds and spats with Trabert, Ashe and McEnroe etc. He's probably the only open era legend that didn't play a major role in winning the competition in the professional era. I think that according to the ITF, he is officially classed as a 1981 Davis Cup winner, but I find it difficult to consider him a proper Davis Cup champion given that his only contributions that year came in the QF tie against Czechoslovakia.

 

[urban]

From a German perspective, the Davis Cup was enormous important, especially for Boris' legacy. The enthusiasm about the team aspect was enhanced by the national football teams and their World Cup titles. The Davis Cup was big also in the US, especially with the impact of McEnroe and later Agassi, in Sweden with Edberg, Wilander and Jarryd, and also France with Noah, Leconte and Forget. As said, the Davis Cup had the same status as the big slams. I remember that Boris in his first great year 1985, lead the team to the final with wins over the US on clay, i think he beat Krickstein and Teltscher, and CSSR (with that famous long match Westphal-Smid), and in that final, Boris won his two singles against Edberg and Wilander. The team captain was Wilhelm Bungert, who himself had reached the Davis Cup final in 1970, the team coach was Nicola Pilic. Pilic then took over as captain. Those Davis Cup matches in Germany were really big events, promoted by Ion Tiriac, with great crowds in big arenas and many VIP people in attendance, and live coverage at prime time on national tv. It were Wimbledon and the Davis Cup, which made Becker popular in Germany. Steffi Graf had not quite the same impact, because the team competition, the Federation Cup wasn't as popular as the Davis Cup. I remember, that her popularity rose, when she once won the Fed Cup with Kohde against a strong US team.

 

[urban]

One aspect to be added, is, that Boris needed a second male player as supporting act in singles or doubles, to eventually win the Davis Cup. In those days, the German tennis was flourishing with solid players like Schwaier, Westphal, Steeb, Kühnen and Jelen, who rose to the occasion and supported Becker and later Stich. Pilic had here a great impact, to make those players better. Especially Steeb, a solid, but rather mechanical lefthander took advantage of his coaching. His wins over Agassi, and once alo on indoor clay over Wilander paved the way to ultimate success. Stich in 1992 teamed up with Kühnen and Göllner to win over Australia. Its a bit of a pity that Becker and Stich seldom played tiogether on one team. In 1995, they lost it in Russia, when Stich gave up all those matchpoints against Chesnokov (and Boris also lost a singles). A possible final in Germany with the US and an all time team of Sampras and Agassi and the top team of Stich and Becker was a mouthwatering prospect. It was not to be.

 

[Drob]

Becker...
- 1st serve percentage (87/159) 55%

Agassi 9/13 (9 games)

Becker was...
- 71/122 (58%) at net, including...
- 47/77 (61%) serve-volleying, comprising...

The stats above are not very impressive, so I wondered about your statement. After all, the great server loses 9 service games - even to an Agassi that is not good.

Everything in Boris’ game - serve, return, groundstrokes, volleying and even movement are as good as I’ve seen from him and in no other match are all parts in top nick together like this one

But, it must have been Boris' ground game, in part, yes?

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Becker 64 (26 FH, 9 BH, 10 FHV, 13 BHV, 4 OH, 2 BHOH)

35 grounds stroke winners.

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Becker 64
- 35 Unforced (10 FH, 21 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV)
- 29 Forced (13 FH, 6 BH, 6 FHV, 4 BHV)

Winners (excluding service) minus unforced = +29. Or Winners minus all errors plus unreturned serves = +61. Yeah, he should have won straight sets on such margins.

I guess this is one of those where the first serve % is not great but when they hit they destroy. I'd be interested in unreturned off Boris' second serve, also. Might have been significant, noticing the three second-service aces. The serve seems like it is getting the job done:

- Return Rate (87/148) 59%

So how does he lose nine service games? "Clutchy Agassi"? How is Agassi that close? Did Boris' service go up-and-down frequently in this match?

 

[Drob]

Boris Becker (West Germany) beat Andre Agassi (USA) 6-7(4), 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-4 in a Davis Cup semi-final rubber, 1989 on in carpet in Munich, West Germany

Also indicates how Mac must be heralded as one of the greatest Cup competitors. With this match, Boris starts a 21-match victory streak in Davis Cup singles.

Becker (West Germany) beat John McEnroe (USA) 4-6, 15-13, 8-10, 6-2, 6-2 in a Davis Cup relegation round rubber, 1987 on in carpet in Hartford Connecticut, USA

Andre's performance must be something. At this point in Becker's career, the opponent might as well go have a cup of tea as face him in Davis Cup.

1988: 7-0, all straight setters;
1989: 7-0, six straight setters and this Agassi match.

 

[Drob]

One aspect to be added, is, that Boris needed a second male player as supporting act in singles or doubles, to eventually win the Davis Cup. In those days, the German tennis was flourishing with solid players like Schwaier, Westphal, Steeb, Kühnen and Jelen, who rose to the occasion and supported Becker and later Stich. Pilic had here a great impact, to make those players better. Especially Steeb, a solid, but rather mechanical lefthander took advantage of his coaching. His wins over Agassi, and once alo on indoor clay over Wilander paved the way to ultimate success. Stich in 1992 teamed up with Kühnen and Göllner to win over Australia. Its a bit of a pity that Becker and Stich seldom played tiogether on one team. In 1996, they lost it in Russia, when Stich gave up all those matchpoints against Chesnokov (and Boris also lost a singles). A possible final in Germany with the US and an all time team of Sampras and Agassi and the top team of Stich and Becker was a mouthwatering prospect. It was not to be.

Boris was so dominant in Davis Cup singles at the time, Germany would have won a 3rd straight in 1990, with any combination of Jelen, Steeb or Westphal. Well, Jelen, for sure as the doubles partner. Too bad Boris took the year off. I read his book and still don't understand it. He loved Davis Cup. There was no one to be jealous about in 1990. He had sufficient teammate support, as you point out.

 

[Mustard]

Davis Cup was great back then. Muster vs. Stich in 1994 was another huge epic. Muster saved a match point at 7-8 in the fifth set, and eventually won 12-10 in that set.

1999, USA vs. Britain, when Courier beat both Henman and Rusedski in 5 sets in Birmingham, England, UK. Henman got revenge a few months later at 1999 Wimbledon, saving 3 match points to beat Courier in 5 sets.

 

[urban]

In a previous post i made a mistake with the date. The DC tie Russia-Germany was in 1995. But indeed the German media before the tie expected a grand final in Stuttgart or Dortmund against the US with Sampras and Agassi. In Russia on indoor clay, the Germans took a 2-0 lead, but a doubles loss of Stich-Becker gave the Russians a lifeline. On the last day, Boris scratched the match vs. Kafelnikov, citing an injury. Karbacher lost, and then Stich lost all those many matchpoints vs. Chesnokov.

One remark on the Germany-US tie in 1989. The secret hero was the young Agassi, although he lost both of his matches. I remember an article, where the member of the US squad, i think, it was Seguso, was astonished and excited even before the matches, about Agassis potential on the return, especially his reflexes and hand-eye-coordination. What Andre could do on the return on ultra fast courts, was indeed excellent. The young Agassi had however stamina problems, so he had nothing left for the Steeb-match. I think (i hope the date is right), in 1988 he lost a RG semi vs. Wilander 0-6 in the fifth set, when he could not walk properly anymore.

 

[Gizo]

Westphal-Smid in 1985 is one of my favourite ever Davis Cup matches, and I think it in addition to matches involving legends, it's also those sort of matches that added to the Davis Cup's appeal and importance. Westphal-Smid in a standard tournament, even a major, wouldn't have the same appeal as in an important Davis Cup rubber. Lower ranked / 'non-star' players thriving in the competition, embracing the team format, playing at a level way above their ranking etc., is always great to watch.

I'd say that in the professional era, Borg probably had the weakest Davis Cup supporting cast out of any legendary player, and that Becker in the mid to late 80s probably comes in 2nd place there. Westphal did put in creditable performances vs. both Wilander and Edberg in the 1985 final, but it was going to be difficult for Becker and West Germany against a stacked team of Wilander, Edberg and Nystrom.

All in all, I would consider Becker to be the greatest Davis Cup player of the professional era. He played with a real swagger in the competition, especially at home, and it very much felt like it was his domain. The only 'costly' singles defeat that he suffered, was against Casal in Barcelona in 1987 (the decisive 5th rubber), though he had won his opening singles rubber against Sanchez (I think ranked in the top 20 at the time), plus the doubles match against Sanchez / Casal with Jelen, so it was thanks to him that the tie was still live by that stage.

He lost to Haarhuis in Utrecht in 1995, but that defeat wasn't significant, as he more than made up for it by winning the doubles matches against Haarhuis / Eltingh with Stich, and then sealing the tie by beating Krajicek. Of course that year, Germany's SF defeat in Moscow from 2-0 up was a heartbreaker. In the doubles match, Becker and Stich came from 2 sets to love down and then were 4-2 ahead in the 5th set, so they had the momentum and a place in the final was in touching distance. But of course Kafelnikov and Olhovskiy recovered to win it and keep the tie alive, and in the crucial 5th rubber Stich saw 9 match points come and go.

 

[Mustard]

Becker's performances in the 1988 and 1989 Davis Cup finals were him at the peak of his form. He made Wilander and Edberg seem several levels below him in those matches. The team environment seemed to relax Becker, as if he could still be the big star but with some of the excess pressure taken off his shoulders.

In a previous post i made a mistake with the date. The DC tie Russia-Germany was in 1995. But indeed the German media before the tie expected a grand final in Stuttgart or Dortmund against the US with Sampras and Agassi. In Russia on indoor clay, the Germans took a 2-0 lead, but a doubles loss of Stich-Becker gave the Russians a lifeline. On the last day, Boris scratched the match vs. Kafelnikov, citing an injury. Karbacher lost, and then Stich lost all those many matchpoints vs. Chesnokov.

One remark on the Germany-US tie in 1989. The secret hero was the young Agassi, although he lost both of his matches. I remember an article, where the member of the US squad, i think, it was Seguso, was astonished and excited even before the matches, about Agassis potential on the return, especially his reflexes and hand-eye-coordination. What Andre could do on the return on ultra fast courts, was indeed excellent.

And Agassi's future coach, Brad Gilbert, was the other singles player for the US during that 1989 Davis Cup semi final tie against West Germany. Gilbert beat both Steeb in 5 sets in the first rubber, and then Kuhnen in 3 sets (best of 3 sets) in the dead fifth rubber after the US had already lost the tie. Agassi lost to both Becker and Steeb. Steeb beat Agassi in 4 sets.

Their world rankings at the time were Becker #2, Agassi #6, Gilbert #14, Steeb #23.

The young Agassi had however stamina problems, so he had nothing left for the Steeb-match. I think (i hope the date is right), in 1988 he lost a RG semi vs. Wilander 0-6 in the fifth set, when he could not walk properly anymore.

Agassi cramped against Wilander in the fifth set of that 1988 French Open semi final. Agassi vowed afterwards that he wouldn't cramp in tennis matches again.

 

[Waspsting]

I'd regard this as one of the very best Davis Cup matches that I've ever seen (and I've seen a pretty large number).

I meant what are some of the other best Davis Cup matches you have seen, not Sports Illustrated writers rankings (though thanks for that, too)

I guess this is one of those where the first serve % is not great but when they hit they destroy. I'd be interested in unreturned off Boris' second serve, also. Might have been significant, noticing the three second-service aces. The serve seems like it is getting the job done:

For Boris 55% first serve in is decent (not great, admittedly)

off second serves, 12 unreturned, so 12/72 at rate 17%. Sans double faults, 12/61 or 20%

Agassi has 9 return winners (6 passes, 3 regular) against second serves also

Winners (excluding service) minus unforced = +29. Or Winners minus all errors plus unreturned serves = +61. Yeah, he should have won straight sets on such margins.

He has better of first two sets that he loses and ironically, third set that he wins is even-stevens, so straights for Boris was a possibility

Agassi's not slouching either. Winners minus UEs =+29 (same as Boris) and winners minus all errors plus unreturned serves = +33

Double faults are a factor too though - Boris has 11, Agassi 5

... (in context of Agassi with 59% return rate) So how does (Becker) lose nine service games? "Clutchy Agassi"? How is Agassi that close? Did Boris' service go up-and-down frequently in this match?

Both here and generally, its Agassi's way. He sacrifices return rate for damaging done by returns

In other words, he goes for a lot, so misses more than other player but whatever he makes tend to do damage (go for winners, force errors, put opponent on defensive etc.)

Someone like Wilander or Borg (against baseliners) are the opposite - very high return rates, not much damage done by return

Boris' return stays steady enough, but the games Agassi breaks in are virtually perfect. If Boris takes a bit off the first serve, it tends to get hammered

Points won by Agassi in his breaks -
1st - 2 winners, 1 FE, 1 double fault
2nd - 4 winners
3rd - 1 winner, 1 UE, 2 double faults
4th - 1 winner, 3 FEs
5th - 1 winner, 1 FE, 1 UE, 1 double fault
6th - 1 winner, 1 FE, 2 UEs
7th (deuce game) - 3 winners, 1 UE, 1 double fault
8th - 1 winner, 2 UEs, 1 double fault
9th - 2 winners, 1 UE, 1 double fault

16 winners, 6 FEs, 8 UEs, 7 double faults... more winners from Agassi than UEs + double faults combined (and there are a lot of double faults there)

Just 2 games where UEs and double faults account for more than half the points, 4 games where winners/FEs do

Agassi's low 59% return rate is factor in Boris having so many easy holds (which is why he serves so much less), and also doesn't factor in double faults (which Boris has a lot of and as you can see from the break game numbers, are costly)

Everything in Boris’ game - serve, return, groundstrokes, volleying and even movement are as good as I’ve seen from him and in no other match are all parts in top nick together

But, it must have been Boris' ground game, in part, yes?

'ground game' = 'groundstrokes'

The stats (Boris' first serve percentage, Agassi's break points and Boris' net numbers) are not very impressive, so I wondered about your statement. After all, the great server loses 9 service games - even to an Agassi that is not good.

Maybe I haven't done justice to how well Agassi played

Both players are +29 winners/UE differential
Winners + Errors Forced/UE differential - Boris +60, Agassi +58

Basically, anytime Agassi makes the return, he's favourite to win the point

Boris wins 101/159 service points or
Sans freebies, 40/98 or 40% (this includes double faults, which are high, but understandable given the stick weak serves are getting. Even not weak ones actually, which you can see from Agassi's 9 second return winners, including 3 non-passes)

even sans doubles, 40/87 or 46%

And that's with Boris playing very, very well and of course, drawing fair few softer returns with his serve

Boris having considerably better of match is product of his having much, much better serve. Sans that, 2 are evently matched - and both are fantastic

38% unreturned rate is middling for Boris. With that 'low' a rate and all those love and 15 easy holds on back of unreturneds, he's in for big challenge on the games where Agassi makes returns
---

Do you remember in school when the teacher would say "you didn't do the reading", and we'd try to pretend that we had while wondering how he could tell?

I feel a bit like that teacher right now

 

[Drob]

 

[Drob]

But before then, he won all 7 singles matches and all 3 doubles matches that he played in, to lead Czechoslovakia to Davis Cup glory in 1980, including hat-tricks in the semi-final in Buenos Aires and final in Prague. The fact that he has straight sets away victories against both Vilas and McEnroe (albeit with a 14-12 2nd set) on his Davis Cup record, is notable.

Yes, Lendl somewhat overlooked by Davis Cup aficionados because of his sharply truncated career. How much of this falls on the apparatchiks, and how much was it Lendl being spiteful or simply using an excuse to avoid non-paying playing, I don't know. It seems that he was hopeful of playing for the USA eventually. But I think this would have required special processing of his citizenship or a ruling by the ITF to allow him to play for his soon-to-be-country (there were DC precedents both ways). His 1980 DC campaign was tremendous. Besides the two hat-tricks you mention, he went a perfect 8-0 for Cup champ Czechoslovakia.

He's probably the only open era legend that didn't play a major role in winning the competition in the professional era.

Sampras just avoids this designation. Petros is saved by 1995, where he went 6-0 and genuine heroics at WGF. Otherwise, he did not care to play and did not play well. Take away 1995 and he was 9-8 in all other DC singles matches.

Agassi I would deem "just okay" at Davis Cup. Of his 36 career rubbers, 21 take place before 1993. I think Andre got a little more credit than he deserved, in comparison to Jimmy . . . and ultimately to Pete. Agassi carried the 1992 Cup champion and was a significant contributor to the 1990 championship squad. After that, there is not much to talk about.

Open era legends: don't know how you define, but I basically agree. Ashe for sure. Stan Smith surely qualifies but not sure qualifies as a legend. Laver and Newcombe 1973, when finally permitted to play. Rosewall was not given a leading role (but from 1953-56 he was one of the greatest cuppers ever). Nastase never won the Cup, but he sure tried. Borg for sure, arguably best Cup player ever. Vilas was a Cup stalwart with a fine record, but never won the WGF. McEnroe is the ultimate Davis Cup player. Lendl's 1980 major role discussed. Becker is right up there at the top of all cuppers. Wilander led a championship, and even poor Stefan had one really good campaign toward the end of his career which I believe resulted in winning the Cup. Agassi and Sampras do qualify for "play a major role in winning the competition in the professional era." Kuerten and Rafter never won the Davis Cup, but they tried. Courier came through for USA in a couple of dire situations, but not sure if he played a major role in any championship, although it would not surprise me. Muster battled well but never won. Hewitt was a monster over Davis Cup and certainly led the 2003 champs and maybe another one. Safin was erratic but did come through to help win two Cups - once w Kafelnikov and once w Davydenko, I believe. Wawrinka of course major role in 2014 Cup. Ditto Federer, who should be credited for his dedication until 2015. Djokovic 2010, 7-0 singles. Nadal 2011, 6-0 singles. Murray 8-0 and hat-tricks 2015. Delpo huge heroics 2016. Murray was arguably the most dedicated of the contemporaries, but Federer played 50 singles rubbers (or 52, or something). I think Nadal is overrated in regards to Davis Cup because of all the Spanish championships. Under the traditional format, Rafa really spearheaded only one championship team - in 2011. He did contribute notably to a couple of others. But under the traditional format, I think he only played 25-27 singles rubbers.

In the 80s, I considered the Davis Cup to have the same level of importance as the non-Australian majors, and to be more important than the Australian Open pre-1988. For example in 1988 and 1989 when Becker and Edberg played each other in both the Wimbledon and Davis Cup finals, it felt to me that their Davis Cup matches were just as big. However I think that definitely changed and the balance very much shifted in favour of the majors in the 90s.

I think this is about right. The Davis Cup was still "as big" in the 1970s notwithstanding Jimmy Connors. The passion of McEnroe and Becker made sure it remained at the top through the 1980s. But things changed in the 1990s. It was still a Major, but was kind of like what happened to the Australian Open, though not as bad. It became a weaker major. And that was how it stayed through 2018, in my perception. The Big Three definitely felt they needed a Davis Cup championship to have a full record. It seems like once having won the Cup, their interest tapered off, to greater or lesser degree. That means it was less than a major - something like an "old major." Djokovic mostly stayed away after winning 2010 Cup. But he did commit fully in 2013 and led the Serbian team to the WGF. Nadal it seems always contributed, but usually sparingly. A number of important players were dogged Davis Cup competitors in this century - Federer (despite his apparent attitude nowadays), Hewitt, Nalbandian, Safin, Roddick, Cilic, Murray, and it seems that each of the French stars of this century was ready if called.

what are some of the other best Davis Cup matches you have seen,

Live, alas, I can only recommend Simonsson beats Panatta at Rome, 1980 zone final, and Ferrer defeats Roddick, 2011 quarterfinal (a closer match than it looks on paper).

Some of these I remember watching and some I suggest because of historical significance:

For finding DVDs or on the internet, look for 1971-72 CR, especially the latter which is Smith against the Romanians - i mean almost all the Romanians; 1975 Borg matches if you can find one or two; McEnroe-Wilander 1982, a good, but very, very long match; Becker vs. the Swedes; McEnroe vs. the Argentines (Vilas and Clerc); aforementioned Sampras 1995 WGF; the Spanish Armada 2000 and 2004 (young Rafa plays singles in the WGF); 2003 semifinal rubber between Hewitt and Federer; maybe 2006 Round 1, Safin vs. Gasquet, or 2002 semifinal Safin vs. Nalbandian; also Nalbandian vs. Davydenko 2006 WGF; Djokovic vs. Isner in Rd. 1 2010 is historically significant and a tough match; also in 2010 a fun one is Nalbandian vs. Monfils semifinal; got to watch Delpo vs Murray 2016 semifinal and Delpo vs. Cilic 2016 WGF, two of my favorite matches ever.

Muster saved a match point at 7-8 in the fifth set, and eventually won 12-10 in that set.

First Davis Cup singles rubbers at age 16! Austria never got very far, never. So Muster had only so many rubbers. I knew he played hard and well. I just looked him up. 36-8 singles record. Notable wins: Bruguera(2), E. Sanchez, Agassi and Chang in same tie, Cash, Mansdorf, Ferreira, Stich.

 

[Gizo]

I meant what are some of the other best Davis Cup matches you have seen, not Sports Illustrated writers rankings (though thanks for that, too)

Other Davis Cup matches I would rank among the best I've see are McEnroe-Wilander in the 1982 quarter-finals (given the extreme length I thought that the quality held up very well), Cash-Pernfors in the 1986 final (probably the best match I saw that season and one of the best ever grass court matches I've ever seen), Edberg-Leconte in the 1988 semi-finals, Hewitt-Costa in the 2000 final and Kafelnikov-Gaudio in the 2002 semi-finals (the doubles match in that same tie was also incredible). That's only counting matches that I've seen in full, and not merely highlights, such as the legendary Hoad-Trabert contest in 1953.

Also a special mention for both matches during the final day of the 1996 final, with Enqvist coming from 2 sets to love down to beat Pioline 9-7 in the 5th set, then Boetsch saving 3 match points (when serving at 6-7 and 0-40) to beat Kulti 10-8 in the 5th set, and secure the title for France - that was the first time in the competition's history that the final came down to a 5th set in the 5th rubber.

 

[Gizo]

Yes, Lendl somewhat overlooked by Davis Cup aficionados because of his sharply truncated career. How much of this falls on the apparatchiks, and how much was it Lendl being spiteful or simply using an excuse to avoid non-paying playing, I don't know. It seems that he was hopeful of playing for the USA eventually. But I think this would have required special processing of his citizenship or a ruling by the ITF to allow him to play for his soon-to-be-country (there were DC precedents both ways). His 1980 DC campaign was tremendous. Besides the two hat-tricks you mention, he went a perfect 8-0 for Cup champ Czechoslovakia.



Sampras just avoids this designation. Petros is saved by 1995, where he went 6-0 and genuine heroics at WGF. Otherwise, he did not care to play and did not play well. Take away 1995 and he was 9-8 in all other DC singles matches.

Yes I do think that 'politics' prevented Lendl from having a more long-term Davis Cup career, but his 1980 contributiosn, plus his win over McEnroe in 1981, ensure that he is part of its folklore.

Regarding Sampras, in addition to his heroics in the 1995 final, his most notable contribution was probably the 1997 semi-finals, when he beat Rafter (a very high quality performance) and Philippoussis.

Agassi I would deem "just okay" at Davis Cup. Of his 36 career rubbers, 21 take place before 1993. I think Andre got a little more credit than he deserved, in comparison to Jimmy . . . and ultimately to Pete. Agassi carried the 1992 Cup champion and was a significant contributor to the 1990 championship squad. After that, there is not much to talk about.

Open era legends: don't know how you define, but I basically agree. Ashe for sure. Stan Smith surely qualifies but not sure qualifies as a legend. Laver and Newcombe 1973, when finally permitted to play. Rosewall was not given a leading role (but from 1953-56 he was one of the greatest cuppers ever). Nastase never won the Cup, but he sure tried. Borg for sure, arguably best Cup player ever. Vilas was a Cup stalwart with a fine record, but never won the WGF. McEnroe is the ultimate Davis Cup player. Lendl's 1980 major role discussed. Becker is right up there at the top of all cuppers. Wilander led a championship, and even poor Stefan had one really good campaign toward the end of his career which I believe resulted in winning the Cup. Agassi and Sampras do qualify for "play a major role in winning the competition in the professional era." Kuerten and Rafter never won the Davis Cup, but they tried. Courier came through for USA in a couple of dire situations, but not sure if he played a major role in any championship, although it would not surprise me. Muster battled well but never won. Hewitt was a monster over Davis Cup and certainly led the 2003 champs and maybe another one. Safin was erratic but did come through to help win two Cups - once w Kafelnikov and once w Davydenko, I believe. Wawrinka of course major role in 2014 Cup. Ditto Federer, who should be credited for his dedication until 2015. Djokovic 2010, 7-0 singles. Nadal 2011, 6-0 singles. Murray 8-0 and hat-tricks 2015. Delpo huge heroics 2016. Murray was arguably the most dedicated of the contemporaries, but Federer played 50 singles rubbers (or 52, or something). I think Nadal is overrated in regards to Davis Cup because of all the Spanish championships. Under the traditional format, Rafa really spearheaded only one championship team - in 2011. He did contribute notably to a couple of others. But under the traditional format, I think he only played 25-27 singles rubbers.

In terms of open era legends, out of 12 greatest players that began their careers in the open era, so in alphabetical order, Agassi, Becker, Borg, Connors, Djokovic, Edberg, Federer Lendl, McEnroe, Nadal, Sampras and Wilander, Connors stands alone there as being the only one that didn't properly win the competition, make a significant contribution to a Davis Cup winning team etc. And his defeats to Ramirez in 1975 (well technically part of the 1976 competition) and Wilander in 1984, stand out above any of his wins. Of course Newcombe had fine success in the open era after playing in the amateur era, and was the leader of the 1973 Australian team.

Vilas was probably the next best 'exclusively open era' player after Connors, not to win / properly win the competition at all / after it opened up to professionals from 1973. In hindsight, his best opportunity to win it with Argentina was probably in 1980, rather than 1981 when they lost in the final on carpet in Cincy (though with that titanic doubles rubber and then 5 set contest between Mac and Clerc). They needed to keep their home semi-final against the Czech Republic in Buenos Aires live going into the 5th rubber, where Vilas would have been favoured to beat Slozil, and then they would have had a very winnable final against Italy. But Lendl was on fire during those 3 days.

Courier did win live rubbers in both the semi-finals and final in 1992, including the win in the final that sealed the trophy for the USA, but of course Agassi was clearly the main man for the team that year. Courier's most memorable Davis Cup contributions were definitely against Henman and Rusedski in Birmingham in 1999.

Rafter was unlucky as in 1999 he won 2 live rubbers in both Australia's 1st round and quarter-final (away to the USA) ties, but then his long injury layoff kept him out of the semi-finals and final. Then in the 2001 final at home on grass, an arm injury meant that Arthurs played in the decisive 5th rubber against Escude instead of him. Officially he is counted by the ITF as a 1999 Davis Cup winner, and he contributed more to that win that Connors did in 1981, but of course he badly wanted to feature in a winning final.

Nasty losing in straight sets (though with a 11-9 1st set) to Smith on clay in Bucharest in the 1972 final (given the surface and setting that's definitely one he was expected to win), proved to be very costly.

Regarding Kuerten, to me his most notable Davis Cup contributions were, on the good side easily beating both Corretja and Moya in straight sets in Lleida in 1999 (I believe the last time that Spain ever lost a traditional tie on home soil), and on the bad side getting straight setted by Hewitt on clay in his home city Florianopolis (bad for him, but an outstanding win for Hewitt).

In terms of Nadal, I agree that his Davis Cup record can be pretty overrated, despite the fact that his only singles defeat in the competition came in his first ever match as a 17 year old in 2004 (against Jiri Novak on carpet in the Czech Republic). I always struggled to rank him as one of the greatest ever Davis Cuppers, given that under the traditional format, he was typically always absent whenever Spain had a difficult away tie from 2006 onwards. Under that traditional format, I believe that he only had 4 live wins off clay (with 2 of those wins against players ranked outside the top 100 who never really came close to winning ATP level titles during their careers). I felt that there was a decent argument that Ferrer was a greater player for Spain in the competition.

 

[fezer]

One aspect to be added, is, that Boris needed a second male player as supporting act in singles or doubles, to eventually win the Davis Cup. In those days, the German tennis was flourishing with solid players like Schwaier, Westphal, Steeb, Kühnen and Jelen, who rose to the occasion and supported Becker and later Stich. Pilic had here a great impact, to make those players better. Especially Steeb, a solid, but rather mechanical lefthander took advantage of his coaching. His wins over Agassi, and once alo on indoor clay over Wilander paved the way to ultimate success. Stich in 1992 teamed up with Kühnen and Göllner to win over Australia. Its a bit of a pity that Becker and Stich seldom played tiogether on one team. In 1995, they lost it in Russia, when Stich gave up all those matchpoints against Chesnokov (and Boris also lost a singles). A possible final in Germany with the US and an all time team of Sampras and Agassi and the top team of Stich and Becker was a mouthwatering prospect. It was not to be.

Becker didnt lose a singles rubber vs Russia. Boris dnp on Sunday vs Kafelnikov. Germany relied completely on the Chesnokov/Stich rubber. Boris would certainly have lost to Kafelnikov.
Becker/Stich lost the doubles to Kafelnikov/Olhovsky, which in my eyes was the easier way to decide it.
The whole encounter seemed pretty much done after Stich's ein over Kafelnikov. After that it wasnt that Russia won it miraculously but more Germany letting it go. All eyes were on Stich, but in my eyes Becker had his fair share. He was clearly the inferior player in doubles and then avoiding Kafelnikov. I say that AS Becker's greatest fan here on the forum. But he was Germany's sports hero once and for all since that Wimbledon and DC triumphs in the 80's.

 

[fezer]

Thank you very much for your work! It is very much apreciated. It brings back so many good tennis memories. And has so very fine tuned observations.
AS others stated these matches cemented Becker's Superstar-status in Germany and lifted him in the bigger than the sport level like Schmeling, Harry, Walter, Mittermaier, Beckenbauer/Maier/Müller.
I had been a Mac Fan before Boris arrived, but the Hartford encounter fully shifted everything towards Becker.
I also give credit to the posters who point out how huge Davis Cup had been back in the days. EG in 89 Becker missed much of his beloved indoor season (Sidney, Tokyo) for highlighting the DC finals in front of a home crowd and defending the title. Which he did in extraordinary fashion.
For me Becker is the greatest DC player, because he played not only one legendary Match, but was super impressive on nearly all matches. Exceptions Spain 86, Russia and NL 95.He also gave full commitment to earlier rounds and relegations. He won vs all players on all surfaces. And he could lift the Team, so that they could achieve the highest goals. Westphal and Maurer had their carreer highlights in DC. But at most Steeb and Jelen profited from Becker's sheer presence. Steeb credited once, that his legendary win over Wilander (#1) in Sweden (!) was possible because Becker gave them sich a boost in confidence that they knew they would win.
In the everlasting Wilander/Edberg/Becker debate the DC aspect often is overlooked or let's say not fully credited. AS Becker coming off short in GS he crushed them impressively in DC.

 

[Gizo]

In addition to Becker's phenomenal singles record in the Davis Cup, he was 16-9 in doubles matches. The 2 most notable defeats came in the 1985 final (though partnering Maurer there was no shame in losing to a pairing of Nystrom / Wilander, albeit it was a very heavy defeat) and as discussed in the 1995 semi-finals when Germany could / should have secured their place in the final.

The most notable wins are probably as follows:

1985 1st round vs. Casal / Sanchez
1985 Semi-finals vs. Lendl / Smid
1987 1st round vs. Casal / Sanchez (away on clay)
1988 Final vs. Edberg / Jarryd
1989 Semi-Finals vs. Flach / Seguso
1989 Final vs Gunnarson / Jarryd
1995 Quarter-Final vs. Eltingh / Haarhuis
1999 1st round vs. Kafelnikov / Olhovskiy

I think that was good going. Casal / Sanchez, Edberg / Jarryd, Flach / Seguso and Eltingh / Haarhuis were all world class doubles pairings that won numerous big titles together, while Smid and Kafelnikov were world class and very successful doubles players in their own right.

 

[Mustard]

First Davis Cup singles rubbers at age 16! Austria never got very far, never.

Austria were in the Davis Cup semi finals in 1990, against the USA, on clay in Vienna. Muster beat both Chang and Agassi in that tie, but Chang beat Skoff from 2 sets down in the deciding fifth rubber. The USA went on to beat Australia in the final.

 

[Drob]

Notable wins: Bruguera(2), E. Sanchez, Agassi and Chang in same tie, Cash, Mansdorf, Ferreira, Stich