[Limpinhitter]

Originally Posted by krosero

Given in the article by Danzig:

Budge had 11 nets, 17 outs, 42 placements, 1 ace and no double-faults.
Riggs had 29 nets, 19 outs, 33 placements, 4 aces and 2 double-faults.


Budge had a lot of winners (42) from groundstrokes and volleys, but Riggs had a large number himself.

I guess no one would think of this match as a great quality play from both sides, since it was such a blowout. But just a hairline over 50% of the points in this match ended with a winner or ace. That's the highest % in the entire database that Moose and I have compiled, from 1902 to the present day.

A lot of matches these days have high winner rates because of huge numbers of aces; Isner-Mahut is close to Budge-Riggs in winners, but mostly because of the aces.

If you don't count aces, Budge and Riggs ended 47% of the points in their match with winners -- still at the top of our database. The next match behind it is Navratilova-Evert at the 1987 Wimbledon, which is often called the highest quality match in that rivalry.

Navratilova-Evert featured a very enjoyable kind of grasscourt tennis, not dominated by aces, and filled with winners from groundies and volleys. Budge-Riggs must have been very similar.

Kros, Just want to say thanks for all of your contributions to this thread. Much appreciated.