Stats for 1986 W Final(Becker-Lendl)

[Moose Malloy]

Becker d. Lendl 6-4, 6-3, 7-5

Becker served at 53%(52 of 9
Lendl served at 52%(42 of 81)

Becker won 42 of 52 pts on 1st serve(81%)
He won 23 of 46 on 2nd(50%)

Lendl won 32 of 42 pts on 1st serve(76%)
He won 20 of 39 on 2nd(51%)

serve % by set
Becker 42, 70, 50
Lendl 52, 46, 57

Becker had 25 non service winners(4 fh, 8 bh, 7 fhv, 2 bhv, 4 ov)
Lendl had 33(7 fh, 10 bh, 8 fhv, 5 bhv, 3 ov)

Becker had 11 passing shot winners(3 fh, 8 bh)
Lendl had 15(7 fh, 8 bh)

Becker had 14 aces(one on 2nd serve), 7 df's
Lendl had 6 aces(2 on 2nd serve), 6 df's

Becker had 25 unreturned serves, 7 I judged service winners
Lendl had 24, 4 were service winners

Becker was 5 of 9 on break points
Lendl was 2 of 9(he was up a break in the 1st & 3rd sets)

Becker made 1st serves on 4 of the 9 break points
Lendl made 1st serves on 5 of 9

Becker won 94 pts, Lendl 85

NBC stats:

after one set
Lendl 13 winners, 5 unforced errors
Becker 13 winners, 4 unforced errors

after 2 sets
Lendl 25 winners, 10 unforced
Becker 29 winners, 6 unforced

Dick Enberg said Becker had been broken only 4 times in his previous 6 matches, Lendl 6 times.

Coming into the final he said Becker had 91 aces, 44 df's. Lendl had 53 aces, 26 df's. With the 14 aces I counted in the final, Becker's ace total for the tournament was 105. I always assumed that Sampras at the '90 USO was the first player to have 100 aces in a tournament. I wonder what Becker's ace total was for 1985 Wimbledon(per NBC, Becker only had 89 at '89 Wimbledon)

Felt bad this didn't go 4 or 5 sets, Lendl played at a really high level throughout (great passing shots, really solid at net) while Becker started out slow(served at 42% in the 1st set)

Lendl hit 3 clean winners to get to 0-40 with Becker serving at 4-5 in the 3rd set. Becker only made one first serve on those set points, & Lendl had good looks at passing shots.

here is that game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHWc6...eature=related

[krosero]

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Becker laid the strong hand of his service game on Lendl, 15 aces and 23 other service winners.

New York Times:

The West German had 15 aces and 13 clear service winners. In addition, there were numerous points that he won when Lendl's return of serve sailed wide or sank into the net.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

Vital statistics: In the championship match, Boris Becker won 81 percent of the points when he put his first serve in and he totaled 65 points in all on his service to 52 for Ivan Lendl.

Reading Eagle:

Becker's serve was timed at a frightening 156 mph, compared to the 130 mph he was producing a year ago.

The Eagle reported that Lendl served at 53%. For Becker:

His dominating serve was as powerful as ever (15 aces). But it also was erratic -- he put 42 percent of his first serves into play in the first set, 74 percent in the second set, and 50 percent in the third -- and he still won in straight sets.

“Today, he did not have the same serve as before,” said Becker’s manager, Ion Tiriac, “but he still had the magic when he needed it, in the difficult situations.”

[krosero]

The Associated Press had a little more on the 156 mph reading:

Last year Becker's serve was one of the biggest in the world, the reason he was nicknamed "Boom Boom." It was clocked at 130 mph. This year, his coach, Gunther Bosch, says Becker booms his serve at 156 mph.

[krosero]

Originally Posted by Moose Malloy

Becker won 94 pts, Lendl 85

A narrow margin.

So Moose you've got each man hitting 39 clean winners/aces.

That comes to 78 winners/aces out of 179 points, a VERY HIGH rate of 44%. It's among the highest in all our stats.

Their '89 semifinal at Wimbledon (the five-setter) also was 44%.

Which I think illustrates that even on Lendl's weakest surface his performance was high and it took a very high level of play to beat him, in the late 80s.

[msunderland71]

Why is Andy Roddick credited as the fastest server ever at 155 mph? Guessing the records measured with modern equipment are kept separate.

Originally Posted by krosero

The Associated Press had a little more on the 156 mph reading:

[juan guzman]

Its one of the best matches Boris ever played.Its very underrated as the match against Edberg in Stockholm in 90 where he lost only 8 points on serve when demolishing Edberg 64 60 63

[krosero]

Originally Posted by msunderland71

Why is Andy Roddick credited as the fastest server ever at 155 mph? Guessing the records measured with modern equipment are kept separate.

The Associated Press names Becker's coach as the source for the reading. If he was the only source -- I don't know if that's the case, but if so -- then it leaves a lot of questions. Where was the reading taken? A tournament? An exo? a private match or practice session with a radar gun?

[msunderland71]

Yes, jumping from 130 to 156 mph in one year does seem hard to believe. Although I'm sure Boris did serve a little faster as he grew bigger.

[krosero]

Originally Posted by Moose Malloy

Becker made 1st serves on 4 of the 9 break points
Lendl made 1st serves on 5 of 9

So still nothing remarkable for Becker in that stat. These were the others I posted before:

1987 Davis Cup vs. Mac, made his first serve on 10 of 17 break points
1989 Wimbledon SF vs. Lendl, 0 of 6
1989 USO final vs. Lendl, 6 of 11
1989 Davis Cup vs. Edberg, 1 of 2
1989 Davis Cup vs. Wilander, 2 of 3
1995 Wimbledon SF vs. Agassi, 9 of 14
1995 Wimbledon final vs. Sampras, 9 of 16
1996 YEC round-robin vs. Sampras, 6 of 10

The most remarkable one is 0 of 6 against Lendl. In our stats I've seen people who went 0 for 2, or 0 for 3, of course. That's no so uncommon. But I've got nothing like 0 of 6.

I think that stat, maybe, shows how rattled Becker was by Lendl in that '89 match.

[Moose Malloy]

^my stats on Becker for the '88 W SF(missing his 1st service game which he got broken in)

made 1st serve on 3 of 7 break points.

[Datacipher]

Originally Posted by msunderland71

Why is Andy Roddick credited as the fastest server ever at 155 mph? Guessing the records measured with modern equipment are kept separate.

LOL. Please undertand that this "record" is absolutely meaningless. There is simply no way to know what the fastest serve has been, even among the small percentage of "recorded" serves.

[Moose Malloy]

was just watching the '79 USO SF(Gerulaitis-Tanner)
Commentator Pat Summerall mentioned there was a fast serve contest that year that Colin Dibley won, with a 153 mph serve.

[krosero]

Originally Posted by Moose Malloy

Coming into the final he said Becker had 91 aces, 44 df's. Lendl had 53 aces, 26 df's. With the 14 aces I counted in the final, Becker's ace total for the tournament was 105. I always assumed that Sampras at the '90 USO was the first player to have 100 aces in a tournament. I wonder what Becker's ace total was for 1985 Wimbledon(per NBC, Becker only had 89 at '89 Wimbledon)

Just found a report that Curren came into the '85 final with 75 aces (Reading Eagle). So with 19 aces in the final he got to 94 that year.

[Rhino]

Originally Posted by krosero

The Associated Press names Becker's coach as the source for the reading. If he was the only source -- I don't know if that's the case, but if so -- then it leaves a lot of questions. Where was the reading taken? A tournament? An exo? a private match or practice session with a radar gun?

That's hilarious. Becker's coach carried a personal radar gun which he brought to every match and practice session.

[Cosmic Charlie]

Originally Posted by Moose Malloy

Lendl hit 3 clean winners to get to 0-40 with Becker serving at 4-5 in the 3rd set. Becker only made one first serve on those set points, & Lendl had good looks at passing shots.

here is that game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHWc6...eature=related

I remember that game so well.

That, I think, is as close as Lendl got to the Wimbledon title. I felt Lendl was playing better tennis in the third set, and if he could have taken any one of those three points, the match could have pivoted about it.
In '89, the rain delay ruined his chance to make it to the Final, but Edberg was still in his way. Becker was decidedly more experienced here than '85, but developed that swagger on turf after this tournament.
In '86, Cash was unstoppable in the Final.
Thanks for posting that video. Good memories 25 years later...