Duel Match Stats/Report - Federer vs Gaudio, Year End Championship semi-final, 2005 & Federer vs M. Zverev, Halle quarter-final, 2013

[Waspsting]

Roger Federer beat Gaston Gaudio 6-0, 6-0 in the Year End Championship (World Tour Finals) semi-finals, 2005 on carpet in Shanghai, China

Federer - who had won the previous two editions of the tournament and would go onto win the next two - would go onto lose the final to David Nalbandian. Gaudio was ranked 9 at the time. It was the last edition of the tournament to be played on carpet

Federer won 55 points, Gaudio 25

Serve Stats
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (18/36) 50%
- 1st serve points won (14/18) 78%
- 2nd serve points won (12/18) 67%
- Aces 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/36) 31%

Gaudio...
- 1st serve percentage (24/44) 55%
- 1st serve points won (9/24) 38%
- 2nd serve points won (6/20) 30%
- Double Faults 9
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (4/44) 9%

Serve Pattern
Federer served...
- to FH 47%
- to BH 42%
- to Body 11%

Gaudio served...
- to FH 11%
- to BH 84%
- to Body 5%

Return Stats
Federer made...
- 31 (3 FH, 28 BH), including 1 return-approach
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 4 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (2 BH)
- 2 Forced (1 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (31/35) 89%

Gaudio made...
- 25 (12 FH, 13 BH)
- 6 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- 3 Forced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (25/36) 69%

Break Points
Federer 6/10 (6 games)
Gaudio 0/1

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Federer 18 (8 FH, 2 BH, 4 FHV, 4 BHV)
Gaudio 3 (2 BH, 1 FHV)

Federer's FHs - 4 cc, 1 dtl and 3 inside-out
- BHs - 1 inside-out return and 1 drop shot (possibly not clean)

- 2 from serve-volley points - a first volley FHV and a second volley BHV
- 1 other BHV was a net chord dribbler

Gaudio's BHs - 2 dtl (1 pass)

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Federer 18
- 13 Unforced (6 FH, 7 BH)
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 2 BH, 1 BHOH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.9

Gaudio 17
- 10 Unforced (5 FH, 5 BH)
- 7 Forced (5 FH, 2 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45

(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)

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

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Federer was...
- 9/12 (75%) at net, including...
- 2/2 serve-volleying, both first serves
---
- 0/1 return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

Gaudio was...
- 2/3 (67%) at net

Match Report
Slow start from both players as both make a number of routine errors. Federer holds first up and breaks on the back of 4 Gaudio double faults. Good point in that game with Fed return-approaching, only to be met with a slew of strong passes - first having to volley right in front of his body, second a stretch FHV and finally, a very difficult BHOH. He makes it back to the baseline but is forced into error there.

Federer shifts his own so-so opening in game 4 with a couple of forays to net ending with volley winners. He finishes the game from the baseline - a 1-2 BH cc to open the court-FH cc winner, followed by an outright FH cc winner next point.

After that, Fed maintains a higher level of play - still with odd errors thrown in (in play, he ends with 1 more than Gaudio has) but also high quality shot making, especially off the FH. A FH dtl winner, that commentators say was doing over a 100 miles an hour (I believe it), and a BH drop shot played from a couple paces behind the baseline (Gaudio trys to run it down... might or might not have gotten a racquet on the ball before second bounce) are the pick of them

Gaudio for his part... serves God awfully. 9 double faults in six service games and the serve isn't damaging either. Off the ground, his shots have little impact on this fast-ish court

Some sharp volleying from Federer. Generally, he isn't the best at penetrating low volleys, but pulls of a couple of firm winners from slightly under net level

Other noteworthy point is Federer's drive BH returning. Gaudio serves relentlessly to the BH (85%), and Federer scarcely chips any back as he tended to. Comes over them all. Its not aggressive returning of the kind that gives him initiative of the point, but less passive shall we say than his norm

Summing up, some good shot making and firm returning from Federer. The scoreline is more attributable to Gaudio's poor play - especially the serving but also tepid groundstrokes

 

[Waspsting]

Roger Federer beat Mischa Zverev 6-0, 6-0 in the Halle quarter-finals, 2013 on grass

Federer would go onto beat Mikhail Youzhny in the final to win the event for the 6th time

Federer won 54 points, Zverev 22

Zverev serve-volleyed off all his service points, with the exception of 4 first serves (the last four points of the match)

Serve Stats
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (20/33) 61%
- 1st serve points won (15/20) 75%
- 2nd serve points won (10/13) 77%
- Aces 4 (1 second serve)
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (9/33) 27%

Zverev...
- 1st serve percentage (28/43) 65%
- 1st serve points won (10/28) 36%
- 2nd serve points won (4/15) 27%
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (4/43) 9%

Serve Pattern
Federer served...
- to FH 59%
- to BH 41%

Zverev served...
- to FH 15%
- to BH 70%
- to Body 15%

Return Stats
Federer made...
- 36 (9 FH, 27 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 4 Winners (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 4 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH)
- 3 Forced (3 BH)
- Return Rate (36/40) 90%

Zverev made...
- 23 (12 FH, 11 BH)
- 5 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (2 FH)
- 3 Forced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (23/32) 72%

Break Points
Federer 6/10 (6 games)
Zverev 0

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Federer 23 (11 FH, 6 BH, 5 FHV, 1 BHV)
Zverev 7 (1 FH, 1 FH1/2HV, 4 BHV, 1 OH)

Federer's FHs - 1 cc return, 3 dtl (2 passes), 4 inside-out (2 passes), 2 longline and 1 at net
- BHs (all passes) - 1 cc, 3 inside-out (2 returns), 1 inside-in return and 1 longline (which seems to have glanced Zverev's body on its way through)

- 2 first volleys from serve-volley points (1 FHV, 1 BHV)… the FHV being a swinging shot
- 1 other FHV was a swinging shot from well behind the service line and not a net point

Zverev had 5 from serve-volley points -
- 2 first 'volleys' (1 FH1/2V, 1 BHV)… the FH1/2V being a stop
- 3 second volleys (2 BHV, 1 OH)

- 1 FH dtl pass

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Federer 10
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 1 BH, 1 FVH)
- 7 Forced (2 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.7

Zverev 19
- 8 Unforced (4 BH, 4 FHV)
- 11 Forced (3 FH, 1 BH, 1 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 3 BHV, 2 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43.8

(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)

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

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Federer was...
- 10/13 (77%) at net, including...
- 3/5 (60%) serve-volleying, all first serves

Zverev was...
- 14/37 (38%) at net, including...
- 13/36 (36%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 9/24 (38%) off 1st serve and...
- 4/12 (33%) off 2nd serve

Match Report
Zverev full on serve volleys 100% of the time, until the last game of the match, when he stays back for the last four points - all of them first serves

He serves overwhelmingly to the BH (70%) and serves as much to the body as he does the FH (6 each)… I haven't seen a player serve to the body as often as either wing before

Federer returns exceptionally well. Not only does he get 90% returns in play, but he does so coming over the BH and usually, with authority. Zverev mostly faces difficult to at least, not-easy first volleys. 90% return rate on grass is no mean feat and against a serve-volleyer more so (even given Zverev doesn't have a strong serve).

Fed seems to read the serve - on his first return point of the match, he runsaround a first serve to hit a FH (though he doesn't do it again), and is quick of foot to get into position to deal with the body serves

For all that, you still can't break 6 times in a row without help from the server. Zverev does face not-easy to difficult volleys first up, but is still under par in the forecourt. 7 FEs on the volley and half-volley range from flagrantly forced to not-easy-but-makeable... he doesn't seem up to making anything other than routine volleys (1 exception is an exquisite first 'volley', stop FH1/2V winner). Doesn't even do well with the routine volleys actually - 4 UEs at the front too. And the ones he makes, he doesn't place particularly well, though he does punch through them to give nicely

Federer does well on the pass. Zverev tends to struggle with reflex volleys. 1 pass is hit hard from behind the baseline right at Zverev, who takes evasive action without any thought of making a shot. It was a powerful shot, but not that powerful that Zverev didn't have time to make a stab at the ball

(Small sidebar, an issue raised by Fed's strong, drive returning. He's capable as shown in both matches, and maybe erred on the side of safety of not playing this way more often. Generally, he preferred to slice BH returns passively

That's fine if your winning - and he usually was... no need to fix it if it ain't broken.

I was thinking about how passively he tended to return Rafael Nadal - who even more incessantly than Zverev targeted the BH return. On the serve shot alone, there isn't much between Nadal's serve in the early years and Zverev's here. Why'd he poke and push at Nadal if he could slap and spank like this?)

In a nutshell, consistent and damaging returns from Federer, not good volleying from Zverev. I wouldn't call it bad volleying - he's not missing sitters (granted, he doesn't see many - which is down to Federer's good play)

On serve, Federer cruises. Just the 3 UEs in the match. Zverev struggles to return and Fed commands play (or ends it) with third ball (especially the FH as always). Characteristic, lashing FHs from the Swiss. Zverev seems a bit slow of foot. Note the two FH longline winners from Federer. They weren't down the middle of the court, but they weren't angled either... good strong shots, but Zverev should have had a play on the ball at least

Summing up, Fed returning and passing strongly against all out serve-volleying of ordinary quality, while commanding play from baseline with his FH. Zverev, a bit slow of foot and found wanting on the volley
-----

In the men's game, its practically impossible to double bagel anybody without the server playing badly. In fact, I would hypothesize that in these rare matches, the bagel-ee playing badly is a bigger factor than the bagel-er playing well

In the Gaudio match, I think this is true. In the Zverev, I think Federer's positive play deserves the bulk of the credit (taking as a given that Federer played well and Gaudio & Zverev played badly)

Good returners play weak servers 100s of times a year... double bagels remain a rarity, so credit Fed for not letting up for an instant

 

[tacou]

the double double bagel