Duel Match Stats/Reports - Coria vs Calleri, Hamburg final, 2003 & Coria vs Schuttler, Monte Carlo final, 2004

[Waspsting]

Guillermo Coria beat Agustin Calleri 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the Hamburg final, 2003 on clay

It was the first of Coria’s 2 Masters titles. Calleri was unseeded and this would be his only Masters final

Coria won 96 points, Calleri 80

Serve Stats
Coria...
- 1st serve percentage (60/92) 65%
- 1st serve points won (40/60) 67%
- 2nd serve points won (21/32) 66%
- Aces 2
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (14/92) 15%

Calleri...
- 1st serve percentage (45/84) 54%
- 1st serve points won (32/45) 71%
- 2nd serve points won (17/39) 44%
- Aces 4
- Double Faults 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (14/84) 17%

Serve Patterns
Coria served...
- to FH 20%
- to BH 77%
- to Body 3%

Calleri served...
- to FH 36%
- to BH 64%

Return Stats
Coria made...
- 64 (22 FH, 42 BH), including 3 runaround FHs & 1 drop-return
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 8 Forced (6 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (64/78) 82%

Calleri made...
- 76 (25 FH, 51 BH), including 10 runaround FHs
- 4 Winners (2 FH, 2 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 12 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 9 Forced (2 FH, 7 BH)
- Return Rate (76/90) 84%

Break Points
Coria 5/11 (6 games)
Calleri 2/6 (3 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Coria 18 (11 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV, 2 OH)
Calleri 31 (11 FH, 7 BH, 6 FHV, 3 BHV, 4 OH)

Coria's FHs - 4 cc (2 passes), 3 dtl passes, 3 drop shots, 1 lob
- BHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 1 dtl pass

Calleri's FHs - 3 cc (1 return), 1 dtl, 5 inside-out, 1 inside-out/dtl, 1 runaround inside-in return
- BHs - 5 dtl (2 returns), 1 inside-out/longline, 1 net chord dribbler

- 1 from a serve-volley point, a first volley FHV

- 2 other FHVs were swinging inside-out (1 non-net) & 1 OH was on the bounce

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Coria 33
- 10 Unforced (5 FH, 5 BH)
- 23 Forced (11 FH, 11 BH, 1 BH1/2V)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net (a net touch), 2 BH running-down-drop-shot at net & the BH1/2V can reasonably be called a BH at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47

Calleri 58
- 47 Unforced (19 FH, 25 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)... with 1 FH at net & 1 non-net, swinging FHV
- 11 Forced (4 FH, 2 BH, 2 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 Over-the-Shoulder)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52.6

(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
Coria was 8/13 (62%) at net, with...
- 1/2 forced back

Calleri was...
- 22/43 (51%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 1/4 (25%) forced back/retreated

Match Report
Good, fun match. Coria is quick as can be and Calleri is as baseline-based aggressive as can be. Good formula for flying sparks

Agustin Calleri has a hint of chubby about him. To look at him, you’d think he might be slow and lack stamina. He’s quick and stamina is just fine. Big serve. And he’s top of the charts aggressive of game

He’s constantly going for winners and point-ending shots. Guga or Rios don’t go for it to this extent. At his most aggressive in first set, “crazy” is a good word to describe his shot-choices. Thereafter, he tones it down to merely top-most aggressive

Its Coria who implements BH-BH play as much as possible. Calleri has good form on his 1-hander and is firm of force. Could match Coria of force, its unlikely he could do so off consistency - but he shows little interest trying

Rare for Calleri to play 3 stock cc BHs in a row. Before that can happen, he goes dtl with it - it goes for a winner (he has just 3), it forces an error (Coria has 11 FH FEs, about half drawn by BH dtl’s), he misses (he has 8 BH dtl winner attempts + other attacking shots), Coria gets it back defensively and Cal goes for another winner in some other direction

BH cc is hard hit, but he doesn’t look to get it wide to set up his dtl finisher (when he does go wide, its wide enough to be a winner on its own - not calling him crazy for no reason here). Just likes to take on dtl return winner

He goes for big return winners. Including BH dtl against first serves (he has 2 winners there too). He’s no less aggressive with FH, but it doesn’t see as much action. Is he a BH preferring player? Probably, though he does move over to occasionally swat FH, but not nearly as much as chances he foregoes to do so

He’s at net 43 times, all but once rallying there (Coria has 13 approaches)

And Coria? Counter-punches and defends. Quick as can be. Players of similar speed like Chang and Nadal at least seem to be straining fully when at top speed. Coria less so, and way Calleri plays, he has endless chances to showcase his court coverage

That’s action - Coria has better of outcome, both for his defending and Calleri not being successful enough with his aggressive plays (the 2 being connected). Its one fun show

Serve & Return
Both players serve well (in different ways) and both return well (corresponding to their different ways of serving)

Calleri serves big and potentially damagingly. Coria is marvelous in making tough returns, keeping Cal to just 17% unreturneds. Cal still wins 71% first serve points, and after first set, its his first serve that keeps him competitive

Good serving, good returning

Coria serves quite powerfully too. Not as strong as Cal, but at 11% higher in count. Cal returns aggressively. Among other things, he’s got 4 return winners. Has other aggressive returns that give Coria running third ball shots. Returning that aggressively - he goes for and makes BH dtl return winners against first serves from well behind baseline and in doubles court - likely outcome is missing a lot of returns

He returns 84%. At that level of aggression, excellent. When he’s not aiming wide, he’s thumping the ball - and he’s aiming wide a lot

Good serving, good returning

Play - Baseline (& Net)
Action is Calleri attacking, Coria defending. But Coria is able to find Cal’s BH

Is that a good thing? Is Cal’s FH so deadly that playing to his BH is way to thwart him? Or is Coria baiting the BH, fancying it to flounder more being aggressive than FH?

Whatever the answer, that’s what Coria does. Cal’s happy to play along, smacking a couple BH cc’s before taking on dtl winner shot. Or just cutting to the chase of the dtl winner attempt

Coria races around putting balls in play. Puts good few back, but scarcely possible to do so neutralizingly. So Cal carries on banging would-be point ending shots. Of either wing. Or hammering ball where Coria isn’t and coming in

Coria’s ability to appear where he wasn’t a moment a go is pest-like. Overused cliche in tennis is crediting a defender for attacker missing easy balls because they feel like they have to go for more to get ball through. Its actually true here, though Cal doesn’t miss outright easy shots. He has to hit big and he has to hit near lines because so much comes back. Some come back even when he gets the ball on line with big force

 

[Waspsting]

Cal not proactively looking for net too much, but way rallies go, many an open chance to come in. Coria passes superbly. On the move or otherwise. Tends to get first pass in trickly low or wide and go for winner after that

Coria’s offence is largely FH drop shots. He’s not wanting for power in neutral rallies of either wing. Its not even a question of his showing shot tolerance against the looking-for-power Calleri’s shots. He’s an equal strength hitter in what little time rallies stay in neutral

For all the crazy aggression, there’s nothing wrong with Calleri’s neutral hitting form. If it’s the case that some players have to be super consistent because they don’t have enough firepower to be effective, its equally true that some players have to be aggressive because they don’t have enough basic consistency

Cal’s uber-aggressive way makes him look like such a player. But he is steady enough trading groundies with the uber-consistent Coria
How does it look in numbers?

Neutral UEs - Coria 6, Cal 11

Coria barely missing a ball, Call outdone comfortably but he’s not bad. Its his choice to cut all that out and get straight to going for throat

Winners - Coria 18, Cal 31
Errors Forced - Coria 11, Cal 23
(Aggressively ended points - Coria 29, Cal 54)

Back cut by -
Attacking UEs - Coria 1, Cal 13
Winner Attempt UEs - Coria 3, Cal 23
(Aggressive UEs - Coria 4, Cal 36)

Coria is very much the defender in the match, but that is top-drawer attacking efficiency. When he attacks or counter-attacks, he wins. Calleri is defensively stout and quick too, so its not an easy task either

He doesn’t attack much. He’s got 6 ground-to-ground winners (3 of them drop shots). Rest of his groundies are passes. Calleri has 17

So main contest is Calleri’s attacking efficiency. Is he giving up too many errors for all the winners he’s hitting? - with side item of Coria winning bulk of minority neutral rallies and doing very well when turning to attack

That’s called keeping the match on one’s racquet. For better or worse
Worse in this case

On FH, Cal has 11 winners, 19 UEs (all kinds)
On BH, 7 winners, 25 UEs (including a boatload of dtl’s)

He’s erred in not shaping play to attack more with his FH. Blasting people away with BH shot-making and dtl shots over 5 sets on clay, and a guy as quick as Coria is crazy lot to go for

Since he seems to be able to hang with Coria trading groundies, better to redirect action to FH before going on the attack, but he overdoes the BH shot-making

Rallying to net - Calleri 21/42, Coria 8/13

That’s final bit of action - and credit to Coria for how it goes. Calleri’s attacking play organically leads to coming in and to his credit, he’s not shy about doing so. He’s not a great net player and shows bad judgement on the approach a few times, but good as his approach shots, he wouldn’t have to be to win up there

But he’s kept to just 50% winnings up there, with Coria striking trickily low or/and wide passes from defensive positions that can be put in play but not putaway first up, and then going for the winner after that. Bit like Mats Wilander, only Coria’s more forced to play tempered first pass (Wilander would play tempered passes off normal look passes) against strong approaches

1 passing winner Coria hits is so ridiculously good and from such a hopeless position that Calleri immediately turns away and applauds the shot, just as Coria starts to apologize for making it - but that’s an exception

Match Progression
First 2 games tells most of the story of the whole match (and all of the first set)

Game 1, Calleri breaks outstandingly to 15. BHV winner to open. Winning wide BH cc. Winning BH dtl. Swatted FH cc return winner against first serve
Game 2, Calleri is broken terribly. Misses a silly mid-court swinging FHV badly, misses BH dtl and double faults

So the set continues. Calleri is at his most aggressive of the match in it. Big serves, wide returns, wide angled winner attempts especially off the BH to which Coria plays, but FH also goes big in all directions. And approaches, not always with sound judgement

Calleri hits winners, or misses trying. Coria runs around like a jackrabbit to put balls in play

Calleri has 2 break points in game 5. Lovely lob to get him away from net, followed up a perfect FH drop shot winner by Coria saves the first, and Cal misses a FH approach shot on the next. BH dtl winner attempt miss followed by an ace sees out the game

Coria has 3 break points right after, which Cal staves off, but its same story game after, and this time, Cal double faults to give up the game

Tense serve-out, with Calleri continuing to go for his shots. Gets to deuce with a BH dtl return winner against first serve and hangs in to pinch a net-to-net point with an awkward, BHOH back-pedalling against an at net Coria. Couple of winner attempts end the game and set - another BH dtl and a mishit FH from mid-court

Calleria tones down his game in second set. Its still more aggressive than anything you’re likely to see, but at least he waits 2 or 3 shots before going for winners. Its his big serve that keeps him in the set, winning 9/12, with Coria getting better of rallies

Ridiculous BH cc passing winner on the full run from Coria has him apologizing and Calleri applauding in game 8. The sole break comes game after, a game where 2 combine for 5 approaches in 6 points (twice both being at net simultaneously), and Coria getting better of net-to-net exchanges

Coria serve out more comfortably to 15, with Calleri missing his flaming groundies

Going down 2 sets seems to take it out of Calleri. Double faults twice and misses a FH inside-in winner attempt to get broken to start, misses a whole bunch of winner attempts (FH inside-in, FH inside-out, BH dtl) as Coria consolidates and is broken again, missing moderate FH inside-outs in succession to end

He hits back with a flaming game to break back for 3-1, the 4 points he wins comprising Coria passing error, and winners from non-net swinging FHV inside-out and 2 BH dtl’s. 1-3
The 1 break advantage proves enough. Calleri is more net hungry than previously (and he wasn’t shy before) but can’t get close to breaking

Wonderful game 8, which Calleri holds where 2 players share 6 winners (Calleri 4, Coria 2) with other 2 points being FEs and 9 approaches (Calleri 7, Coria 2 - he’s forced back from net both times). Calleri ends it with FHV winner from sole serve-volley of the match

Double fault and a Calleri net chord dribbler sees Coria down 0-30 serving for the match, but he wins the next 4 points - 2 with particulalry good wide serves and 2 with Calleri missing BH dtl winner attempts

Summing up, what happens when you put the fastest player around against the craziest shot-maker? A good fun time. Coria is greased lightning (and has to be), while hitting firmly, being consistent and defending like the dickens. While rarely dictating, he does pointedly keep action to his opponents BH. He passes superbly, in measured way

Calleri plays like a mad man, going from winners from all over the court, off both sides, with the serve, with the return and at net. With Coria playing to his BH, that’s the side that sees him firing and misfiring most, especially down-the-line

Its not likely to come good against a defender like Coria and doesn’t, but it’s a lot of fun

 

[Galvermegs]

Calleri could beat agassi, ferrero and hewitt on a given day but is mostly forgotten now. Very stylish player but clearly not able to string high level wins together often

 

[BauerAlmeida]

Calleri could beat agassi, ferrero and hewitt on a given day but is mostly forgotten now. Very stylish player but clearly not able to string high level wins together often

He would usually lose straight away after one of those epic wins.

In Hamburg precisely he routined Nalbandian in the SF but lost pretty easily to Coria in the final.

 

[Waspsting]

he routined Nalbandian in the SF but lost pretty easily to Coria in the final.

Its a strange, almost unique showing from him

When a guy goes for winners to the extent he does, usually he either zones to hitting winners all the time, or goes bust missing all the time
Minority of in-between, lot closer to going bust

Callier here goes a long way staying neck and neck

Winner
Winner attempt UE
Winner
Winner attempt UE
Hard forced error
very attacking UE
etc.

There's no shortage of matches that are straight sets, 1-break advantage each set
This is one of the most extreme ones, in terms of how the loser goes about playing - and its a little surprising he keeps it up as well as he does. And he doesn't get a jot of help from the stingy miser Coria

 

[Galvermegs]

Its a strange, almost unique showing from him

When a guy goes for winners to the extent he does, usually he either zones to hitting winners all the time, or goes bust missing all the time
Minority of in-between, lot closer to going bust

Callier here goes a long way staying neck and neck

Winner
Winner attempt UE
Winner
Winner attempt UE
Hard forced error
very attacking UE
etc.

There's no shortage of matches that are straight sets, 1-break advantage each set
This is one of the most extreme ones, in terms of how the loser goes about playing - and its a little surprising he keeps it up as well as he does. And he doesn't get a jot of help from the stingy miser Coria

I was completely mistaken in thinking coria was divorced but he simply lost his way in his career and from what i can tell remained with his wife and at least had some post career positivity.

 

[Waspsting]

Coria beat Rainer Schuttler 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 in the Monte Carlo final, 2004 on clay

It was the second and last of Coria’s 2 Masters titles. He would go onto lose in the final of the French Open shortly afterwards. This would be Schuttler’s only Masters final

Coria won 95 points, Schuttler 58

Serve Stats
Coria...
- 1st serve percentage (45/69) 65%
- 1st serve points won (33/45) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (17/24) 71%
- Aces 2
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (10/69) 14%

Schuttler...
- 1st serve percentage (45/84) 54%
- 1st serve points won (20/45) 44%
- 2nd serve points won (19/39) 49%
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (6/84) 7%

Serve Patterns
Coria served...
- to FH 44%
- to BH 56%

Schuttler served...
- to FH 39%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 1%

Return Stats
Coria made...
- 77 (32 FH, 45 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 6 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- 3 Forced (3 BH)
- Return Rate (77/83) 93%

Schuttler made...
- 56 (31 FH, 25 BH), including 7 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 FH), a runaround FH
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (3 FH, 4 BH), including 1 runround FH & 1 return-approach attempt
- 1 Forced (1 FH)
- Return Rate (56/66) 85%

Break Points
Coria 7/10 (8 games)
Schuttler 1/7 (4 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Coria 16 (5 FH, 9 BH, 2 BHV)
Schuttler 24 (9 FH, 5 BH, 3 FHV, 5 BHV, 2 OH)

Coria's FHs - 2 FH cc passes (1 can reasonably be called an OH on bounce from baseline), 1 dtl at net, 1 inside-in, 1 drop shot
- regular BH - 1 cc (when Schuttler stopped playing)
- BH passes - 4 cc, 2 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 lob

- both BHVs were non-net passes (1 from near the baseline dtl, 1 closer to service line)

Schuttler's FHs - 2 cc, 2 inside-out, 4 inside-in (1 runaround return), 1 longline/inside-out
- BHs - 1 cc/down-the-middle (bad bounce related), 1 dtl, 2 drop shots, 1 running-down-drop-shot cc pass at net

- 5 from serve-volley points - 4 first volleys (1 FHV, 1 BHV, 2 OH) & 1 second volley (1 BHV)

- 1 other FHV was a swinging dtl shot from the baseline and 1 other BHV was a pass

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Coria 25
- 20 Unforced (12 FH, 8 BH, FHV)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- 5 Forced (1 FH, 4 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44

Schuttler 68
- 55 Unforced (41 FH, 12 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- 13 Forced (3 FH, 5 BH, 2 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 2 BHV)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot (non-net) & 2 non-net BHV pass attempts
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.8

(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
Coria was 6/9 (67%) at net

Schuttler was...
- 16/35 (46%) at net, including...
- 7/10 (70%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 4/6 (67%) off 1st serves and...
- 3/4 (75%) off 2nd serves
---
- 1/2 forced back/retreated

Match Report
Very toned down version of the Hamburg final, which I’ll use as a frame of reference to describe this match. Coria’s showing is similar - solid, very quick and excellent on the pass. Schuttler’s is poor, impatient and ill-judged. Coria’s victory is as clear cut as the scoreline and the 95-58 points differential suggests

Schut's with 41 FH UEs. Putting that in perspective -
- both players combined have 40 winners
- both players combined have 18 FEs
- sans Schut’s FH, both players combined have 34 UEs
- both players combined have 16 unreturned serves and 4 double faults

Calleri was constantly going for winners. Schut’s problem is different. He’s impatient and tries to boss play with his FH. And he’s no good at it

Few times he tempers down to just keeping ball in court, play one more ball until the next shot, he doesn’t do badly. His form is solid enough. Probably can’t do it well enough to outdo Coria in long run, but its unlikely to be as bad as trying to boss action

What does ‘boss’ action mean? Its not going for winners, like Calleri. Its not even really attacking (opening court and setting up possible attacking plays where hitting winners might be possibility). Its some combo of hitting harder, hitting a little wide, hitting deep and wide. Categorically different from just trading neutral groundies, though nominally, many of the errors thus made have been labelled neutral

Neutral UEs - Coria 13, Schut 22
Attacking UEs - Coria 6, Schut 23
Winner Attempt UEs - Coria 1, Schut 10

Good chunk of Schut’s neutral UEs are these ‘bossy’ type shots, trying to push towards attacking. In that light, if he had the patience and fully committed to trading plain neutral shots ‘til error comes, he has chances at holding about even. Whether he could continue to do so over long run remains to be seen

At time of this match, Coria was on a 20+ match winning run on clay and its likely that Schutt’s intimidated by him. Beaten before stepping on court type thing, feeling like its not possible to bring down the wall

Schut’s other option is to go all out attacking, like Calleri. But he doesn’t have the power or shot-making to do that. Or the ability to step in and take the ball early, to enhance his ‘boss’ hitting

When Coria gets return deepish, Schut’s has trouble coping. ‘Deepish’, not deep. Normal enough first groundie, just one that would be risky to attack. And its an amusing sight when Schut, attacking to the tune of moving Coria side-to-side, is 2 paces behind the baseline to do so, while Coria is running back and forth on the baseline to defend

In short, Schut probably just not capable of taking ball early. His potential lies more in staying solid, after having a good look at the ball before playing his shot. He tries to do a little more than who-blinks-first - and that’s enough to see the errors spill out

His ‘boss’ play or even attacking play doesn’t cut it against Coria’s solidity and defensive ability even when lands his shots. Not many reactive UEs coming out of Coria

Just 5 FEs for Coria and almost all are passing shots. All that straining to pressure Coria - the rock (in terms of consistency) that moves like water - for what? 23 attacking UEs + about 10 neutral-bossy more. Vast bulk of it from FH

 

[Waspsting]

Coria forcing 13 errors (for 6 attacking UEs against a quick opponent) and 16 winners (for 1 miss trying). Like Hamburg, excellent when he turns to attacking himself, even accounting for inflation of of his ratios due to having so many winning passes

Unlike the Hamburg match, it doesn’t seem to be Coria’s design to get or keep the ball to particular wing of his opponent. Its Schut’s choice to lead with FHs - and Coria has no reason to interfere with that

Before the attacking and bossing errors comes, rallies go on with Schut striving to pressure Coria. His isn’t strong enough hitting (particularly from his 2-paces behind baseline position) to succeed against even considerably lesser opposition. And Coria is excellent in his movement and counter-punching

Plays a few drop shots, which he doesn’t follow to net. Would be good idea to, given Coria likely to run them down. When boots on other leg, he play cc run-down-drop-shot shot at net which is also not the brightest idea. Coria knocks passes away on the full from no-man’s land against them. FH inside-in is Schut’s most effective weapon. He’s got 3 winners (+1 return) with the shot and it’s the one that he lands in most often. The ones that don’t go for winners, of course, come back. Coria with just 1 FH FE

Schut’s other option is to take net. He rallies there 25 times - but can win just 9. Its not for having weak approach shots. Coria is superb on the pass

Coria again preferring to pass in 2-shot style, but indulging the more typical 1-shot for the winner more than he did in Hamburg. Which turns out not well for Schut, as he keeps nailing BH passing winners

8/9 Coria’s BH winners are passes (the excepttion happens when Schut stops playing and lets ball go). 4 cc and 2 dtl - all perfect shots

Schut’s 7/10 serve-volleying though - 4/6 behind first serves, 3/4 behind seconds. Ability to do so is curbed by low in count of 54% (which might not be as it bad it sounds for him, since he wins 49% second serve points to 44% firsts). With Coria returning firmly at 93%, its very unlikely that’d end continue going well were he to do it predictably often, but he doesn’t have much to lose, way baseline rallies go

While Schut’s aggression costs more than its worth, he does end up leading winners 24-16. 24 winners for 10 winner attempts UEs is decent too. Its the mildly attacking and attempt to boss misses where he’s badly off - and which is hardly effective even when he lands in

Finally, there’s a similarity between this match and the old Borg-Vilas matches, with this one being a flatter, sped up version

In those old matches, two players would trade moon-ballish groundies for ages. With both players staying steady, Vilas would turn to trying to hit harder and flatter, with Borg least bothered by it. Or Vilas coming in and getting passed

Here, no moonballs and rallies aren’t anywhere near as long. By standards of the day, they’re medium length (by Borg-Vilas standards, over before they begin), with 10-15 shot exchanges common. Schut in Vilas’ role the less consistent trading stock shots and trying to up his hitting, Coria in Borg’s readily taking in stride and carrying on same way. And Coria passing Schut to his hearts content, just like Borg used to

This kind of full-on who-blinks-first action was becoming rare by 2004, with a lot more players around capable of winning by being aggressive from the baseline, not just outlasting opponents, and conversely, baseline attacks becoming too strong for a player to out-defend his way to victory

Match Progression
Action doesn’t change much over course of match. Both players hit firmly, Schut looks to hit a bit harder and wider to control action. Coria’s least bothered by it and keeps putting ball in play firmly, even when on run. Schut ends up missing sooner or later

In first set, both players like their FH inside-ins and occasional drop shots. Schut would do well to come in behind his drop shots, because Coria’s too quick to be defeated by the drop shot alone

Nice hold to 30 to start for Schuet, who opens match with a BHV winner and ends first game by forcing a passing error after a long rally where he’s eventually drop-shotted in to net

Coria wins his first service point with a nice BH cc passing winner. First of many
Coria breaks for 2-1. 4 FH UEs by Schuet (3 of them third balls - 2 he’s trying to mildly force, 1 against a good return) and a third ball FH winner from near service line make up the game

Coria saves 2 break points in 12 point game to consolidate. Nice BH inside-out drop shot winner by Schuet, and Coria misses his own FH inside-in going for winner early in game. Big return sets up another point for Schuet, who finishes it with another mid-court FH winner. He misses routine FH inside-out on first break point, but raises another with a nice, ground clinging slice. Coria erases it with a drop shot winner of his own - a third ball FH inside-out - and folows up with a nice FH cc pass winner before holding

Schuet starts next game swinging a FHV dtl for a third ball winner from near the baseline. Goes on to get broken when met with low passes when comes to net, before missing another third ball attacking FH on break point

Schuet manages to hold another long game of 14 points before Coria serves out the set to love

More of the same to start second start and Schuet begins to get frustrated. Later in set, he plays a couple of points very patiently, just keeping ball in court and holds even with Coria, but reverts to trying to force action quickly enough and errors following

Couple of incidents in the set. Schuet makes a tweener retrieval, with Coria staying on baseline as he forces opponent back, and Schuet comes away with the point. Later, after making a return and getting ready to play next ball, Schuet stops playing as Coria hits a BH cc that goes through for winner, claiming the serve was a fault. Chair correctly doesn’t think Schuet stopped play immediately and there’s a hold up as Schuet talks it over with the Chair and calls for supervisor

No change to the call, and quite well handled by Schuet. He’s on his way to going down 4-0 at the time, bubbling with frustration and while in the wrong on the matter, doesn’t go overboard in expressing sentiment with the call

Same game with Schuet’s tweener sees Coria knock off 3 running BH cc passing winners within 5 points - the last 2 to end the game. Fantastic shots. He adds a BH lob one against a second serve-volleying Schuet to start next return game

Schuet breaks to deny bagel, with Coria blinking up errors and double faulting on break point and celebrates winning a game triumphantly. Coria breaks again next game to end the set

Just 1 break in the deciding set. Schuet holds his own when he elects to stay patient in rallies, but before long, reverts to trying to take charge, with errors following

He’s got 0-40 in opening game, winning first 2 points after staying in the rally patiently. Goes for FH dtl winner on first break point by contrast and misses. Coria with a nice drop shot in + volley from near baseline passing winner combo erases another before Coria goes on to hold

3 competitive games in row end with Coria nosing ahead. After Schuet holds deuce game for 2-2, he has break point in next game. Again misses a FH winner attempt on it, this time inside-out before missing a relatively comfy running-down-drop-shot at net before Coria holds

And then Coria snags the break, with attacking FH misses again Schuet’s undoing. He double faults on break point
Back to back BH dtl passing winners by Coria next game, to go along with the BH cc ones he’d made earlier. He serves out to love a little later, with a frustrated Schuet lashing errors out

Summing up, another consummate showing from Coria who walls up from the back, is quick as can be and top notch on the pass. Throws in a few drop shots for offence and the odd FH inside-in but mostly counter-punches and defends very well

Schuttler is probably beaten before he takes the court, against an opponent in the midst of an irresistible run of clay wins. He’s over-eager to take control of baseline rallies and ends up making boatloads of errors trying, particularly off the FH. Rarely, when he knuckles down to rallying patiently, he ends up not far behind the wall-like Coria and wins his share of who-blinks-first rallies

Taking the two matches together, Coria’s solidity and quickness is constant and seemingly leaves both opponents feeling like they have to attack

Calleri does so with wild abandon and a good serve, and is comfortably outdone
Schuettler does so moderately with a non-threatening serve, and is rolled over