Duel Match Stats/Reports - Kuerten vs Norman, French Open & Rome finals, 2000

[Waspsting]

Gustavo Kuerten beat Magnus Norman 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6) in the French Open final, 2000 on clay

It was Kuerten’s second title at the event and he would go onto defend it the following year. This would turn out to be Norman’s only Slam final. The two had met twice in the lead in to this event, with Norman winning the Rome final, Kuerten winning in earlier round in Hamburg en route to the title

Kuerten won 159 points, Norman 157

Serve Stats
Kuerten...
- 1st serve percentage (70/144) 49%
- 1st serve points won (53/70) 76%
- 2nd serve points won (29/74) 39%
- Aces 9
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (33/144) 23%

Norman...
- 1st serve percentage (95/172) 55%
- 1st serve points won (59/95) 62%
- 2nd serve points won (36/77) 47%
- Aces 9
- Double Faults 8
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (18/172) 10%

Serve Patterns
Kuerten served...
- to FH 21%
- to BH 76%
- to Body 3%

Norman served...
- to FH 27%
- to BH 68%
- to Body 4%

Return Stats
Kuerten made...
- 146 (58 FH, 88 BH), including 14 runaround FHs
- 9 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (146/164) 89%

Norman made...
- 108 (22 FH, 86 BH), including 8 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 24 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (4 FH, 3 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 17 Forced (8 FH, 9 BH)
- Return Rate (108/141) 77%

Break Points
Kuerten 7/32 (11 games)
Norman 5/14 (8 games)

Winners (excluding serves, including returns)
Kuerten 30 (16 FH, 8 BH, 3 FHV, 3 OH)
Norman 51 (32 FH, 9 BH, 2 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 4 OH)

Kuerten's FHs -3 cc, 4 dtl (2 passes), 2 dtl/inside-out, 2 inside-out, 2 inside-in, 1 inside-in/cc and 2 drop shots (1 at net)
- BHs - 6 dtl (2 passes), 1 longline at net and 1 drop shot

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

Norman's FHs - 4 cc (1 pass at net), 1 cc/inside-in, 3 dtl, 12 inside-out (1 at net), 6 inside-in, 2 inside-in/cc, 2 drop shots, 1 lob and 1 running-down-drop-shot cc pass at net (very finely angled)
- BHs - 3 cc, 4 dtl (1 return, 1 at net pass), 1 dtl/inside-out and 1 running-down-drop-shot cc pass at net

- 1 OH was on bounce from no-man's land (a forced back net point)

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Kuerten 85
- 60 Unforced (28 FH, 31 BH, 1 FHV)
- 25 Forced (9 FH, 12 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 BHOH)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.7

Norman 88
- 68 Unforced (49 FH, 19 BH)
- 20 Forced (6 FH, 10 BH, 2 BHV, 2 Tweener)... with 2 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.1

(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 are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Kuerten was ...
- 20/35 (57%) at net including...
- 3/3 (100%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
---
- 0/3 forced back

Norman was...
- 29/41 (71%) at net including...
- 1/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves
---
- 3/5 (60%) forced back

Match Report
A strange, mixed parts match with too many things going on for there to be a clear single factor that determines the result. The most important and regular one would have to be Kuerten’s serve-return complex advantage; his serve stacks up better against Norman’s return than the other way around

Despite winning 3 more games and a tiebreak, Guga only wins 2 more points in the match
After 2 sets, when he’s won 7 extra games, his lead is just 9 points

Guga needs 11 match points (10 of them returning) across 3 games (including the tiebreak) to close out the match. Makes for tense, enthralling watching, augmented still more by Norm’s astonishingly playing his very best points time and time again on them. Good for the spectator, less so for Guga, who feels the match was his on the first match point with Norm’s winner being judged in. Too close to call for certain, even with freeze frames and ultra slow motion replays, but it looks a hair out. Its odd to see the usually affable Guga carry on a bit afterwards like a run-of-the-mill tennis brat, sarcastically querying if obviously out balls were in or not for a awhile after. Match point, Slam final would be the ultimate time for a call dispute to set anyone, even Guga, off

First 2 sets are terrible and not just from Norman who loses them 2 & 3. Its just that he goes on on his error spree first to trail by big margins - and Guga can join the party after, when scoreline is safe for him

Guga leads first set 4-0 (and has 4 break points for 5-0) and second set 5-1, before they end 6-2 and 6-3 respectively

At the end of it -
Winners - Guga 13, Norm 18
Errors Forced - Guga 6, Norm 8
UEs - Guga 26, Norm 32

Aggressively ended point/UE differentials - Guga -7, Norm -6. Poor figures, and fair reflection of quality of action

Yet Guga wins them comfortably. In points won terms, that’s all down to serve-return complex. He gets a few freebies, while giving away next to none, and Norm has the odd double fault

Unreturned rates - Guga 22%, Norm 16%

Action improves by a long way in next 2 sets. In them -
Winners - Guga 17, Norm 33
Errors Forced - Guga 14, Norm 11
UEs - both 34

Aggressively ended point/UE differential - Guga -3, Norm +10

Much better numbers, under-reflecting the improvement from earlier, and this time, Norm has sizable advantage in play. Again, its serve-return stuff that keeps Guga’s nose ahead

Unreturned rates - Guga 20%, Norm, 7%

Serve & Return
How exactly does Guga have better of serve-return complex? Both ways, of serve and return

He obviously has the bigger, more damaging serve, but only gets 49% first serves in. That’s just the way plays, unlike many clay court greats; first serve is like his free hit

Norm has a good serve, though not as good as Guga’s. He’s the kind of server who, other than his aces, nothing looks too troubling. Guga has his untouchable aces + big, troubling wide first serves

Return side of things has a hand in it too. Guga with very high 89% return rate. He only makes 9 errors, while being aced the same number of times. Simply, whatever isn’t an ace, comes back. In line with the kind of server Norm is, but just via law of averages, a player is bound to miss some lot of not-easy, regulation, even simple returns. Guga keeps it down to the bare minimum

Norm does some excellent stuff on the return too. Held to the highest of standards, he misses a few more more not-easy or tough-ish returns than he can afford, what with Guga missing almost none. He’s got 17 FEs on the return, which by definition, are at least not-easy (Guga has 5 and 9 return errors total)

What Norm does particularly well is take Guga’s second serves early. In last 2 sets, he takes them from a pace of 2 inside the baseline. Gets the odd one wide dtl or inside-in to put Guga on defensive right away. Hits hard. But the main effect is it keeps Guga from getting set

Guga’s not necessarily rushed, but he doesn’t have luxury of time to wind up his preferred attacking shots (a dynamic that extends to rallies, more on that later), thanks to Norm’s combo of forward position and hard hitting 2nd returns. It tells: Guga wins just 39% second serve points

In a sense, basic stats capture essence of match
- first serve in - Guga 49%, Norm 55%
- first won - Guga 76%, Norm 62%
- second won - Guga 39%, Norm 47%

Both Guga’s low in count and high first serve winning is indicator of big serving and it being effective. Norm’s numbers are standard

Second serve points won are most telling. Guga keeping Norm to under 50% indicates the two players being close to evenly matched in rallies. Norm keeping Guga well below 50% is the two of them evenly matched + Norm’s returning pegging Guga back right at start of rally

Gist - Guga’s boons are big first serve and very consistent returning. Norm’s are proactive, early, pressuring 2nd returning. A bump in his ability to get the tough ones back would be very helpful, but its not a blackmark… he’d have done well to have done so, he doesn’t do badly to not have

Play Baseline (& Net)
Action is heavily baseline based. The net points are products of overpowering opponent from back and drop shots (in other words, neither player manufactures approaches and net play is an extension of baseline superiority)

 

[Waspsting]

Norman leads action more often than not. He looks to play a hard hitting, consistent game and beat down Guga as a start but he’s ready to move forward and thrash short balls for winners from inside the court or come all the way to net to finish

Against Guga, the advantage of beat-down strong hitting has less to do with drawing errors than curbing his flourishing shot-making. That Norm manages

Its not a grindy match though. Norm regularly looks to finish with winners after overpowering Guga. And Guga goes for his point ending shots dtl or sharply cc, but often has to do it without set up

In first 2 sets, Norm goes close to lines, while trying to be hard hitting. Misses right and left, a very poor showing. He rectifies that from third set onward, where he continues to hit hard, but keeps the placement orthodox

Guga isn’t much better early on, but has big leads when he indulges with the errors. His are more missing slightly pressured shots, a cut above regulation than going for lines

In third set, Norm hits harder and doesn’t miss, leaving it to Guga to do so

Fourth set is a mix. It starts with incredible, attacking tennis from both sides and close games. Quality of action doesn’t change much, but advantage shifts to Guga as set goes on and by end, Norm struggles to hold onto his serve

He ends up serving 89 points in it, to Guga’s 39, including games lasting 24, 20, 14 and 12 points. Guga’s longest game is 8 points. Norm had served just 20 points in the entire third set

‘Struggle’ might be a misleading description. Faced with so many break points and such long games, of course it’s a struggle, but on those break points, Norm almost invariably aggressively outplays Guga to win

In numbers -
- Winners - Guga 30, Norm 51
- Errors Forced - Guga 20, Norm 25
- UEs - Guga 60, Norm 68

Aggressively ended points/UEs - Guga -10, Norm +8

UE breakdown
- Neutral - Guga 31, Norm 37
- Attacking - Guga 12, Norm 14
- Winner Attempts - both 17

… and by shot
- Norm BH 19
- Guga FH 28 & Guga BH 31
- Norm FH 49

And winners
- FHs - Guga 16, Norm 32
- BHs - Guga 8, Norm 9

What does all that mean?

Norm clearly the aggressor with 21 more winners and forcing 5 more errors. Net points also point to it. Norm wins 71%, Guga 57% for a similar number of approaches, but as stated earlier, particularly in Norm’s case, net points are an extension of his baseline superiority. Not small amount of Guga’s net points are drop shot related also (not that he wins too high a lot of them, with Norm being very good on the running-down-drop-shot at net shot)

Offensively, Norm overpowers Guga and then moves up the court (not necessarily to net) to finish him off. Guga goes for his shots sans the overpowering bit and makes a good number too

With equal winner attempt UEs, its easy to see Norm’s greater efficiency on the kill shot. Both with 17 errors, Norm with 51 winners to Guga’s 30. The efficiency of each player suggested by those numbers are a bit deceptive due to Norm going for his shots from stronger positions. For anyone else, you might call some of Guga’s winner attempts ‘desperate’, but for him, going for winners out of the blue is common enough

Near same efficiency forcing errors. Guga’s defence and retrieving is a bit better, so Norm probably winning in his moderate attacking play too

Its on neutrals where Guga has advantage 31-37. That’d be tainted some by the horror of the first two sets

Norm’s FH with by far match high 32 winners (Guga has 30 total) and also UEs of 49 (next worst around 30). And Norm’s BH with by far match low UEs of 19

The picture emerging of Norm is a very good one. Aggressive FH, steady BH. Its not fully accurate. The BH is steady all right, but the FH looks a strong, solid shot (as opposed to a loose one as implied by the UEs) that can raise itself to point finishing (as supported by all the winners)

All in context of staple, pressuring hitting play. Looks a fine player. Sans the foolish close-to-lines play in early part of the match. On staple, he’s kept Guga’s shot-making funhouse closed with good hitting - and he’s well in the positives attacking

And then there’s the almost ridiculous clutch play at end of match where he outhits Guga on virtually every single break point (of course, being down so many break points in the first place is better indicator that he’s getting short end of the stick during this period)

The ending of the match being so memorable encourages one to forget the opening (which would be easy to do even without the memorable ending), but one is left with a better-than-justified impression of Norman’s play; dual winged hard hitting staple, steady BH, a FH that’s very capable of finishing and good use of the net. Steady as BH is, likes to move over and hit FHs pressuringly when he can, preferring inside-out to inside-in. Hits the inside-outs well enough that redirecting it dtl to open court would be difficult (Guga tries some, misses more than he makes)

Very good finishing shots with both of those shots too (he’s got 12 inside-out winners, 8 inside-in based ones)

Least it be forgotten, there’s also half a match’s worth of silly errors that effectively donates a 2 set deficit

But yes, he has outplayed Guga off the ground, been the harder hitter, curbed Guga’s flair and shown a good deal of his own in progressing through power advantage to finishing points aggressively

Match Progression
Terrible start from Norman, making errors in medium length rallies, usually by going too close to lines. They’re not exactly attacking shots. Best described as ‘neutral’, perhaps ‘pressuring’… potential reward of it isn’t worth the risk (and the execution is poor)

He’s down 0-4 in quick time and saves 4 break points in a 14 point game to keep it from 0-5. Loses it 2-6

Similar story in second set where he’s down 1-5, before losing 3-6

Guga though hasn’t had it too easy on serve and endured long holds

Just a bad pair of sets. Error ridden, above average hitting from Norm, but doesn’t take long to give up the errors. Medium length rallies with medium+ hitting, ending with UEs. Some decent back-foot ‘gets’ by Guga, not much

Third set is much better. Norman’s more solid, doesn’t get too close to the lines and as he gains in confidence, starts hitting more firmly. Guga makes just 14/35 first serves and wins 5/21 second serve points

Very good 2nd returning by Norm, who takes them a pace and a half inside court, and hits them firmly, occasionally throwing out a wide one

Any change from earlier is a good one, but change in action isn’t too drastic. Norm takes his break chances in kind of games he hadn’t earlier. And with Norm not making errors, rallies go on longer and its Guga that usually makes them

Norm continues the good work by breaking to start the 4th, making it 5 games in a row for him, but Guga breaks right back in a brilliant game. The entire first section of the 4th set is brilliant from both players with great attacking play, shot making amidst good, solid staple neutral play

And its unpredictable. Guga gets the first hold t go up 2-1 easily to love. Norm holds a top class 20 point game, saving 4 break points (3 winners, 1 passing FE) to equalize… and then breaks to 15

At 4-3, he’s 2 holds away from forcing a decider. But a bad run of errors puts him down 0-40. He saves first 2 break points with winners, but on the third, its Guga who does the bossing of the rally, before ending with a FH inside-in winner. And its back on serve

Most of the rest is Norm clinging on to his serve. His next 2 holds last 14 and 24 points, where he saves 7 break/match points (4 with winners, 1 with a commanding net point, 1 a very good serve and just 1 Guga UE)

The first break/match point sees Norm hit a FH inside-out winner. Guga circles the mark as out, the Chair comes down to review it and calls it in. Its about as close as can be

The last regular game of the match is the 24 point hold. Anything you can imagine happening, does in the game - great rallies, amazing shots (often under highest pressure), offence, defence… the whole 9 yards. Gist, Norm holds

Tiebreak. Guga’s always in command, leading 3-0 with 2 mini-breaks, never falling behind (and only equal twice at 3-3 and 6-6). He reaches 6-3 and has all 4 set points in the game

Norm double faults on his first service point and then makes an approach error. Guga hands back 1 by missing the easiest of putaway FHVs. Next crucial point is Norm missing a FH dtl winner he’d set up perfectly by overpowering Guga

After saving first 2 set/match points on his serve, a big BH dlt return leads to Norm equalling at 6-6. Crucially, he can’t make the return next point - a particularly powerful, deep first serve that’s in his swing zone, and next point on his serve, his knack of hitting winners down match point doesn’t last as he misses a FH dtl

Summing up, half-poor, half-excellent match but its ending on a high leaves a good after taste

Action is baseline stuff and Norman is the driving force - the harder hitter, the more pressuring, the more commanding and he knows just how to make most of those things to finish

Kuerten is pushed into reactive role most of the time, but gets his shot-making licks in too. Usually without being able to set it up properly

Kuerten’s big advantage is in serve-return complex. He has the bigger, more damaging first serve. And he returns with iron consistency. Norman trails in both areas, though his early taken second returning are also a key positive in his showing

In the end, Kuerten’s serve-return advantage off sets Norman’s baseline one in the deciding set. The overall outcome combines that with Kuerten not playing as badly as Norman does in early part of the match

 

[Waspsting]

Norman beat Kuerten 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in Rome final, 2000 on clay

Kuerten was the defending champion and he would finish runner-up the following year also. This would be Norman’s only Masters title or final. He would reach a career high ranking of #2 shortly after the French Open

Norman won 138 points, Kuerten 125

Serve Stats
Norman...
- 1st serve percentage (79/121) 65%
- 1st serve points won (56/79) 71%
- 2nd serve points won (22/42) 52%
- Aces 14, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (29/121) 24%

Kuerten...
- 1st serve percentage (62/142) 44%
- 1st serve points won (46/62) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (36/80) 45%
- Aces 15
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (33/142) 23%

Serve Patterns
Norman served...
- to FH 39%
- to BH 58%
- to Body 3%

Kuerten served...
- to FH 30%
- to BH 67%
- to Body 3%

Return Stats
Norman made...
- 104 (32 FH, 72 BH), including 7 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 18 Errors, comprising...
- 8 Unforced (2 FH, 6 BH)
- 10 Forced (6 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (104/137) 76%

Kuerten made...
- 91 (34 FH, 57 BH), including 4 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 14 Errors, comprising...
- 9 Unforced (5 FH, 4 BH)
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (91/120) 76%

Break Points
Norman 6/21 (11 games)
Kuerten 4/9 (5 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Norman 34 (16 FH, 11 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 4 OH, 1 BHOH)
Kuerten 35 (17 FH, 10 BH, 4 FHV, 1 BHV, 2 OH, 1 BHOH)

Norman's FHs -4 cc, 3 dtl, 2 dtl/inside-out, 4 inside-out and 3 inside-in
- BHs - 5 cc (1 pass), 2 dtl (1 return), 1 inside-out/dtl, 2 drop shots and 1 net chord dribbler

Kuerten's FHs - 6 cc (3 passes), 2 cc/inside-in, 4 dtl (1 return), 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in/cc and 3 drop shots
- BHs - 4 cc (1 pass), 5 dtl (1 return, 1 pass) and 1 drop shot

- 1 OH was on the bounce

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Norman 56
- 37 Unforced (20 FH, 15 BH, 1 BHV, 1 OH)... with 1 FH at net
- 19 Forced (11 FH, 7 BH, 1 FHV)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net & 1 BH at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49.2

Kuerten 70
- 54 Unforced (23 FH, 30 BH, 1 BHV)... with 1 BH at net & 1 non-net, swinging BHV
- 16 Forced (8 FH, 7 BH, 1 BHV)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50.2

(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
Norman was...
- 22/34 (65%) at net, with...
- 1/1 retreated

Kuerten was...
- 18/23 (78%) at net, with...
- 1/2 forced back

Match Report
Hard hitting, attacking match and an excellent one on a quick clay. Play varies from uber-aggressive to merely beat-down strong, but one thing stays the same. Norman is just a little bit better, with the result aided by Kuerten physically weakening towards the end

First 2 sets is a shot-making extravaganza from both players. If action is anything to go by, both would blow their nose at the thought of trying to beat-down or moderately attack the other. Its winners or nothing - and the winners flow faster from Norm’s racquet during the period

Next 2 sets simmer to normal. What is ‘normal’? Hard hitting, beat-down play at least, tinged towards attacking - and boiling over to it often enough. Would be lively and exciting for most matches, particularly on clay. Here, it’s a come-down. Norman has a consistency advantage off the ground

Court looks exceptionally quick for clay, far quicker than the French. Ace related figures would be good for grass or carpet, let alone clay

Norm has 14 aces and a service winner - 19% of his first serves
Guga has 15 aces, which comes to 24%

Overall stats have come out beautifully similar, making it easy to isolate crucial differnces

Unreturneds - Norm 24%, Guga 23%
Double faults - Norm 1, Guga 5

Essentially equal, hint of an edge for Norm

Winners - Norm 34, Guga 35
Errors Forced - Norm 16, Guga 19
UEs - Norm 37, Guga 54

Sizable advantage for Norm, and its all about the UEs. Guga with negligible edge in winners and errors forced of +4, Norm with much bigger +17 one in UEs

Nature of these UEs change with shifts in playing dynamics across match

In first 2 sets, both players furiously look for kill shots. Some point construction involved, plenty of help from the serve to set up, but most excitingly, just going for their shots all the way. Initially, Norm is completely in the zone, and can’t seem to miss if he tried. Whatever winner he goes for - and he goes for some ambitious stuff off both sides - he makes

He doesn’t come to net at all. He doesn’t have to. Can’t miss from the back while nailing winners in all directions, why bother moving forward? Guga is more human and does miss his winner-attempts slightly more often than not. He makes up the slack by coming to net some, and padding his winner count with putaway balls there. From the back - which is where the meat is - he isn’t in Norm’s league for efficiency, though playing similarly of style (going for winners all the time)

After 2 sets -
Winners - Norm 19, Guga 17
Winner attempt UEs - Norm 6, Guga 11

Norm with large efficiency advantage and what makes it even more so is the types of shots that go into each players yields; Norm’s lot are made up of ambitious shot-making from the back. Guga would be net negative on the same front, missing more than he makes, but gains a few winners from putaway balls at net. Norm rarely comes in - just once in first set when he’s completely redlining

Errors Forced - Norm 4, Guga 7
Attacking UEs - Norm 5, Guga 3

Guga doing better here, with Norm not partaking as much. He’s almost purely about going for very final, point ending shots (i.e. clean winners), not working Guga over to draw errors. Note how small the attacking side of things are relative to the winners… this is extremely aggressive tennis

Neutral UEs - 7 apiece

Picture emerging is one of -
- Extreme aggression from both players
- Norm getting better of it, with superb efficiency. Even better than the numbers look because of the kinds of balls he goes after and makes

To add to the picture, ace rates are at their highest for the match in this half too. 10/15 of Norm’s (including the service winner) and 11/15 of Guga’s take place in first 2 sets

Norm holds a game to 15 with 3 aces in 4 points (with a FH inside-in winner breaking them up) and holds another with 4 unreturned serves from 0-30 down (a service winner, 2 aces among them). Guga holds a game to 15 with 4 aces. Its not just the court action that’s hyper aggressive

 

[Waspsting]

And what does the simmered down second half look like?

Winners - Norm 15, Guga 18
Winner attempt UEs - Norm 5, Guga 12

Errors Forced - both 12
Attacking UEs - Norm 3, Guga 6

Numerically, Norm’s even more efficient on the kill shot than he was earlier. His shot choices are less ambitious, more worked up to and includes more net play to make it less spectacular of look. Guga, virtually same as before

Large increase in FE playground, relative to winners. This is the normalcy of attacking tennis (as opposed to the exaggerated aggression of first half). Norm again, very clean

Neutral UEs - Norm 9, Guga 15

Again, indicative of the shift to normalcy - and where Norm has biggest advantage. The neutral is relatively hard-hitting, and with both players on look out to step it up if possible

Another indicator of changing dynamics is net points broken down by halves
First 2 sets - Norm 7, Guga 9
Last 2 sets - Norm 27, Guga 14

Good move by Norm to attack in a different, safer way when the redlining stops. Outhit more often than not and missing his kill shots regularly, net play becomes crucial for Guga. He wins an outstanding 78% in forecourt to Norm’s very good 65% - and needs it to stay close to level

He has no advantage with the serve (low 44% in count negates his advantage on strength of first serve) as virtual equal unreturneds indicate (in fact, he trails by 1%) and from the back, Norm is getting better of both shot-making and consistency

Unlike the French match, shot-making and aggression comes from both wings for both players, with FH leading (as it should)

Winner distributions
- FHs - Norm 16, Guga 17
- BHs - Norm 11, Guga 10

Norm’s the more varied and powerful, of the FH. He’s got at least 3 winners of all 4 basic shots. Just 1 inside-out winner for Guga (usually his most productive), no inside-ins (he has 1 inside-in/cc). An indicator of Norm dominating court position and hitting, with luxary of backing away to hit FHs when he wants. Guga can only hit BHs - he doesn’t have time to move over and do anything fancier

Also 3 drop shots,3 passes and a return for Guga (0 for Norm). Forced winners and cute stuff. Norm doesn’t need cute stuff or a target - a normal rally is enough for him to blast the ball through untouched

Off the BH, things are closer of style. Returns, drop shots, passes and net chord dribblers make up 5 of Norm and 4 of Guga’s winners and they have the same number of cc + dtl winners (5 each, counting an inside-out based shot for Norm)

Here’s where the efficiency comes in. Guga has match high 20 BH UEs, Norm match low 15. Guga has match high 23 winner attempt UEs, 10 more than Norm. Norm’s paying a lower price for his BH winners. Guga, unable to move over to play FHs, is at best, breaking even going for BH winners (actually, slightly worse than that)

All that against the back-drop of neutral UEs reading Norm 16, Guga 22. Usually, the backbone of clay tennis. Here, its second fiddle to the aggressive stuff, but gives Norm a foundation to launch from, or pad to fall back on - however you look at it, it’s a good things form his point of view

Guga’s 78% to 65% advantage at net is cutting back on Norm’s overall advantage (largely because he passes better), but not enough trips forward (its harder for him to get up there) or enough of an advantage to off-set trailing the way he does from the back

Match Progression
Norm’s on fire to start and Guga can’t buy a first serve. 5-0 in quick time with 2 breaks - Guga making 2/14 first serves, Norm striking 5 aces and 4 other winners. Norm holds game 3 with 3 aces in 4 points, and a wonderful FH inside-out, inside-in 1-2 ending with a winner. Some great shots by Guga too (amidst as many misses)

Pick of the shots is a perfect, third ball BH drop shot winner by Norm, against a good, firm return

Guga wins next 3 games, but still has it tough. His holds last 10 and 14 points, and he gets his break in a game where the two players share 4 winner attempt errors. They seem to be dealing in them

13/25 UEs for the set are winner attempts, including a run of 12/17 starting from game 4 to the end. Its aces, winners and misses going for winners tennis - intense stuff

Appropriately, Norm finishes the set with a FH cc winner coming out of a hard hitting rally

2nd set continues along same lines, with Guga joining the ace party. Fairly comfortable holds, though featuring heavy attacking play (and serving)

Only the last 2 games have break points in them. Guga saves 1 in a 10 point hold, using net and serving an ace to close it. And then breaks to end the set, with Norm’s FH misfiring with 4 UEs. There are also 5 winners in the 10 point finale - the pick of ‘em on penultimate point, where Guga pushes Norm back with a series of strong BH cc’s, comes to net to make a good volley, and manages to putaway a tricky BHOH to finish. Norm mishits a FH on third break/set point

Play cools down from there to just normal, hard hitting cum attacking tennis, and not so many aces
First 4 games are all breaks, making it 5 in a row and 6 with games having break points in them. A big change from earlier. Still strong serving and still attacking play

Norm breaks for 4-3 lead - winning 2 net points and Guga’s BH giving up 2 neutral errors. With winners not coming as easily as they had before, Norm’s shifted to taking net more. He’s at net 15 times in the set. He’d been there 8 times in the two previous combined

Guga saves a break point in his last service game of the set too, and pushes Norm to deuce to serve out

Sloppy game from Guga to be broken to start the 4th set and after Norm consolidates, Guga calls a medical time out with a game to go before the change-over. He has his lower backed looked at and thereafter, has trainer massage his thighs during change-overs

Guga eases up his efforts in return games thereafter and Norm holds with ease, but so does Guga

Guga would be in the same situation of playing impaired shortly after in the 5 set final against Marat Safin in Hamburg. He’d cope there as he does now - easing up his efforts on return and hang in from baseline, with the odd dashing shot thrown in. His movement on the return in this Rome match have been a cut below his usual from the start (not to problematic degree, his usual standard is very high). Note just the 4 runaround FH returns, low for him

Serving at 3-5 to prolong the match, there’s a lot of running for him to do as the game goes on to 20 points. He does the running well and plays a fine game. All kinds of things happen in the game in question, before Guga finally holds, having saved 4 break/match points

It looks like all kinds of things are going to happen as Norm serves for the match too. Norm’s at net 3 times and forced back from it the same number on the opening point, before finally missing a FH. He follows up missing an easy OH to go down 0-30

In all, Norm’s at net 7/8 points in them game (which is 9 approaches, multi-counting the first point). Saves a break point with Guga missing a safe, push FH return against a regulation, in swing zone first serve. Brings up his 5th match point with a BHOH winner, on which, Guga misses a dtl BH

Summing up, a very good match of hard hitting, attacking tennis coupled with highly effective and powerful serving. Norman has a bit better of all of it - lands a much larger lot of first serves in, hits a bit harder from the back and overpowers opponent more than the other way around and is more successful in going for his point ending shots from the baseline. When the redlining baseline shot-making stops, he sensibly gears down to a hard-hitting beat down game, while looking to come to net as an alternative way to remain in charge

Kuerten makes his own fortune by going for his shots from the back, amidst being on the back foot and pulls of some blinders of his own while missing a few more than he makes. He also uses the net, but has a harder time finding it and also serves big, but misses a lot of first serves

It all adds up to Norman having better of things, and Kuerten having physical problems near the end cement the result in the direction it was heading

 

[aus89]

They had some good matches for sure - if Norman and Kuerten had stayed uninjured they probably would have had a nice little rivalry.
Have an interesting match of theirs on DVD from 2003 at Monte Carlo with Norman who was really struggling at this point in his career, playing abysmally to start - the commentators mentioning how badly hes playing and it's a shame - looks like he's going to lose very easily 6/1 6/2 - and Norman ends out winning 1/6 7/5 6/2 (lost the next round to a very young Nadal iirc)

 

[Drob]

Swell reports.

 

[Waspsting]

They had some good matches for sure - if Norman and Kuerten had stayed uninjured they probably would have had a nice little rivalry.
Have an interesting match of theirs on DVD from 2003 at Monte Carlo with Norman who was really struggling at this point in his career, playing abysmally to start - the commentators mentioning how badly hes playing and it's a shame - looks like he's going to lose very easily 6/1 6/2 - and Norman ends out winning 1/6 7/5 6/2 (lost the next round to a very young Nadal iirc)

On the strenght of these two matches, I'd agree

I don't remember much about Norman, but was impressed with these 2 showings

Good enough serve, the tricks of returning (runaround FHs, taking second returns early), hard hitting off both sides from the back, impressive shot-making (particularly off the FH), knows how to use the net, moves well

Most impressive - he knows how to finish points. Whether its with winners from the back or by coming to net behind a strong approach. A relative weakness in even great clay courters, who persist with neutral shots to eventually draw error or mildly attack or/and rarely come in

Maybe a little drawback in some of his between attacking & neutral play. These errors he gives up by hitting hard close to the lines... don't think they're worth it, when you can hit as well as he does and keep ball safely in play. He does the latter well enough that he won't be attacked, which is good enough

Rios too. A Guga-Norman-Rios tri-rivalry would have been great for clay tennis, helping it shed the shadow of dreariness that the pure 'hit-1-more-ball-than-your-opponent' crowd had given it