Duel Match Stats/Reports - Sampras vs Wilander, US Open second round & Chesnokov vs Wilander, French Open quarter-final, 1989

[Waspsting]

Pete Sampras beat Mats Wilander 5-7, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the US Open second round, 1989 on hard court

Wilander was the defending champion. Sampras was 18 years old and would go onto win the title the following year. Sampras would go onto lose in the fourth round to Jay Berger

Sampras won 155 points, Wilander 150

Sampras serve-volleyed off all but 4 first serves and most of the time off seconds

{Note: I'm missing 4 Sampras service points - 3 he won, 1 he lost. 3 other points have been tracked via audio only and are partially recorded

Missing points (all from 5th set) -
Game 6, Points 1 & 2
Game 8 Point 1
Game 10, Point 1

Partial missing points -

Set 1, Game 1, Points 1 & 2 - the first is a unknown return error, the second a Sampras third ball groundstroke error (likely a FH but not recoreded)
Set 4, Game 6, Point 2 - has been marked a return-approach point and was an unknown volley winner (not recorded)

Serve type and return status of partial missing points have been recorded}

Serve Stats
Sampras...
- 1st serve percentage (92/169) 54%
- 1st serve points won (67/92) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (34/77) 44%
- Unknown serve points won (3/4) 75%
- Aces 12
- Double Faults 9
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (39/169) 23%

Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (90/132) 68%
- 1st serve points won (56/90) 62%
- 2nd serve points won (25/42) 60%
- Aces 9
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (31/132) 23%

Serve Patterns
Sampras served...
- to FH 24%
- to BH 66%
- to Body 10%

Wilander served...
- to FH 49%
- to BH 41%
- to Body 10%

Return Stats
Sampras made...
- 97 (65 FH, 31 BH, 1 ??), including 4 runaround FHs & 17 return-approaches
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 22 Errors, comprising...
- 14 Unforced (9 FH, 5 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 3 return-approach attempts
- 8 Forced (1 FH, 7 BH)
- Return Rate (97/128) 76%

Wilander made...
- 121 (35 FH, 85 BH, 1 ??), including 8 runaround FHs
- 7 Winners (1 FH, 6 BH)
- 27 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (4 BH)
- 22 Forced (8 FH, 14 BH)
- 1 Unknown (second serve return)
- Return Rate (121/160) 76%

Break Points
Sampras 6/13 (8 games)
Wilander 5/20 (9 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Sampras 69 (8 FH, 6 BH, 20 FHV, 23 BHV, 12 OH)
Wilander 38 (13 FH, 20 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 3 OH)

Sampras had 41 from serve-volley points
- 20 first 'volleys' (7 FHV, 9 BHV, 1 OH, 3 FH at net)
-19 second volleys (6 FHV, 5 BHV, 8 OH)
- 1 third volleys (1 OH)
- 1 re-approach volley (1 FHV)

- 5 from return-approach points, all BHVs (1 not clean)

- FHs - 2 cc, 2 inside-out (1 pass) and 1 inside-in runaround return
- BHs (all passes) - 4 cc (1 net-to-net) and 2 dtl (1 return)

Wilander's regular FHs - 1 inside-out and 1 longline
- FH passes - 3 cc, 3 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 inside-out return, 1 inside-in, 1 longline and 1 lob
- BHs (all passes) - 7 cc (5 returns), 12 dtl (1 return, 2 net chord flickers) and 1 lob

- 1 OH was a groundstroke pass from the baseline

- 1 from serve-volley point, a second volley BHV

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Sampras 70
- 41 Unforced (10 FH, 13 BH, 9 FHV, 9 BHV)
- 29 Forced (2 FH, 10 BH, 6 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 7 BHV2 BH1/2V, 1 Back-to-Net)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 51.5

Wilander 39
- 7 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH, 1 BHV)... with 1 FH pass attempt
- 32 Forced (16 FH, 12 BH, 3 FHV, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.3

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

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Sampras was...
- 107/175 (61%) at net, including...
- 71/116 (61%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 52/76 (68%) off 1st serve and...
- 19/40 (48%) off 2nd serve
---
- 11/17 (65%) return-approaching
- 0/2 forced back

Wilander was...
- 21/36 (58%) at net, including...
- 9/14 (64%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
---
- 1/1 forced back

Match Report
Wilander leaves the match almost entirely on Sampras' racquet. Sampras' racquet fires and misfires and misfires and fires in cycles to leave match just about even on a slow-ish hard court

Only the last set is high quality, and could have gone either way. Sampras saves three break points as he serves out the match. On the last one, Mats has a FH pass lined up commandingly enough with Pete off balance after making a difficult first volley that his missing it has been marked a UE - the only such passing error of the match. Pete serves 53 points, more than double Mats' 26 and survives 24 and 14 point holds

Prior to that, action is covered by -

- baseline to baseline - short rallies, with Sampras making UEs. He has 23 purely baseline based UEs, to Wilander's 5. Rallies don't last long enough to test Mats' consistency... its Sampras' poorness in that area that's the essence of how points play out

- Sampras taking net - which comes about via serve-volleying, return-approaching or coming in from rallies. The last mentioned is easy enough to do. Mats' hits loopy groundies, especially FHs, from well behind the baseline. Its more passive than neutral, let alone pressuring or attacking play. Pete steps in, hits hard and comes in

- sub-battle of the above is when Pete gives up the groundstroke error before he can come in. Pete approaches down the center most of the time

- Pete volley vs Wilander pass. Wilander passes - including the return - safely, well over the net. Pete gets easy, comfortable volleys. His volleying is patchy. what he puts away he does with style, volleying well away from Mats, or dropping the ball dead or punching through with authority. Even less easy volleys around net high or just under are regularly treated so. When he doesn't, he misses the volley and Mats takes the point. Huge lot of 18 volley UEs from Sampras

Action in this mini-battle is similar to the '90 Australian Open semi between Mats and Stefan Edberg. There, Edberg putaway everything on the volley. Here, Pete falters often enough to keep Mats in the match

- Mats rarely forces action. From baseline, virtually never, and he sticks to clay-court like putting-ball-in-play shots. He comes to net 36 times (Pete does so 175), often on important points. Nor is his lack of approaching necessarily a bad thing. He wins 58% net points, which is lower than both his first and second serve points won (62% and 60% respectively). It might looks like begging for trouble, but just letting Pete make not difficult volleys works for Mats

Pete serve-volleys 95% of the time off first serve (all but 4 times) and 59% off second serve. The latter figure goes up and up as match wears on and he's virtually doing so always for the last 2 sets. In 4th set, Mats returns safely against it and Pete gets easy volleys

5th set is different kettle of fish. Mats returns and passes genuinely well, the only part of the match he does. And the volley vs pass battle is high of quality. 13/38 of Mats groundstroke winners and 5/16 Pete's forecourt FEs come in that set. Ending is rather dramatic - an unfitting end to the match, but more on that later

 

[Waspsting]

Statistical Points of Interest
1) Equal, 23% unreturned serve numbers. Who'd think Pete Sampras serve-volleying almost always would be equal with Mats Wilander staying back in this area?

All 4 possible reasons for it have a hand in it -
- Sampras serve isn't nearly as strong as it would be come to be. The second serves are normal second serves, the firsts good but not great
- Mats' very, just-get-ball-in-play style of returning. He's not hassled about leaving easy first volley (which is why Sampras has 20 first volley winners) and focuses on not giving up the error. Ivan Lendl has opposite returning style where he'll sacrifice consistency for being damaging
- Mats serves fairly hard, for him. Significantly stronger than previous years final and semi. He has 9 aces - just 3 less than Pete while serving 2 fewer first serves. To be clear, most of his first serving is still unforceful, but when he occasionally lets rip, its a strong, point ending serve
- Pete's returning is loose (as is everything else about his game) and he misses routine returns or even easy ones at regular intervals. 14/22 of his errors have been marked unforced. About half the 8 forced ones are on makeable side too

2) Sampras winner count. 69 winners from Sampras. 1 other point tracked via audio appears to be a winner and commentary after a missing point strongly suggests it was another, giving him at least 71 winners in play with 2 points unaccounted for. This is probably a career high number for him

Its due mostly to Mats creating the space for him to hit so many winners by returning and passing the way he does. Also, Pete's choice to come in from rallies, which isn't difficult to do against Mats' neutral ball and an easy choice given Mats' huge lead in consistency of groundies. A relatively high lot of Sampras' volley winners are nearly OHs... that's how easy the volleys he's faced with are

Note also very, very high bias for net winners. Generally, Pete has one of the most balanced distributions of winners across volleys and groundstrokes. Here, he has 56 volleys (1 is unknown but appears by sound to have been a shot on the full), 14 groundies (and 3 of those were net shots). Mats is rarely at net for Pete to make passes and he either makes errors or comes to net from baseline-to-baseline situations

3) Wilander's consistency. He's got 7 UEs in 5 sets and just 5 non-pass baseline ones. Pete has 23 baseline UEs, so its not due to there being so much net play as to leave no scope for missing groundies

Still, this stat isn't about Mats' great consistency, its about Pete's poor one. He misses routine groundies in short rallies. One gathers that if he'd lose very easily playing who-blinks-first game with even a normal baseliner, let alone Wilander. He doesn't have to because...

4) Approaching frequency. Sampras comes to net from rallying 42 times, winning 25. Mats' numbers are 22 and 12 respectively

With Sampras serve-volleying so often, most of these are on Mats' service games. Its fairly easy to come in. Mats falls behind baseline readily and hits loopy FHs. Sampras can play comfortably neutrally from on baseline or even inside and wisely chooses to just hit hard and come in, usually down the middle. Basically, he comes in at will

Mats tends to come in on important points, but seems content to leave Sampras to make or miss the volley

5) Wilander's serving pattern. 49% to FH, 41% to BH. Doing so, he draws 8 FH errors and 12 BHs (excluding a pair of runaround FHs)

It seems unlikely that Mats would have studied this 18 year old players game to suss out a particular serving strategy. But default strategy would be to serve majority to BH. So why does he serve the other way? It certainly doesn't work... Pete's more consistent off FH return and probably more damaging

Mats served this way to Ivan Lendl in most of their matches. Perhaps it wasnt' something tailored to Lendl but Mats' his own personal thing. Serving mostly to FH. I wouldn't call it smart
One possible reason for serving more to FH generally is some players tend to return safely off BH but more cavalierly off FH. Such players have more damaging FH returns, but also more inconsistent. Sampras' returning here doesn't promise this. He swings about as hard from both sides

Commentary around this period usually talk about Pete having stronger BH than FH, though I haven't seen it. In play, Pete mildly moves around a couple of times to hit BHs where FHs would have been more obvious choice. Far more often though, he moves around to hit attacking FHs

Match Progression
First 3 sets are same of play. Sampras serve-volleys off all first serves, occasionally off seconds. In return games, he chip-charges occasionally, misses groundstrokes readily and when he doesn't, hits firmly down the middle to approach behind

At net, he looks good on the volley and hits some fine winners to net high or even slightly under balls of medium paced. Also misses some easy, high volleys

Wilander's breaks late in first set to take it. He follows an outstanding BH dtl pass winner with a lucky one that flicks the net chord on its way over. Pete misses a regulation BHV on break point

Players trade break early in the second, with Wilander being broken by losing a couple of net points and Sampras by double faulting 3 times (and another BH dtl net chord flicking pass winner from Mats). Sampras breaks again late by taking net 3 times, finishing with a net-to-net BHV winner against serve-volleying Mats

Shape of play doesn't change in third set either, despite the 6-1 scoreline. Pete's broken for first time missing 1 volley and BH dtl winner attempt. Mats saves 3 break point, serve-volleying 3 points in a row to wrap up the game. Couple of good passing shot from Mats to gain second break, but Pete missing a FHV, a FH winner attempt and double faulting take the eye

Action does change in the 4th set. Pete, finally realizing that Mats will return conservatively regardless of strength of serve, starts serve-volleying almost all the time off 2nd serves. He shaves his errors some and return-approaches more. He gains his 2 breaks by taking net and holds off 3 break points in a 16 point game

Going into decider, all the momentum is with Pete and he breaks at once with a pair of winners from return-approach points. Mats though, steps it up and plays his best tennis of the match, getting returns wide for winners, running down volleys and hitting precise passes or playing 1-2 combos to take points of the at net Sampras. Pete manages to hold a mammoth 24 point game

The ending is dramatic as well as high quality. Mats breaks back to level at 4-4 by reeling off 3 consecutive passing winners. Pete breaks again by reeling of 3 passing winners of his own and 4 winners in 5 points. Its ironic that the decisive break for Pete comes through beating Mats at net

15-0 up serving for the match, for the third time in as many games the returner hits 3 passing winners off in a row. Sampras saves the two break points with unreturned serves and sends down some of his best serves in the game (3 aces) but Mats continues to hit strong passes (forces 2 more 'volley' errors). A Pete double and FH1/2V FE brings up Mats' third break point

On it, he slams the return to draw a lunging, defensive volley and has plenty of time to step in and line up his pass. He goes FH inside-in and just misses long. 2 unreturned serves later, the match is done

Summing up, Sampras serve-volleys, Wilander stays back. Starting from baseline, Sampras comes to net or makes simple groundstroke errors. Sampras return-approaches. All roads lead to Sampras at net vs Wilander on the pass. Sampras looks good on the volley, and volleys well but misses a good chunk of simple ones. Other than last set, Wilander isn't too threatening on the pass

Match is all on Sampras' racquet, with Wilander's consent and play stays about even. At highest playing level of match, Sampras just edges ahead

Stats for the '88 final between Wilander and Ivan Lendl - Match Stats/Report - Wilander vs Lendl, US Open final, 1988 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)
Stats for the '90 quarter-final between Sampras and Lendl - Match Stats/Report - Sampras vs Lendl, US Open quarter final 1990 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)
Stats for '90 Australian Open semi between Wilander and Stefan Edberg - Match Stats/Report - Edberg vs Wilander, Australian Open semi-final, 1990 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)

 

[Waspsting]

Andrei Chesnokov beat Wilander 6-4, 6-0, 7-5 in the French Open quarter-final, 1989 on clay

Chesnokov would go onto lose in the next round to eventual champion Michael Chang. Wilander was the defending champion. The result was a repeat of the pair's third round match in1986 where, like this match, Chesnokov had been unseeded and Wilander the defending champion

(Note: I'm missing 8 Chesnokov service points - 6 he won, 2 lost
On small number of points, I've made educated guesses regarding serve type

Missing points -
Set 1, Game 8, Points 1-3 - all won by Chesnokov
Set 3, Game 2, Points 1-2 - 1 won by Chesnekov, 1 by Wilander
Set 3, Game 12, Points 1-3 - 2 won by Chesnokov, 1 by Wilander)

Serve Stats
Chesnokov...
- 1st serve percentage (50/78) 64%
- 1st serve points won (33/50) 66%
- 2nd serve points won (20/28) 71%
- Unknown serve points won (6/8) 75%
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (5/78) 6%

Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (55/95) 58%
- 1st serve points won (31/55) 56%
- 2nd serve points won (18/40) 45%
- Aces 1, Service Winners 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (9/95) 9%

Serve Patterns
Chesnokov served...
- to FH 59%
- to BH 28%
- to Body 13%

Wilander served...
- to FH 53%
- to BH 31%
- to Body 16%

Return Stats
Chesnokov made...
- 86 (51 FH, 34 BH, 1 ??), including 1 runaround BH
- 7 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- 4 Forced (3 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (86/95) 91%

Wilander made...
- 73 (44 FH, 29 BH), including 2 runaround FHs, 3 runaround BHs & 1 return-approach
- 5 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (3 FH)
- 2 Forced (1 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (73/78) 94%

Break Points
Chesnokov 6/11 (7 games)
Wilander 1/4 (3 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Chesnokov 34 (9 FH, 10 BH, 2 FHV, 6 BHV, 6 OH, 1 BHOH)
Wilander 22 (2 FH, 3 BH, 7 FHV, 6 BHV, 2 OH, 2 BHOH)

Chesnokov's regular FHs - 2 dtl and 1 inside-out/dtl
- FH passes - 2 cc, 2 dtl and 2 inside-out
- regular BHs - 3 cc (1 net-to-net that can be interpreted as a pass), 1 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out and 1 inside-out/dtl
- BH passes - 4 dtl

Wilander's FHs - 1 dtl pass and 1 longline (when Chesnokov stopped playing thinking previous shot had been out)
- BHs - 1 dtl pass, 1 drop shot at net and 1 lob

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

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Chesnokov 43
- 30 Unforced (12 FH, 18 BH)
- 13 Forced (2 FH, 9 BH, 2 FHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43

Wilander 60
- 43 Unforced (20 FH, 17 BH, 4 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
- 17 Forced (6 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.9

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

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Chesnokov was...
- 29/39 (74%) at net, including...
- 0/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 1/4 (75%) forced back/retreated

Wilander was...
- 28/49 (57%) at net, including...
- 5/11 (45%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
---
- 0/1 return-approaching
- 1/3 (33%) forced back/retreated

Match Report
Top class showing form Chesnokov in a classic clay court match. Wilander doesn't play badly, its just that Chesnokov plays that much better. With both players playing the same way, its an easy match to follow on a typical clay court

34 winners, 30 UEs are great figures for Ches and a bit surprising even. It doesn't looks like a more-winners-than-UEs match. Wilander has 22 and 43 respectively

Action is based around tough baseline play. Chesnokov hits harder and deeper, especially off BH. He shows particularly affinity to BH inside-out based strokes, a rare shot and has 2 winners with it. Baseline-to-baseline winners are rare - Ches has 4, Mats 0 save a FH that goes through when Ches stops playing thinking his Mats' previous shot had been out - Ches' BH inside-outs though are effective in directing playing. crosscourt rallies make up the bulk and longline change-ups are rare... Ches' BH inside-out is the standout shot here

For 2 sets, play is more outlasting than beatdown of style. Its Ches who tip-toes closer to the latter style with his stronger shots. Thoroughly outplayed in second set, Mats hits harder and wider while coming to net much more often in third set and play is more move-opponent-around and harder hitting (if not to 'beat-down' level) than previously. Consistency of shot remains key

Groundstroke UEs read Ches 30, Mats 37 and is a fair indicator of play. As less hard hitting, Mats would need to be leading in this area to be getting better of action. As is, he's the one that's pushed back or around and in reactive (if not defensive) role while trailing in consistency. That is a bit deceptive. It hasn't come out well in UEFI, but significant lot of Mats' groundstroke UEs are attacking shots and even winner attempts. He has 15 such UEs. Taking away 6 forecourt UEs (all of them at least attacking shots), that leaves him with 9 groundstoke, at least attacking shot UEs. Chesnekov has same number, but his standard hitting is harder ( i.e. more attacking) to begin with. Again, as less forceful player, Mats would need to have fewer UEs of this type to be getting better of action

Neutral UEs read Ches 21, Mats 26... with Ches plying more pressure

Gist of groundstroke UE story is Ches hitting harder and being more pressuring amidst neutral play, Mats more reactive... but Ches being a bit more secure

More than power, depth is key. Ches hits particularly deep of BH and normally off FH. Mats tends to drop balls short off both sides when coming over ball. Ches doesn't unduly attack short ball, but takes the chance to gain a stronger hold of the initiative of neutral play by hitting hard and deep again, short of attackingly

Mats' slices though land deep and stay low, as does Ches'. Its always Mats that leads the slicing. Ches only reacts to good low slices with slices of his own

Ches is at his best of BH, where he hits hard and deep and with disarming inside-out shots thrown in. Mats' top spin BH is the worst groundstroke on show, softer than Ches' and often short. He plays it more often than slice, which he turns to when rushed or mildly on defensive. Ches with just 1 more UE on BH side, despite having sizable advantage of in hitting

On FH by contrast, Mats has slight edge in hitting, though he drops balls short here too. In third set, he adds some well angled cc shots too. And pays the price for his advantages with 20 UEs to Ches' 12....

 

[Waspsting]

Groundstroke consistency by UE are -
- Ches' FH 12
- Mats' BH 17
- Ches' BH 18
- Mats FH 20

... and I would say damaging quotient by strokes (pace, depth, placement) is
- Ches' BH
- Mats FH
- Ches FH
- Mats BH

All of this is in context of neutral clay play. Baseline action rarely goes into one player attacking overtly. In nutshell, Chesnokov hits harder and more consistently while pushing Mats back more. Average rally length is moderately long. Both players are consistent off the ground. Ches just happens to be more so. Mats does not play badly. Both players move smoothly and retrieve moderate attacking shots well - Mats is forced to more often and rarely falters

The attacking part comes in form of net play. And Ches is superb up front, winning 29/39 points with 15 winners and 0 UEs. In fact, 3 of the points he loses are forced back/retreated points. Points ending with him at net, Ches is 28/35 or huge 80%. His being more in control from baseline gives him scope to come in more than Mats, and he finds perfect balance of doing so. Approach shots aren't overwhelming (i.e. he doesn't just come in off sure things) but he's not tentative to come in either or in a rush. He volleys very well - Mats' passing is far better than US Open match, particularly with regard to getting ball wide - and Ches has many a stretch volley to make. No faltering on the routine volley either and he punches them away as to leave himself in complete charge when he doesn't hit an outright winner

Mats isn't so good on the volley. For one thing, he has fewerer good chances to come in. Outplayed from back, he takes to manufacturing approaches in third set (i.e. less strong approaching than Ches). Once at net, he falters some on the regulation volley and has 5 UEs (+ a not easy OH) and doesn't punch his volleys through as well. Some amount of near plonking ball in court where Ches can reach them... and Ches is strong on the pass too with 11 winners and forcing pair of errors

Mats also serve-volleys 11 times, almost all in third set. Ches with 91% return rate and Mats not volleying decisively leads to that not going too well and Mats wins just 5 points so doing.

Very low unreturned rates (Ches 6%, Mats 9%) reflects outstanding consistent returning from both players. Mats serves quite strongly by his standard, just like the US Open match. Harder serving than his Slam finals of '88. He manages an ace and a service winner (Ches has 0) and forces 4 errors (Ches manages 2). Great returning from both players

Both players move around body serves to hit BHs and there are 4 runaround BH returns (3 by Wilander). Its not an attacking move, just a way to get into better position for upcoming rally when returning from ad court. Note Wilander again serving the majority to FH (53%, to 31% to BH). Chesnekov does so to even greater extent (59% to 28%). Not too important on a clay court with two such steady returners

Match Progression
Play is as outlined above, with outlasting action at center of it and Ches hitting harder. He breaks to love, striking a BH dtl pass winner after 3 Wilander UEs. Has break point in another game but misses a rare return

Ches steps it up in the second set, hitting harder and deeper on the whole. Its the extra something he puts in that leads to Wilander hitting less hard and dropping more balls short. Some signs of frustration from Mats and he starts going for attacking shots from the baseline, almost always missing eventually. Ches gets his second break from 40-0 down. He has to save break point for the first time in serving out set

Wilander takes charge early third set. He's hitting harder and wider angles, especially FH cc, and coming to net (including serve-volleying) regularly. He initiatives moving-opponent-around play, though Ches plays it just as well. Breaking to start the set, Mats moves to a 5-2 lead and has break and set point the game after. Ches manages to hold and Wilander moves to 40-0 as he serves for the set.

Some stunning shots from Ches to break from there and he reels off 3 dtl passing winners (2 FHs, 1 BH) in the next 4 points. Down break point, Mats misses a regulation first volley

Interesting point next game when Mats breaks a string but continues the rally for 5-6 shots slicing before making an approach. Ches passes him FH inside-out and holds to love with 2 OH winners to follow up. Mats is at net first 5 points game after, and down 30-40 after it. He manages to save the first match point with a strong serve, but two baseline errors later, he's broken again. Che serves out the match, finishing with a powerful, step in BH cc winner

Summing up, top showing from Chesnokov - hard hitting but consistent off the ground, very sure on the return and showing great net instincts and volleying. Not bad from Wilander either- he plays reactively from the back and is gradually outlasted or moderately pressured into giving up errors, turns to net play but isn't too good at it while returning with typical wall like solidity and serving quite hard

Stats for '88 final between Wilander and Henri Leconte - Match Stats/Report - Wilander vs Leconte, French Open final, 1988 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)
Stats for Davis cup final rubber between Wilander and Boris Becker - Duel Match Stats/Reports - Becker vs Edberg & Becker vs Wilander, Davis Cup final rubbers, 1989 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

56 “volley” winners from Sampras is among the highest I have read here in all the match stat threads. Could this be some kind of record. I think I can remember Gerulaitis had 50 in his Wimbledon match with Borg which was also an unusual high number.

 

[Waspsting]

56 “volley” winners from Sampras is among the highest I have read here in all the match stat threads. Could this be some kind of record

McEnroe had more in his 5 set Davis Cup win over Wilander, which was an extended 5 setter with advantage sets

For a match of comparable length - relatively short 5 setter - might well be record

For starters, if you hit volley winners at that rate, chances are you'll win the match before 5 sets. Comparable or even superior rate of hitting volley winners - like the '90 Aus semi between Edberg and Wilander - was like this

Next, if your hitting volley winners at this rate, almost certainly the volleys your hitting are easy ones. Its unlikely in between all those easy ones your getting devastating passes or that you'd be able to hit volley winners so often if they weren't easy balls. So you'd need to be messing up on enough easy volleys for match to get prolonged long enough to get that high a total

Hitting that many winners while missing enough for match to go to 5... that's an odd combination

Could only happen against a guy like Wilander, who'll put an easy pass in play rather than make an error going for a strong pass. Someone like Lendl would have far more passing errors at expense of Sampras' volleying winners, all other things being equal