Andre Agassi beat Boris Becker 6-4, 6-1 in the Indian Wells semi-final 1990 on hard court
Agassi had lost all 3 of the pairs previous matches, but would go on to win 9 of the next 10
Agassi won 62 points, Becker 43
Serve Stats
Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (39/59) 66%
- 1st serve points won (32/39) 82%
- 2nd serve points won (7/20) 35%
- Aces 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/59) 19%
Becker...
- 1st serve percentage (23/46) 50%
- 1st serve points won (17/23) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (6/23) 26%
- Aces 5, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (13/46) 28%
Serve Patterns
Agassi served...
- to FH 25%
- to BH 74%
- to Body 1%
Becker served...
- to FH 33%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 7%
Return Stats
Agassi made...
- 29 (10 FH, 19 BH), including 3 runaround FHs
- 6 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 5 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (29/42) 69%
Becker made...
- 48 (10 FH, 36 BH, 2 ??), including2 runaround FHs and 1 return-approach
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- 7 Forced (4 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (48/59) 81%
Break Points
Agassi 4/8 (5 games)
Becker 1/2 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Agassi 12 (4 FH, 4 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
Becker 9 (3 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
Agassi's FHs - 2 inside-out, 1 cc pass at net and 1 dtl pass
- BHs - 2 dtl/inside-out and 2 drop shots
- the BHV was a cc drive played just inside the court and not a net point
Becker's FHs - 1 dtl, 1 inside-out return and 1 cc pass
- BHs - 1 cc and 1 dtl return
- 1 from a serve-volley point - a first volley BHV which was a net chord dribbler
- 1 other BHV was inside-out
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Agassi 21
- 11 Unforced (4 FH, 6 BH, 1 BHV)
- 10 Forced (3 FH, 5 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.5
Becker 35
- 27 Unforced (9 FH, 16 BH, 2 BHV)
- 8 Forced (3 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.4
(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
Agassi was...
- 9/13 (69%) at net
Becker was...
- 10/16 (63%) at net, including...
- 6/9 (67%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 6/8 (75%) off 1st serve and...
- 0/1 off second serve
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0/1 return-approaching
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Match Report
A competitive, if not interesting first set followed by a listless performance from Becker leading to a most one sided second
Its a slow court in Indian Wells, more suited to Agassi then Becker. But the German looks to be his own master for most of the first set. Agassi surprisingly dishes out a low first serve percentage (given he wasn't doing much with the serve) and serves relentlessly to the BH. Nothing too threatening, in short
Becker gains the break in game 3. Like most games, its riddled with errors but does feature a BH dtl return winner, as well as Agassi hitting a drive BHV from just inside the baseline for a winner.
Agassi's service games are marked by who-blinks-first rallies. Usually, Becker does, but its competitive. Boris doesn't seem to be trying to escape these exchanges by coming to net, but appears content to slug it out from the back of the court
Becker serve-volleys off most first serves. Most of the points these points that he wins are through forced return errors or aces. The errors in question are caused by the serve itself and would probably have been errors even if Becker were staying back. I call these types of net points 'insurance policy' approaches. In short, we don't get to see much by way of Becker volleying vs Agassi passing... its more a serve-bot type deal going on.
Agassi helps this dynamic by taking the return so early. He's on the baseline to take the first serve (occasionally moving slightly inside as he makes the return). No wonder he got aced and missed returns.... even on a slow court, this is just too close to handle Becker's power serve
Serving at 4-3, Becker is broken (3 baseline UEs + 1 volleying FE). He fights hard in the next game - a 14 point affair that stands out for low UEs and 4 winners. He can't reach break point though, and Agassi holds
And then the wheels come off. Agassi wins 31/44 remaining points in the match. He breaks to love to take the first set. Set point is interesting. Agassi hits a moonball to Becker's BH, that rises to about head height. Even as Boris is preparing to play the ball, Agassi rushes to net... he's correctly anticipated a floating shot and slaps it away with a FHV winner
Second set is a disaster for Becker. He looks completely flat and ineffective. He gets into baseline exchanges in which Agassi outlasts him. Agassi does play well in these - hitting with depth and the rallies do go on for awhile before Becker coughs up UEs (mostly from the BH)… but the end result doesn't seem to be in doubt. Its like watching a man drown slowly. Agassi has 2 break and set points to make it a bagel and rushes the net to make the most of it. Becker forces a volleying error on the first point and Agassi makes an error on the second, allowing Becker to at least avoid the ignominy of a bagel
Stats
The key one is UEs in play. Becker 27, including 16 BHs (Agassi has 11). It's a who-blinks-first match... and its the German the vast majority of the time
- Becker's 16 net approaches also stands out, especially considering 9 of them were s/v points. He shows no interest in taking the net... though he's clearly coming off second best from the back
Becker is appears discontent in the second set. He'd popped a string early in the first set and brought out a replacement racquet. Occasionally, he'd bang it on his hands - seemingly not satisfied with string tensions, but not making a big deal of it
That changes in the second set when he is making a big deal and very clearly expressing his dissatisfaction with the racquet. Just seems to have mentally checked out
Summing up, decent first set then Becker going completely flat. Agassi just has to keep the ball in court in the second set, which he does well and heavily enough - but its Becker's poor play that takes the eye
Agassi had lost all 3 of the pairs previous matches, but would go on to win 9 of the next 10
Agassi won 62 points, Becker 43
Serve Stats
Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (39/59) 66%
- 1st serve points won (32/39) 82%
- 2nd serve points won (7/20) 35%
- Aces 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/59) 19%
Becker...
- 1st serve percentage (23/46) 50%
- 1st serve points won (17/23) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (6/23) 26%
- Aces 5, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (13/46) 28%
Serve Patterns
Agassi served...
- to FH 25%
- to BH 74%
- to Body 1%
Becker served...
- to FH 33%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 7%
Return Stats
Agassi made...
- 29 (10 FH, 19 BH), including 3 runaround FHs
- 6 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 5 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (29/42) 69%
Becker made...
- 48 (10 FH, 36 BH, 2 ??), including2 runaround FHs and 1 return-approach
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- 7 Forced (4 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (48/59) 81%
Break Points
Agassi 4/8 (5 games)
Becker 1/2 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Agassi 12 (4 FH, 4 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
Becker 9 (3 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
Agassi's FHs - 2 inside-out, 1 cc pass at net and 1 dtl pass
- BHs - 2 dtl/inside-out and 2 drop shots
- the BHV was a cc drive played just inside the court and not a net point
Becker's FHs - 1 dtl, 1 inside-out return and 1 cc pass
- BHs - 1 cc and 1 dtl return
- 1 from a serve-volley point - a first volley BHV which was a net chord dribbler
- 1 other BHV was inside-out
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Agassi 21
- 11 Unforced (4 FH, 6 BH, 1 BHV)
- 10 Forced (3 FH, 5 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.5
Becker 35
- 27 Unforced (9 FH, 16 BH, 2 BHV)
- 8 Forced (3 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.4
(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
Agassi was...
- 9/13 (69%) at net
Becker was...
- 10/16 (63%) at net, including...
- 6/9 (67%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 6/8 (75%) off 1st serve and...
- 0/1 off second serve
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0/1 return-approaching
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Match Report
A competitive, if not interesting first set followed by a listless performance from Becker leading to a most one sided second
Its a slow court in Indian Wells, more suited to Agassi then Becker. But the German looks to be his own master for most of the first set. Agassi surprisingly dishes out a low first serve percentage (given he wasn't doing much with the serve) and serves relentlessly to the BH. Nothing too threatening, in short
Becker gains the break in game 3. Like most games, its riddled with errors but does feature a BH dtl return winner, as well as Agassi hitting a drive BHV from just inside the baseline for a winner.
Agassi's service games are marked by who-blinks-first rallies. Usually, Becker does, but its competitive. Boris doesn't seem to be trying to escape these exchanges by coming to net, but appears content to slug it out from the back of the court
Becker serve-volleys off most first serves. Most of the points these points that he wins are through forced return errors or aces. The errors in question are caused by the serve itself and would probably have been errors even if Becker were staying back. I call these types of net points 'insurance policy' approaches. In short, we don't get to see much by way of Becker volleying vs Agassi passing... its more a serve-bot type deal going on.
Agassi helps this dynamic by taking the return so early. He's on the baseline to take the first serve (occasionally moving slightly inside as he makes the return). No wonder he got aced and missed returns.... even on a slow court, this is just too close to handle Becker's power serve
Serving at 4-3, Becker is broken (3 baseline UEs + 1 volleying FE). He fights hard in the next game - a 14 point affair that stands out for low UEs and 4 winners. He can't reach break point though, and Agassi holds
And then the wheels come off. Agassi wins 31/44 remaining points in the match. He breaks to love to take the first set. Set point is interesting. Agassi hits a moonball to Becker's BH, that rises to about head height. Even as Boris is preparing to play the ball, Agassi rushes to net... he's correctly anticipated a floating shot and slaps it away with a FHV winner
Second set is a disaster for Becker. He looks completely flat and ineffective. He gets into baseline exchanges in which Agassi outlasts him. Agassi does play well in these - hitting with depth and the rallies do go on for awhile before Becker coughs up UEs (mostly from the BH)… but the end result doesn't seem to be in doubt. Its like watching a man drown slowly. Agassi has 2 break and set points to make it a bagel and rushes the net to make the most of it. Becker forces a volleying error on the first point and Agassi makes an error on the second, allowing Becker to at least avoid the ignominy of a bagel
Stats
The key one is UEs in play. Becker 27, including 16 BHs (Agassi has 11). It's a who-blinks-first match... and its the German the vast majority of the time
- Becker's 16 net approaches also stands out, especially considering 9 of them were s/v points. He shows no interest in taking the net... though he's clearly coming off second best from the back
Becker is appears discontent in the second set. He'd popped a string early in the first set and brought out a replacement racquet. Occasionally, he'd bang it on his hands - seemingly not satisfied with string tensions, but not making a big deal of it
That changes in the second set when he is making a big deal and very clearly expressing his dissatisfaction with the racquet. Just seems to have mentally checked out
Summing up, decent first set then Becker going completely flat. Agassi just has to keep the ball in court in the second set, which he does well and heavily enough - but its Becker's poor play that takes the eye
