Andre Agassi beat Boris Becker 6-4, 7-6(4) in the Indian Wells semi-final, 1995 on hard court
Agassi, who had recently won the Australian Open, would go onto lose the final to Pete Sampras. Becker was ranked third in the world
Agassi won 73 points, Becker 68
Becker serve-volleyed off all first serves and most seconds
Serve Stats
Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (51/70) 73%
- 1st serve points won (42/51) 82%
- 2nd serve points won (10/19) 53%
- Aces 1, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (19/70) 27%
Becker...
- 1st serve percentage (51/71) 72%
- 1st serve points won (39/51) 76%
- 2nd serve points won (11/20) 55%
- Aces 14 (1 second serve, 1 not clean), Service Winners 3
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (35/71) 49%
Serve Patterns
Becker served...
- to FH 32%
- to BH 68%
Becker served....
- to FH 41%
- to BH 56%
- to Body 3%
Return Stats
Agassi made...
- 33 (13 FH, 20 BH)
- 4 Winners (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 18 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 17 Forced (8 FH, 9 BH)
- Return Rate (33/68) 49%
Becker made...
- 49 (17 FH, 32 BH), including 2 runaround FHs, 9 return-approaches & 1 drop-return
- 16 Errors, comprising...
- 11 Unforced (3 FH, 8 BH), including 2 return-approaches
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (49/68) 72%
Break Points
Agassi 1/5 (3 games)
Becker 0/1
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Agassi 26 (8 FH, 16 BH, 2 OH)
Becker 15 (3 FH, 1 BH, 2 FHV, 5 BHV, 4 OH)
Agassi's FH passes - 3 cc (1 return), 1 dtl, 1 inside-in return and 1 lob
- regular FHs - 1 inside-in and 1 inside-in/cc
- BH passes - 5 cc (1 return - played 1 handed), 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 longline return and 4 lobs
- regular BHs - 3 dtl and 1 running-down-drop-shot cc at net
- 1 OH was on the bounce from the baseline
Becker had 7 from serve-volley points
- 5 first volleys (1 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)
- 1 second volley (1 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 BHV)
- 2 from return-approach points - 1 BHV and 1 OH
- 1 other FHV was played net-to-net
- FHs - 2 dtl and 1 inside-in
- BH - 1 dtl
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Agassi 16
- 6 Unforced (2 FH, 4 BH)
- 10 Forced (4 FH, 6 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.7
Becker 25
- 16 Unforced (5 FH, 9 BH, 2 BHV)... with 2 FHs at net
- 9 Forced (3 FH, 1 FH1/2V, 5 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52.5
(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...
- 4/7 (57%) at net, with...
- 1/2 forced back
Becker was...
- 35/61 (57%) at net, including...
- 29/46 (63%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 23/35 (66%) off 1st serve and...
- 6/11 (55%) off 2nd serve
---
- 4/9 (44%) return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back
Match Report
Very close, and surprisingly serve-dominated match on a slow-ish court. First set is decided by a bad line call, the second by a series of terrible shots in tiebreak by Becker. In between, returner is rarely able to muster any counter-play
In the case of Becker, this is surprising. Agassi's serve is average, his first serves about the quality of Becker's second. So why is he winning a gigantic 82% first serve points? Great as Agassi played, I would somewhat discredit Boris for this. Not only is he outmatched in play, he seems to feel it even more than it is
Serve & Return
Average serving from Agassi. He serves at 73% but has just the 1 ace (Becker has 14 - including a second serve). Typically, Becker's second serve is at least as strong as Agassi's first (in fact, probably stronger)
Decent returning from Boris. His return rate of 72% against average serving doesn't look great, but returns with significant aggression. Note all the fancy returns - 2 runaround FHs, 9 return-approaches (most chip-charges, but with a couple big cut ones thrown in) and 1 drop-return. On top of that, he regularly goes for big cut cc returns and occasionally, dtl winner attempts of the second shot. Not too successful with attacking returns but returning fairly consistently overall gives him the luxury of having a whack on occasion
Becker serves fantastically - this is probably the best serving display I've seen from him. For starters, 72% first serves in is outstanding for anyone, let alone him. He holds back a bit with the first serve, particularly in first set, but is near enough full throttle in second set. Still keeps the very high first in count, only now, he's raining down aces
Compare Becker's numbers with Pete Sampras' in the final to come -
- 1st serve in - Becker 72%, Sampras 60%
- Unreturned serves - Becker 49%, Sampras 40%
- Percentage of first serves per ace/service winner - Becker 31%, Sampras 32% (Boris also has a second serve ace)
In first set, Becker serves at 68%, unreturned rate 32% with aces/service winners 2
In second, its 74% in, 60% unreturned with 15 aces/service winners
Agassi returns about as well as possible. What he can get in play, he hits heftily. He doesn't budge from his taking-it-early position, which contributes to Boris' success
In general, Agassi never did move back and tone down counter-attacking returning. Would have been a good extra to have in his repertoire, when confronted by serving like this. Since he's winning overwhelming bulk of neutrally started points, he obviously doesn't need the return to grab initiative. is the damage his returns do worth all the unreturned serves he gives up due to his style and position?
Play - Baseline
Agassi plays from the baseline and is very strong. Off both sides, he hits with power, authority and consistency. Just 6 UEs for him (Becker has 16) to go with 26 winners... looks great
It is great.. but not as great as it looks, in overall context of match. First of all, he's giving up 2 boatloads of unreturned serves (almost all credit to Boris' serve for that), so basically starts with a handicap in play. Numbers less impressive than +20 on winners/UEs wouldn't cut it in this light
Note he's forced just 3 baseline errors out of Boris (who is typically, slow of foot) and has 5 baseline-to-baseline winners. Boris himself has 4 such winners and a comparable number of non-pass errors forced.
In other words, Agassi's advantage from the back is mostly one of consistency. Just the 6 UEs to Boris' 12
Boris though, seems to want absolutely nothing to do with playing Agassi from the back. Not only does he serve-volley almost all the time (stays back 6 second serves total), he looks to come in early (including off return) and throws in some desperately low percentage approaches (read: suicidal)
Clearly Agassi is the better baseliner, but not to the extent to justify Boris strategy. From baseline, Boris trails consistency off BH but is just as strong off FH (and doesn't even trail consistency there - he has 3 UEs to Agassi's 2). He lets loose with odd big BHs, including longline to go along with slices in both directions, occasionally dropped short intentionally
In nutshell, Boris plays well enough from baseline to have hung in and played a normal game with reasonable success, while looking for openings to come in (granted, the way Agassi hit, chances weren't likely to come up too often). Instead, he seems to be in mad rush to get to net
Agassi, who had recently won the Australian Open, would go onto lose the final to Pete Sampras. Becker was ranked third in the world
Agassi won 73 points, Becker 68
Becker serve-volleyed off all first serves and most seconds
Serve Stats
Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (51/70) 73%
- 1st serve points won (42/51) 82%
- 2nd serve points won (10/19) 53%
- Aces 1, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (19/70) 27%
Becker...
- 1st serve percentage (51/71) 72%
- 1st serve points won (39/51) 76%
- 2nd serve points won (11/20) 55%
- Aces 14 (1 second serve, 1 not clean), Service Winners 3
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (35/71) 49%
Serve Patterns
Becker served...
- to FH 32%
- to BH 68%
Becker served....
- to FH 41%
- to BH 56%
- to Body 3%
Return Stats
Agassi made...
- 33 (13 FH, 20 BH)
- 4 Winners (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 18 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 17 Forced (8 FH, 9 BH)
- Return Rate (33/68) 49%
Becker made...
- 49 (17 FH, 32 BH), including 2 runaround FHs, 9 return-approaches & 1 drop-return
- 16 Errors, comprising...
- 11 Unforced (3 FH, 8 BH), including 2 return-approaches
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (49/68) 72%
Break Points
Agassi 1/5 (3 games)
Becker 0/1
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Agassi 26 (8 FH, 16 BH, 2 OH)
Becker 15 (3 FH, 1 BH, 2 FHV, 5 BHV, 4 OH)
Agassi's FH passes - 3 cc (1 return), 1 dtl, 1 inside-in return and 1 lob
- regular FHs - 1 inside-in and 1 inside-in/cc
- BH passes - 5 cc (1 return - played 1 handed), 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 longline return and 4 lobs
- regular BHs - 3 dtl and 1 running-down-drop-shot cc at net
- 1 OH was on the bounce from the baseline
Becker had 7 from serve-volley points
- 5 first volleys (1 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)
- 1 second volley (1 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 BHV)
- 2 from return-approach points - 1 BHV and 1 OH
- 1 other FHV was played net-to-net
- FHs - 2 dtl and 1 inside-in
- BH - 1 dtl
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Agassi 16
- 6 Unforced (2 FH, 4 BH)
- 10 Forced (4 FH, 6 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.7
Becker 25
- 16 Unforced (5 FH, 9 BH, 2 BHV)... with 2 FHs at net
- 9 Forced (3 FH, 1 FH1/2V, 5 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52.5
(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...
- 4/7 (57%) at net, with...
- 1/2 forced back
Becker was...
- 35/61 (57%) at net, including...
- 29/46 (63%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 23/35 (66%) off 1st serve and...
- 6/11 (55%) off 2nd serve
---
- 4/9 (44%) return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back
Match Report
Very close, and surprisingly serve-dominated match on a slow-ish court. First set is decided by a bad line call, the second by a series of terrible shots in tiebreak by Becker. In between, returner is rarely able to muster any counter-play
In the case of Becker, this is surprising. Agassi's serve is average, his first serves about the quality of Becker's second. So why is he winning a gigantic 82% first serve points? Great as Agassi played, I would somewhat discredit Boris for this. Not only is he outmatched in play, he seems to feel it even more than it is
Serve & Return
Average serving from Agassi. He serves at 73% but has just the 1 ace (Becker has 14 - including a second serve). Typically, Becker's second serve is at least as strong as Agassi's first (in fact, probably stronger)
Decent returning from Boris. His return rate of 72% against average serving doesn't look great, but returns with significant aggression. Note all the fancy returns - 2 runaround FHs, 9 return-approaches (most chip-charges, but with a couple big cut ones thrown in) and 1 drop-return. On top of that, he regularly goes for big cut cc returns and occasionally, dtl winner attempts of the second shot. Not too successful with attacking returns but returning fairly consistently overall gives him the luxury of having a whack on occasion
Becker serves fantastically - this is probably the best serving display I've seen from him. For starters, 72% first serves in is outstanding for anyone, let alone him. He holds back a bit with the first serve, particularly in first set, but is near enough full throttle in second set. Still keeps the very high first in count, only now, he's raining down aces
Compare Becker's numbers with Pete Sampras' in the final to come -
- 1st serve in - Becker 72%, Sampras 60%
- Unreturned serves - Becker 49%, Sampras 40%
- Percentage of first serves per ace/service winner - Becker 31%, Sampras 32% (Boris also has a second serve ace)
In first set, Becker serves at 68%, unreturned rate 32% with aces/service winners 2
In second, its 74% in, 60% unreturned with 15 aces/service winners
Agassi returns about as well as possible. What he can get in play, he hits heftily. He doesn't budge from his taking-it-early position, which contributes to Boris' success
In general, Agassi never did move back and tone down counter-attacking returning. Would have been a good extra to have in his repertoire, when confronted by serving like this. Since he's winning overwhelming bulk of neutrally started points, he obviously doesn't need the return to grab initiative. is the damage his returns do worth all the unreturned serves he gives up due to his style and position?
Play - Baseline
Agassi plays from the baseline and is very strong. Off both sides, he hits with power, authority and consistency. Just 6 UEs for him (Becker has 16) to go with 26 winners... looks great
It is great.. but not as great as it looks, in overall context of match. First of all, he's giving up 2 boatloads of unreturned serves (almost all credit to Boris' serve for that), so basically starts with a handicap in play. Numbers less impressive than +20 on winners/UEs wouldn't cut it in this light
Note he's forced just 3 baseline errors out of Boris (who is typically, slow of foot) and has 5 baseline-to-baseline winners. Boris himself has 4 such winners and a comparable number of non-pass errors forced.
In other words, Agassi's advantage from the back is mostly one of consistency. Just the 6 UEs to Boris' 12
Boris though, seems to want absolutely nothing to do with playing Agassi from the back. Not only does he serve-volley almost all the time (stays back 6 second serves total), he looks to come in early (including off return) and throws in some desperately low percentage approaches (read: suicidal)
Clearly Agassi is the better baseliner, but not to the extent to justify Boris strategy. From baseline, Boris trails consistency off BH but is just as strong off FH (and doesn't even trail consistency there - he has 3 UEs to Agassi's 2). He lets loose with odd big BHs, including longline to go along with slices in both directions, occasionally dropped short intentionally
In nutshell, Boris plays well enough from baseline to have hung in and played a normal game with reasonable success, while looking for openings to come in (granted, the way Agassi hit, chances weren't likely to come up too often). Instead, he seems to be in mad rush to get to net