Match Stats/Report - Agassi vs Moya, Miami final, 2003

[Waspsting]

Andre Agassi beat Carlos Moya 6-3, 6-3 in the Miami final, 2003 on hard court

It was Agassi's third title in a row at the event, record extending 6th overall (since matched by Novak Djokovic) and would turn out to be his last. He had recently won the Australian Open. Moya was ranked 5th in the world

Agassi won 64 points, Moya 44

Serve Stats
Agassi...
- 1st serve percentage (39/55) 71%
- 1st serve points won (31/39) 79%
- 2nd serve points won (9/16) 56%
- Aces 8, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (23/55) 42%

Moya...
- 1st serve percentage (27/53) 51%
- 1st serve points won (13/27) 48%
- 2nd serve points won (16/26) 62%
- Aces 3 (1 second serve)
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (12/53) 23%

Serve Patterns
Agassi served...
- to FH 44%
- to BH 54%
- to Body 2%

Moya served...
- to FH 31%
- to BH 54%
- to Body 15%

Return Stats
Agassi made...
- 40 (21 FH, 19 BH), including 6 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 9 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (4 BH)
- 5 Forced (1 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (40/52) 77%

Moya made...
- 31 (15 FH, 16 BH), including 3 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 FH), a runaround FH
- 13 Errors, comprising...
- 9 Unforced (7 FH, 2 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 4 Forced (4 FH)
- Return Rate (31/54) 57%

Break Points
Agassi 3/6 (4 games)
Moya 0/3 (2 games)

Winners (excluding serves, including returns)
Agassi 17 (9 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV, 2 OH)
Moya 11 (6 FH, 4 BH, 1 OH)

Agassi's FHs - 1 cc pass, 1 dtl, 6 inside-out and 1 inside-in return
- BHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl and 1 drop shot

- 1 OH was on the bounce from the baseline

Moya's FHs - 2 dtl (1 at net), 1 inside-out and 3 inside-in (1 runaround return)
- BHs - 1 cc and 3 dtl

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Agassi 20
- 11 Unforced (4 FH, 7 BH)
- 9 Forced (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48.2

Moya 23
- 19 Unforced (11 FH, 7 BH, 1 FHV)
- 4 Forced (4 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.8

(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 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 8/9 (89%) at net

Moya was...
- 7/9 (78%) at net, with...
- 1/1 forced back

Match Report
Very good, hard hitting baseline match with Agassi a bit better on a standard hard court

Some unexpected numbers coming out the match

i) Agassi with 42% unreturned serves, which is very high for him. He serves well (again, for him) with 8 aces and 2 service winners (Moya has 3 aces - 1 a second serve Agassi was moving in wrong direction for). Court is about average paced, not slow, as Miami usually is but also not fast. Still 42% is much too much... I'd call it a 25%-30% unreturned rate serving display

He goes for the point finisher occasionally - and almost always makes it. Hence all the aces and service winners. In spot of bother, he goes for wider serve and gets them mildly wide, but nothing too difficult to return. I'd estimate slightly more than 50% of his first serves are regulation serves in Moya's swing zone. Second serves are decent, normal second serves

Moya with 9 UEs (to just 4 FEs) on return, so he's missing regulation returns regularly enough. Some of it is probably the pressure of rallying dynamics (Agassi pressures Moya from back - more on that later), causing Moya to go for a good amount on the return. He hits a swashbuckling runaround FH inside-in winner from ad court and misses a similar shot. Probably Moya straining for pace, depth against first serves and occasionally looking to finish point against second serves and faltering so doing

Some good serving from Agassi, some inconsistent returning from a Moya that would feel pressure to return strongly given how play was going accounts for the unusually high figure

ii) Moya winning low 48% first serve points but high 62% second serve points. No real explanation for this one.

He serves normally - decent serves, with first bigger and wider placed than seconds. Agassi returns as he normally does - swatting anything he can reach and stepping in to take second serves early. Return rate of 77% with 4 UEs and 5 FEs are in line with number of first and second serve returns he misses and with Moya serving at 51%, that means he misses at equal frequency against each serve - and neither is high

Agassi's returns tend to be neutralizing (where orthodox third ball shot choice would be a neutral rather than attacking shot) at least, occasionally pressuring (deep and hard hit) and rarely initiative grabbing (Moya on defensive for third ball). About the same against both serves

Moya looks to hit hard right off the bat. And succeeds, leading to start of hard hitting baseline rallies

Good returning by Agassi - against both serves. He seems to read the serve well. He's generally not a big runaround FH returner, but has 6 such shots in this match (some to body serves that he's obviously read). Some strong body serves that he can only fend off without moving much

In short, no good explanation for why Moya does so much better off second serve points. Just one of those things

 

[Waspsting]

iii) Not too unusual, but action decided by FHs. Moya is a reputed FH powerhouse with suspect or at least, not potent BH. Agassi is strong off both wings but tends to lead with BH cc's
With Agassi leading baseline rallies and Moya reacting more often than not, one would expect BHs to be decisive. Not what happens

On BH, matters are about even - Moya +1 on winners and UEs equal (Moya has 1 more FE)
On FH, Agassi with large leads on both fronts - +3 winners and -7 on UEs

Note also high lot of FH return errors from Moya. all 4 of his FEs and 5/9 UEs (discounting 2 runaround FHs) are FHs, despite Agassi serving minority 44% to that side

Initially, Agassi looks to lead with BH cc. Moya hits back just as hard. Some excellent ball striking by both on these rallies. Moya if anything is slightly more apt to go dtl attackingly or hit a particularly brutal or/and wide cc shot

Agassi shifts to looking to boss play with FHs and he's more successful doing so. The FH rallies are more varied (more longline change-ups and attackingly sharp angled cc shots). Moving-opponent-around play comes out of it (Agassi excelling with the wider FH cc shot). Moya hits some stunning FHs from regulation positions, particularly inside-in. Some good defending and hitting on the move by Agassi too. He does well to keep his FEs down to just 4 against Moya's hitting. Defence isn't a big part of the general Agassi baseline package, but he's good here

In line with the above, Agassi's also apt to fall back behind baseline more than his norm

To be clear, Agassi dictates more often than not and Moya is pushed back or made to run wide more often than other way around. And Agassi isn't exactly making outrageous defensive running gets. A normal Agassi contest from this period often features play where Agassi barely has to move while moving his opponent around. Compared to that standard, he's made to move a fair bit, and does it well. Compared to his norm of standing on baseline and half-volleying deep balls, he falls back to slightly behind baseline (normal position for most players) and continues hitting firmly.

Down from his norm of directing baseline action, but he's the dictator, not the dictate-ee most of the time.

In second set, Agassi goes in for hitting FH inside-outs to beat down Moya's BH. Again, he generally doesn't do this and prefers BH cc. It works. He has 6 inside-out winners

In nutshell, hard hitting, pressuring-cum-attacking baseline action. Quality of hitting is about the same (and very good), Agassi proves the more consistent off FH and while he edges control of points (hits earlier, wider, doesn't have to move as much), its only by small amount. Moya's pushed a bit beyond his comfort zone, but is largely up to the challenge

Match Progression
Uncharacteristic start by Agassi, banging down 2 aces, a service winner and BH dtl winner to hold to love. Then he puts Moya through the hoop in a 14 point game that Moya manages to hold. Then Moya returns the favour as Agassi holds a 12 point game. Great ball, striking action from both players

Agassi scores the decisive break to go up 3-1, bringing up break point with a perfect FH cc pass winner. Moya riskily draws Agassi to next point and is punished for it to lose the game. Play continues in hard hitting vein without further breaks. Moya holds his 2 remaining service games despite making 2/10 first serves (or because of it?)

There are more UEs in second set, though play remains lively. Agassi switches more definitively to leading with FH play. From 3-3, he wins the next 3 games to end match, including 2 breaks to love. Reels off 3 winners in a row to get the first in a superbly played game. Has to hold from 15-40 down after that, with Moya missing 2 makeable FH returns near end. Poor start to last game with Moya missing 2 third ball FHs to go down 0-30. Next to points are nice though - a tough rally that Agassi finishes with a BH drop shot winner after pushing Moya back and a strong FH inside-out that he follows to net that Moya can't handle

Summing up, good, hard hitting action with both players striking the ball well. Moya makes a good pitch for sharing command of baseline action and proves even off the BH. Agassi though dominates with FHs and remains the more commanding and pressuring play, while also serving particularly well

Stats for Australian Open final between Agassi and Rainer Schuttler - Match Stats/Report - Agassi vs Schuettler, Australian Open final, 2003 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)
Stats for pair's '99 French Open fourth round - Match Stats/Report - Agassi vs Moya, French Open fourth round, 1999 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)

 

[FearTheJester]

AGASSI V MOYA 2003 MIAMI FINAL

 

[Deleted member 22147]

Great write up.

Moya played a great event and underperformed in the final. He is a real underachiever.

I remember this tournament as one of the first times it looked like Ginepri would be a very good player.