Match Stats/Report - Alcaraz vs Ruud, US Open final, 2022

Waspsting

Hall of Fame
Carlos Alcaraz beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-3 in the US Open final, 2022 on hard court

It was the 19-year old Alcaraz’ maiden Slam title and he would finish the year ranked #1. Ruud had been runner-up at the French Open earlier in the year. Earlier in the year, the two had contested the final in Miami, with Alcaraz winning his maiden Masters title on that occasion

Alcaraz won 127 points, Ruud 122

Serve Stats
Alcaraz...
- 1st serve percentage (85/132) 64%
- 1st serve points won (63/85) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (24/47) 52%
- Aces 14, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (35/132) 27%

Ruud...
- 1st serve percentage (71/117) 61%
- 1st serve points won (47/71) 66%
- 2nd serve points won (30/46) 65%
- Aces 4, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (29/117) 25%

Serve Pattern
Alcaraz served...
- to FH 49%
- to BH 47%
- to Body 4%

Ruud served...
- to FH 50%
- to BH 45%
- to Body 5%

Return Stats
Alcaraz made...
- 86 (49 FH, 37 BH), including 6 runaround FHs
- 23 Errors, comprising...
- 12 Unforced (5 FH, 7 BH)
- 11 Forced (7 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (86/115) 75%

Ruud made...
- 94 (54 FH, 40 BH), including 8 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 20 Errors, comprising...
- 11 Unforced (6 FH, 5 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 9 Forced (4 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (94/129) 73%

Break Points
Alcaraz 3/11 (7 games)
Ruud 3/10 (6 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Alcaraz 39 (15 FH, 5 BH, 10 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 4 BHV, 4 OH)
Ruud 25 (10 FH, 4 BH, 5 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 2 OH, 1 BHOH)

Alcaraz' FHs - 3 cc, 1 cc/down-the-middle, 3 dtl (1 pass), 2 inside-out, 4 inside-in, 1 lob
- BHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 2 dtl, 1 inside-out

- 10 from serve-volley points -
- 8 first 'volleys' (4 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 2 BHV, 1 FH at net)
- 1 second volley (1 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 OH)

- 1 other FHV was a longline pass from the baseline

Ruud's FHs - 3 cc (1 return pass), 2 dtl, 1 inside-out, 2 inside-in, 1 longline, 1 longline/down-the-middle
- BHs - 1 cc at net, 3 dtl (1 return, 1 pass)

- 1 FHV was a swinging inside-in & 1 OH was on the bounce

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Alcaraz 65
- 41 Unforced (22 FH, 14 BH, 2 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)... with 1 swinging FHV
- 24 Forced (13 FH, 6 BH, 1 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 1 Back-to-Net)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49.8

Ruud 51
- 29 Unforced (12 FH, 15 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)... with 1 non-net swinging FHV
- 22 Forced (11 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 Between-Legs)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net & 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.6

(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
Alcaraz was...
- 33/50 (66%) at with, including...
- 15/20 (75%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 12/16 (75%) off 1st serve and...
- 3/4 (75%) off 2nd serve
---
- 0/5 forced back

Ruud was...
- 21/32 (66%) at with, including...
- 0/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 1/2 forced back

Match Report
Good, fun, hard hitting, all-court match with two players playing similarly. Alcaraz is more powerful off the ground, more potent of offence, quicker in defence. Ruud is steadier. Court is quick

More powerful (hits harder off both wings) + more potent offence (shot-making, finishing, willingness to take net) + quicker in defence (Alcs is lightning fast, Ruud is merely very good), you’d think would tally up to clear and comfy superiority

Its not back cut by serve-return dynamics. Alcs leads aces 14-4 (that’s deceptive way of depicting extent of his superiority in this area, but it’s a fact), with Ruud consistently returning from further back, and thus being harder to ace
(Alcs leads unreturend serves 27% to 25% - better gauge of how the two stack up in serve-return matters than aces - more on that later)

If anything, its augmented by it, with Alcs drawing few more soft returns. And also more willing to attack such returns, flowing into his offensive superiority

And yet, match is tough
Ruud wins 5 more points than he serves, Alcs 5 less
Break points - Alcs 3/11, Ruud 3/10 (Alcs has them in 1 extra game)
Alcs wins 51.0% of points, but serving 53.0% of them

Ruud wins very impressive 65% second serve points - just 1 shy of his first serve points and a healthy 13% better than Alcs does on second serves
Its not weighed pattern either. His second serve winning rates across 4 sets are 64%, 78%, 58% and 75% respectively. Alcs’ range from 58% - 40% by contrast

Ruud has 27 ground UEs to Alcs’ 36. And difference is entirely due to the more aggressive misses, not neutral rallying consistency

It’s only a slight stretch to call it a coin flip match. It’s more a choice-game here and there to decide outcome. Ruud has better of the third set on whole and has two set/break points on cusp of tiebreak, but plays a poor ‘breaker. Making it a set he could readily have won, and with all things remaining the same, taking match to 5 sets

Action shaping feature of the match is both players well-back return positions, which allows server to get and stay on front foot of rally off the bat. Leading to lively, attacker-defender dynamics

If there’s a result determining aspect, its Alcs’ speed and defence. The offensive advantage he has numerically - he has14 more winners, while being forced into 2 more errors - would be a lot less, but for his absolutely whizzing about to defend. The fastest thing seen on a tennis court since Rafael Nadal broken onto scene

To be clear, this isn’t a Alcs attacks/ Ruud defends match, it’s a match where both players attack, starting with power hitting, flowing out of effective serving and moving onto other things from there (net play, shot-making, drop shots, serve-volley, persistent beat-down hitting etc.). Ruud delivers plenty to the attacking party too, though overshadowed by the the more vigorous offerings of his opponent and and it being curbed some by the cartoon’ish footspeed of Alcs is largely what keeps him from moving ahead to equality and possible, even gaining the win

Serve, Return & Serve-Volley
The serving is better than the returning, as tends to be case in lively matches

Both players return from well back position. Ruud virtually always and even further back to take second returns than firsts, while Alcs varies his position some, but is usually well back too (though not as far as Ruud). Both players at least swing at returns, not block, but from back there, aren’t able to neutralize or take initiative with return shot

Thus, both servers are in good attacking position to start rallies. Alcs in particular, makes most of it. Ruud isn’t too far behind, though not having the same range of weapons. Action almost has feel of a serve-volley match in extent to which server attacks, returner is put on defensive (Alcs does in fact serve-volley plenty)

1st serve in - Alcs 64%, Ruud 61%
Aces/Service Winners - Alcs 15, Ruud 6
1st serve Ace/SW rate - Alcs 18%, Ruud 8%
Unreturned serves - Alcs 27%, Ruud 25%

Court is quick, both players serving lustily and with good rhythm. Given far back return positions, freebies aren’t low

14 aces (and 1 service winner) from Als is remarkable, given Ruud’s position. Its not too important practically. Return error, ace, service winner… practically, its all the same. The discrepancy does speak to Alcs serving particularly well. Other possible explanation would be Alcs being moving better for returns. That’s true too, but is lesser factor than quality of serves, and his unreturnables are concentrated in last set, where he delivers 8 of the 15

Even then, actual freebies are all but a wash. And Alcs’ slender lead is supported by his serve-volleying (he does so nearly quarter of time off first serves, Ruud does so just once), sans which, Ruud would probably even lead in this area

Return Errors -
- Alcs 12 UEs, 11 FEs
- Ruud 11 UEs, 9 FEs

Relatively tough UEs against pacey serves, but from where they’re standing, not too difficult returns to make. Virtual same proportion of UEs to FEs by both players

Similar serving patterns too, a little unusually, both serving more to FH than BH. Serving pattern -
- to FH - Alcs 49%, Ruud 50%
- to BH - Alcs 47%, Ruud 45%
- to body - Alcs 4%, Ruud 5%
… with errors drawn in proportion to where serves directed. Both players running around to hit FH returns at similar rates too (Alcs has 6 runaround FHs against 52 serves to his BH, Ruud 8 against 61)

Gist - similar styles and quality of serving and returning. Ruud consistently a little further back to return, Alcs occasionally moving up half way and rarely, close to baseline but also from far-back base. Given Alcs with slightly more powerful serve, Ruud’s probably returned a shade better to keep freebies about even. Alcs’ returns a little heftier than Ruud’s, but neither player is neutralizing, let alone damaging, with the second shot
 

Waspsting

Hall of Fame
The far back position invites serve-volleying. Alcs makes something of it

He serve-volleys 23% of the time behind first serves and 9% behind seconds, winning 75% of those points (for both serves). If he makes it look like clockwork and the return position invites it, its not everyone who plays this way against this very common position. For starters, Ruud doesn’t. He serve-volleys just once

Its important. Alcs wins 75% first serve-volleying, and 67% not. The 67% is just 1% higher than Ruud wins of his first serve-points (including aces and service winners), so Alcs’ first serve points won advantage is almost entirely due to effective serve-volleying - even with the big lead in aces

First serve points won - Alcs 74%, Ruud 66%
First serve points won, sans serve-volleying - both 67%

… with Ruud leading second serve points won 65% to 52%, Alcs’ serve-volleying is key to his winning the match. He could do more on that front off second serves

Second serve points won - Alcs 52%, Ruud 65%
Second serve points won sans serve-volley - Alcs 49%, Ruud same

… with Ruud standing even further back to return second serves than firsts, thus leaving himself vulnerable to second serve-volleying too. A bridge too far for Alcs’ boldness apparently. He volleys very well (more on that in a bit), Ruud swings at returns so they don’t come back gently but from so far back, good reason to fancy chances on the volley

Sans substantial serve-volleying from Alcs, Ruud probably wins the match. The most effective weapon in Alcs’ very considerable arsenal

Play - Baseline & Net
Lovely, clean hit groundies from both players is staple. FHs see more action than BHs. Its unclear who that benefits more. And BHs are pressuringly powerfully played too

This is beat-down ‘neutral’ hitting, not out-lasting or who-blinks-first exchanges. As cleanly as both players strike, errors are likely to come sooner rather than later and short balls drawn. Shot resistance is tested as well as consistency

Alcs is more powerful ball striker. Not by much and he doesn’t draw many short balls for it. Or give them up. He moves over to play FHs some, going inside-in more to finish and inside-out to pressure and potentially force errors, but isn’t dependent on FH. Hammers BHs too. He’s very quick to move-around for FHs when he chooses

Both players quick to attack. Serve does much of the work in drawing weak ball and both players are ready to pounce. Alcs is more apt to go for winners from the back but is more effective hitting hard and approaching. Ruud shines with hit-hard-&-approach, though not averse for going for point-ender from back either

Power hitting goes well with Alcs’ drop shots, only Ruud is on the ball in running them down. Alcs in net negatives on the drop shot for the match. Misses a few, and Ruud runs down most others. Its in running down drop shots from pushed back position that how quick Ruud is comes through. Next to Alcs, he looks slow otherwise (he’s fast by normal standard, wouldn’t be able to cope with slightly wide shots as powerful as the hitting is if he weren’t)

With push back with power + drop shot combos not working, Alcs turns more to coming in quickly as replacement. Gets it just so - doesn’t give up on droppers at once, but doesn’t persist with it while losing most such points. He has many options in how to attack, including of course, serve-volleying

Winners - Alcs 39, Ruud 25
Errors Forced - Alcs 22, Ruud 24
UEs - Alcs 41, Ruud 29

Points won - 90 apiece, both players with couple more UEs than winners (with UEs often beat-out and products of pressure), and both handsomely in the positives winning points forcefully over UEs

Neutral UEs - both 15
Attacking UEs - Alcs 12, Ruud 9
Winner attempt UEs - Alcs 14, Ruud 5

Neutral UEs being equal would tend to favour the more aggressive player Alcs. He is looser off the ground in that Ruud’s lot of neutrals are slightly more pressured (Alcs’ often are too), but that’s splitting hair territory. Two players evenly matched of solidity. Sometimes, stats are exactly what they look like

So its attacking efficiency differences that are keeping things even, with Ruud substantially better. Especially impressive because Alcs speed makes him difficult to finish off, while Alcs’ finishing is too much for Ruud to defend against. That ‘too much’ has a price tag of attacking and winner attempt UEs

Ruud forcing 2.7 errors for every attacking UE, Alcs 1.8
Ruud with 5 winners for every winner attempt miss, Alcs 2.9

Alcs on the attack more often, to compensate for lower attacking efficiency and keeps things literally 50-50 (or 75-75 to be even more literal). Basically, Alcs the one hitting winners, Alcs the one making errors trying

Again, its not an Alcs attacks/Ruud defends match, so above isn’t great description but Alcs is more keen to seize action and attack. Ruud’s not passive, but he’s not as proactive in looking to attack. Alcs’ keenness is particular, Ruud’s isn’t tepid

Winners in baseline rallies
- Alcs 16 (12 FH, 4 BH), 11 Ruud 11 (9 FH, 2 BH)

Ground UEs -
Ruud FH 12
BHs - Alcs 14, Ruud 15
Alcs’ FH 22

Neutrals being equal lining up with virtually equal BH UEs. Both players hitting hard off BH, not avoiding going for even adventurous finisher but not seeking to either. Alcs a little more aggressive

Alcs’ FH the most destructive shot on show with most winners, but also most UEs, with large lot of the UEs being more aggressive shots. Ruud’s FH is damaging too - and his error cost is much lower. Here, both players are looking for point enders and hitting even harder for staple. Alcs prefers FH inside-in for winner to inside-out, which he uses more to power hit to Ruud’s BH. Ruud moving around to play FHs less - he doesn’t have as much time and isn’t as quick on his feet

No drop shot winners from Alcs. He’s go a small few errors trying, forces couple running-down-drop-shot errors, gives up a winner to a net shot. Ruud’s very quick to get onto the drop shots, and Alcs turns to other forms of attacking

Rallying to net -
Alcs 18/30 at 60%, Ruud 21/31 at 68%

Both players hitting hard, slightly wide and coming in and Ruud doing better
‘Volley’ winners - Alcs 20, Ruud 11
Volley UEs - Alcs 5, Ruud 1
Volley FEs - Alcs 4, Ruud 2
 

Waspsting

Hall of Fame
Passing winners - Alcs 4, Ruud 2
10 of Alcs’ ‘volley’ winners are from serve-volleys

Coming in from commanding position, not too many difficult volleys to be faced, but both players very tidy in putting away what they’re faced with. Slightly under net volleys are decisively punched wide or short. Alcs missing a few, Ruud hardly any. Higher lot of Alcs’ winners are easy putaway, especially the serve-volleying ones

Meanwhile, Alcs a little more capable finding unlikely winning pass. The lightning fast movement helps, but it also reason Ruud needs to come in to finish. Getting winners off from the back is hard work against Alcs’ speed

2nd serve points won - Alcs 52%, Ruud 65%
… and sans double faults - Alcs 24/44, Ruud 30/44

Alcs might dominate highlights reel, but clearly, Ruud’s doing some things better than him.

No solid explanation for it - or for Ruud’s near equal winning rates across his 2 serves (he wins 66% firsts). Its not a particularly good second serve, the first serve isn’t a particularly bad one. Alcs’ returning across the two don’t vary much either (he’s not particularly good against firsts or particularly bad against seconds). In line with match, neither player is able to neutralize with return and server usually starts second serve points with at least mild initiative, a bigger one for firsts along natural lines

Some combo of Ruud’s finely balanced attacking instincts (the very good efficiency ratios attacking) and slightly less, Alcs’ corresponding instincts being more enthusiastic then well judged. From slight lead starting position for rallies, Ruud plays substantially better than Alcs, despite Alcs’ greater firepower and speed

Gist - play isn’t subtle, but outcomes are. Both players pounding the ball off both wings, both looking to attack from there (along with Alcs serve-volleying good amount, and doing so masterfully). Alcs more proactive with it, more powerful, better shot-maker, having unanswered advantage of efficient serve-volleying success and faster in defence

All that countermanded by Ruud striking perfect balance in his choices of which gear to play in and when and his execution in the higher gears being far more efficient than the well firing Alcs

Match Progression
Competitive first set, with both players having chances to break, amidst server controlling action. Ruud returns from well back against all serves (oddly, even further back against seconds), Alcs varies his position against serves but is usually quite far back too

Both players save 2 break points in their opening holds - Ruud drawing 2 ground errors, Alcs knocking down to unreturned first serves
Ruud’s broken in his second game to 15, while Alcs survives break point to hold for 3-1. Comfy holds from there
Break points for the set read Alcs 1/4, Ruud 0/3, with both having them in 2 separate games

Ruud’s excellent running-down-drop-shots is key to the second set. Alcs starts indulging the play more, setting it up well by power hitting Ruud behind the baseline, but Ruud’s onto the droppers quickly. Some lovely points - Ruud lob-volleying Alcs back to baseline from no-man’s land and coming away with BHV winner is one, another ends with Ruud BHOH’ng a winner after a net chord flicking pass throws him off a shot earlier

From 2-2, Ruud reels off next 4 games. High quality, lively and competitive games. Alcs has a break point in both of Ruud’s holds during the run
Ruud breaking first time with a number of drop shot thwarting plays. Does it couple times for second break too, helped along by a pair of double faults

Set 3 is the best of the match with very good, power hitting tennis. Alcs eases up on drop shotting and serve-volleys more. Both players look to follow powerful groundies to net to finish. Alcs’ speed is on full show

Alcs breaks to start the set in game where both players are regularly at net, finishing up with a winning drop shot. Lovely BH1/2V winner from Ruud game after, after forcing Alcs back from net
Alcs has break point for 3-0, which Ruud swats away with a third ball FH inside-out winner from up the court before going on to hold
Then breaks for 2-2 and this one’s a bad game from Alcs. Misses BHV trying to go too fine with the angle and misses 2 third ball groundies

Much good tennis from there to the tiebreak, climaxing in Ruud playing probably the best return game of the match at 5-6, with a number of strong returns and a couple of cracking FH dtl winners. Alcs serve-volleys and takes net on 8/16 points and saves 2 break to etch out the hold

Tiebreak. Chokey, poor one from Ruud. Starts with an ace than loses next 7 points. Makes third ball ground UEs on his remaining 3 service points, misses a couple of returns too (1 marked UE, the other a good serve)

Alcs serves his best for the match in set 4 and delivers 8 aces and his sole service winner, including hitting 4 straight aces (across 2 games). Ruud holds comfily too

Just the 1 break and it comes in middle of set. Alcs comes out of an open court rally with BH dtl winNer to start, and nails a BH cc one out of normal position a couple points later to reach 15-30. A very poor OH miss by Ruud brings up break point - his only UE at net in the match - and on it, Ruud coughs up BH error. 4-2 Alcs

Tennis remains good, but is dominated by server from there to the end. Alcs misses his own OH on the serve out, but wraps up with his only service winner

Summing up, good, fun match with powerful, dual winged baseline action at its core, from where both players spring to attack by hitting wider, going for winners or coming to net behind powerful shots

Alcaraz is more powerful, more adventurous in attacking and quicker. His speed about the court particularly stands out as top drawer

Ruud plays in similar way, but toned down. Not as flashy as his opponent but a lot more efficient when attacking. He’s almost forced to do so by coming to net because Alcaraz is so quick in running down what looks like winning shots from the baseline

Alcaraz uses one weapon Ruud does not: serve-volleying. Both players return from well-back (Ruud more, with Alcaraz varying some), neither can return with too effectively, but Alcaraz capitlizes better by frequently serve-volleying and dismissing volley winners easily. Both players volley well in general and are good at net

Not too much in it. Alcaraz is flashier, but Ruud’s efficiency makes up for it. Alcaraz staying on the on the attack often enough to push odds his way, where they end up falling
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
The far back position invites serve-volleying. Alcs makes something of it

He serve-volleys 23% of the time behind first serves and 9% behind seconds, winning 75% of those points (for both serves). If he makes it look like clockwork and the return position invites it, its not everyone who plays this way against this very common position. For starters, Ruud doesn’t. He serve-volleys just once

Its important. Alcs wins 75% first serve-volleying, and 67% not. The 67% is just 1% higher than Ruud wins of his first serve-points (including aces and service winners), so Alcs’ first serve points won advantage is almost entirely due to effective serve-volleying - even with the big lead in aces

First serve points won - Alcs 74%, Ruud 66%
First serve points won, sans serve-volleying - both 67%

… with Ruud leading second serve points won 65% to 52%, Alcs’ serve-volleying is key to his winning the match. He could do more on that front off second serves

Second serve points won - Alcs 52%, Ruud 65%
Second serve points won sans serve-volley - Alcs 49%, Ruud same

… with Ruud standing even further back to return second serves than firsts, thus leaving himself vulnerable to second serve-volleying too. A bridge too far for Alcs’ boldness apparently. He volleys very well (more on that in a bit), Ruud swings at returns so they don’t come back gently but from so far back, good reason to fancy chances on the volley

Sans substantial serve-volleying from Alcs, Ruud probably wins the match. The most effective weapon in Alcs’ very considerable arsenal

Play - Baseline & Net
Lovely, clean hit groundies from both players is staple. FHs see more action than BHs. Its unclear who that benefits more. And BHs are pressuringly powerfully played too

This is beat-down ‘neutral’ hitting, not out-lasting or who-blinks-first exchanges. As cleanly as both players strike, errors are likely to come sooner rather than later and short balls drawn. Shot resistance is tested as well as consistency

Alcs is more powerful ball striker. Not by much and he doesn’t draw many short balls for it. Or give them up. He moves over to play FHs some, going inside-in more to finish and inside-out to pressure and potentially force errors, but isn’t dependent on FH. Hammers BHs too. He’s very quick to move-around for FHs when he chooses

Both players quick to attack. Serve does much of the work in drawing weak ball and both players are ready to pounce. Alcs is more apt to go for winners from the back but is more effective hitting hard and approaching. Ruud shines with hit-hard-&-approach, though not averse for going for point-ender from back either

Power hitting goes well with Alcs’ drop shots, only Ruud is on the ball in running them down. Alcs in net negatives on the drop shot for the match. Misses a few, and Ruud runs down most others. Its in running down drop shots from pushed back position that how quick Ruud is comes through. Next to Alcs, he looks slow otherwise (he’s fast by normal standard, wouldn’t be able to cope with slightly wide shots as powerful as the hitting is if he weren’t)

With push back with power + drop shot combos not working, Alcs turns more to coming in quickly as replacement. Gets it just so - doesn’t give up on droppers at once, but doesn’t persist with it while losing most such points. He has many options in how to attack, including of course, serve-volleying

Winners - Alcs 39, Ruud 25
Errors Forced - Alcs 22, Ruud 24
UEs - Alcs 41, Ruud 29

Points won - 90 apiece, both players with couple more UEs than winners (with UEs often beat-out and products of pressure), and both handsomely in the positives winning points forcefully over UEs

Neutral UEs - both 15
Attacking UEs - Alcs 12, Ruud 9
Winner attempt UEs - Alcs 14, Ruud 5

Neutral UEs being equal would tend to favour the more aggressive player Alcs. He is looser off the ground in that Ruud’s lot of neutrals are slightly more pressured (Alcs’ often are too), but that’s splitting hair territory. Two players evenly matched of solidity. Sometimes, stats are exactly what they look like

So its attacking efficiency differences that are keeping things even, with Ruud substantially better. Especially impressive because Alcs speed makes him difficult to finish off, while Alcs’ finishing is too much for Ruud to defend against. That ‘too much’ has a price tag of attacking and winner attempt UEs

Ruud forcing 2.7 errors for every attacking UE, Alcs 1.8
Ruud with 5 winners for every winner attempt miss, Alcs 2.9

Alcs on the attack more often, to compensate for lower attacking efficiency and keeps things literally 50-50 (or 75-75 to be even more literal). Basically, Alcs the one hitting winners, Alcs the one making errors trying

Again, its not an Alcs attacks/Ruud defends match, so above isn’t great description but Alcs is more keen to seize action and attack. Ruud’s not passive, but he’s not as proactive in looking to attack. Alcs’ keenness is particular, Ruud’s isn’t tepid

Winners in baseline rallies
- Alcs 16 (12 FH, 4 BH), 11 Ruud 11 (9 FH, 2 BH)

Ground UEs -
Ruud FH 12
BHs - Alcs 14, Ruud 15
Alcs’ FH 22

Neutrals being equal lining up with virtually equal BH UEs. Both players hitting hard off BH, not avoiding going for even adventurous finisher but not seeking to either. Alcs a little more aggressive

Alcs’ FH the most destructive shot on show with most winners, but also most UEs, with large lot of the UEs being more aggressive shots. Ruud’s FH is damaging too - and his error cost is much lower. Here, both players are looking for point enders and hitting even harder for staple. Alcs prefers FH inside-in for winner to inside-out, which he uses more to power hit to Ruud’s BH. Ruud moving around to play FHs less - he doesn’t have as much time and isn’t as quick on his feet

No drop shot winners from Alcs. He’s go a small few errors trying, forces couple running-down-drop-shot errors, gives up a winner to a net shot. Ruud’s very quick to get onto the drop shots, and Alcs turns to other forms of attacking

Rallying to net -
Alcs 18/30 at 60%, Ruud 21/31 at 68%

Both players hitting hard, slightly wide and coming in and Ruud doing better
‘Volley’ winners - Alcs 20, Ruud 11
Volley UEs - Alcs 5, Ruud 1
Volley FEs - Alcs 4, Ruud 2
Even tsitsipas had to serve and volley in Monte Carlo final to beat Ruud. Ruud is effective baseliner for sure.
 

MilosRaonicFan

New User
I actually thought Alcaraz had some heavy legs in this match relative to his previous rounds. He spent a then record amount of time on court en-route to the final (only surpassed by Medvedev this year at the AO and we all know what happened to him). Speaks to Alcaraz's talent that he was still buzzing around the court like he was given those circumstances.
 
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