Boris Becker beat Stefan Edberg 6-4, 6-4 in the Doha semi-final, 1993 on hard court
Becker would go onto win the event, beating Goran Ivanisevic in the final. Edberg was top seed. This was the inaugural edition of the tournament
Becker won 66 points, Edberg 62
Edberg serve-volleyed off all first serves and most seconds, Becker off most first serves and about half the time off seconds
(Note: I’m missing serve direction for one point - Set 2, Game 9, Point 2)
Serve Stats
Becker...
- 1st serve percentage (37/61) 61%
- 1st serve points won (25/37) 68%
- 2nd serve points won (13/24) 54%
- Aces 3 (1 whiff), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (21/61) 34%
Edberg...
- 1st serve percentage (40/67) 60%
- 1st serve points won (31/40) 78%
- 2nd serve points won (8/27) 30%
- Aces 4
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (17/67) 25%
Serve Patterns
Becker served...
- to FH 32%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 8%
Edberg served...
- to FH 31%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 10%
Return Stats
Becker made...
- 46 (17 FH, 28 BH, 1 ??), including 3 runaround FH & 1 return-approach
- 4 Winners (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 13 Errors, all forced...
- 13 Forced (6 FH, 7 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- Return Rate (46/63) 73%
Edberg made...
- 39 (12 FH, 27 BH), including 4 return-approaches
- 4 Winners (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 17 Errors, all comprising...
- 5 Unforced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- 12 Forced (3 FH, 9 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- Return Rate (39/60) 65%
Break Points
Becker 4/8 (4 games)
Edberg 2/3 (3 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Becker 21 (7 FH, 7 BH, 5 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
Edberg 23 (3 FH, 5 BH, 6 FHV, 7 BHV, 2 OH)
Becker had 6 from serve-volley points -
- 3 first volleys (3 FHV)
- 2 second volley (1 FHV, 1 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 FHV)
- 12 passes (6 FH, 6 BH)
- FHs - 2 cc, 3 inside-out (1 return), 1 running-down-drop-shot cc at net
- BHs - 1 cc return, 3 dtl (1 return), 2 inside-out (1 return)
- regular FH - 1 inside-in
- regular BH - 1 dtl (bad bounce related whiff)
Edberg had 12 from serve-volley points -
- 6 first volleys (3 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 6 second volley (3 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 2 from return-approach points (2 BHV)
- 6 passes (1 FH, 5 BH)
- FH - 1 dtl
- BHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl/inside-out, 2 inside-in returns, 1 lob
- regular FH returns - 2 dtl
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Becker 21
- 4 Unforced (2 BH, 2 BHV)
- 17 Forced (4 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV, 2 FH1/2V, 2 BH1/2V)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net & 1 BH1/2V can reasonably be called a BH at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50
Edberg 20
- 5 Unforced (1 FH, 2 FHV, 2 BHV)... 1 FHV can reasonably be called an OH
- 15 Forced (1 FH, 7 BH, 1 FH1/2V, 5 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 56
(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 are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Becker was...
- 26/40 (65%) at net, including...
- 23/36 (64%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 17/25 (68%) off 1st serve and...
- 6/11 (55%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/1 return-approaching
Edberg was...
- 39/62 (63%) at net, including...
- 35/52 (67%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 27/36 (75%) off 1st serve and...
- 8/16 (50%) off 2nd serve
---
- 2/4 (50%) return-approaching
Match Report
Becker’s passing (especially the return) is the best thing going in a match where nothing is bad going from either player (serve, return, volleying, passing). Court looks slow-ish, with very rare bad bounce
Edberg winning just 30% second serve points is key stat. He actually does much better on first serve points (wins 78% to Boris’ 68%), with in-counts virtually equal (Boris +1%)
Boris mixes up serve-volleying and not, Edberg looks to serve-volley always but starts staying back in face of strong returning on second serves. 50% second serve-volleying points won isn’t good, with fairly high rate of double faulting (15% of second serves), but ends up 0/7 staying back
The staying-back off second serves when its getting some stick is not something Edberg always did. In Australian Open final shortly after and worse yet, Wimbledon later in the year, he’d stick it out serve-volleying and take the most ferocious return-passing stick from Jim Courier. He’s generally good enough baseliner (leaving aside ability to take net early from baseline rallies) that wouldn’t think he absolutely needs to serve-volley, and staying back when returner gets hot is a sound move. Not this day
And not in any one way. Everything happens on Edberg’s non serve-volleys - he approaches and gets passed, Boris approaches off the return or later and wins, Boris smacks a FH winner, Edberg blinks up an error… everything that is, ending with Boris winning the point
Lovely volleying from both. Edberg gets a lot of returns low and low-ish and Boris is excellent at making those tough volleys, getting them in deep if not wide to boot. Boris’ returning is more powerful still, so that getting them wide slightly under net present very difficult volleys, on top of the to the feet, usually a bit wide there too. Edberg coping well too, but there’s just too many of them in the second set, when Boris hits a groove
2 different types of sets. First is normal, with just 1 break and 2 deuce games
Second has 5 breaks, 6 with break points in ‘em (Edberg has the one where he can’t convert) and an additional deuce game
Boris first serve-volleys 76% of the time - winning 68% so doing, 50% not
Off second serves, its 48% of the time - winning 55% so doing, 58% not
Relatively low 4 aces/unreturnables (same as Edberg). Not serving too big or wide. But just 1 double fault, unlike Edberg, who with regularly serve-volleying and under fire from the return needs to go for that much more on the second serve
Just 50% not first serve-volleying is another sign of his not serving too big. Sans serve-volley, most of his first serves are readily returnable. Edberg knocks away a couple of first return winners dtl (though very likely, he’d going dtl with possiblity of Boris coming in in mind)
Becker would go onto win the event, beating Goran Ivanisevic in the final. Edberg was top seed. This was the inaugural edition of the tournament
Becker won 66 points, Edberg 62
Edberg serve-volleyed off all first serves and most seconds, Becker off most first serves and about half the time off seconds
(Note: I’m missing serve direction for one point - Set 2, Game 9, Point 2)
Serve Stats
Becker...
- 1st serve percentage (37/61) 61%
- 1st serve points won (25/37) 68%
- 2nd serve points won (13/24) 54%
- Aces 3 (1 whiff), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (21/61) 34%
Edberg...
- 1st serve percentage (40/67) 60%
- 1st serve points won (31/40) 78%
- 2nd serve points won (8/27) 30%
- Aces 4
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (17/67) 25%
Serve Patterns
Becker served...
- to FH 32%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 8%
Edberg served...
- to FH 31%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 10%
Return Stats
Becker made...
- 46 (17 FH, 28 BH, 1 ??), including 3 runaround FH & 1 return-approach
- 4 Winners (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 13 Errors, all forced...
- 13 Forced (6 FH, 7 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- Return Rate (46/63) 73%
Edberg made...
- 39 (12 FH, 27 BH), including 4 return-approaches
- 4 Winners (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 17 Errors, all comprising...
- 5 Unforced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- 12 Forced (3 FH, 9 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- Return Rate (39/60) 65%
Break Points
Becker 4/8 (4 games)
Edberg 2/3 (3 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Becker 21 (7 FH, 7 BH, 5 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
Edberg 23 (3 FH, 5 BH, 6 FHV, 7 BHV, 2 OH)
Becker had 6 from serve-volley points -
- 3 first volleys (3 FHV)
- 2 second volley (1 FHV, 1 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 FHV)
- 12 passes (6 FH, 6 BH)
- FHs - 2 cc, 3 inside-out (1 return), 1 running-down-drop-shot cc at net
- BHs - 1 cc return, 3 dtl (1 return), 2 inside-out (1 return)
- regular FH - 1 inside-in
- regular BH - 1 dtl (bad bounce related whiff)
Edberg had 12 from serve-volley points -
- 6 first volleys (3 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 6 second volley (3 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 2 from return-approach points (2 BHV)
- 6 passes (1 FH, 5 BH)
- FH - 1 dtl
- BHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl/inside-out, 2 inside-in returns, 1 lob
- regular FH returns - 2 dtl
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Becker 21
- 4 Unforced (2 BH, 2 BHV)
- 17 Forced (4 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV, 2 FH1/2V, 2 BH1/2V)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net & 1 BH1/2V can reasonably be called a BH at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50
Edberg 20
- 5 Unforced (1 FH, 2 FHV, 2 BHV)... 1 FHV can reasonably be called an OH
- 15 Forced (1 FH, 7 BH, 1 FH1/2V, 5 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 56
(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 are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Becker was...
- 26/40 (65%) at net, including...
- 23/36 (64%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 17/25 (68%) off 1st serve and...
- 6/11 (55%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/1 return-approaching
Edberg was...
- 39/62 (63%) at net, including...
- 35/52 (67%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 27/36 (75%) off 1st serve and...
- 8/16 (50%) off 2nd serve
---
- 2/4 (50%) return-approaching
Match Report
Becker’s passing (especially the return) is the best thing going in a match where nothing is bad going from either player (serve, return, volleying, passing). Court looks slow-ish, with very rare bad bounce
Edberg winning just 30% second serve points is key stat. He actually does much better on first serve points (wins 78% to Boris’ 68%), with in-counts virtually equal (Boris +1%)
Boris mixes up serve-volleying and not, Edberg looks to serve-volley always but starts staying back in face of strong returning on second serves. 50% second serve-volleying points won isn’t good, with fairly high rate of double faulting (15% of second serves), but ends up 0/7 staying back
The staying-back off second serves when its getting some stick is not something Edberg always did. In Australian Open final shortly after and worse yet, Wimbledon later in the year, he’d stick it out serve-volleying and take the most ferocious return-passing stick from Jim Courier. He’s generally good enough baseliner (leaving aside ability to take net early from baseline rallies) that wouldn’t think he absolutely needs to serve-volley, and staying back when returner gets hot is a sound move. Not this day
And not in any one way. Everything happens on Edberg’s non serve-volleys - he approaches and gets passed, Boris approaches off the return or later and wins, Boris smacks a FH winner, Edberg blinks up an error… everything that is, ending with Boris winning the point
Lovely volleying from both. Edberg gets a lot of returns low and low-ish and Boris is excellent at making those tough volleys, getting them in deep if not wide to boot. Boris’ returning is more powerful still, so that getting them wide slightly under net present very difficult volleys, on top of the to the feet, usually a bit wide there too. Edberg coping well too, but there’s just too many of them in the second set, when Boris hits a groove
2 different types of sets. First is normal, with just 1 break and 2 deuce games
Second has 5 breaks, 6 with break points in ‘em (Edberg has the one where he can’t convert) and an additional deuce game
Boris first serve-volleys 76% of the time - winning 68% so doing, 50% not
Off second serves, its 48% of the time - winning 55% so doing, 58% not
Relatively low 4 aces/unreturnables (same as Edberg). Not serving too big or wide. But just 1 double fault, unlike Edberg, who with regularly serve-volleying and under fire from the return needs to go for that much more on the second serve
Just 50% not first serve-volleying is another sign of his not serving too big. Sans serve-volley, most of his first serves are readily returnable. Edberg knocks away a couple of first return winners dtl (though very likely, he’d going dtl with possiblity of Boris coming in in mind)
Last edited: