Match Stats/Report - Becker vs Edberg, Doha semi-final, 1993

Waspsting

Hall of Fame
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)
 
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Waspsting

Hall of Fame
Still, serve figures is major difference between the two

Winners - Boris 21, Edberg 23 (Boris with 14 groundies, Edberg volleys, in line with their approach frequencies)
Errors forced - Boris 15, Edberg 17 (Boris forcing 3 more ‘volley’ errors, Edberg 4 more ground ones)
UEs - Boris 4, Edberg 5 (Edberg with 4 volleys to Boris’ 2)

Everything near equal, with shots all in line with how often each comes to net
Net winning rate similar (Boris 65%, Edberg 63%), with Boris at net 40 times to Edberg’s 62

But on the serve - Boris gaining 34% freebies, Edberg 25%
Also, Boris double faulting just once or 4% off second serves, Edberg 4 times or 15%

He does serve more powerfully than Edberg, though not wide or destructively big. Edberg faltering a touch on the return with 5 UEs (Boris has 0, though he has less scope for having them, just the 7 non second serve-volleys to be precise)

Practically, its the quality of the returns that gives Boris advantage. Lots and lots of low (knee of slightly under) and shoelace volleys for Edberg to make first up, with enough power on the return that wide and low-ish is good enough to hard force volley errors

Edberg getting them in low and low-ish too. 4/5 Boris ‘volley’ FEs are half-volleys - which is both indicator of good returning from Edberg, but also how good it has to be to draw an error. Not quite as powerful on the shot as Boris

More broadly, Boris returning at 73% rate with kind of force he gets is bound to break. Edberg at 65% with less heat… he’d need Boris to be mucking on volley or be dominating the baseline points to be in return games as much as Boris

Very secure volleying from Boris (more than Edberg in fact, he has half the UEs), few cheap return errors given away by Edberg (5 UEs), and Boris getting better of baseline starting points

Match Progression
Edberg double faults to open, before winning next 4 points to hold
Boris is forced into BH1/2V error second serve-volleying on his first service points. And then doesn’t serve-volley off most first serves in the game, but draws return errors next 3 points anyway (1 marked UE). Then starts serve-volleying. One random stay back off first serve later in the game is met with an error forcing return to the baseline, but he comes away with the hold in 12 points, with Edberg missing a regulation second return to end it

Comfy holds for both from then on, with Boris first serve-volleying, but mostly not on second serves, with Edberg only rarely staying back. Only competitive game is the break which puts Boris ahead 5-4

Typical, perfect muscled BH inside-out return pass winner by Boris to a body serve; nobody plays this return better. And Edberg missing a routine third ball FH (perhaps encouraged to stay back because of the last point in that court being dismissed as it was) make things 40-30.

Boris swats winning, powerful BH cc returns from both ad court points (1 winner, 1 forcing a wide BHV error), and in between, Edberg misses a high, slightly wide BHV moving forward, after having hit a not-good back-pedalling OH. He was having trouble with the smash around this period

Boris serves out to 15, finishing with a neat running-down-drop-shot cc pass net-to-net

Second set by contrast is filled with breaks, with Edberg up twice, only for Boris to hit back at once

Great game by Edberg to break for 2-0, with 2 BH passing winners (1 a perfect dtl/inside-out, the other enabled by pefect reading of the serve and movement to comfortably return a body serve to start) and forcing 2 half-volley errors

Boris breaks back in 12 point game. Ends with 2 passing winners (FH cc after drawing 1/2volley with return and thumphed BH dtl return) and is damaging with the returns before that (including with a chip-charge). Edberg missing an easy FHV, almost an OH to make things deuce just before the last 2 winners has a hand too

Top class BH inside-out passing winner next game against chip-charge returning Edberg

2 trade breaks again to stay on serve. Edberg breaks to love strongly (lunging FH dtl pass winner, forcing FH1/2V error, swatting early taken BH inside-in return pass winner), with Boris missing a routine BHV to end it

Edberg misses consecutive easy volleys (1 on each side) to open door net game and though game gets extended to 10 points, Boris regularly hammers powerful BH returns. On 4th break point, Edberg serves to FH, and Boris calmly dispatches the return inside-out for a winner

Lovely BH lob winner from Edberg next game, reminiscient of the one that got him decisive break in the pair’s 1990 Wimby final, and another lovely drop BHV winner chip-charging gets him a point to make it 3 break in a row. Boris comes through to hold - dispatching high FHV winner on break point and finishing game with an ace that Edberg whiffs. There are a couple of bad bounces in the match, very strange for a hard court

Another fine game by Boris to break after that for 5-4. The rain of power returns gets Edberg to stay back off second serves and slice his way to net instead. Boris nails passing winners anyway (FH cc and FH inside-out) to raise break point, on which Edberg double fualts

Not an easy serve-out. Starts with Boris sole double fualt and Edberg strikes 2 good returns soon after. The first goes for winner, the second is to Boris’ feet, but he gets it in play and is upto lunging for a second volley FHV winner. He needs a third volley to bring up match point, where an unreturned serve does the trick

Summing up, good little match from both players. Becker’s calm, grooved series of powerful returns at end puts him over and his returning on whole is pressuring. Also volleys beautifully against large lot of shoelace volleys from firmly struck returns

Edberg’s faced with low volleys at greater power, and with his opponent on point with the follow up pass. He volleys the tough stuff well too, but there’s just too many of them to make

While neither player serves destructively, Edberg’s is the more attack-able and Becker as ever, is obliging
 

Galvermegs

Semi-Pro
It is fascinating how edberg consistently dealt with muster but against becker he conceded loss after loss. But I am sure Boris would trade most of those matches for a better ending to their 3rd wimby final.
 
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