Match Stats/Report - Borg vs Gerulaitis, Boca Raton final, 1980

[Waspsting]

Bjorn Borg beat Vitas Gerulaitis 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 in the Boca Raton final, 1980 on green clay

It was Borg’s 4th title in a row at the event and Gerulaitis’ only final. John McEnroe (who had lost to Gerulaitis in the semi) beat Guillermo Vilas in the third place play-off

Borg won 98 points, Gerulaitis 73

Gerulaitis serve-volleyed of all but 4 first serves

Serve Stats
Borg...
- 1st serve percentage (47/75) 63%
- 1st serve points won (30/47) 64%
- 2nd serve points won (19/28) 68%
- Aces 2
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (8/75) 11%

Gerulaitis...
- 1st serve percentage (52/96) 54%
- 1st serve points won (31/52) 60%
- 2nd serve points won (16/44) 36%
- Double Faults 7
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (14/96) 15%

Serve Patterns
Borg served...
- to FH 55%
- to BH 41%
- to Body 4%

Gerulaitis served...
- to FH 25%
- to BH 65%
- to Body 10%

Return Stats
Borg made...
- 75 (40 FH, 35 BH), including 16 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 14 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (2 FH), including 1 runaround FH
- 12 Forced (2 FH, 10 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- Return Rate (75/89) 84%

Gerulaitis made...
- 66 (43 FH, 23 BH), including 6 runaround FHs & 10 return-approaches
- 6 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (4 FH), including 1 runaround FH
- 2 Forced (1 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (66/74) 89%

Break Points
Borg 7/13 (8 games)
Gerulaitis 3/8 (4 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Borg 30 (16 FH, 10 BH, 1 BHV, 3 OH)
Gerulaitis 25 (2 FH, 2 BH, 8 FHV, 8 BHV, 4 OH, 1 BHOH)

Borg had 22 passes (12 FH, 10 BH)
- FHs - 7 cc, 3 dtl (1 at net), 1 inside-out and 1 lob
- BHs - 3 cc, 4 dt (1 net chord pop over), 1 inside-in pass and 2 lobs

- regular FHs - 1 cc, 1 cc/inside-in, 1 inside-in and 1 longline (with Gerulaitis on the floor)

Gerulaitis had 11 from serve-volley points -
- 5 first volleys (2 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 5 second volleys (3 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 BHV)

- 1 from 1 return-approach point, an OH

- 1 other BHV was a non-net shot and the BHOH was a drop

- FHs - 2 cc (1 pass)
- BH passes - 2 dtl

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Borg 33
- 12 Unforced (10 FH, 2 BH)… with 1 FH pass attempt
- 21 Forced (8 FH, 11 BH, 1 FH1/2V, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.5

Gerulaitis 53
- 38 Unforced (16 FH, 11 BH, 6 FHV, 4 BHV, 1 OH)… with 1 FH at net
- 15 Forced (4 FH, 4 BH, 2 FHV, 4 BHV, 1 BHOH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.1

(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
Borg was...
- 13/22 (59%) at net, with...
- 1/3 (33%) forced back

Gerulaitis was...
- 52/94 (55%) at net, including...
- 33/51 (65%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 31/48 (65%) off 1st serve and...
- 2/3 (67%) off 2nd serve
---
- 4/10 (40%) return-approaching
- 1/3 (33%) forced back/retreated

Match Report
Predictable result aside, an interesting match with Gerulaitis trying out some unusual things - ‘junking’ and drawing Borg to net. It disrupts Borg enough for him to drop a set, which would be a ‘win’ for his opponent

What makes winning a set even more of a ‘win’ is that Vitas doesn’t play well. He serve-volleys virtually always off first serves (stays back on 4, loses all of them). Serve isn’t very strong and wouldn’t be a surprise to see Borg strike return-pass winners regularly (which ends up not happening)

Vitas is a poor 15/33 rallying to net - and every reason for that to be, is. He comes in off some weak approach shots, he misses easy volleys (12 UEs in forecourt), he doesn’t place volleys well (good lot where Borg can reach them easily) - and Borg returns extremely well (with Vitas’ approaches and volleys and even serve giving him pretty good looks at the pass)

Not too bad from Vitas off the ground (again, relatively speaking, considering his opponent and the surface)

Ground UEs - Vitas 26, Borg 11 (excluding net shots and pass attempts)
Neutral UEs - Vitas 19, Borg 5

Why is that ‘not too bad’? Well, the rallies go on for awhile most of the time before Vitas blinks. He’s able to move Borg around some, or have him fall way behind the baseline with depth. Players like John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe and even Rod Laver have done worse - and in much shorter rallies than Vitas

(When the above constitutes ‘not too bad’, you know the guy is in serious trouble)

So from Vitas’ point of view -
- serve-volleying regularly behind not a strong serve (does well, winning 65%. Wouldn’t have been a surprise if it were 50% or under with the strenght of serve he shows)
- getting short end of stick rallying from the back (as expected, and it being mitigated by rallies not being short is un-essential)
- getting stiffed rallying to net

From Borg’s point of view
- outlasting Vitas from the back
- passing Vitas regularly

Sounds like a typical Borg clay showing, a 2 & 3 affair

Yet Vitas pinches a set. In first set, he flirts a bit with drawing Borg in with deliberate, short groundies. In second set, executes it more thoroughly

Its not out-and-out junking, a’le Orantes ‘75 US Open final. About 50% extra ‘junk’ added to Vitas regular baseline game (which isn’t junk free to begin with). No pace balls, softer shots, shorter balls with little pace tempting Borg in. He stays pretty consistent doing all this

And it works. Borg’s metronomic groundstroke rhythm is disrupted. He doesn’t like moving forward, and doesn’t deal too well with the pseudo-drop shots. Quick as he is, Borg reaches a little behind the service line in time that he can hit a top spin shot (as opposed to a delicate run-down-drop-shot shot)

Going for a winner from this position would be normal. He plays ‘approach shots’ (he’s all but at net already) instead. Or tries to, missing a small number. Or he retreats to baseline after hitting the balls. If he’s stuck at net, Vitas tries lobbing him

There’s not too much of that going on, but Borg isn’t convincing in putting those away either. And again, when having back-pedalled some to make the OHs, is is 2 minds to fall back or move in again

The whole dynamic is similar to what Vitas would do later in the year at the French Open final. Less systematic - its about 50% added to his usual game - than that

It seems to work beyond just action too, and reach into Borg’s head. He loses the set in, what for him, is a flurry of groundstroke aggression. Dropping the loopy shots, he goes for flatter, harder hit beat-down type hitting near end of set, while also seeking net. Misses a bunch of those to lose

Bloody good from Vitas. A lot better than getting passed every which way coming in and being bled out from the back against the sliding wall. Would not expect it to keep working for very long

As is, we don’t find out. For reasons best known to himself, Vitas drops all that and reverts to orthodox ground play in third set. And gets creamed - game, set, match, $150,000 Borg

 

[Waspsting]

Stats & Action
Gentle serving from Borg, just starting the point of. Wins more second serve points than firsts (68% to 64%), which isn’t surprising in that light. Has to deal with Vitas’ return-approaches on 2nd serves, which vary from good to weak of quality. Enough weak ones - and Borg passing/lobbing very well - for Borg to win 6/10 such points

Vitas looks like he just doesn’t have a good serve. Good job to win 65% serve-volleying behind the firsts in that light, especially since he’s apt to miss volleys and not do much with them

Baseline rallies are captured by UE counts, and rallying to net figures

Ground UEs - Borg 11, Vitas 26

For both players, FH’s the one to flounder. UE breakdown -
- Vitas FH 15
- Vitas BH 11, Borg FH 9
- Borg BH 2

Vitas guides play to Borg’s FH, which is a good way of breaking his rhythm (left to himself, Borg prefers paint-by-numbers BH cc rallies), and Borg relies on his FH when he tries to be aggressive against the soft and/or short balls Vitas deliberately hits

Vitas’ BH is gentle push-slice, with or without special tactics, though he softens them to short when employing said special tactics. He goes dtl with them now and then and it’s a good enough shot to get Borg running. Also, his best approach shot. Similar to the one John McEnroe plays with such success, though Mac tends to push more firmly, from closer to his body and and from further up the court

Rallying to net -
Borg 13/22 at 59%
Vitas 15/33 at 45%

Not much relief for Vitas there

On the volley-pass contest - Vitas does well to come away with 55% net points won (including serve-volley and return-approaching). Good lot of weak approaches, good lot of ordinary placed volleys, good lot of easy volley misses, and Borg passing superbly

Vitas has 21 volley winners (1 non-net), Borg has 22 passing ones (1 return). That’s just a bit skewed by Borg’s bolt out the gate - he’s got 5 winners in first 3 games before Vitas notches his first

Some interesting aspects in directions. Vitas makes no effort to avoid Borg’s FH when volleying. Goes there as often as not, maybe slightly more

Of passing winners, Borg has 12 FHs, 9 BHs (excluding a return). FEs (nearly all passes), FH 8, BH 11

But he does serve to Borg’s BH, directing 65% there and just 25% to BH, and Borg clearly prefers returning with FH, as the high 16 runaround returns suggest

While Borg generally prefers rallying neutrally with his BH (especially on clay), its obvious that his FH pass is more powerful than the BH (which isn’t exactly imprecise either). Odd play from Vitas, who knew Borg’s game better than just about anyone

Borg serves majority 55% to Vitas FH. He always does to Vitas. Its justified by the error rate (he misses just 1 BH return, 5 FHs - 1 of them a runaround shot), not that drawing errors is what Borg’s serve is about; its just a point starter, but its also justified by Vitas error rate in rallies (15 FH UEs, 11 BHs). Can’t hurt to get the odd freebie. Vitas returns at 89%

Finally, Borg with 4 baseline-to-baseline winner, Vitas 1

1 of Borg’s is just mischance - Vitas is on the floor as Borg’s neutral shot goes through untouched, 1 is to open court after Vitas’ runaround return leaves it wide open. Leaving 2 bona fida, strong winners. He does up the aggression in response to spate of soft-balling. Not much, but more often than his norm, hits out with a flat shot

Match Progression
Blink and its 4-0. Borg wins first 8 points of match and loses 3 in the next 2 games. Flood of passes (some against feeble approach shots) and even a couple of net winners for him in that period. He’s got 7 winners before Vitas hits his first in game 5

Vitas manges to get on the board, holding off a break point in a 10 point game, but that’s all he wins for the set. The winner flood slows, but Borg readily outlasts Vitas from the baseline. There are hints of Vitas soft-balling Borg, trying to draw him forward

Results change at once in second set, with nature of action shifting slightly. First game is along one, with long baseline rallies. Vitas more overtly junks, draws Borg forward only to lob him. Borg misses a couple of top-spin shots around the service line to pseudo-drop shots and fails to put away a couple of OHs. Vitas comes to net too when the time is right. End result is Vitas breaks, after forcing Borg back from net and Borg missing an approach shot to get back there

Set carries on so. Vitas throwing in plenty of junk from the back. He’s consistent off the ground enough to win get a few errors out of Borg (as in, he doesn’t give them up before Borg does). Rallies are on long side. Some good, dtl BH push-slice approach shots, better serve to come in behind than earlier. Not many easy holds for either player

There are 5 breaks in all. Borg breaks back right away for 1-1. Vitas breaks for 4-3 with finish line of set in sight. Only he goes on a forecourt bender, making 5 UEs in succession across 2 games (FH at net, OH and 3 volleys) to get broken back and have Borg hold to love to lead 5-4. Amidst the bender, a frustrated Vitas starts chattering to Universe in general, to laughter from the crowd and even half a smile from Borg

If the chattering is a prayer, its answered. Vitas wins next 3 games to take the set. Borg’s broken trying to hammer strong FHs and missing, and Vitas serves out to love with more of the same. Down 40-0 and 3 set points, Borg knocks the return out deliberately

Very strangely, Vitas drops all the junking that had worked for him in the third set and reverts back to orthodox baseline game. The 6-1 is a bit more competitive than the first set. Lot of double faults for Vitas around here too

Some particularly good passes from Borg, against normal strength approach shot and chip-charge returns (as opposed to weak ones earlier)

Summing up, interesting match when looked at from Gerulaitis’ point of view. What do you do against an opponent who misses nothing from the back and can be counted on to pull off perfect passes when tested?

Gerulaitis’ answer is creative, as he adds large amounts of soft-balling, junking, drawing Borg to net and lobbing to his generally gentle groundgame, and it works to disrupt the machine. Borg stumbles, misfires just enough for Gerulaitis to pinch a set

All that though is in context of Gerulaitis missing plenty of easy volleys, putting routine volleys where Borg can reach them readily, approaching regularly behind weak shots - on top of Borg, disrupted or otherwise, maintaining large consistency advantage from back and being on top of his passing

More than enough to give him large superiority - and the win