Match Stats/Report - Borg vs Nastase, Wimbledon final, 1976

[Waspsting]

Bjorn Borg beat Ilie Nastase 6-4, 6-2, 9-7 in the Wimbledon final, 1976 on grass

It was the first of 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles for Borg and would remain the only instance in the Open Era of a player winning the event without loss of set until 2017. Nastase had also not dropped a set en route to the final

Borg won 122 points, Nastase 98

Borg serve-volleyed off all but 6 first serves and rarely off second. Nastase, all but 4 times of first serves and the majority off seconds

Serve Stats
Borg...
- 1st serve percentage (69/112) 62%
- 1st serve points won (51/69) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (24/43) 56%
- Aces 5
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (32/112) 29%

Nastase...
- 1st serve percentage (70/108) 65%
- 1st serve points won (44/70) 63%
- 2nd serve points won (17/38) 45%
- Aces 4, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (22/108) 20%

Serve Patterns
Borg served...
- to FH 39%
- to BH 50%
- to Body 11%

Nastase served...
- to FH 35%
- to BH 65%

Return Stats
Borg made...
- 83 (48 FH, 35 BH), including 20 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 16 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (3 FH), including 2 runaround FH
- 13 Forced (6 FH, 7 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- Return Rate (83/105) 79%

Nastase made...
- 78 (34 FH, 44 BH), including 4 runaround FHs & 13 return-approaches
- 2 Winners (2 BH)
- 27 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH), including 2 return-approach attempts
- 23 Forced (7 FH, 16 BH)
- Return Rate (78/110) 71%

Break Points
Borg 6/10 (8 games)
Nastase 2/12 (5 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Borg 48 (15 FH, 11 BH, 9 FHV, 6 BHV, 7 OH)
Nastase 32 (10 FH, 5 BH, 13 FHV, 4 BHV)

Borg had 14 from serve-volley points
- 4 first volleys (1 FHV, 3 BHV)
- 5 second volleys (2 FHV, 1 BHV, 2 OH)
- 3 third volleys (1 FHV, 2 OH)
- 1 fourth volley (1 FHV)
- 1 re-approach volley (1 OH)

- 1 other BHV was a stop

- 24 passes (13 FH, 10 BH, 1 FHV)
- FHs - 7 cc (1 return, 1 return, 1 running-down-drop-volley played net-to-net), 1 running-down-drop shot dtl, 4 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- BHs - 5 cc, 3 dtl (1 return, 1 running-down-drop-shot) and 2 inside-out
- FHV - played from just behind the service line but counted a net point

- regular FHs - 1 at net and 1 dtl (off a 'delayed' serve-volley point)
- regular BH - 1 net chord dribbler (with Nastase at net)

Nastase had 18 from serve-volley points
- 11 first 'volleys' (7 FHV, 1 BHV, 3 FH at net)… 1 of the FH at net was a drop shot
- 6 second volleys (4 FHV, 2 BHV)… 1 BHV was a net chord dribbler played net-to-net
- 1 third volley (1 FHV)

- 2 from return-approach points (1 FHV, 1 BHV)… the BHV was played net-to-net

- 11 passes (6 FH, 5 BH)
- FHs - 2 cc, 2 dtl and 2 inside-out
- BHs - 2 dtl (1 return), 2 inside-out (1 return) and 1 inside-out/dtl

- 1 FH at net, which Borg at net gave up on and turned away from

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Borg 42
- 10 Unforced (3 FH, 4 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 32 Forced (9 FH, 19 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47

Nastase 39
- 18 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH, 7 FHV, 7 BHV, 1 OH)
- 21 Forced (8 FH, 10 BH, 1 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52.8

(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 for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Borg was...
- 64/87 (74%) at net, including...
- 46/63 (73%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 42/58 (72%) off 1st serve and..
- 4/5 (80%) off 2nd serve
--
- 1/1 return-approaching
- 1/2 forced back/retreated

Nastase was...
- 62/108 (57%) at net, including...
- 45/83 (54%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 34/60 (57%) off 1st serve and..
- 11/23 (48%) off 2nd serve
--
- 9/13 (69%) return-approaching

Match Report
Consummate from Borg - his serve, return and passing in particular being impressive. Net play is also the best I've seen from him (which isn't necessarily saying much - but its good by a general standard too). Nastase plays pretty but has a problem on the pass and is prone to sloppy errors at net

Playing Style
An important distinction to keep in mind is between style and quality and its particularly pertinent to Nastase. Certainly in this match - and probably in general (haven't seen enough of him to judge). He makes the game look so easy that its easy to say he played badly or was careless in making errors. In my experience - playing and watching and not just tennis - that's usually just a visual perception, an illusion if you like

Some people just make games look easy. Doesn't mean it is for them. Borg at net is the counter-thesis of this

Separating style from quality, I think a big dose of how stylish Nastase is is his use of touch rather than power.... because he doesn't have power and in situations where power would be superior to even great touch

Serve & Return
To start, Borg serve-volleys almost always off first serve (the few he doesn't are mostly 'delayed' serve-volleys, where he steps into court and holds off on approaching but is ready to do so if the return warrants it) and almost never off seconds

Nastase also all but always serve-volleys off first serve (when he doesn't, he usually comes in off third ball) and most of the time on seconds

Borg sends down a meaty first serve. Power, not placement is the point... he seems to be hitting it as hard as he can, without licking lines. Just 5 aces (1 more than Nastase, who also has 2 service winners to Borg's 0)… which is a surprise given the gap in strength between the two players serve. That's down to Borg's relatively safe placement (and Nastase's ability to hit the lines when he goes for it)

He makes good use of the body serve too, often forcing errors with the shot

Borg's second serve is fairly ordinary. Shot for shot, it might be comparable to Nastase…. but the gap between his first and second is much wider than for Nastase, so it doesn't look it

Like everything else, Nastase makes returning look easy, so when he misses returnable balls, it looks like he's playing badly. I don't think he did. 71% return rate is healthy against Borg's serve. One point about the body serves. Nasty has no problem anticipating or reacting to it - invariably he's moved out of the way, usually to play a BH return, so he's not jammed by the delivery. But tends to miss these makeable, but not easy balls

Against the second serve, Nastase does what he wants. Takes balls from inside the court (on odd occasions, he stands inside to take first serves too), stands in 1/2 way between center line and outside line (looking for a FH), chip-charges frequently and well.

Still, he doesn't have the power to attack second serves off the baseline - only when he chip-charges is he a threat. He wins 9/13 chip charge points but Borg wins 56% second serve points. Perhaps Nastase should have looked to do it more.

Nastase's serve isn't nearly as strong as Borg's but it isn't weak either. Not a huge difference between the two serves either. Still, primarily credit to Borg for returning it so surely. He doesn't miss many makeable returns and puts it in play relatively authoritively given he's up against constant serve-volleying (admittedly, helped by Nastase's style of serve-volleying, which we'll get to)

Notable is how far better Borg's FH return is to his BH and how much he prefers it. BH returns are looped in, FHs are pounded whenever he can. Look at the 20 runaround FH - and he only misses 3. He takes to even running around (i.e. backing away) to hit FH return in the ad court... leaving the court completely wide open. Its not a good play. He's can't hit the ball hard enough to simply be too powerful for Nastase to handle the volley... and the court couldn't be more open. Doesn't do it often and mostly when he's well on top of the match, but it is an indication of how strongly he prefers his FH

 

[Waspsting]

Play - Serve/Volley-Return Pass & Net Play
There's a clear difference in the way the two players come to net

Borg mostly serve-volleys classically... coming forward to make a volley. Nastase is less committed, ambling up to around the service line

Nastase's style is usually seen in players who don't like volleying and who are hoping to be able to hit groundstrokes at net rather than volley. Far as I know, he wasn't the this type of player, he volleys beautifully and well and even Borg's strong returning isn't of a calibre to dissuade full-on serve-volleying

And the style costs Nastase. He makes a few UEs because the balls dropped too low that he could easily have reached if he'd been committed to volleying. He makes certain volleys more difficult than they need have been

Whats the compensation? He didn't get a bunch of groundstrokes to hit at net. And when he did, he usually went for dumb drop shots (which Borg usually ran down and hit away... only very, very exceptionally anticipation/reflexes/luck prevented Nastase from losing even more such points). Which feeds back to the earlier point about using touch to replace power. Its a mid-court groundstroke.... hitting it hard (even not into a corner, though that's not much harder) is easy and virtually guaranteed to win the point. Why the cute drop shots that mostly didn't work instead?

This is cute for cuteness' sake. Marcelo Rios used to do similar things. Something to think about when marvelling at a guys touch... how often that same lovely touch gets him into trouble when a routine firm stroke would have served more efficiently

Borg's commitement to volleying is more admirable for how much he doesn't seem to like it. Usually, as a player starts winning, he comes forward more and more aggressively. Borg does less. He eases back on serve-volleying as he gains the ascendancy... 'delay' serve-volleying instead and looking for a groundstroke rather than a volley (but the volleys he makes become more confident)

Big difference in the two men's volleying styles too. Nastase volleys beautifully - aiming for open court and corners. He has Borg running all over the place and strongly forcing errors.
Borg's volleying is some of the most timid I've seen. He basically volleys straight back at Nastase. That's a slight exaggeration but a lot closer to what he did than volleying into corners. Nastase rarely has to move to meet the ball

Note Borg with 3 third volley and 1 fourth volley winner. You don't usually see that because the volleyer has finished the point before

Borg also retreats from net a number of times but re-approaches a shot or two later

It isn't til near the end that Borg starts putting away volleys firmly, with a downward snap of the wrist on contact that sends the ball whizzing away for winners. The feeling I got was he's capable but not confident on the volley. Most of the match, he looks like he just wants to put the volley in court, the way player might his groundstrokes on clay

Style aside, Borg is the better player up front. Note just the 3 volleying UEs for Borg to Nastase's 15

Nastase's volleying UEs don't seem to be affected by his volley-into-corners style. He's just loose and misses occasional easy volleys. Borg's low count probably is related to his playing relatively safe with volleys. "safe volleys" is basically an oxymoron and Borg still has the small matter of 22 volley/smash winners

Quality of passing comes into it as well. Borg's is excellent... and Nastase's low 3 volleying FEs is testament to how well he made the low and difficult volleys. Nastase's are not... hence, Borg getting away with giving him 2nd and 3rd looks on passes he doesn't have to move much to get to.

There's a lack of power in Nastase's passes, though I suspect this has more to do with inability rather than choice (also, its bound to look unpowerful next to Borg's particularly strong hits). Passing is an area where touch isn't a patch on power. Maybe this mid-70s period was a transition period for this with Borg and Connors leading the way. Nastase hits a few precise passes, but mostly, Borg isn't tested on the volley

On low or otherwise difficult volleys, both players do well. Nastase has to make a lot more (and does) and Borg manages when called on.

I like Borg's willingness to come to net from rallies. He wins 17/23 @ 74% doing so (Nastase is 8/12 @ 67%). These would mostly be on Borg's second serve points, where who takes the net is wide open. Borg isn't shy about it and his approach shots are good slices

Nastase is astonishing in net-to-net situations. He picks of a few winners from Borg slapping hard shots at net... crazy reflexes? Amazing anticipation? Luck? Don't think its luck... and Borg's shot choice (FH cc) is predictable in these situations, but amazing stuff from the Rumanian here

Summing up this sub-battle, good looking but patchy volleying from Nastase, with questionable commitment to volleying and against strong passing. Safe, gritty kind of volleying from Borg but consistent with a healthy enthusiasm for it against ordinary passing

There's little baseline-to-baseline action and most of it ends with one or the other taking the net (usually Borg). On what little there is, Borg hits hard, Nastase with more touch. Again noticeable is Borg's preference for FH to BH. He hammers FHs but pushes, loops or slices BHs. Not sure if Borg's BH improved in years (I'm told it did), but this is out of line with what I've seen of him in later years where he seems to prefer hitting BH cc

Some chokey stuff from Nastase too, his making a hash of things when down break point is a recurring pattern. Of the 6 breaks Borg gets, 5 end with bad UEs from Nastase (the other is a Borg FH inside-out winner pass). With just 18 UEs in play for the match, to have 5 of them come down break points is probably not a coincidence... and they are among the worst errors he makes all match, putaway misses or near to it

Match Progression
Match starts about even, though Nastase leads 3-0 and has 3 break points in a 16 point game to go up two breaks. Still, he survived a break point apiece in both of his holds (1 on which Borg had a good look at a pass but missed). In fact, in his five service games in the opening set, Nastase faces break points in all but one

He breaks first with a very good, touch running BH dtl pass. Borg breaks back with a couple of strong passes (and a Nastase double) and breaks again to get his nose in front when Nastase misses an easy FHV on break point. Earlier in this game, Borg won a net-to-net battle by poking away a FHV winner from just behind the service line.

Ilie starts the second set strong too and has 3 break points in his first return game, on the back of 2 return winners (and a Borg double). Borg bangs down back to back aces to save the first 2 and another unreturned serve for the third

After that though, Borg takes charge and maintains it til the end. Couple of bad mistakes at net gives Borg his first break (easy shoulder high FHV miss and FH at net error going down the middle of the court - the latter is a horror rather than bad mistake). Borg makes it two break with some powerful passing, but again, there's a double fault to open that game and it ends with Nastase missing an OH

Nastase grants Borg an ace, that had been called a fault, opening point as Borg served out the set. Not the type of thing he's known for

Borg breaks to start the 3rd... couple of winners from him and 3 volleying UEs from Nastase in it, a particularly bad one on break point. Nastase with a fantastic FHV winner against an at net Borg's big FH cc a few games later. And adds an even better one to start game 10 with Borg serving for the championship.

Game 10 is one of the best of the match. Borg's at net all 10 points (9 serve-volleys), Nastase 5 (2 chip-charge returns) and no unforced errors. Nastase gets the break to prolong the match

Borg gains the decisive break a few games later. Two points he wins virtually identically, starting with runaround FH returns in the deuce court and with a BH cc pass winner a couple of shots later. Again, though, its Nastase with the untimely bad mistakes - this time missing a high, wide FHV and on break point, a BHV into wide open court with Borg having backed away to hit a runaround FH return in the ad court
--
Summing up, a commanding showing from Borg with strong serving, good passing and steady volleying. Nastase is pretty as a picture of style, but has lapses at the worst times and doesn't have a good time on the pass

 

[Frankc]

Thank you - a very special match... Check out the semi - Ramirez and Nastase... two very quick customers - a joy to watch...

 

[CyBorg]

I rarely like anything I read in Daily Mail, but I really enjoyed this piece with interesting quotes from Borg's opponents from the 1976 Wimbledon.

Figured I'd leave this here.

The story of how Borg won his first Wimbledon title in 1976

Forty years ago, Bjorn Borg won his first Wimbledon men's title, aged 20, to start a run of five wins in a row that would turn him into a legend. His calm persona saw him dubbed Ice Man.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[WCT]

Interesting article showing his opponents' perspective, except for Vilas and Nastase. I've read that Vilas is doing well. I hope the same isn't true for Nastase. Anyway, I enjoyed reading the other players' thoughts.