Bjorn Borg beat Guillermo Vilas 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 in the final of Monte Carlo 1980 on clay court
Borg won 84 points, Vilas 42
Serve Stats
Borg....
- 1st serve percentage (31/58) 53%
- 1st serve points won (20/31) 65%
- 2nd serve points won (19/27) 70%
- Aces 1, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (5/58) 9%
Vilas. ...
- 1st serve percentage (28/68) 41%
- 1st serve points won (12/28) 43%
- 2nd serve points won (11/40) 28%
- Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (5/68) 7%
Serve Pattern
Borg served...
- to FH 14%
- to BH 86%
Vilas served...
- to FH 16%
- to BH 84%
Return Stats
Borg made...
- 57 (24 FH, 33 BH), including 16 runaround FHs
- 4 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 3 Forced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (57/62) 92%
Vilas made...
- 51 (20 FH, 31 BH), including 16 runaround FHs and 3 return-approaches (1 FH, 2 BH), the FH being a runaround
- 3 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH)
- 2 Forced (2 FH)
- Return Rate (51/56) 91%
( Neither player had a return winner)
Break Points
Borg 9/16 (10 games)
Vilas 2/2 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Borg 18 (9 FH, 5 BH, 3 FHV, 1 BHV)
Vilas 13 (4 FH, 1 BH, 4 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)
- Borg had 11 passes - 7 FH (3 cc, 4 dtl), 4 BH (3 cc, 1 lob)
- 2 non-pass FHs were a running shot dtl and one hit from just behind the service line
- sole non-pass BH was a cc from just behind the service line
- 1 FHV was a put away pat down, another was a stop volley
- Vilas had 2 passes, both FHs. Both were dtl, 1 slightly inside-out
- the 2 other FHs were both inside-outs from just behind the service line and the sole BH was dtl
- 1 FHV was a drop-volley and another was hit with Borg in no-mans land and can reasonably be called a pass
- 1 BHV came from a return-approach point
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Borg 22
- Unforced 12 (5 FH, 5 BH, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
- Forced 10 (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHOH)
Vilas 55
- Unforced 48 (18 FH, 26 BH, 3 FHV, 1 BHV)
- Forced 7 (4 FH, 1 BH, 2 BHV)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Borg was 6/13 (46%) at net, including 0/1 when he retreated from net
Vilas was 13/32 (41%) at net, including 1/3 (33%) return-approaching and 0/1 when forced back
(Neither player serve-volleyed)
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Report
A who-blinks-first baseline slugfest with lots of grueling rallies. Vilas usually did. I don't think Borg has eyelids
A few points of interest. Borg serves gently, with little attempt to gain an advantage with the shot. Vilas by contrast serves pretty hard - and ends up with a low percentage.
There's plenty of runaround FH returns from both men - occasionally even against the first serve
There's a game that lasts about a minute where Borg breaks, consisting off 2 double faults and 2 third ball errors from Vilas. I can't think of a quicker break game off the top of my head.... there's probably a dozen points in the match that lasted longer
Vilas actually approaches quite a bit - 32 times out of 126 points, but it doesn't feel like it because the baseline exchanges leading to the approaches are so long.
Neither player does well at net - Borg for volleying not well, Vilas for Borg being excellent on the pass
The key stat is Vilas' 48 unforced errors in play - that's 6 more points than he won all match.
I'd estimate a quarter of his 44 groundstroke UEs were attempted aggressive shots (usually early in the rally) with the rest being regulation strokes (usually to end a long rally)
'Who blinks first' sums up the bulk of the action... long, grueling rallies which obviously can't go on forever.
Vilas at times tries to open the court with angles and/or hitting big, flat FHs... but Borg is comfortably up to chasing down the ball and neutralizing the liveliness
Borg drops a lot of balls short off the service line. With his heavy topspin, these tend to kick up and are not easy to attack. Vilas mostly meets them with neutral shots and when he does attack, it's thwarted as described in the previous paragraph.
The Swede is extremely disinclined to come to net. He runs half way to the service line to hit some short balls and then falls back to his baseline stronghold
Borg targets the left-handed Vilas' BH. One would assume the best and easiest way to do so would be with his cc FH, but he does so just as much with his longline BH.
Both players seem keen to avoid the others forehand. There are a series of BH longline exchanges, neither player wanting to play the safer crosscourt stroke to the others FH. Borg comes off comfortably better off on these
Borg's BH not only handles Vilas FH comfortably but probably comes out on top (i.e. less error prone, though less aggressive)
The key is Vilas' backhand.... of the 4 groundstrokes on show, it's by far the most vulnerable and yields the most errors.
And he's not able to attack with it the way he does on the FH (though those attacks are mostly blunted anyway)
I like to look at a match and work out what the players (especially the loser) could have done differently. In this match, I can't think of anything
For Vilas, net charging leads to getting passed, rallying leads to (eventually) yielding the error, attacking is thwarted and reset to rallying... not seeing many options for the Argentine here
Borg won 84 points, Vilas 42
Serve Stats
Borg....
- 1st serve percentage (31/58) 53%
- 1st serve points won (20/31) 65%
- 2nd serve points won (19/27) 70%
- Aces 1, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (5/58) 9%
Vilas. ...
- 1st serve percentage (28/68) 41%
- 1st serve points won (12/28) 43%
- 2nd serve points won (11/40) 28%
- Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (5/68) 7%
Serve Pattern
Borg served...
- to FH 14%
- to BH 86%
Vilas served...
- to FH 16%
- to BH 84%
Return Stats
Borg made...
- 57 (24 FH, 33 BH), including 16 runaround FHs
- 4 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 3 Forced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (57/62) 92%
Vilas made...
- 51 (20 FH, 31 BH), including 16 runaround FHs and 3 return-approaches (1 FH, 2 BH), the FH being a runaround
- 3 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH)
- 2 Forced (2 FH)
- Return Rate (51/56) 91%
( Neither player had a return winner)
Break Points
Borg 9/16 (10 games)
Vilas 2/2 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Borg 18 (9 FH, 5 BH, 3 FHV, 1 BHV)
Vilas 13 (4 FH, 1 BH, 4 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)
- Borg had 11 passes - 7 FH (3 cc, 4 dtl), 4 BH (3 cc, 1 lob)
- 2 non-pass FHs were a running shot dtl and one hit from just behind the service line
- sole non-pass BH was a cc from just behind the service line
- 1 FHV was a put away pat down, another was a stop volley
- Vilas had 2 passes, both FHs. Both were dtl, 1 slightly inside-out
- the 2 other FHs were both inside-outs from just behind the service line and the sole BH was dtl
- 1 FHV was a drop-volley and another was hit with Borg in no-mans land and can reasonably be called a pass
- 1 BHV came from a return-approach point
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Borg 22
- Unforced 12 (5 FH, 5 BH, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
- Forced 10 (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHOH)
Vilas 55
- Unforced 48 (18 FH, 26 BH, 3 FHV, 1 BHV)
- Forced 7 (4 FH, 1 BH, 2 BHV)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Borg was 6/13 (46%) at net, including 0/1 when he retreated from net
Vilas was 13/32 (41%) at net, including 1/3 (33%) return-approaching and 0/1 when forced back
(Neither player serve-volleyed)
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Report
A who-blinks-first baseline slugfest with lots of grueling rallies. Vilas usually did. I don't think Borg has eyelids
A few points of interest. Borg serves gently, with little attempt to gain an advantage with the shot. Vilas by contrast serves pretty hard - and ends up with a low percentage.
There's plenty of runaround FH returns from both men - occasionally even against the first serve
There's a game that lasts about a minute where Borg breaks, consisting off 2 double faults and 2 third ball errors from Vilas. I can't think of a quicker break game off the top of my head.... there's probably a dozen points in the match that lasted longer
Vilas actually approaches quite a bit - 32 times out of 126 points, but it doesn't feel like it because the baseline exchanges leading to the approaches are so long.
Neither player does well at net - Borg for volleying not well, Vilas for Borg being excellent on the pass
The key stat is Vilas' 48 unforced errors in play - that's 6 more points than he won all match.
I'd estimate a quarter of his 44 groundstroke UEs were attempted aggressive shots (usually early in the rally) with the rest being regulation strokes (usually to end a long rally)
'Who blinks first' sums up the bulk of the action... long, grueling rallies which obviously can't go on forever.
Vilas at times tries to open the court with angles and/or hitting big, flat FHs... but Borg is comfortably up to chasing down the ball and neutralizing the liveliness
Borg drops a lot of balls short off the service line. With his heavy topspin, these tend to kick up and are not easy to attack. Vilas mostly meets them with neutral shots and when he does attack, it's thwarted as described in the previous paragraph.
The Swede is extremely disinclined to come to net. He runs half way to the service line to hit some short balls and then falls back to his baseline stronghold
Borg targets the left-handed Vilas' BH. One would assume the best and easiest way to do so would be with his cc FH, but he does so just as much with his longline BH.
Both players seem keen to avoid the others forehand. There are a series of BH longline exchanges, neither player wanting to play the safer crosscourt stroke to the others FH. Borg comes off comfortably better off on these
Borg's BH not only handles Vilas FH comfortably but probably comes out on top (i.e. less error prone, though less aggressive)
The key is Vilas' backhand.... of the 4 groundstrokes on show, it's by far the most vulnerable and yields the most errors.
And he's not able to attack with it the way he does on the FH (though those attacks are mostly blunted anyway)
I like to look at a match and work out what the players (especially the loser) could have done differently. In this match, I can't think of anything
For Vilas, net charging leads to getting passed, rallying leads to (eventually) yielding the error, attacking is thwarted and reset to rallying... not seeing many options for the Argentine here
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