Match Stats/Report - Borg vs Vilas, Monte Carlo final 1980

Waspsting

Hall of Fame
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
 
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Nice write-up of the match, Wasp

For now just a few notes I took down when I saw it years ago.

At love-3 in the opening set a 50-stroke rally goes to Borg and a 53-stroke to Vilas, both rallies ending with winners. In the opening game of the third set, Vilas wins a 74-stroke rally, and held his serve for the only time in the match. In his next service game, he loses a 73-stroke rally.

At love-4 in the second set Vilas gave away his serve, though he was fighting again in the next game.
 
Aggressive Margin

Borg: 11.9%
Vilas: - 21.4%

very similar to their nearly identical match at '78 RG. Counting UE's myself I got:

Borg: 10.5%
Vilas: - 15.8%

Vilas. ...
- 1st serve percentage (28/68) 41%
- Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (5/68) 7%


Return Stats
Borg made...
- 55 (23 FH, 32 BH), including 16 runaround FHs
- 4 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 3 Forced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (55/63) 87%
Vilas put 63 serves into the box, 1 was a service winner, 4 other drew errors, so shouldn't Borg be making 58 of 63 returns?
 
At love-3 in the opening set a 50-stroke rally goes to Borg and a 53-stroke to Vilas, both rallies ending with winners.
.

Borg has 3 winners in that game -

- 3rd point - FH cc pass
- 4th - BH cc pass
-10th (last) - BH cc

I've noted "past service line" for the last but not marked it a net point... that'd mean I judged it as a mid-court groundstroke, where Borg's intent was not to volley but he ended up touching/crossing the service line

Vilas' must be 7th point, a BH dtl

Regarding rally lenght...

I remember wondering when I first went through your stats how it was possible to keep a 'feel' of the play while jotting down all that data

Now, I can do it reasonably well - even dropped rewatching the match to get the feel of play - but counting rally length would undoubtedly wreck that for me

We live and learn:)

In the opening game of the third set, Vilas wins a 74-stroke rally, and held his serve for the only time in the match

Survived 2 break points to do it, erasing one with a mid-court FH i-o winner

Vilas put 63 serves into the box, 1 was a service winner, 4 other drew errors, so shouldn't Borg be making 58 of 63 returns?

Many mistakes there, sir:oops:

Borg made 24 FH and 33 BH for a total of 57 and Vilas had 6 doubles

And with that, Borg moves ahead on return rate

Correcting now - thanks!

Interestingly, Vilas' had forced 2 return errors after 3 serves and I'm fairly hard in judging those (don't just give them out because it's a first serve)... he had Borg lunging for both I think

Don't think Borg had to do much lunging for the 63 remaining serves

Was Borg a bit sleepy at the start? Was it a coincidence that 2 of Vilas' best serves came right at the front? I think the latter
 
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Borg won 84 points, Vilas 42
:eek::eek::eek:
Vilas. ...
- 1st serve points won (12/28) 43%
:(
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)
Surprisingly similar
Terribly terrible.o_O
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
Unprofitable numbers.
 
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
Vilas's career has been fairly long.

1) He started very strong (until 1976) especially on red clay and har tru, he was very reactive, very fast and behaved very well even in netgame approaches. Guillermo was dangerous because regular and unpredictable. There was a lack of power.
He was inferior to Borg in this period but not much because Borg was less powerful and played shorter than in later years.

2) In 1977 Vilas plays an extraordinary tennis because he also becomes very powerful, is more robust, bigger, becomes a wall.
Vilas still suffers the Borg's game, which is an even more resistant wall.

3) In the following years for a series of reasons that I can not identify worsens sharply, takes a few extra pounds and exaggerates with the topspin of fh, completely lost the speed of the first years. He has no weapons v Borg (the only weapons to beat Bjorn in the period 1978-81 were: a great serve and great netgame ... both together).

4) Reborn only for a year in 1982, the physique seems better, more trained and less fat. Play at a top 5 level.
 
Borg made 24 FH and 33 BH for a total of 57 and Vilas had 6 doubles

And with that, Borg moves ahead on return rate
So only 6 return errors on 63 serves, very nice return rate, even if Vilas was not a dangerous server.

At '78 RG, I have Borg missing just 3 returns, on 60 serves.
 
84 points to 42? That is a butt whipping. Reminds me of the 84 Connors/Lendl 84 Forest Hills match you did. IIRC, Connors won something like 16 points in 2 sets. Sometimes lopsided score matches are closer than they look. Not in these 2 matches.
 
So only 6 return errors on 63 serves, very nice return rate, even if Vilas was not a dangerous server.

At '78 RG, I have Borg missing just 3 returns, on 60 serves.

I have him going 1 better still (58/60 @ 97%) versus John Newcombe WITC 1978, with 1 game in which Borg broke missing

Have you ever come across a 100% return rate?

Unusual patterns in that one - Newcombe serving mostly to FH for a set (only time I've seen that done against Borg) and Borg with a couple of return-approaches (never saw that before either)

Will post that one up sometime, though I dislike stats with missing games... Some interesting tactics, experiments in it

:eek::eek::eek:Terribly terrible.o_O (Vilas' 55 errors)

Not good, for sure... but it didn't feel as bad as the numbers look

As far as how we naturally judge how well someone's playing, there's a big difference between regularly making 3rd ball UEs and UEs after 20+ shot rallies

But in stats, 1 UE = 1 UE, that's all
With so many long rallies, Vilas must have made more shots per error than most players do in most matches

Fewer than his opponent is all that counts, but I didn't think he played badly in an absolute sense - strange as that sounds, given the scoreline and points tally
 
I have him going 1 better still (58/60 @ 97%) versus John Newcombe WITC 1978, with 1 game in which Borg broke missing

Have you ever come across a 100% return rate?

Unusual patterns in that one - Newcombe serving mostly to FH for a set (only time I've seen that done against Borg) and Borg with a couple of return-approaches (never saw that before either)

Will post that one up sometime, though I dislike stats with missing games... Some interesting tactics, experiments in it
I've seen that match against Newcombe (aired in '78 but played in '77). I'd never noticed that Borg made nearly every return. And against Newcombe, very impressive, even on clay.

I've never seen a 100% return rate in a match. Moose and I have seen some sets in which all returns were made; we have the list somewhere in one of our match threads, can't recall which one.

On clay you might expect it to be possible, to make all returns in one match. Borg and Vilas are coming close in these matches, but they're doing nothing with their serves; and they're staying at the baseline so the returner feels no pressure. The stat against Newk is more surprising. Can't recall right now how much SVing Newk was doing; would be interesting to see your thread.
 
I've seen that match against Newcombe (aired in '78 but played in '77). I'd never noticed that Borg made nearly every return. And against Newcombe, very impressive, even on clay.

I've never seen a 100% return rate in a match. Moose and I have seen some sets in which all returns were made; we have the list somewhere in one of our match threads, can't recall which one.

On clay you might expect it to be possible, to make all returns in one match. Borg and Vilas are coming close in these matches, but they're doing nothing with their serves; and they're staying at the baseline so the returner feels no pressure. The stat against Newk is more surprising. Can't recall right now how much SVing Newk was doing; would be interesting to see your thread.

Do you by any chance have the full match?

I'm missing games 2 and 3 of the second set... if you have the whole thing, it'd be great to have full match stats

I'll post up what I have after hearing from you

Let's save the deeper discussion til then, but briefly

- Newk s/v'd just 6 times (didn't force a return error on any of them)

- seemed to be rolling his serve in mostly, cranking it up occasionally (always for his s/v's)

- Borg approached almost as much as Newk - 27 to 32 - so actually more non s/v approaches:eek:... (a healthy chunk of that were forced approaches though) but Newk was far better at the front - won 69% to 44% for Borg

- as with this match, key stat is loser's UEs - 26 in play by Newk to 12 for Borg
 
Do you by any chance have the full match?

I'm missing games 2 and 3 of the second set... if you have the whole thing, it'd be great to have full match stats

I'll post up what I have after hearing from you

Let's save the deeper discussion til then, but briefly

- Newk s/v'd just 6 times (didn't force a return error on any of them)

- seemed to be rolling his serve in mostly, cranking it up occasionally (always for his s/v's)

- Borg approached almost as much as Newk - 27 to 32 - so actually more non s/v approaches:eek:... (a healthy chunk of that were forced approaches though) but Newk was far better at the front - won 69% to 44% for Borg

- as with this match, key stat is loser's UEs - 26 in play by Newk to 12 for Borg
I am missing those games as well. The network chose to skip over them in its original broadcast so chances are not good of finding a full copy.
 
Do you by any chance have the full match?

I'm missing games 2 and 3 of the second set... if you have the whole thing, it'd be great to have full match stats

I'll post up what I have after hearing from you

Let's save the deeper discussion til then, but briefly

- Newk s/v'd just 6 times (didn't force a return error on any of them)

- seemed to be rolling his serve in mostly, cranking it up occasionally (always for his s/v's)

- Borg approached almost as much as Newk - 27 to 32 - so actually more non s/v approaches:eek:... (a healthy chunk of that were forced approaches though) but Newk was far better at the front - won 69% to 44% for Borg

- as with this match, key stat is loser's UEs - 26 in play by Newk to 12 for Borg


Newcombe only s/v 6 times? Even on a clay court I find that amazing. Tell me he didn't s/v on all his 2nd serves, okay. But only 6 including his 1st? Wow.

IIRC, ABC used to tape this tournament months ahead over the course of a week, and then show a match a week over months. Sort of how WCT did it. All of WCT's matches were edited down. I didn't honestly recall with ABC, but I guess they did as well.
 
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