Jimmy Connors beat Henri Leconte 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the Memphis Indoor final, 1984 on carpet
It was Connors' 4th title at the venue
Connors won 93 points, Leconte 82
(Note: I'm missing one Connors service point, won by Connors)
Serve Stats
Connors...
- 1st serve percentage (53/75) 71%
- 1st serve points won (41/53) 77%
- 2nd serve points won (15/22) 68%
- Aces 2, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (26/75) 35%
Leconte....
- 1st serve percentage (49/97) 51%
- 1st serve points won (37/49) 76%
- 2nd serve points won (25/48) 52%
- Aces 8 (1 second serve), Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 8
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (26/97) 27%
Serve Patterns
Connors served...
- to FH 30%
- to BH 68%
- to Body 3%
Leconte served....
- to FH 49%
- to BH 51%
Return Stats
Connors made...
- 63 (30 FH, 33 BH), including 1 runaround BH
- 2 Winners (2 FH)
- 16 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH), including 1 runaround BH attempt
- 12 Forced (7 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (63/89) 71%
Leconte made...
- 48 (20 FH, 28 BH), including 6 runaround FHs & 3 return-approaches
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 23 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (5 FH, 2 BH), including 2 runaround FH attempts
- 16 Forced (5 FH, 11 BH)
- Return Rate (48/74) 65%
Break Points
Connors 3/7 (4 games)
Leconte 1/2 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Connors 11 (5 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
Leconte 25 (5 FH, 3 BH, 6 FHV, 5 BHV, 6 OH)
Connors had 8 passes (5 FH, 3 BH)
- FHs - 3 cc (1 at net) and 2 inside-in returns
- BHs - 2 cc and 1 dtl
- sole non-pass groundstroke was BH dtl
Leconte had 9 from serve-volley points
- 6 first volleys (3 FHV, 3 BHV)
- 3 second volleys (1 FHV, 2 OH)
- 1 further OH was struck out of the air just inside the baseline
- 5 FHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 1 dtl, 1 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- 3 BHs - 1 at net, 1 inside-in return and 1 longline pass
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Connors 31
- 15 Unforced (8 FH, 7 BH)
- 16 Forced (6 FH, 10 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 41.3
Leconte 46
- 33 Unforced (12 FH, 13 BH, 2 FHV, 4 BHV, 2 Penalty)
- 13 Forced (5 FH, 4 BH, 1 FH1/2V, 1 BHV, 2 OH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.8
(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)
(Note 3: Leconte's 2 'penalty' errors occurred when he fainted and was docked 2 points for time violations)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Connors was...
- 11/14 (79%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a first serve point...
---
- 1/1 forced back
Leconte was...
- 32/51 (63%) at net, including...
- 16/25 (64%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 13/19 (68%) off 1st serve and...
- 3/6 (50%) off second serve
--------------------------------
- 2/3 return-approaching
- 2/3 forced back
---------------------------------------------------
Match Report
A strange match on a standard carpet court
Painting in broad strokes - Connors looks old. His movements are declined and the way he bends down to take low balls looks like its a strain on him - and he doesn't bother doing it properly at times. His serve though looks strong and the return still great.
Leconte's game is pretty as a picture - the groundies, the slices, the approaches, the volleys, returns and the serve is a boomer. He's also an error machine - the groundies, the slices, the approaches, the volleys, returns and the serve
First set is an error fest from Leconte. He has 15 in play of every kind of shot. Also double faults twice on each of the games he's broken. Some strange shots... he makes two errors of what I can only describe as lobs, when Connors is on the baseline. They aren't moonball attempts.... they're genuine, top spin lobs that he tries to play in a baseline-to-baseline situation. He approaches some, serve-volleys some off both serves and return approaches once. Hits some lovely shots when he gets it right, but most of the time, he's getting it wrong
Second set is serve dominated. Not in a serve-bot sense because returns are being put in play and rallies are going on.... but the server ends up winning most of the points. Connors loses 2 points in 4 serve games, Leconte 3 in 4 games going into game 9.
Completely against the run of play, Leconte breaks to love and serves out the set
Third set is odder still. Leconte seems to be feeling lightheaded or dizzy and after playing two points (two return errors), he faints. Connors and officials nearby tend to him, while the chair umpire announces time violations for delay of game - and ends up docking him two points
Apparently, the technical term for Leconte's situation is "loss of condition". Its different from an injury (for which he would have been granted a time out) in that the player is held responsible. And having got two warnings, Leconte would have defaulted the match had he not gotten up to resume play within 45 seconds of the second warning. Actually, the time elapsed from Leconte collapsing is far greater than the sum total required for 3 warnings.... so the ref was lenient with him. But the whole thing looks farcical... an unconscious man being tended to while the umpire calls time violations
There's another peculiar incident in Connors' next service game. Down break point, he serves an ace, only for it to be called out. As Jimbo stares in anger - probably about to let everyone know what he thinks of the call - Leconte half-calls the point for Connors, which makes little sense. If Leconte were calling for Connors, the point should be an ace and over.... but he only calls for a replay of the point. The umpire agrees to Leconte's call
Connors seems to comment that the players shouldn't make their own calls in this way or "they'll be here all day", and should accept the line judges. With that he serves what technically, is a first serve, but he rolls it in like a second.... the statement seems to be he rejects that its a first serve and plays it like a second. I wonder if he'd missed the serve would he have stuck to that stance and given up the break? or would he then have served another, second serve?
Match continues without much further incident til Leconte serves to send the match into a final set tiebreak. Only to get broken - again double faulting twice in the game - to hand Connors the match
Playing Dynamics & Stats
The key is Leconte's unforced errors. 31 in play (sans the 2 point penalties), 7 on return and 8 double faults - for a grand total of 48 (Connors has 20)
With the Frenchman playing this way, one could understand Connors playing out and out passive - just giving Leconte the rope to hang himself with. But he doesn't (at least, not intentionally). Connors continues to hit his groundies the way he usually does - flat, powerful and deep. Depth is particularly noticeable. He hardly comes to net in the first two sets because the points are ending before there's a need to, but Connors is relatively attacking
Nonetheless, his UEFI of 41.3 is remarkably low.... that's because even his regulation groundstrokes are fairly aggressive. Connors serve is strong and he forces genuine errors with it (as opposed to token forced errors given to first serves, which I tend not to do). The Ameican's return is also good. With Leconte serving big and going for lines, its Connors' ability to reach wide balls that takes the eye, rather than his swatting balls in his strike zone. His movements are on the slow side.... one of the things that surprises me about him is how fast he moves in general, for a stocky built man
Note Connors leading the unreturned serve percentages (35% to 27%), surprising given Leconte has a much stronger serve (he has 10 aces/service winners to Connors' 3). The reason for this is two-fold: the already mentioned Connors ability to get difficult serves in play.... and Leconte making many a careless and/or unnecessary error
Leconte's movement is a mixed bag. At times, he's at the net in a flash and at other times, he's jogging gently there. Some of his shots are extremely lazy... just has a swish at the ball without getting in position
Quick point on tennis terminology. Bud Collins is commentating and what he calls "aces" includes what we would call "service winners" and what he calls "service winners" includes what we would call "return forced errors"
Summing up, I can't call this an ugly match because even making so many errors, Leconte's shots are so easy on the eyes. And when he gets it right, it all looks sublime. And Connors plays his brand of power baselining. Calling it pretty or high quality though, would be an overstatement or a gross distortion
Special thanks to @The Green Mile - would be interested in hearing your thoughts about this one
It was Connors' 4th title at the venue
Connors won 93 points, Leconte 82
(Note: I'm missing one Connors service point, won by Connors)
Serve Stats
Connors...
- 1st serve percentage (53/75) 71%
- 1st serve points won (41/53) 77%
- 2nd serve points won (15/22) 68%
- Aces 2, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (26/75) 35%
Leconte....
- 1st serve percentage (49/97) 51%
- 1st serve points won (37/49) 76%
- 2nd serve points won (25/48) 52%
- Aces 8 (1 second serve), Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 8
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (26/97) 27%
Serve Patterns
Connors served...
- to FH 30%
- to BH 68%
- to Body 3%
Leconte served....
- to FH 49%
- to BH 51%
Return Stats
Connors made...
- 63 (30 FH, 33 BH), including 1 runaround BH
- 2 Winners (2 FH)
- 16 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH), including 1 runaround BH attempt
- 12 Forced (7 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (63/89) 71%
Leconte made...
- 48 (20 FH, 28 BH), including 6 runaround FHs & 3 return-approaches
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 23 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (5 FH, 2 BH), including 2 runaround FH attempts
- 16 Forced (5 FH, 11 BH)
- Return Rate (48/74) 65%
Break Points
Connors 3/7 (4 games)
Leconte 1/2 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Connors 11 (5 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
Leconte 25 (5 FH, 3 BH, 6 FHV, 5 BHV, 6 OH)
Connors had 8 passes (5 FH, 3 BH)
- FHs - 3 cc (1 at net) and 2 inside-in returns
- BHs - 2 cc and 1 dtl
- sole non-pass groundstroke was BH dtl
Leconte had 9 from serve-volley points
- 6 first volleys (3 FHV, 3 BHV)
- 3 second volleys (1 FHV, 2 OH)
- 1 further OH was struck out of the air just inside the baseline
- 5 FHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 1 dtl, 1 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- 3 BHs - 1 at net, 1 inside-in return and 1 longline pass
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Connors 31
- 15 Unforced (8 FH, 7 BH)
- 16 Forced (6 FH, 10 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 41.3
Leconte 46
- 33 Unforced (12 FH, 13 BH, 2 FHV, 4 BHV, 2 Penalty)
- 13 Forced (5 FH, 4 BH, 1 FH1/2V, 1 BHV, 2 OH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.8
(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)
(Note 3: Leconte's 2 'penalty' errors occurred when he fainted and was docked 2 points for time violations)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Connors was...
- 11/14 (79%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a first serve point...
---
- 1/1 forced back
Leconte was...
- 32/51 (63%) at net, including...
- 16/25 (64%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 13/19 (68%) off 1st serve and...
- 3/6 (50%) off second serve
--------------------------------
- 2/3 return-approaching
- 2/3 forced back
---------------------------------------------------
Match Report
A strange match on a standard carpet court
Painting in broad strokes - Connors looks old. His movements are declined and the way he bends down to take low balls looks like its a strain on him - and he doesn't bother doing it properly at times. His serve though looks strong and the return still great.
Leconte's game is pretty as a picture - the groundies, the slices, the approaches, the volleys, returns and the serve is a boomer. He's also an error machine - the groundies, the slices, the approaches, the volleys, returns and the serve
First set is an error fest from Leconte. He has 15 in play of every kind of shot. Also double faults twice on each of the games he's broken. Some strange shots... he makes two errors of what I can only describe as lobs, when Connors is on the baseline. They aren't moonball attempts.... they're genuine, top spin lobs that he tries to play in a baseline-to-baseline situation. He approaches some, serve-volleys some off both serves and return approaches once. Hits some lovely shots when he gets it right, but most of the time, he's getting it wrong
Second set is serve dominated. Not in a serve-bot sense because returns are being put in play and rallies are going on.... but the server ends up winning most of the points. Connors loses 2 points in 4 serve games, Leconte 3 in 4 games going into game 9.
Completely against the run of play, Leconte breaks to love and serves out the set
Third set is odder still. Leconte seems to be feeling lightheaded or dizzy and after playing two points (two return errors), he faints. Connors and officials nearby tend to him, while the chair umpire announces time violations for delay of game - and ends up docking him two points
Apparently, the technical term for Leconte's situation is "loss of condition". Its different from an injury (for which he would have been granted a time out) in that the player is held responsible. And having got two warnings, Leconte would have defaulted the match had he not gotten up to resume play within 45 seconds of the second warning. Actually, the time elapsed from Leconte collapsing is far greater than the sum total required for 3 warnings.... so the ref was lenient with him. But the whole thing looks farcical... an unconscious man being tended to while the umpire calls time violations
There's another peculiar incident in Connors' next service game. Down break point, he serves an ace, only for it to be called out. As Jimbo stares in anger - probably about to let everyone know what he thinks of the call - Leconte half-calls the point for Connors, which makes little sense. If Leconte were calling for Connors, the point should be an ace and over.... but he only calls for a replay of the point. The umpire agrees to Leconte's call
Connors seems to comment that the players shouldn't make their own calls in this way or "they'll be here all day", and should accept the line judges. With that he serves what technically, is a first serve, but he rolls it in like a second.... the statement seems to be he rejects that its a first serve and plays it like a second. I wonder if he'd missed the serve would he have stuck to that stance and given up the break? or would he then have served another, second serve?
Match continues without much further incident til Leconte serves to send the match into a final set tiebreak. Only to get broken - again double faulting twice in the game - to hand Connors the match
Playing Dynamics & Stats
The key is Leconte's unforced errors. 31 in play (sans the 2 point penalties), 7 on return and 8 double faults - for a grand total of 48 (Connors has 20)
With the Frenchman playing this way, one could understand Connors playing out and out passive - just giving Leconte the rope to hang himself with. But he doesn't (at least, not intentionally). Connors continues to hit his groundies the way he usually does - flat, powerful and deep. Depth is particularly noticeable. He hardly comes to net in the first two sets because the points are ending before there's a need to, but Connors is relatively attacking
Nonetheless, his UEFI of 41.3 is remarkably low.... that's because even his regulation groundstrokes are fairly aggressive. Connors serve is strong and he forces genuine errors with it (as opposed to token forced errors given to first serves, which I tend not to do). The Ameican's return is also good. With Leconte serving big and going for lines, its Connors' ability to reach wide balls that takes the eye, rather than his swatting balls in his strike zone. His movements are on the slow side.... one of the things that surprises me about him is how fast he moves in general, for a stocky built man
Note Connors leading the unreturned serve percentages (35% to 27%), surprising given Leconte has a much stronger serve (he has 10 aces/service winners to Connors' 3). The reason for this is two-fold: the already mentioned Connors ability to get difficult serves in play.... and Leconte making many a careless and/or unnecessary error
Leconte's movement is a mixed bag. At times, he's at the net in a flash and at other times, he's jogging gently there. Some of his shots are extremely lazy... just has a swish at the ball without getting in position
Quick point on tennis terminology. Bud Collins is commentating and what he calls "aces" includes what we would call "service winners" and what he calls "service winners" includes what we would call "return forced errors"
Summing up, I can't call this an ugly match because even making so many errors, Leconte's shots are so easy on the eyes. And when he gets it right, it all looks sublime. And Connors plays his brand of power baselining. Calling it pretty or high quality though, would be an overstatement or a gross distortion
Special thanks to @The Green Mile - would be interested in hearing your thoughts about this one
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