Nikolay Davydenko beat Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4 in the Year End Championship final, 2009 on indoor hard court in London, England
It was Davydenko’s only title at the event and he had been runner-up the previous year. It was del Potro’s only final at the event. This was the first edition of the tournament held at this venue, which would continue to host the event until 2020
Davydenko won 66 points, del Potro 48
Serve Stats
Davydenko...
- 1st serve percentage (38/57) 67%
- 1st serve points won (33/38) 87%
- 2nd serve points won (11/19) 58%
- Aces 7 (1 not clean)
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (20/57) 35%
del Potro...
- 1st serve percentage (36/57) 63%
- 1st serve points won (26/36) 72%
- 2nd serve points won (9/21) 43%
- Aces 7 (1 second serve)
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (18/57) 32%
Serve Pattern
Davydenko served...
- to FH 33%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 7%
del Potro served...
- to FH 42%
- to BH 54%
- to Body 4%
Return Stats
Davydenko made...
- 39 (15 FH, 24 BH)
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (2 FH, 4 BH)
- 5 Forced (4 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (39/57) 68%
del Potro made...
- 35 (11 FH, 24 BH)
- 13 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- 7 Forced (2 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (35/55) 64%
Break Points
Davydenko 2/5 (3 games)
del Potro 0/3 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Davydenko 18 (9 FH, 5 BH, 2 FHV, 2 BHV)
del Potro 11 (8 FH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
Davydenko's FHs - 1 cc pass, 2 cc/inside-in, 1 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 inside-out, 2 inside-in, 1 inside-in/longline
- BHs - 2 cc, 2 dtl (1 at net), 1 dtl/inside-out
del Potro's FHs - 2 cc, 1 cc/longline, 1 dtl, 4 inside-out
- the FHV was a swinging inside-out shot and the OH was on the bounce
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Davydenko 17
- 10 Unforced (5 FH, 4 BH, 1 BHV)
- 7 Forced (4 FH, 3 BH)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48
del Potro 28
- 19 Unforced (10 FH, 9 BH)... with 1 BH at net
- 9 Forced (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.3
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: The 'Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is a measure of how aggressive of intent the average UE made was. 60 is maximum, 20 is minimum. This match has been scored using a four point scale - 2 defensive, 4 neutral, 5 attacking, 6 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Davydenko was 12/13 (92%) at net
del Potro was 3/7 (43%) at net
Match Report
Brilliant from Davydenko as he comprehensively outplays a del Potro, who plays as well as he’s allowed to. How often do you hear that said about del Potro? - a tennis player who makes his own way for better or worse. Usually better on quick-ish court like this one
Not here. Davy pins him to a corner with series of hard hit shots - cc off either wing or FH inside-outs - and then finishes with winners to opposite corner. Or runs him corner to corner and if Delpo doesn’t give up the error, Davy eventually finishes with winner. Or steps in and rushes him with pace and depth
There’s no shortage of brilliance, but one shot stands out even then. An extreme angled BH cc winner from Davy
Numbers do justice to Davy’s high end showing
- 18 winners, 17 errors (10 UEs, 7 FEs). Very. very rare to have more winners than total errors in a predominantly baseline match
- More winners than UEs off both wings - FHs +5, BH +1. Only very rare
- 12/13 at net is nice cherry to top of Davy’s attacking baseline cake
And Delpo? He gets his FH licks in with 8 winners, 10 UEs but that’s about it. Otherwise, he’s the puppet on the Davy’s string (to exaggerate a little)
Movement is a key difference, including on the return shot. The court opening angled shots Davy strikes lends itself to action where its likely to be, even for the director. Davy’s up to it and zips around as necessary. Delpo isn’t nearly as good
On the return, both players serve effectively wide, but Davy’s that much quicker to get out to the wide serve to put it back in play. His reactions are quicker too, and Delpo at times, is a bit slow in making the return
Early on, both players hit cleanly, Davy perhaps a little more. As match goes on, Davy’s apt to step in more and hit deeper, pressuring Delpo in rallies where running isn’t required (of which there’s a good amount, its not a non-stop, running-side-to-side match). Some not well timed shots come from Delpo’s racquet in these situations
That’s the neutral stuff - and its tilted towards Davy leading, Delpo reacting. Neutral UEs - Davy 5, Delpo 10
Davy’s quite capable of going for a court opening attacking shot even against Delpo’s clean hit neutral shots. That’s part of the beauty of his play - he doesn’t necessarily start attacks against weak balls, but his ‘neutral +’ hitting is good enough to draw them. More often than the other way around. Once he gets his court opener off - and he does it off both wings - we get the side-to-side running rallies, where Davy’s a lot quicker and Delpo look uncomfy
Generally speaking, the lumbering Delpo is a player one would like to move side-to-side. The problem is that his FH is so lethal from any position that its liable to end the point with space to hit to. Davy manages just-so here, seemingly keeping the ball just wide of that loaded gun
The other staple attacking play is Davy pinning Delpo to corner. Series of strong cc shots (usually BHs) or FH inside-outs fix Delpo, then the dtl finisher. An extended ‘1’-2
Delpo’s offence doesn’t need such preliminaries. A blasted FH from any position or situation can end the point at any time. Which isn’t just good from his point of view but necessary, as he’s rarely able to outmanuver or push back Davy to set up what for a normal player would be a good opening to attack
Look at the variety of Davy’s winners. Off the FH, cc and inside-in are well present, with a couple dtl based to complement. Couple of BH cc’s there too - not an easy shot to hit clean winners with
Serves are roughly even, Davy’s the better returner
Similar in-counts - Davy 67%, Delpo 63%
Similar aces and ace rates - both 7 (1 of Davy’s not clean, 1 of Delpo’s a second serve), with Davy having 2 more first serves
Davy with slim 3% lead in unreturneds is about his superior movement to deal with wide serves. In this area, Delpo is not good
Davy’s playing superiority coming through in big substantial leads in both first and second serve points won
87% first serve points won is kind of figure you tend to see from a mammoth server, which, well as he serves, Davey is not. He knows just how to make most of advantageous starting position. Delpo wins 72% - more than good enough, despite not being as good as Davy
2nd serve points won - Davy 58%, Delpo 43%, despite Davy having 2 double faults to Delpo’s 0
That’s mostly about Davy being cleaner hitting and able to push Delpo to reactive (if not defensive) position from neutral starting points, but some moderately attacking, wide returns from Davy have a hand in it too. Delpo returns orthodoxly by contrast
Match Progression
Actions already lively after 3 games. Lovely drop BHV winner by Davy and Delpo secures his first hold with a 2nd serve ace
The break comes in game 4, which has some fantastic points and shots. Davy finishing a BH-BH rally with a BH dtl/inside-out winner to open the game. A net-to-net tussle, where Delpo manages to fend back even a Davy smash, but Davy goes on to take the point. Davy fixing Delpo to corner with FH inside-outs before smacking a FH cc/inside-in winner. Delpo beefing a third ball FH inside-out winner to save break point
Decent return from Davy draws a not easy UE to bring up second break point, on which Delpo misses a routine cc BH - and its 3-1 to Davy
No more breaks but plenty of fun tennis. Pick of ‘em is previously mentioned, extreme angled BH cc winner by Davy, and there’s a BH dtl winner against a meaty Delpo FH inside-out that’s worth mentioning too. Davy eventually serves out to love, finishing with an error forcing third ball BH dtl on the move against a good return
Similar action in second set and the two trade 10 point holds (both saving 2 break points) to reach 3-3. Delpo’s hold is the livlier game, with 2 winners by each player (Davy’s FH inside-in comes out of routine position). Delpo finishes the game with a counter-attacking, error forcing shot on the run. Davy’s follow-up hold is a scraggier game of ground errors, and its through winning 3 net points that Davy takes the game
Break comes in game 9 to love and its fantastic. FH cc - BH cc 1-2 ending with a winner. Running all around point, ending with FH dtl winner. 1-2 combo of passes, ending with FH cc winner. And on break point, a wide FH cc forcing a running FH error
And Davy serves out to 15 to end the match
Summing up, wonderful showing from Davydenko who mixes up clean hitting orthodox play, with beautiful, fluid attacking point construction, while moving superbly and for good measure, throwing in the occasional winner out of nowhere. And net play
del Potro biffing FHs gains him some counter-play and he doesn’t need point construction to do damage with those, but otherwise, is thoroughly out played. His movements aren’t up to handling what its tasked with, and he’s not good in that area on the return
When he got it all together like here, Davydenko was a joy to watch
It was Davydenko’s only title at the event and he had been runner-up the previous year. It was del Potro’s only final at the event. This was the first edition of the tournament held at this venue, which would continue to host the event until 2020
Davydenko won 66 points, del Potro 48
Serve Stats
Davydenko...
- 1st serve percentage (38/57) 67%
- 1st serve points won (33/38) 87%
- 2nd serve points won (11/19) 58%
- Aces 7 (1 not clean)
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (20/57) 35%
del Potro...
- 1st serve percentage (36/57) 63%
- 1st serve points won (26/36) 72%
- 2nd serve points won (9/21) 43%
- Aces 7 (1 second serve)
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (18/57) 32%
Serve Pattern
Davydenko served...
- to FH 33%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 7%
del Potro served...
- to FH 42%
- to BH 54%
- to Body 4%
Return Stats
Davydenko made...
- 39 (15 FH, 24 BH)
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (2 FH, 4 BH)
- 5 Forced (4 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (39/57) 68%
del Potro made...
- 35 (11 FH, 24 BH)
- 13 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- 7 Forced (2 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (35/55) 64%
Break Points
Davydenko 2/5 (3 games)
del Potro 0/3 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Davydenko 18 (9 FH, 5 BH, 2 FHV, 2 BHV)
del Potro 11 (8 FH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
Davydenko's FHs - 1 cc pass, 2 cc/inside-in, 1 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 inside-out, 2 inside-in, 1 inside-in/longline
- BHs - 2 cc, 2 dtl (1 at net), 1 dtl/inside-out
del Potro's FHs - 2 cc, 1 cc/longline, 1 dtl, 4 inside-out
- the FHV was a swinging inside-out shot and the OH was on the bounce
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Davydenko 17
- 10 Unforced (5 FH, 4 BH, 1 BHV)
- 7 Forced (4 FH, 3 BH)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48
del Potro 28
- 19 Unforced (10 FH, 9 BH)... with 1 BH at net
- 9 Forced (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.3
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: The 'Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is a measure of how aggressive of intent the average UE made was. 60 is maximum, 20 is minimum. This match has been scored using a four point scale - 2 defensive, 4 neutral, 5 attacking, 6 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Davydenko was 12/13 (92%) at net
del Potro was 3/7 (43%) at net
Match Report
Brilliant from Davydenko as he comprehensively outplays a del Potro, who plays as well as he’s allowed to. How often do you hear that said about del Potro? - a tennis player who makes his own way for better or worse. Usually better on quick-ish court like this one
Not here. Davy pins him to a corner with series of hard hit shots - cc off either wing or FH inside-outs - and then finishes with winners to opposite corner. Or runs him corner to corner and if Delpo doesn’t give up the error, Davy eventually finishes with winner. Or steps in and rushes him with pace and depth
There’s no shortage of brilliance, but one shot stands out even then. An extreme angled BH cc winner from Davy
Numbers do justice to Davy’s high end showing
- 18 winners, 17 errors (10 UEs, 7 FEs). Very. very rare to have more winners than total errors in a predominantly baseline match
- More winners than UEs off both wings - FHs +5, BH +1. Only very rare
- 12/13 at net is nice cherry to top of Davy’s attacking baseline cake
And Delpo? He gets his FH licks in with 8 winners, 10 UEs but that’s about it. Otherwise, he’s the puppet on the Davy’s string (to exaggerate a little)
Movement is a key difference, including on the return shot. The court opening angled shots Davy strikes lends itself to action where its likely to be, even for the director. Davy’s up to it and zips around as necessary. Delpo isn’t nearly as good
On the return, both players serve effectively wide, but Davy’s that much quicker to get out to the wide serve to put it back in play. His reactions are quicker too, and Delpo at times, is a bit slow in making the return
Early on, both players hit cleanly, Davy perhaps a little more. As match goes on, Davy’s apt to step in more and hit deeper, pressuring Delpo in rallies where running isn’t required (of which there’s a good amount, its not a non-stop, running-side-to-side match). Some not well timed shots come from Delpo’s racquet in these situations
That’s the neutral stuff - and its tilted towards Davy leading, Delpo reacting. Neutral UEs - Davy 5, Delpo 10
Davy’s quite capable of going for a court opening attacking shot even against Delpo’s clean hit neutral shots. That’s part of the beauty of his play - he doesn’t necessarily start attacks against weak balls, but his ‘neutral +’ hitting is good enough to draw them. More often than the other way around. Once he gets his court opener off - and he does it off both wings - we get the side-to-side running rallies, where Davy’s a lot quicker and Delpo look uncomfy
Generally speaking, the lumbering Delpo is a player one would like to move side-to-side. The problem is that his FH is so lethal from any position that its liable to end the point with space to hit to. Davy manages just-so here, seemingly keeping the ball just wide of that loaded gun
The other staple attacking play is Davy pinning Delpo to corner. Series of strong cc shots (usually BHs) or FH inside-outs fix Delpo, then the dtl finisher. An extended ‘1’-2
Delpo’s offence doesn’t need such preliminaries. A blasted FH from any position or situation can end the point at any time. Which isn’t just good from his point of view but necessary, as he’s rarely able to outmanuver or push back Davy to set up what for a normal player would be a good opening to attack
Look at the variety of Davy’s winners. Off the FH, cc and inside-in are well present, with a couple dtl based to complement. Couple of BH cc’s there too - not an easy shot to hit clean winners with
Serves are roughly even, Davy’s the better returner
Similar in-counts - Davy 67%, Delpo 63%
Similar aces and ace rates - both 7 (1 of Davy’s not clean, 1 of Delpo’s a second serve), with Davy having 2 more first serves
Davy with slim 3% lead in unreturneds is about his superior movement to deal with wide serves. In this area, Delpo is not good
Davy’s playing superiority coming through in big substantial leads in both first and second serve points won
87% first serve points won is kind of figure you tend to see from a mammoth server, which, well as he serves, Davey is not. He knows just how to make most of advantageous starting position. Delpo wins 72% - more than good enough, despite not being as good as Davy
2nd serve points won - Davy 58%, Delpo 43%, despite Davy having 2 double faults to Delpo’s 0
That’s mostly about Davy being cleaner hitting and able to push Delpo to reactive (if not defensive) position from neutral starting points, but some moderately attacking, wide returns from Davy have a hand in it too. Delpo returns orthodoxly by contrast
Match Progression
Actions already lively after 3 games. Lovely drop BHV winner by Davy and Delpo secures his first hold with a 2nd serve ace
The break comes in game 4, which has some fantastic points and shots. Davy finishing a BH-BH rally with a BH dtl/inside-out winner to open the game. A net-to-net tussle, where Delpo manages to fend back even a Davy smash, but Davy goes on to take the point. Davy fixing Delpo to corner with FH inside-outs before smacking a FH cc/inside-in winner. Delpo beefing a third ball FH inside-out winner to save break point
Decent return from Davy draws a not easy UE to bring up second break point, on which Delpo misses a routine cc BH - and its 3-1 to Davy
No more breaks but plenty of fun tennis. Pick of ‘em is previously mentioned, extreme angled BH cc winner by Davy, and there’s a BH dtl winner against a meaty Delpo FH inside-out that’s worth mentioning too. Davy eventually serves out to love, finishing with an error forcing third ball BH dtl on the move against a good return
Similar action in second set and the two trade 10 point holds (both saving 2 break points) to reach 3-3. Delpo’s hold is the livlier game, with 2 winners by each player (Davy’s FH inside-in comes out of routine position). Delpo finishes the game with a counter-attacking, error forcing shot on the run. Davy’s follow-up hold is a scraggier game of ground errors, and its through winning 3 net points that Davy takes the game
Break comes in game 9 to love and its fantastic. FH cc - BH cc 1-2 ending with a winner. Running all around point, ending with FH dtl winner. 1-2 combo of passes, ending with FH cc winner. And on break point, a wide FH cc forcing a running FH error
And Davy serves out to 15 to end the match
Summing up, wonderful showing from Davydenko who mixes up clean hitting orthodox play, with beautiful, fluid attacking point construction, while moving superbly and for good measure, throwing in the occasional winner out of nowhere. And net play
del Potro biffing FHs gains him some counter-play and he doesn’t need point construction to do damage with those, but otherwise, is thoroughly out played. His movements aren’t up to handling what its tasked with, and he’s not good in that area on the return
When he got it all together like here, Davydenko was a joy to watch
