Match Stats/Report - Edberg vs Becker, French Open semi-final, 1989

[Waspsting]

Stefan Edberg beat Boris Becker 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-2 in the French Open semi-final, 1989 on clay

Edberg would go onto lose the final to Michael Chang, and it would turn out to be his sole final at the event. Becker would go onto win Wimbledon (beating Edberg in the final) and US Open later in the year

Edberg won 170 points, Becker 158

Edberg serve-volleyed vast majority of time off first serves and about half the time off seconds, Becker exactly half the time off first serves and rarely off seconds

(Note: I’m missing serve direction and corresponding return data for one point. On a small number of points, I’ve made confident guesses regarding serve type
Partial missing point - Set 1, Game 2, Point 1)

Serve Stats
Edberg...
- 1st serve percentage (112/156) 72%
- 1st serve points won (74/112) 66%
- 2nd serve points won (21/44) 48%
- Aces 3
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (36/151) 24%

Becker...
- 1st serve percentage (94/172) 55%
- 1st serve points won (62/94) 66%
- 2nd serve points won (35/78) 45%
- Aces 10, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (33/172) 19%

Serve Patterns
Edberg served...
- to FH 12%
- to BH 79%
- to Body 9%

Becker served...
- to FH 22%
- to BH 74%
- to Body 4%

Return Stats
Edberg made...
- 136 (30 FH, 105 BH, 1 ??), including 2 runaround FHs & 7 return-approaches
- 8 Winners (2 FH, 6 BH)
- 21 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (1 FH, 6 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- 14 Forced (4 FH, 10 BH)
- Return Rate (136/169) 80%

Becker made...
- 115 (18 FH, 97 BH), including 3 runaround FHs
- 5 Winners (2 FH, 3 BH)
- 33 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 29 Forced (7 FH, 22 BH), including 4 runaround FHs
- Return Rate (115/151) 76%

Break Points
Edberg 8/22 (14 games)
Becker 6/17 (10 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Edberg 60 (4 FH, 14 BH, 16 FHV, 13 BHV, 13 OH)
Becker 47 (11 FH, 14 BH, 10 FHV, 6 BHV, 2 BH1/2V, 4 OH)

Edberg had 32 from serve-volley points
- 18 first volleys (10 FHV, 7 BHV, 1 OH)
- 13 second volleys (3 FHV, 3 BHV, 7 OH)... 1 FHV was a lob & 1 can reasonably be called an OH
- 1 third volley (1 OH)

- 2 from return-approach points (1 FHV, 1 OH)

- 12 passes - 6 returns (1 FH, 5 BH) & 6 regular (2 FH, 4 BH)
- FH return - 1 dtl (that Becker left)
- BH returns - 1 dtl, 2 inside-out and 2 inside-in
- regular FHs - 1 cc and 1 turnaround lob
- regular BHs - 2 dtl (1 net chord pop over), 1 inside-out, 1 running-down-drop-shot dtl at net

- non-pass FH return - 1 net chord dribbler
- no-pass BHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 1 inside-in return (that Becker left), 1 drop shot and 1 net chord dribbler

Becker had 14 from serve-volley points
- 9 first 'volleys' (5 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- 5 second volleys (2 FHV, 1 BHV, 2 OH)

- 22 passes - 5 returns (2 FH, 3 BH) & 17 regular (6 FH, 11 BH)
- FH returns - 2 dtl
- BH returns - 1 cc (that Edberg left) and 2 inside-out
- regular FHs - 3 cc, 2 dtl and 1 inside-out
- regular BHs - 4 cc (1 went through under Edberg's racquet), 4 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out at net and 2 lobs

- non-pass FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl and 1 inside-out

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Edberg 73
- 42 Unforced (9 FH, 15 BH, 10 FHV, 6 BHV, 2 OH)
- 31 Forced (7 FH, 10 BH, 6 FHV, 6 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 1 OH)... with 1 BH at net (a pass attempt) & the OH was a flagrantly forced baseline groundstroke against an at net smash
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49.8

Becker 71
- 36 Unforced (17 FH, 10 BH, 3 FHV, 5 BHV, 1 OH)... 1 BHV was a net touch
- 35 Forced (11 FH, 17 BH, 3 FHV, 2 FH1/2V, 2 BHV, 1 OH)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net & the OH was a flagrantly forced baseline groundstroke against an at net smash
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.1

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

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Edberg was...
- 101/157 (64%) at net, including...
- 75/118 (64%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 63/97 (65%) off 1st serve and...
- 12/21 (57%) off 2nd serve
---
- 6/7 (86%) return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back

Becker was...
- 50/81 (62%) at net, including...
- 30/50 (60%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 24/41 (59%) off 1st serve and...
- 6/9 (67%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/1 retreated

Match Report
On the slowest of courts, Edberg keeps faith with his serve-volley game, while Becker largely plays as a baseliner. The difficulties of the forecourt play and both players shortcomings from the back are there to see in both players showings, but Edberg has much better of things

Match long, Edberg wins 51.8% of the points, while serving 47.6% of them
Break points - Eberg 8/22 (14 games), Boris 6/17 (10 games)

Broken up by parts -
From start to 3-3 in the third set, Edberg wins 92 points, Boris 72
From there to 0-1 in the 5th set, Edberg wins 47 points, Boris 66
From there to the end, Edberg wins 31 points, Boris 20

That’s not too important. Boris’ domination of the middle portion is good to win him 2 sets and lead by a break in the decider

More to the point is Boris having 1 more game with break points in them than Edberg in both sets he wins. Edberg is more comfortable in the sets he wins, with advantages of 3 and 2 such games in the sets he wins (+1 where he follows Boris’ way)

There are different ways of looking at the match. All of them favour Edberg

Basic Stats Perspective
Both players winning 66% first serve points

But Edberg with huge 17% lead in in-count puts him well ahead of the curve. Boris would need to thoroughly get the better of 2nd serve points - probably to extent of dominating both players’ - to off set that

Second serve points won - Edberg 48%, Boris 45%

Serve-Volley frequency perspective
Off first serves -
- Edberg serve-volleys 89% of the time, Boris 50%
Serve-volleying, Edberg wins 69% points, Boris 59%
Not serve-volleying, Edberg wins 58% points (small sample of 12 points), Boris 63%

Couple things that stand out there. Edberg is serve-volleying almost always - and he's doing better at it than Boris is serve-volleying or staying back. Does well on few times he doesn’t too

Advantage Edberg

Boris essentially doing equally well serve-volleying or not. In raw numbers -
- serve-volleying 24/41
- not serve-volleying 26/41

Boris big lead in unreturnables (12 to 3) is keeping him even with Edberg on first serve points won, but he’s getting handily outplayed. Relying on aces and service winners to maintain equality on clay isn’t the most reliable

Off second serves -
- Edberg serve-volleys 53% of the time, Boris 12% (small sample of 9 points - a surprise weapon, nothing more)
Serve-volleying, Edberg wins 57%, not serve-volleying 50%
Boris not serve-volleying wins 44% (and unimportantly small serve-volleying, wins 67%)

Big advantage Edberg - serve-volleying or not, he’s doing significantly or substantially better than Boris staying back

And Boris’ not great 1st serve-volleying winning rate of 59% suggests that his 2nd serve-volleying wouldn’t hold up were he to do so regularly. Would it be better than winning the just 44% he wins not serve-volleying though?

I imagine so, but he’s in baseline mode. That’s his thing for the match - its doubtful he’s weighed pros and cons and prospects of serve-volleying vs not. He’s just chosen to play the match from the baseline

Gist - Edberg virtually always serve-volleying off first serves does better than Boris serve-volleying or not. Boris is about equally successful serve-volleying or not (and splits the 2 exactly 50-50)

Edberg backs it up with high success on small number of non 1st serve-volley

Edberg serve-volleying about half the time off second serves does better both serve-volleying or not than Boris staying back off second serves, which he does virtually all the time

Boris cuts the gap marginally with high success on small number of 2nd serve-volleys, his surprise move

Still a big advantage for Edberg

The only way Boris comes out looking like a unlikely winner here is…

 

[Waspsting]

Trends & Important Points Perspective
The trend is clear - Edberg with better of things. He’s holding serve more readily, he’s getting into return games considerably more often

Trends and ultimate outcome aren’t one and the same though. Edberg would be in the same boat in the final against Michael Chang, and that didn’t have a happy ending for him

Trends also tend to count for less with Boris Becker than most any other player; he has a knack for barely getting by, doing nothing on return for long periods, before coming up with a great game out of the blue to break. That though, presupposes an ability to hold serve with confidence that’s lacking here. And if trends count less for Boris the player, it counts most for clay the surface

Continuing where the second set ended, Boris squeaks through to not lose his serve in the early part of the third, surviving 12 and 10 point games (while Edberg holds readily). Then manages to turn things around to equality - and finally, snatch a break with a great game to end the set.

Its an even set - unlike the 2 Edberg had won - and Boris happens to win it

4th set is the only one Boris has better of, but it’s a bloody good time to have the run of play. Even better for him, Edberg is showing signs of tiring by the end… missing not-easy or tricky volleys, a little slow to move for the return or get up to net, going for some ambitious and unlikely aggressive shots from the back - all unlike what had come before

Boris runs with the trend to open the decider with a break, at which point, he’d be favourite to win: he’s playing better and Edberg’s game has dropped

Not much good news for Boris after that though. No concrete reason for that. Edberg doesn’t whisk him away or play brilliantly, and Boris doesn’t fold and play terribly either. But those 50-50 points lean towards going Edberg’s way

Edberg’s not revitalized either. He serve-volleys less in this set (and the end of the 4th) than at any other point in the match

He’s a break to the good after breaking back to even for 1-1 and breaking next chance too. Both long games. And he survives a long hold where he doesn’t serve-volley 5/7 points (+ a double fault)

It’s the last game that gives the set a one-sided scoreline and that’s an outlier game. Edberg chip-charge returns 4 times in it (he’d done so 3 times in the whole match before), winning 3 to break and end the match

An even set - with Edberg up a break - and an outlier game to make score look easy for the winner. Its not an easy set for him

Edberg has better of match considerably… but up to the end, Boris is in with a legitimate chance of pinching the win. He’d have needed considerable luck for that to happen. Edberg no, he’s simply been better player for most of it

Serve & Return
The standout is Edberg’s return, which is superb in his typical, unflashy way

For starters, he’s got 8 winners to Becker’s 5 - and that’s with Boris serve-volleying a hell of a lot less (41 to 118)

Granted, 1 winner is a net chord dribbler, another has an on baseline Boris leaving the ball. Both players leave a return while serve-volleying that goes through for a winner

Then there’s the return rate of 80%. Boris serves his usual lot of cannons. He’s got 12 aces/service winners or 13% of first serves. To compare, in the pair’s Wimby finals, he has -
- 8% in ‘88
- 14% in ‘89
- 8% in ‘90

So to return a 80% of that is quite a feat, even on clay. At one stage, he makes 50 returns in succession (other than 4 aces) and the run is broken by a rare second serve-volley point. Suffice to say, anything short of unreturnable serve, gets returned

He doesn’t chip-charge much. 3 times all match (wins all 3), going into the last game, where he does so 4 times (wins 3) to seal the match. Which begs the question why he hasn’t been doing it more earlier, but he isn’t particularly net hungry in the match (more on that later) and wouldn’t have had any obvious need to as he’s doing well from the baseline

Nothing noteworthy in the other half of the battle. Stock Edberg serving, stock Boris returning. 24% unreturneds for Edberg is about normal for all the serve-volleying he’s doing and Boris’ returns are good enough to keep Edberg from dominating with his first volley too much

Should be noted that this match took place right after Edberg had back troubles at the Australian Open, after which he re-invented his serve. That’s on show - it’s considerably less powerful than it had been, and on par with what it would be ever after. He hasn’t gone full on body and body-ish serving of direction as he soon would either, and directs just 9% to body and not much beyond that close to it

Play - Baseline & Net
There’s net play and there’s baseline rallies

Of net play, both players have a hard time penetrating the slow court. Even Edberg can’t get his volleys through. The volley winners hit by both players are into completely open court. Both players, particularly Edberg, seek to turn their body to volley to open court inside-out when they want to go for the winner… routine cc volleys just don’t go through the surface fast enough, no matter how well they’re punched to guarantee ending the point

Perfect cc volleys to corners remain in play for a possible running pass. Edberg’s harder punched ones less so than Boris’, but he’s not immune either

'Volley' winners - Edberg 42, Boris 22
Volley UEs - Edberg 18, Boris 9
'Volley FEs - Edberg 13, Boris 7

Roughly same proportion of success. Not great winner/UE ratio, but hitting winners is hard. Not the best volleying in terms of UE frequency, but not as bad as the numbers indcate

High proportion of OH winners from Edberg, who has 13 such to Boris' 4. Early on, Boris tests him with lobs. Edberg almost always wins these points and smashes just fine, but his fluency on the shot is down from pre-back trouble

Like his serve, this would be a permanent change in Edberg's game. Previously, he'd sleekly flowed into position to smash. Afterwards, not quite the same way and not as decisive in the finishing

Non-return pass winners - Edberg 6, Boris 17
Ground FEs - Edberg 18, Boris 29

Considerably better from Boris. His returns draw not strong volley (even not the not great returns) he he has a shot on the pass for

 

[Waspsting]

With Boris staying back off the time and Edberg nearly half the time off second serves, there’s just as much action starting baseline to baseline. Not many winners being hit or errors being forced from back there, so simple ground UE counts and rallying to net figures covers what happens here

Ground UEs - Edberg 24, Boris 27
Rallying to net - Edberg 20/32, Boris 20/31

About as even as can be. With most such points taking place on Boris’ serve, you can see why he’s in a lot of trouble to hold. He’s not getting many freebies and rallies are almost 50-50

To look at action, Boris’ FH is most impressive groundie of power and force. He looks to dictate with it, with backaway FH inside-out his favourite. Edberg’s FH by far looks the feeblest and most vulnerable shot on show

That’s how it looks. What actually happens is Edberg with match low 9 UEs, Boris with match high 17. Edberg’s FH remaining not just steady but being the steadiest of shots is so common that one gets tired of repeating it

Ground UEs -
- Edberg FH 9
- Boris BH 10
- Edberg BH 15
- Boris FH 17

… with neutral UEs near a wash too, (Edberg 15, Boris 17)

Neither player is impressive from the back. The errors don’t take long in coming and are to routine balls. You can readily see both players might struggle with clay court specialists who thrive on not making UEs

Most impressive baseline item is Edberg’s counter-punching on the move (‘defending’ is too strong a word to describe it). When Boris hits hard and wide, Edberg runs balls down and pushes them back in play late without much trouble. His shot tolerance is up to handling Boris’ force too (not that said force is anything out of the ordinary). It’s a minor matter, but stands out amidst general so-so ‘ness of baseline play

Not much of the reverse happening - Edberg doesn’t have the power to test Boris in similar way

The virtually identical rallying to net numbers have a tale to tell. As most such points are on Boris’ serve - which is good enough to give him a better than neutral starting point on the rally, one would expect him to have come in more

Instead, they’re equal of approaches. Boris simply isn’t really looking to come in. What he’s trying to do isn’t clear. He has hitting advantage, but doesn’t appear to be looking to use that to come in and finish, so what he ends up doing is mostly just trade groundies, where he has minor hitting advantage, which peters out to 50-50 winning rate

Trailing slightly in hitting force, Edberg’s in less position to take net, but he isn’t particularly net hungry either. Makes more sense for him than Boris, as 50-50 prospects on Boris’ service points is a good thing for him

Large lot of Edberg’s approaches are off his own service points, particularly near end of match when he’s serve-volleying less than at any other time.

Looks like both players are wary of the others passes, which is wise, given how difficult it is to finish point with volleys. Staying on baseline and playing who-blinks-first favours Edberg as most such points are on his return points

Match Progression
Both players save a break point in their opening holds. Boris serve-volleys of most of his first serves. Edberg holds another deuce game for 3-2, finishing by staying back of a first serve with Boris missing the return

3 breaks on the trot from there. Boris is broken to love in a poor game, where he misses consecutive routine BHVs. A touch of luck for Edberg on break point, as his pass flicks up off the net chord for a winner, with Boris seeming to have the ball covered

Boris responds with consecutive BH passing winners (return inside-out and dtl) to open the next game. Edberg double faults and misses an easy FHV after a couple points to complete the break back

Third break is a product of Boris staying back. Makes just 1/5 first serves, double faults once and Edberg’s at net on all 3 other 2nd serve points, winning 2, including the last with a BHV winner. Edberg serves out the set to love

Even in first set, Boris is in one of his moods, shrieking frustration at misses and talking to himself in German. Not sure what he’s saying, but it doesn’t sound like “I am wonderful and good” going by the tone. He indulges this stuff a bit more in second set. In between outbursts, he usually looks calm as can be

Boris starts staying back more and more off first serves in the second set and isn’t keen to rally forward either. With Edberg making almost every return, it turns his service games into as likely as not to be break affairs and he faces break points in all 5 games

Which doesn’t stop him from taking a 3-0 lead with 1 break. Having saved a break point to open (10 point game), he breaks to 15. Couple of pass winners to start (1 enabled by a bad volley, the other a great shot on the run), and Edberg finishes for him with a double fault and a FHV miss

Edberg breaks back to make it 2-3. Fends back OHs until Boris misses his third to open the game, wins a point when serve-volleying Boris leaves a return that lands in and finishes with a chip-charge return

2 trade deuce holds awhile later - Boris saving 2 break points, Edberg 1 - to make score 4-4 when the decisive break comes. Just 1/6 first serves in for Boris (the first serve is an ace), Edberg wins a couple of net points and scores with an immaculate BH drop shot winner. Serves out the set to 30

Third carries on in similar vein. Boris’ second and third holds last 12 and 10 points. Doesn’t face break point in the latter, while missing first serve 8/10 times. Thereafter, Boris’ in-count goes up and he gets a few freebies of the serve. He cuts out lobbing, that had been getting smashed away for winners and goes for more passes

It works. He finishes game 9 with 2 aces and a service winner in succession and then has 2 break points in following game, where Edberg also leaves a return that lands in for a winner. Edberg holds that game, but is broken next time around, a game featuring particularly powerful returns and passes by Boris

Lot of long games early in the 4th set. After Boris’ love hold to open, the next games last 10, 8, 18 and 14 points. They’re on serve at 3-2 at end of it, when Boris breaks to love. No more troubles for the server from there to end of set

The long games seem to have taken it out of Edberg and he’s showing signs of tiring at end of set. Misses a few not-easy or tricky (as opposed to hard) volleys, is a bit slow to move for returns or get down at net. Starts staying back off his serves more regularly too and goes for some point ending groundies from the back. In giving up the decisive break, he lets a Boris pass slip under his racquet for a clean winner

Momentum is with Boris starting the decider, and he carries on the good work to break for 1-0. Edberg starts missing an easy BHV and ends missing an OH, after having hit a not good one point before to allow Boris chance to nail a FH dtl pass winner

He only wins 1 more game. And oddly, its not due to any radical change in action. Baseline play is at its worst of the match in the set, with both players missing routine shots in short rallies. And Edberg ceases serve-volleying to about Boris’ frequency. Starting with his last game in 4th set, Edberg serve-volleys 8/16 first serves and 4/14 seconds, but he gets to net quickly, particularly on his first serve points

Inauspicious start to Boris’ attempt to consolidate early break as he slips while serve-volleying and touches the net. Bunch of baseline errors bring up break point, which Boris saves and follows up with a 2nd serve-volley, to avoid the baseline rallies

Block guided BH inside-out return pass winner is his reward. And on second break point, Boris stays back off the 2nd serve and looks for a point endingly powerful FH inside-out that he misses

He’s broken next time around too with Edberg taking net on last 2 points to seal the deal. Boris stays back off all 4 first serves in the game. What exactly goes through is head? He’d lost his serve the time before with loose backcourt errors on second serve points - and here he is, inviting the same thing to happen even on his first serves

Edberg holds an 8 point game where he was up 40-15 and doesn’t face break point to move ahead 5-2

And chooses now to bring out the chip-charge return. He uses the shot on all 4 Boris second serves of the game, including once when Boris serve-volleys. Wins 3/4, including the last point of the match with an OH. Other highlights of the game include Boris with a beautiful, wide BH1/2V first volley drop winner and Edberg smacking a BH inside-in return pass winner to bring up the only break/match point he needs to wrap up

Summing up, good match of slogging action. Edberg sticks to his serve-volley guns and does it well enough to hold with reasonable comfort. Becker mostly sticks it out on the baseline, but with his opponent returning consistently and taking an even share of baseline rallies, has a harder time holding onto his serve

Baseline play isn’t too good. Errors come from both players to routine balls after not so long rallies, but they’re equally not good to keep things even on that front

Both players do moderately well at net. Again, about to the same extent as one another. Neither can get their volleys through the court, but cover it well enough to come out ahead of the passer. Again, to about equal degree

Big difference is that Edberg’s at net a lot more than Becker is, so he grabs a bigger chunk of the net-player-getting-better-of-passer pie. With baseline rallies a wash, that leaves him with a lot more on his plate

Stats for the final between Edberg and Michael Chang - Match Stats/Report - Chang vs Edberg, French Open final, 1989 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)

 

[California]

Great write up, as always. Very fun match to watch, two fast court legends playing on clay and having to adjust their games. I find it interesting to see the changes/adjustments they employ to have success on the slow surface.

 

[jrepac]

I was quite surprised by this outcome. Was expecting Boris to win. Then even more shocked when Chang toppled Edberg!

 

[BringBackWood]

I'll have to watch this again sometime but for me, the high return rate and decent winner count belie the rather mediocre quality of the match. I don't know whether there were a disproportionate number of 'unimpressive' winners (like net-cords) or simply the overriding impression is of sloppy play described by Waspsting. I do remember one great winner from Edberg, possibly a lob from a lob.

So many matches I have no clue what the heck Boris is trying to achieve from the baseline. He's not going predominately for winners or trying to induce 'very' forced errors. And then he starts missing anyway, gets down on himself, what may be called the 'Boris spiral'. He may win, but if so it'll usually be ugly.

On the reverse I have seen a few matches where he has played with purpose, and that doesn't always mean rushing gung ho to the net. See his 91 match against Chang, his MC final with Brugera, against Chesnokov at MC.

 

[andreh]

My memory of this match isn't that it was poor quality, but rather a well-played match and the most entertaining of all the big matches between the two. More varied than their W finals.

 

[BringBackWood]

Not poor quality, just not nearly as good one might think from the stats.

 

[Waspsting]

I do remember one great winner from Edberg, possibly a lob from a lob.

Must be this one -

Edberg had had 32 from serve-volley points
....
- 13 second volleys (3 FHV, 3 BHV, 7 OH)... 1 FHV was a lob

...I have no clue what the heck Boris is trying to achieve from the baseline. He's not going predominately for winners or trying to induce 'very' forced errors. And then he starts missing anyway, gets down on himself, what may be called the 'Boris spiral'. He may win, but if so it'll usually be ugly.

On the reverse I have seen a few matches where he has played with purpose, and that doesn't always mean rushing gung ho to the net. See his 91 match against Chang, his MC final with Brugera, against Chesnokov at MC.

I agree and I don't think he knows either

He seems to want to be jack-of-all-trades - big serving, normal serving, serving out wide, serving towards the body

Serve-volleying and not serve-volleying

He does return the same way pretty much all the time

From baseline, he tries to do everything with the BH - top spin, drive, slice, slice-drive, short-slice/pseudo drop shot... going longline with the slices fairly often

Its too much. I'd take a solid drive or top spin BH cc you have 90% confidence in to all that stuff at 60% confidence in, which is about where he's at

As he goes about things, lots of variety but none of it too dependable, and he gives up big lot of errors

Contrast to Pete Sampras, a guy of similar skill and status, with a similar game. He knew exactly what he wanted to do in baseline rallies - camp out on BH side, very safely loop BHs cc determined not to make the error (doesn't always work, but if he blinks, its not because he's trying too many things) while daring opponent to go dtl, where he fancies taking his kill-or-die running FH with

 

[tennistiger]

If you see the Davis Cup Match on clay between this two in Göteborg half a year before it is difficult to understand that Becker lost this match.
After this loss he said that this day he could not handle the fact and preasure that he was the favorite for the semifinal and by winning also the top favorite in the final. And you can see the lack of concentration for periods the whole match. Not to forget that Edberg also had the luck on his side at many important points in games going over deuce.