Match Stats/Report - Edberg vs Bruguera, Madrid final, 1993

[Waspsting]

Stefan Edberg beat Sergi Bruguera 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in the Madrid final, 1993 on clay

This was Edberg's 3rd and last career title on clay and his only title for the year. Bruguera would go onto win the French Open shortly afterwards

Edberg won 101 points, Bruguera 74

Edberg serve-volleyed off all but 1 first serve and occasionally off seconds

(Note: I'm missing 1 Edberg service point, won by Bruguera)

Serve Stats
Edberg...
- 1st serve percentage (49/82) 60%
- 1st serve points won (38/49) 78%
- 2nd serve points won (16/33) 48%
- {Unknown serve point (0/1)}
- Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (23/82) 28%

Bruguera...
- 1st serve percentage (58/92) 63%
- 1st serve points won (29/58) 50%
- 2nd serve points won (16/34) 47%
- Aces 2
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/92) 12%

Serve Patterns
Edberg served...
- to FH 61%
- to BH 30%
- to Body 9%

Bruguera served...
- to FH 28%
- to BH 71%
- to Body 1%

Return Stats
Edberg made...
- 78 (26 FH, 52 BH), including 1 runaround FH, 11 return-approaches & 2 drop shots
- 2 Winners (2 BH), including 1 drop shot
- 9 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (6 BH), including 5 return-approach attempts
- 3 Forced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (78/89) 88%

Bruguera made...
- 54 (34 FH, 20 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 22 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 21 Forced (15 FH, 6 BH)
- Return Rate (54/77) 70%

Break Points
Edberg 7/12 (9 games)
Bruguera 2/10 (5 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Edberg 26 (3 FH, 2 BH, 8 FHV, 10 BHV, 3 OH)
Bruguera 19 (7 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)

Edberg had 12 from serve-volley points
- 5 first volleys (2 FHV, 3 BHV), including a BHV net chord dribbler
- 5 second volleys (1 FHV, 1 BHV, 3 OH)
- 1 fourth volley (1 BHV)
- 1 forced back and returned to net (1 FHV)

- FHs - 2 cc and 1 running-down-drop-volley at net
- BHs - 2 returns - 1 net chord dribbler and 1 drop shot

Bruguera's FHs - 3 cc (2 passes), 2 dtl (1 pass, 1 net-to-net), 1 inside-out pass and 1 cc/longline pass
- BHs - 2 cc passes, 4 dtl (2 passes), 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in return pass and 1 running-down-drop-shot at net net chord dribbler

- the FHV was a drop

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Edberg 38
- 23 Unforced (9 FH, 9 BH, 2 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 15 Forced (3 FH, 4 BH, 5 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 1 BH1/2V, 1 OH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.7

Bruguera 49
- 15 Unforced (5 FH, 10 BH)
- 34 Forced (17 FH, 7 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.7

(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)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Edberg was...
- 73/101 (72%) at net, including...
- 43/57 (75%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 36/47 (77%) off 1st serve and..
- 7/10 (70%) off 2nd serve
--
- 8/11 (73%) return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

Bruguera was...
- 12/21 (57%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back

Match Report
Bright match between a net rusher and a rally-'til-you-drop baseliner on clay, which one would think would favour the latter. That's not how it works out - Edberg completely imposes his game and Bruguera struggles to cope. First two sets are competitive, the third is one way traffic, with both Bruguera's level dropping and Edberg's going up

Edberg serve-volleys off all first serves throughout the match (1 exception, when he approaches off the third ball) and otherwise takes the net without difficulty. He comes in 33 times from rallying - in all, he's at net 101 times out of 174 points

First set, Bruguera breaks first with a pair of BH dtl passes, forcing a volleying error with a wide dipping ball and an Edberg approach error. Edberg breaks back immediately in an 8 point game - an excellent drop shot forces an error and Brug double faults on break point. Thereafter, its the Spaniard who has the run of the play. Edberg has to save 4 break points across 2 games. Anytime Edberg stays back - rallies tend to be gruelling ones and while Edberg holds up well in these, Brug does look the slightly better player.

Against run of play, Edberg breaks in a well played game. A good BH dtl approach forces an error, an excellent FH cc forces a baseline-to-baseline error... and on break point, Edberg has a spot of luck when a would be return-approach dribbles over the net chord for a winner. And Edberg serves out the set.

Second set is even tougher. Edberg looks for and finds the net more Edberg breaks to open in a spending game, where he wins 2 points using drop shots to approach. Bruguera himself hits a lovely touch BH1/2V, but Edberg's up to running the ball down and putting away a FH winner at net. Bruguera breaks back in a poor game from Edberg and next game, has to save just 1 break point in a 14 point affair. From 2-3 though, Edberg wins 10 of the final 12 games of the match

Bruguera's broken first in a bad game, with a double fault and a couple of uncharacteristic UEs. Edberg's third break in the set is down to him though with 3 winners - all showing great net instincts as well as skill on the volley

Edberg looks particularly hungry in the third, approaching still more, serve-volleying more off second serves. Bruguera's level drops. He's broken first chance to love in what almost looks like a tank - missing two easy BHs (a routine cc and a dtl from mid court) in short rallies and his returning consistency falls off

Serve & Return
Neither player does much with the serve. Bruguera's is basically a gimme. First serve is easy to return and the second is an invitation to chip-charge which Edberg is quick to accept. 5/9 Edberg return errors are attempted chip-charges

Edberg's serve is likewise innocuous. No aces and the 1 service winner is a body serve that takes a bad bounce to leap straight at Bruguera's head from a normal length. Sans the serve-volleying, shouldn't be a problem at all to return

In fact, even with serve-volleying it isn't much. Bruguera's only missed 10 returns in the first two sets. In the third, he misses 13.... that's due to his return failing rather than Edberg serving extra well. One oddity. Take a look at Edberg's serve pattern - 61% to the FH, more than double what he serves to the BH

I don't recall Bruguera having a game that would warrant such an approach. Edberg starts off about 50-50 and serves more and more to the FH as the match wears on. In third set, Bruguera is just trying to push FH returns back in play. He wasnt' doing that earlier in the match... maybe Edberg noticed something I missed. It looks to me like Bruguera just started returning badly at that juncture. Allied to a near tanked looking poor service game early in the third, it looked like it might be born of frustration

Edberg though returns well. Up against a weak serve or not, you can't do much more than put 88% of them back in play. His chip-charge returns are excellent - sharp and deep and to both wings. Bruguera frequently has to move significantly to reach the ball, making the upcoming pass that much harder. Edberg return-approaches off a couple of well placed normal returns also - again showing that fine net instinct

1 excellent return winner - a BH dtl drop shot. Possibly an accident, but I don't think so

 

[Moose Malloy]

Nice match to choose for stats, I was excited when this got posted to YouTube. Crazy result, Edberg beating bruguera handily in Spain shortly before bruguera won RG(but there is high altitude in Madrid, which players say causes the ball to fly a bit)

As far as bruguera, I saw him a ton. His bh return was more dangerous vs attacking players. Edberg probably knew this. Maybe I'll post my stats on him vs Becker at 94 YEC and vs Sampras at 97 Miami sometime. I hope his match vs Rafter at 94 W is available some day, a remarkable display of returning and passing (from what I've seen and read)

Crazy that Edberg came in 100 times on clay(in a short match) and won 72% of the points. I think Mac vs Arias in 84 RG is the only better % I've seen for someone who came in a lot on clay.

 

[Waspsting]

Baseline, Volley, Passes & Strategy
That Edberg is so hungry to be at net is predictable. Bruguera though is either unable to stop him or uninterested in trying

In baseline situations, Bruguera makes no effort to target one wing or another. Given how obvious it is that Edberg is looking to come in off BHs, one imagines he wasn't bothered at the prospect of hitting passing shots. Its not sound strategy given how good Edberg was at net.... when your the stronger baseliner and your opponent is winning 72% points at net, wouldn't you want to stop him from getting there?

Edberg is equally strong off both wings in the match. Pretty consistent (9 UEs off both wings - on the BH, that's 1 less than Bruguera had) but with different strategies. On the BH, he mostly slices and looks for approach chances. On the FH, he this harder and mostly cc. Hard enough to be a match for Bruguera FH-FH.... but the context is always that he's seeking a way to net, without making a mad dash for it. Good, balanced play from Edberg

He also makes very good use of the drop shot, usually approaching off it to boot. Great disguise - looks just like a regular slice, just shorter. So much so that I'm not fully sure some of them weren't half accidents (I don't think they were)

Bruguera is almost wholly passive from the back. Just puts balls back in play without much heat, or seeming plan behind it. He makes misses a few routine BHs, which are costly. Its ok for Edberg to do so since making every ball isn't the base of his game, but for Sergi, its anamolous.

Bruguera himself shows some decent net game. He makes a very difficult BH1/2V as well as possible (loses the point though, Edberg running up to dispatch the ball net to net) and hits a picture perfect angled dropped FHV winner. Most of his 21 net approaches involve drop shots and doesn't have much to do with his volleying, but on evidence on show, he looks to have a decent net game and might have considered coming in more himself

Allowing play to unfold off Edberg's racquet so, that leaves Bruguera to make passing shots. While Edberg approached smartly and well, I thought Bruguera's passing was a bit off. The court is such that there's plenty of time to line up passes and have second chances at them. He doesn't make the most of it

An illustration of the courts pace is Edberg finishing a serve-volley point with his 4th volley. That's rare enough as it is, but in the blue moon it happens, dynamics are usually rapid fire close in passes vs volley. This one was like a good baseline rally on a hard court. If it takes 4 good volleys to get a winner, then the passer has a plenty of time in general

Plenty of credit to Edberg, who volleys excellently but also a little discredit to Bruguera on the pass. 9 Forced errors in the forecourt for Edberg (1s a BH at net)… with all the passes Bruguera made, good scope to have made Edberg sweat a bit more up front

Summing up, good match with excellent net play by Edberg, supported by consistent baselining and overly passive of strategy and game from Bruguera

And a good clay result for Stefan. He won his 5 matches in the tournament without loss of set, including wins over specialists Emilio Sanchez and Alex Corretja. Taking net play as a given, its probably his baseline consistency that's the biggest factor in the result

 

[Moose Malloy]

Not sure I would call Sanchez and Corretja specialists, but yeah they were great on clay. Great late career win for Edberg. 4 of his 5 opponents were from Spain. Not sure I've seen anyone beat 4 players from the same country to win an event in that country(not counting the days when the entire tour was made up mostly of Americans and Aussies)

I wonde how many spaniards were in the Madrid draw that year.

 

[Mainad]

Of Edberg's 41 singles titles, just 3 came on clay: 1986 Gstaad (b. Stadler), 1992 Hamburg (b. Stich), 1993 Madrid (b. Bruguera).

Interestingly, his home event in Bastad was not one of them. He seems to have been the only top Swedish player never to win the singles title there losing heavily to Wilander in the 1985 final (winning just 1 game) and to Nyström in 1987 (he did however pick up the doubles title in both those years in partnership with Järryd).

 

[andreh]

Great win from Edberg. Edberg's clay court record is very good for someone playing S&V as much as he did. 3 tournament wins, 1 RG final and 3 RG QFs. Not too shabby. If anyone has a Youtube link with good image quality for this match, please share. The one I've seen is pretty bad.