Match Stats/Report - Edberg vs Chang, Wimbledon fourth round, 1990

[Waspsting]

Stefan Edberg beat Michael Chang 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 in the Wimbledon fourth round, 1990 on grass

Edberg would go onto win the title by beating Boris Becker in the final. Chang was seeded 13th

Edberg won 90 points, Chang 60

Edberg serve-volleyed off all first serves and about two-thirds off second serves

Serve Stats
Edberg...
- 1st serve percentage (53/69) 77%
- 1st serve points won (34/53) 64%
- 2nd serve points won (9/16) 56%
- Aces 4, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (23/69) 33%

Chang...
- 1st serve percentage (47/81) 58%
- 1st serve points won (20/47) 43%
- 2nd serve points won (14/34) 41%
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/81) 14%

Serve Patterns
Edberg served...
- to FH 43%
- to BH 46%
- to Body 12%

Chang served...
- to FH 51%
- to BH 41%
- to Body 8%

Return Stats
Edberg made...
- 69 (36 FH, 33 BH), including 1 runaround FH, 1 runaround BH & 12 return-approaches
- 3 Winners (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 9 Unforced (3 FH, 6 BH), including 1 runaround BH, 2 return-approach attempts & 1 drop-return attempt
- 2 Forced (1 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (69/80) 86%

Chang made...
- 45 (19 FH, 26 BH)
- 11 Winners (4 FH, 7 BH)
- 18 Errors, all forced...
- 18 Forced (10 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (45/68) 66%

Break Points
Edberg 9/16 (9 games)
Chang 3/4 (4 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Edberg 22 (4 FH, 3 BH, 3 FHV, 5 BHV, 7 OH)
Chang 23 (7 FH, 11 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)

Edberg had 9 from serve-volley points -
- 5 first volleys (4 BHV, 1 OH)
- 4 second volleys (1 FHV, 3 OH)

- 2 from return-approach points (2 OH)

- FH passes - 2 cc (1 at net), 1 inside-in return
- BHs (all passes) - 1 cc, 1 dtl return, 1 inside-out return

- regular FH - 1 cc

Chang had 17 passes - 11 returns (4 FH, 7 BH) & 6 regular (2 FH, 4 BH)
- FH returns - 1 cc return, 3 dtl
- BH returns - 4 cc, 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in
- regular FHs - 2 cc
- regular BHs - 4 cc

- regular (non-pass) FH - 1 cc at net

- 2 from serve-volley points - a first volley BHV & a third volley OH

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Edberg 25
- 13 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH, 5 FHV, 4 BHV)
- 12 Forced (1 FH, 3 BH, 3 FHV, 4 BHV, 1 BHOH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 54.6

Chang 44
- 15 Unforced (8 FH, 5 BH, 2 BHV)
- 29 Forced (11 FH, 16 BH, 1 BHV, 1 Behind-Back)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.7

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

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Edberg was....
- 61/97 (63%) at net, including...
- 33/59 (56%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 29/48 (60%) off 1st serve and...
- 4/11 (36%) off 2nd serve
---
- 7/12 (58%) return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

Chang was...
- 13/25 (52%) at net, including...
- 6/14 (43%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 6/13 (46%) off 1st serve and...
- 0/1 off 2nd serve
---
- 1/3 (33%) forced back

Match Report
Interesting encounter for a 3, 2 & 1 scoreline. Chang’s weak serve lays the foundation for getting drubbed, but Edberg outplays him from the baseline beautifully. Chang’s returning is impressive. And Edberg isn’t actually too hot at net

Not what you might think from the scoreline

Chang’s weak serve. Harmless as can be, easy to return and probably attacked if Edberg were actively looking to. He has little reason to as he dominates baseline starting point rallies - both for being better baseliner and skilfully finding net. And he does attack second serves with chip-charges. Could probably do the same to first if he wanted

Ground UEs - Edberg 4, Chang 13
Rallying to net - Edberg 21/26, Chang 7/11
… along with low 14% unreturned rate (no aces) sums up Chang’s service games

Chang’s strong returns though are a real threat to Edberg. He starts match taking first returns from well inside court, just as he had in ‘89 French final. By end, he’s returning from more normal, 1 step behind baseline, but still stepping in and taking returns early

Chang’s got 11 return winners from 45 successful returns and return rate of 66%. Figures anybody would sign up for against Edberg on grass. Taking returns so early also minimizes Edbeg’s time on the first volley. Edberg ‘only’ wins 56% points serve-volleying - 60% firsts and lowly 36% seconds. Takes to staying back off second serves and rallying to net instead (he wins all 5 such points)

Edberg with pretty high 9 volley UEs. He’s only got 8 bona fida volley winners (excluding 7 OH winners, so a twisted account, but still). Relatively tough UEs - height and direction of balls are routine, but with Chang’s advanced position, little less time then completely routine - but still UEs, which by defintion are not ‘tough’

3 breaks in 3 short sets by Chang is good. And completely in vain, given he’s broken 9/12 service games

Edberg’s serve games
Good contest here. Chang starts by taking returns from a good pace and a half inside court. Both heels are well clear off the baseline. Rushed some to return, seemingly reluctantly moves back a little, but comes in earlier after awhile for a few points

Eventually, more or less settles to pace behind baseline against first serves, a step or 2 further up for seconds. Occasionally stepping up further, but not as if checking to see if he can do so all the time like earlier in match

Chang returns firmly, short of powerfully. As early as he takes returns, it comes to the same thing. If he hit ‘powerfully’ from where he’s standing, Edberg would be reflex volleying first volleys. Edberg doesn’t have luxury of excess time on first volley, but isn’t down to reflex reaction time for them either

Edberg with 5 first volley and 4 second volley winners while serve-volleying.. He’s also got 8 volley UEs (most, but not all serve-volleying), along with 8 FEs

Chang on his end has 11 return winners, returning at 66%. and 6 regular passing winners to go with about 25 passing errors (he has 27 ground FEs, small few of them in baseline rallies). The regular pass winners and FEs are split across all games, not just Edberg’s service ones

Initially, Edberg serve-volleys 100% of the time, but eases back on second serve
In all, he second serve-volleys 63% of the time. Wins 36% so doing, and perfect 5/5 not doing so

Few points
- 5 first volley winners and 4 second volley ones is unusually post-first volley heavy for Edberg

Partly due to Chang maniacally racing about to get racquet on ball to deny first volley winners. He actually eases up on this a little as match goes on, but even by his standards, some of the balls Chang races for is waste of energy and time. Partly due to Edberg not being all on (as opposed to ‘off’) on the volley. 9 UEs isn’t small, and not all of them are ‘hard’ UEs as described earlier

3/4 second volley winners are OHs. Not a bad idea by Chang to lob. He does it both out of necessity and as a free choice. Around this period, Edberg’s smashing could be shakey. He’s flawless in this match though and strikes a few wonderful back-pedalling winners. His only error is BHOH that’s very much forced and Chang has no lob winners

- Does Chang’s returning scare Edberg away from full second serve-volleying? Probably not. While all this is going on, Edberg’s easily able to find net and dominate from there in Chang’s service games. Return is Chang’s most potent passing weapon, as 11 return pass winners to just 6 regular pass ones testify

Chang’s ratio of regular pass winnersof 6 to passing errors of about 25 is poor. That’s more reflection of commanding Edberg approaches (which we’ll get to in a bit) and having hopeless to poor looks on the pass than anything being wrong with his passing ability

Staying back on second serves is a good move from Edberg and validated by his winning 5/5. He’s only 4/11 serve-volleying by contrast. Not that he remains back on those points, usually coming in early in similar way to how he does in return games

Good move, but still unusual for typical 100% serve-volleyer like him to do so. In ‘93 semi-final with Jim Courier, he’d continue to constantly serve-volley, despite getting an awe-inspiring thrashing from the return. Would not expect player like Edberg to ease back on serve-volleying for a few return winners going by - whether it’s a good move or not - so smartly done

- not much to be done about the volleying FEs. Chang’s winning returns are unanswerable. 8 FEs for Edberg. Most of them may as well be passing winners. All credit to Chang’s returns and passes here. Edberg wouldn’t get a grade on his handling of tough volleys (low and wide). He faces near impossible ones or is able to cover the volley. Lack of time due to combo of Chang’s early position and firm force is tricky part of handling volleys. Not much wide, lunging or shoelace volleying to be done

- 77% first serves in by Edberg is very good. He’s got 4 aces and a service winner, which for him isn’t a given

In all, Edberg winning 64% first serve points, which goes down to 60% sans aces and service winners. That’s a good otucome from Chang’s point of view

His 56% second serve points won is good for Edberg and enabled by thoughtful adjustment to not serve-volley all the time. Serve-volleying, he wins just 36% second serve points. That rate extended to 100% second serve volleying would leave Edberg very vulnerable to being broken

He’s not safe as is and gets broken 3 times in 12 games. It doesn’t matter because…

 

[Waspsting]

Chang’s serve games
Chang’s broken 9 times in 12 games
Harmless, weak serve. First and second. And badly directed

He’s not the only player to fall into the “Edberg weak FH” trap and directs 51% serves to FH, 41% to BH
Edberg has 4 FH return errors, 7 BHs

Granted, with a point-starting serve, wouldn’t matter where he served, but clearly, Edberg’s more consistent returning off the FH than BH. Chang’s serve force is such that Edberg spontaneously runsaround a first serve to play a BH return (he also has an error trying). 9/11 Edberg return errors have been marked UEs, with the 2 exceptions being due to Chang serve-volleying. Sans serve-volleying, maybe 1 or 2 Chang serves would qualify as forceful, and possibly, straight out 0. He doesn’t have an ace

Edberg returning easily. And he chip-charges, winning 7/12 so doing. Could probably do it a lot more if he felt the need and not just against first serves
There’s no reason him to feel the need. Once return’s made, he readily outplays Chang from baseline

Some neutral, dual winged rallying stuff implemented by Chang. Edberg’s either more secure or can manufacture an approach in those. Chang, possibly frustrated, switches to going for some big, attacking shots. Usually misses. Finally, towards end, Chang takes to serve-volleying regularly behind first serves. Doesn’t do great at that either

No real net seeking from Chang from baseline rallies

How does all that look in numbers?

Ground to ground UEs read Edberg 4, Chang 13, broken down as -
- Edberg FH 1
- Edberg BH 3
- Chang BH 5
- Chang FH 8

1 neutral UE by Edberg, 7 by Chang
Edberg with only winner in pure baseline rally, a FH cc. Chang has a FH cc at net

And rallying to net figures -
- Edberg 21/26 or 81%, Chang 7/11 or 64%

Edberg finding net usually from neutral situation and occasionally after outmanuvering Chang. Good, low slice approaches, often deep (more importantly, not short). And usually longline
Approaches do slightly more of the work than the volley and Edberg’s success rate is covered in previous section

Chang isn’t able to overpower Edberg, who handles the hitting strainlessly. Even saying ‘handled’, which implies there is something that needs handling, is misleading. Baseline rallies look like one between equals - neutral rallies, not lead-react dynamics - with neither player particularly looking to take charge or overpower. Chang’s few attempts end in errors, and Edberg cuts to the chase by approaching

Chang serve-volleys regularly in last set behind first serves. Wins 6/14 so doing. Would not expect him to hold for long serve-volleying behind that serve, but in this match, he can’t hold for long doing anything

Chang doesn’t look to find net from rallies. He wouldn’t have ready opportunities since hitting’s a wash, but volleys well. Generally speaking, of the bassliners of the period (Agassi, Courier, et. al), Chang’s the most comfortable and capable volleyer. His form on the volley doesn’t even speak to him being a ‘baseliner’, and he can pass as an all courter who regularly takes net from rallies on that front. Some brilliant, dashing showings in that style of play too such as ‘95 YEC semi versus Sampras

Gist - slaughter. Edberg returning easily. Edberg much more secure off the ground. Edberg able to find net without trouble. Edberg dominating net, as much for well placed approach shots as volleying. Chang watching

Match Progression
Chang’s well inside the baseline to take returns in first game, which Edberg holds to 30
Edberg snags break immediately for 2-0 in a 10 point game. Edberg’s at net on 7 of those points, reaching their silkily. Game ends though with Chang missing a routine FH

Odd passing winner from Chang, odd easy or routine volley miss from Edberg next few Chang service games. Its not something Chang would want to count on to keep holding
Very strong game from Chang to break back for 3-4 - winning FH cc return, 2 BH cc return-pass winners and a blistering BH inside-in return that may as well be a winner
Edberg though, breaks right back, with Chang baseline UEs sandwiching an Edberg FH cc winner to end the game. Edberg serves out to 30

Edberg continues to return easily in second set and take net either with the return or from rallies. Chang gets a little flustered and lets loose with some big groundies, which end up missing. Edberg in time stays back off a few second serves, while Chang by the end of the set start serve-volleying off first serves

3 breaks in a row to start the set. In being broken twice, Chang wins his share of Edberg’s net points and its baseline UEs from him that lose him the games. In between, he nails couple cc return-pass winners (1 of each wing) and another big return to break himself

Edberg adds another to go up 4-1, again with Chang’s ground UEs the main cause. For a change, they’re aggressive errors
For rest of match, Chang regularly serve-volleys off first serve. An can hold just 1 of 5 games so doing

Even as Edberg cruises through third set 6-1, the highlight game is Chang’s sole break. From 15-0 down, he hits 3 return-pass winners and forces a shoelace volleying error to break

Serve-volleying Chang struggles against good solid return passes, with choice wide placed winner thrown in. Also only makes 14/31 first serves, and as before, Edberg’s apt to take net in baseline starting points to dominate

Summing up, one sided but interesting match with weakness of Chang’s shaping things. Its harmless and easily returned

Edberg’s at his silky best from the baseline, rallying along easily and creating approaches from there. Its Chang that blinks up errors, and has little answer against opponents well constructed and strong approaches

Despite the thrashing, Chang returns well and regularly knocks away return-pass winners to extent of causing Edberg to desist from serve-volleying some, but it’s a good move from Edberg to do so, as he can find net at his leisure from rallies, while avoiding the dangers of Chang’s brilliant return-passes. Edberg’s a little off in his volleying consistency but with all his other advantageous, could afford to be a lot more off and still win comfortably

Stats for the final between Edberg and Boris Becker - Match Stats/Report - Edberg vs Becker, Wimbledon final, 1990 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)
Stats for other Edberg matches at the event - Match Stats/Reports - Catalogue | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)

 

[KingCarlitos]

I know Chang didn’t have an incredible slam winning career after his first but Im going to just appreciate the insanity of a 17 year old winning a slam. A shame his speed declined into his 20s.

 

[andreh]

Is the OP performing some sort of public service here or does he himself find this tedious level of minutiae interesting?

Waspsting's reports are one of the things I truly appreciate on this forum. Keep at it.

 

[WCT]

Waspsting's reports are one of the things I truly appreciate on this forum. Keep at it.

Amen.

 

[HBK4life]

Waspsting's reports are one of the things I truly appreciate on this forum. Keep at it.

Here here