Match Stats/Report - Edberg vs Lendl, Tokyo Indoor final, 1987

[Waspsting]

Stefan Edberg beat Ivan Lendl 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 in the Tokyo Indoor final, 1987 on carpet

It was #2 ranked Edberg’s first title at the event.#1 ranked Lendl was a former 2 time champion and would go onto win 3 more afterwards. Lendl had lost 12 games in his 4 matches leading into the final

Edberg won 99 points, Lendl 99

Edberg serve-volleyed off all but 2 first serves and most off the time off seconds

Serve Stats
Edberg...
- 1st serve percentage (61/98) 62%
- 1st serve points won (48/61) 79%
- 2nd serve points won (20/37) 54%
- Aces 4
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (36/98) 37%

Lendl...
- 1st serve percentage (61/100) 61%
- 1st serve points won (48/61) 79%
- 2nd serve points won (21/39) 54%
- Aces 11
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (25/100) 25%

Serve Patterns
Edberg served...
- to FH 26%
- to BH 65%
- to Body 8%

Lendl served...
- to FH 37%
- to BH 59%
- to Body 4%

Return Stats
Edberg made...
- 75 (27 FH, 48 BH), including 4 return-approaches
- 14 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- 11 Forced (5 FH, 6 BH)
- Return Rate (75/100) 75%

Lendl made...
- 59 (17 FH, 42 BH)
- 5 Winners (2 FH, 3 BH)
- 32 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 30 Forced (7 FH, 23 BH)
- Return Rate (59/95) 62%

Break Points
Edberg 3/8 (4 games)
Lendl 1/2 (2 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Edberg 31 (1 FH, 4 BH, 11 FHV, 8 BHV, 7 OH)
Lendl 31 (11 FH, 15 BH, 4 FHV, 1 BHV)

Edberg had 19 from serve-volley points -
- 10 first volleys (4 FHV, 5 BHV, 1 OH)... 1 FHV can reasonably be called a FHV
- 7 second volleys (3 FHV, 4 OH)... 1 FHV was a net chord roll-over
- 1 fourth volley (1 OH)
- 1 re-approach volley (1 FHV)

- FH - 1 inside-out
- BHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 2 dtl

Lendl's had 18 passes - 4 returns (1 FH, 3 BH) & 14 regular (6 FH, 8 BH)
- FH return - 1 longline
- BH returns - 1 cc, 1 inside-out, 1 down-the-middle (a net chord flicker)
- regular FHs - 2 cc (1 at net), 2 dtl, 1 longline (that hits Edberg), 1 lob
- regular BHs - 4 cc, 3 dtl, 1 inside-out

- non-pass FHs - 2 cc, 1 dtl return, 1 inside-in/cc
- BHs - 2 cc, 1 longline, 1 net chord dribbler from net

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Edberg 34
- 29 Unforced (6 FH, 15 BH, 4 FHV, 4 BHV)
- 11 Forced (1 FH, 4 BH, 3 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.6

Lendl 32
- 11 Unforced (5 FH, 6 BH)
- 21 Forced (8 FH, 13 BH)... with 1 BH pass attempt at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.5

(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...
- 76/109 (70%) at net, including...
- 59/81 (73%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 42/55 (76%) off 1st serve and...
- 17/26 (65%) off 2nd serve
---
- 0/4 return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

Lendl was...
- 13/19 (68%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve

Match Report
Lovely match where Edberg returns better and is on point with his volleying to gain a small advantage that he sees through to victory in a tight match, with a bit of luck falling his way nudging chances his way too. Court is quickish and low bouncing

Break points - Edberg 3/8 (4 games), Lendl 1/2 (2 games) is the stat of importance. The only one, because all the others are all but identical

Both players win 99 points (Edberg serving 98, Lendl 100)
First serve in - Edberg 62%, Lendl 61%
First serve won - both 79% (perfect match with both having 48/61)
Second serve won - both 54%

Can’t get any statistically closer. In light of Edberg’s break point advantage, that means Lendl holds serve a little more easily on average

It doesn’t matter. So Lendl holds to love, when Edberg holds to 15 and Lendl holds to 15 when Edberg holds to 30 (probably after being 40-0 or 40-15 up). The trend is both players in control of their service games, so practically, what’s does matter is prospects of the servers way of holding faltering

Edberg serve-volleys to hold - unreturned serves, and dashing volleys - his usual
Lendl plays from baseline, outlasting Edberg to draw errors is his modus operandi, and he targets the BH

For Edberg to break, he’d need to win a few baseline rallies or be successful finding net and scoring there
For Lendl, to return and pass strongly or/and have Edberg muck up on routine volleys or double fault

Which is more likely?
I would say Edberg, though as stats indicate, there turns out to be very little in it

Lendl’s only break features 4 consecutive passing winners, including 2 on the dead run. That’s an awful lot to do to get a break. He returns and passes well enough to potentially threaten, but Edberg’s volleying stays too good. He doesn’t return badly, but there’s room from improvement too

Edberg garners breaks as prescribed, and needs a dash of luck beyond that. 1 break ends with an overrule of a Lendl winner into a corner - looks like right call, but with Chair doing little else all match, its iffy. The other features a 1 in 10-20 full running BH cc passing winner from Edberg, which makes him laugh

Points of interest for the match include
- both players returning (Edberg excellent, Lendl not bad with room for improvement)
- Edberg’s outstanding volleying, Lendl passing well and moving very, very well
- Lendl successfully targetting Edberg’s BH (shows he has brains)
- Lendl’s varying net hunger (that one’s ‘iffy, with respect to the brains it shows)

Edberg’s serve games
Edberg with a above average powerful serve, not as powerful as Lendl. Not hitting his spots too well, and Lendl’s rarely forced to lunge and reach for the return. Decent number of body or otherwise cramping serves - he’s serves 8% to the body, much lower than what he’d come to do in years to come, but not low by a normal standard. And he mixes up pace of serves, with effective, surprise slower first serves that tend to catch Lendl out and playing too early

He serve-volleys virtually always - 96% of first serves and 76% off seconds - and more and more as match goes on. In first set, stays back off the odd serve and content to play from baseline on those points. By third set, 100% serve-volley (also, more net seeking in return games, more on that later)

37% unreturned rate, with just 4 aces (2 in first game). Low aces sign of the not wide serving. Much of the rest is about serve-volleying forcing the return error, not the serve alone

That’s high enough to get him to hold on its own much of the time. Not necessarily bad from Lendl’s point of view though. As long as he can hold (and clearly, he can), making good returns at 62% return rate could be good to break once a set, which is likely all he’ll need

Lendl mixes up his returns. Slaps a few, guides a few, blocks a few. Looks for overpowering return, looks for just wide enough returns

With so many returns in reach, maybe 62% return rate is on low side. In general, Lendl tends to err on side of making return errors going for too much, rather than leaving routine volleys, that gives server scope to mess up. Against Edberg (both in general and specifically this match) that’s understandable, given how well he volleys

Still, a can-do-better just on consistency grounds. He’s not looking to slap winning returns. While it varies, his mode return is powerful, around net, slightly under. At that level of damaging and with returns where he can reach them, would look to get a few more in. The extent to which he’s caught out by slower first serves is also avoidable

Edberg volleys superbly. Knocks volleys away for winners, or punches them to corners hard. Makes good of the difficult ones (to feet and/or wide). Well as he punches the volleys, they woudn’t even have to be to corners to peg Lendl back and give him unlikely pass

For that matter, Lendl passes well and moves superbly. Hammers the passes. And he’s as quick as I’ve seen him in running down corner volleys and having a crack at them

In general, Lendl’s an efficient mover, seemingly always in right place without strain. Against Edberg’s corner volleying, he’s forced to showcase his top footspeed - and its upto the considerable challenge of reaching ball

In all, Lendl returns powerfully enough, at can-do-better rate of getting return in, to expect to draw volley UEs and a few weak volleys that he can crack a good pass at after. But Edberg’s close to flawless in in dealing with the routine + volley (well hit of power, slightly under net), barely missing and angling/punching them away to corners - credit Edberg for the outcomes, good from Lendl too, with can-do-better in getting a few more returns in

Edberg on the volley has 26 winners, 7 UEs, 6 FEs
Lendl has 18 passing winners (4 returns) and 21 ground FEs (virtually all passes)

Edberg’s UEs are mostly in return games (among other things, he’s 0/4 return-approaching), so no hindrance to holding. Good passing hit rate by Lendl - and its even better than it looks because of how damaging Edberg’s volleys are

On top of the strong punches and placement, Edberg volleying where he wants. 13/21 Lendl FEs are BHs and he’s got 8 regular passes off that side, to 6 FHs (excluding returns)

Gist - great contest between volley and pass, both players excelling. Edberg’s punch and corner placement is good enough to thwart Lendl’s power and speed in reaching the ball. The serve-return contest is less high end - Edberg not with best of placement, Lendl not best of consistency

 

[Waspsting]

Lendl’s serve games
Good, hefty serving from Lendl at healthy 61% in count. No double faults too
And great job by Edberg moving about to make difficult returns, Power of serve is usually a challenge in itself, and even slightly wide on top of that is difficult. He doesn’t miss much against

Lendl with 11 aces, but forcing just 14 return errors is (slightly twisted) indicator of how good Edberg is at making tough returns

‘Slightly twisted’ because fair few of those aces are in the third set, where Edberg goes up a break at the start and takes it a a little (stress on little) easy to allow a few aces by. Otherwise, aced 11 times while making 14 return errors is what it sounds like - almost anything shy of the untouchable comes back. Its the movement on second shot that does it - both generally and here, a key part of Edberg’s game

Fair authority with the return, with Lendl dispatching the odd third ball into open court for winner after drawing Edberg off court

Then they rally from the baseline. Lendl leads and he directs play to Edberg’s BH. With his BH most of the time, but he also redirects FHs longline fairly often and rarely, goes for series of beat-down FH inside-outs

Its smart and Lendl knows what he’s doing. However stilted Edberg’s FH looks, its 1 of the most secure shots in the game. And Lendl’s ploy works

Ground UEs
- FHs - Edberg 6, Lendl 5
- BHs - Edberg 15, Lendl 6

with neutral UEs - Edberg 16, Lendl 7

And Lendl’s done very well to outdo Edberg’s BH, which isn’t a weak shot either, to that extent. Edberg more free in going for dtl winners - he has 2 + 1 cc from rallies, while Lendl’s 3 ground-to-ground winners are third balls set up by the serve - as he can afford to be since its not going to get him broken

Drives and slices and chips are all on show, and Lendl’s very secure with all of it over a worthy adversary - fine job by Lendl off the BH

What happens if Lendl plays more FHs? He can outhit Edberg, though whether that leads to winning points remains to be seen (a trap many of Edberg’s opponents fall into). Lendl’s style if powering on with beat-down FHs until he draws error, rather than smacking winners into corners, so if errors don’t come from Edberg, he’d need another reliable finisher

Coming to net. Lendl does that early in match, with good success. He ends up winning 12/18 rallying to net, coming in after gaining advantage from the back (not necessarily off the FH). He volleys very well too - with 0 errors of any kind on the full (again, something that one often sees in him matches)

Later in the match, he ceases coming to net, with the double whammy of not finishing points himself and Edberg moving forward instead

Edberg’s 17/24 rallying to net or 71%. Some sneak-in’s, other work-way-forward from minor, wide shots and certainly not coming in off overly powerful shots. As secure as Lendl is off the ground, he’s not hard-hitting to point of discouraging Edberg moving in, and with so much BH play, considerable amount of it slicey and chippy, a net-minded player has room to manufacture approaches as Edberg does

Disinclination to finish at net after gaining advantage from back is a general fault of Lendl’s. When it gets compounded by opponent coming in, particularly one who volleys like Edberg, that’s a bad outcome for him. And a foolish one

Low freebies (credit Edberg’s excellent returning) + relying on BH rock play (it works, but not a given it would) is starting point for Lendl

...+ net play of his own, born of being stronger hitter from back = good prospects of holding for Lendl, but
...+ Edberg coming in, with Lendl content to stay back = not good prospects for Lendl to hold for long

Lendl’s net avoidance mostly happens in third set, when he’s a break down right from get go and Edberg eases up a bit on his efforts to return tough serves. Doens’t end up costing Lendl, but wouldn’t expect him to win playing that way

 

[Waspsting]

Match Progression
Brilliant start to the match. Edberg knocks back to aces, Lendl slams a perfect FH longling return pass winner that’s just too powerful though not being at all wide in the first game, and Edberg knocks away a FHV winner
Lendl responds with 2 aces of his own, which makes him smile (next ace in the match isn’t til Set 2, Game 3), takes net to aggressively win point, before Edberg smacks away a BH dtl winner after a rally, before missing the same shot next point

Then Lendl breaks with 4 successive passing winners - guided BH inside-out return, running FH dtl, BH dtl after strong return draws firm volley and a running FH lob. Perfect
Edberg responds by breaking back, with a couple of net points and a finishing with another BH dtl winner

No more breaks or break points, but excellent tennis from both players for rest of set. Edberg stays back not infrequently, just as Lendl comes to net. Some gorgeous, perfect passing shots. A Lendl BH cc in particular. He has a FH longline one too, that strikes Edberg, which Lendl briefly acknowledges. Some brilliant corner volleys from Edberg and Lendl’s speed to reach such balls is exceptional too

Tiebreak. Edberg opens by missing a regulation, under-net BHV, but pinches mini back by drawing a good-look, passing error

Lendl goes up again with a good running pass that forces a running BHV error. That proves enough, with rest of points going on serve, though there’s plenty of fine tennis there too - Lendl spanking a BH dtl pass winner against a delayed return-approach, a lunging FHV from Lendl, Edberg, a well handled BHV winner from Edberg against a return at his body. Lendl draws a BH UE to finish up, after Edberg made a good, deep return

Edberg eases into serve-volleying 100% of the time in second set. The action is still excellent, servers holding, but returners not out of it

Particularly good FH inside-in/cc third ball winner from Lendl against a good return that he has to hop back to meet. Unusual shot choice for him. He has the first break point in game 6, brought up by a double fault, after some power returns and passes from Lendl. Edberg holds with unreturned serves and BHV winner, the returns makeable

Fantastic game right after sees the he break. It’s a 12 point game, with a series of amazing exchanges of pass and volley, with both players at net on different times (Lendl more). Some great volleys from Lendl

The crucial point is Edberg coming away with a full running, BH cc passing winner. A 1/20 type shot that makes Edberg laugh. It brings up break point on which a rally develops with the 2 trading BHs. Edberg makes to approach behind a cc slice but thinks better of it - it looks like a change of mind, not a fake-out - and wonder, Lendl misses routine BH in response

Lendl’s got 0-30 next game before unreturned serves do their thing and Edberg eventually goes on to serve out to 15 to fore decider

He breaks to open that decider. Lendl missing third ball attacking BH cc to open court, Edberg dashing to net, making a half-volley first up and coming away with a FHV net to net winner and perfect BH cc winner from a rally makes things 15-40. Edberg misses a sitters BHV for winner on the second break point, and its back to deuce

Another third ball BH cc to open court miss by Lendl raises a third break point, in which a rally develops with Lendl aiming pressuring FH inside-outs and Edberg slice-blocking them back. Lendl switches tacks and goes for the inside-in winner, which the Chair call out

Lendl’s not a happy bunny, but ball does look out. Only other overrule Chair makes was calling a fault on an Edberg serve in the first set ‘breaker, which didn’t amuse Edberg, justifiably, given there were a whole host of serves as close as that one

3 blistering passes get Lendl to deuce before Edberg consolidates and Lendl’s down 15-40 again, with Edberg crowding net. Lendl holds and endures another deuce hold later for the same reason of Edberg coming to net

There is a change in the third set. Lendl comes to net twice - once after forcing Edberg back and the other, a token serve-volley, so essentially, not at all. This allows Edberg space to come in and be threatening and Lendl might be a bit lucky to just be broken once. On flip side, Edberg doesn’t move with same gusto for returns, and allows Lendl 5 aces (4 of them after breaking), kind of serves he’d likely be able to reach were he fully committed, and possibly even get back in play

Still some great points and exchanges, including the one Edberg’s forced back on, where he puts the turnaround BH pass in play and scrambles back to net to comes away with a net-to-net FHV winner. Another ends with a fourth volley OH winner from Edberg, having made 2 brilliant defensie reflex volleys from a stepping closer & closer Lendl

In time, Edberg serves out to 15, delivering an ace on match point

Summing up, excellent match and a very interesting one. Statistically, it could scarcely be closer, but the players go about the business of holding serve in their own, very different ways

Edberg serve-volleys. His serve is fairly strong, the placement is conservative and he mixes them up, with few thrown close to body. Lendl can reach returns and does a bit of everything on it - smacks them hard, blocks them, guides them dtl - with mode firm/powerful return that tend to reach Edberg slightly under net. Misses a few more than necessary

Its potentially enough to draw volleys he could have a good follow-up crack at it, but turns out not to be because Edberg volleys superbly - punching volleys for winners or hard into corners. Lendl is very good at the follow-up pass when can force a weak volley, but he needs very good, potential winning returns to do that and he’s very quick to race to corner for passes, even having some success from those low percentage situations

On flip side, Lendl serves powerfully, and Edberg returns with neat, efficient quality against it, with is movement standing out. Lendl leads baseline rallies, targetting Edberg’s BH with is own as primary and ends up drawing errors from that side. He’s at his best when combining his baseline advantage, where he has more powerful FH though that makes up minority of action, with trips to net to finish, but eases up on it eventually and struggles to cope with Edberg’s artfully manufactured approaches

Lendl’s shortcomings in disinclination to finish at net and not having a reliable finisher if his opponent holds up from baseline are on show. So are the brains and ability in successfully targetting Edberg’s BH rather than (falsely) reputedly weak FH

Things are very close, and you could say point here, point there nails the result, with Edberg looking a little better and more likely to break, contrary to stats

 

[BringBackWood]

@Waspsting You weren't watching the out of sync version on YT I hope? I ask because you have statted the complete match; the most common copy is a USA Network one missing the first 5 games of set 2.

I think this is one of their best matches. I haven't watched it in a while, but I specially remember Edberg defending the net with reflex volleys in the point you mention from set 3. The Japanese (of course) were very innovative with camera placements, and it was an excellent demonstration.

 

[Waspsting]

@Waspsting You weren't watching the out of sync version on YT I hope? I ask because you have statted the complete match; the most common copy is a USA Network one missing the first 5 games of set 2.

Most of it

Think there's a point or 2 missing or starting late, so switched over to other copies to get all the points

There's an art to statting matches from youtube. I think it was the Mac-Becker Davis Cup match, where I was going back and forth across multiple videos all through to get all the points
I found a sole missing point from '20 Aus semi between Djokovic and Federer from a 3 minute, taken on a phone footage from the stands clip

 

[BringBackWood]

Most of it

Think there's a point or 2 missing or starting late, so switched over to other copies to get all the points

There's an art to statting matches from youtube. I think it was the Mac-Becker Davis Cup match, where I was going back and forth across multiple videos all through to get all the points
I found a sole missing point from '20 Aus semi between Djokovic and Federer from a 3 minute, taken on a phone footage from the stands clip

Very resourceful I'd suggest

at some point (I'm aware of the irony of the first point missing). I prefer Edberg's serve motion after 87, but Lendl played awfully well here.

 

[Waspsting]

Very resourceful I'd suggest

at some point (I'm aware of the irony of the first point missing). I prefer Edberg's serve motion after 87, but Lendl played awfully well here.

I'm very keen to find a full video of this one as I'm light on Lendl grass wins, and this I'd say is his biggest (combo of round and opponent) at Wimby

3 games missing right at the start leaves me a little cold
There are copies of his '88 semi with Boris out there too, that from memory is missing first game or 2 (with 1 being a break)