Match Stats/Report - Edberg vs Lendl, Wimbledon semi-final, 1990

[Waspsting]

Stefan Edberg beat Ivan Lendl 6-1, 7-6(2), 6-3 in the Wimbledon semi-final, 1990 on grass

Edberg would go onto win the title, beating Boris Becker in the final. Lendl had recently won the Queen’s Club title and this would be the last of his 7 semi-finals showing at the event

Edberg won 101 points, Lendl 76

With exception of 2 Edberg second serves, both players serve-volleyed off all serves

Serve Stats
Edberg...
- 1st serve percentage (57/87) 66%
- 1st serve points won (46/57) 81%
- 2nd serve points won (20/30) 67%
- Aces 2, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (36/87) 41%

Lendl...
- 1st serve percentage (54/90) 60%
- 1st serve points won (39/54) 72%
- 2nd serve points won (16/36) 44%
- Aces 6, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (30/90) 33%

Serve Patterns
Edberg served...
- to FH 15%
- to BH 64%
- to Body 20%

Lendl served...
- to FH 45%
- to BH 52%
- to Body 2%

Return Stats
Edberg made...
- 58 (25 FH, 33 BH), including 7 return-approaches
- 13 Winners (9 FH, 4 BH)
- 22 Errors, all forced...
- 22 Forced (9 FH, 13 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- Return Rate (58/88) 66%

Lendl made...
- 48 (9 FH, 39 BH), including 2 return-approaches
- 8 Winners (3 FH, 5 BH)
- 33 Errors, all forced...
- 33 Forced (4 FH, 29 BH)
- Return Rate (48/84) 57%

Break Points
Edberg 3/8 (4 games)
Lendl 0/1

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Edberg 41 (12 FH, 6 BH, 4 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 11 BHV, 7 OH)
Lendl 27 (7 FH, 5 BH, 7 FHV, 4 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 2 OH, 1 Sky Hook)

Edberg had 22 from serve-volley points
- 12 first volleys (3 FHV, 8 BHV, 1 OH)
- 8 second volleys (1 FHV, 2 BHV, 5 OH)... 1 OH can reasonably be called a FHV
- 2 third volleys (1 BHV, 1 OH)... the OH can reasonably be called a FHV

- 1 from return-approach point, a FH1/2V

- 18 passes - 13 returns (9 FH, 4 BH) & 5 regular (3 FH, 2 BH)
- FH returns - 4 cc, 4 dtl and 1 inside-out
- BH returns - 2 cc, 1 dtl and 1 inside-out
- regular FHs - 2 cc and 1 lob
- regular BHs - 2 dtl

Lendl had 15 from serve-volley points
- 8 first 'volleys' (5 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- 7 second volleys (2 FHV, 2 BHV, 2 OH, 1 Sky Hook)

- 12 passes - 8 returns (3 FH, 5 BH) & 4 regular (4 FH)
- FH returns - 2 cc and 1 inside-in
- BH returns - 4 cc and 1 dtl
- regular FHs - 2 cc, 1 inside-out and 1 lob

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Edberg 16
- 3 Unforced (1 FHV, 2 BH)
- 13 Forced (6 FH, 5 BH, 2 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 60

Lendl 22
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 FHV)
- 18 Forced (1 FH, 6 BH, 4 FHV, 6 BHV, 1 BHOH)... the FH was a running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52.5

(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...
- 68/87 (78%) at net, including...
- 62/79 (78%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 43/54 (80%) off 1st serve and...
- 19/25 (76%) off 2nd serve
---
- 6/7 (86%) return-approaching

Lendl was...
- 48/83 (58%) at net, including...
- 47/80 (59%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 31/46 (67%) off 1st serve and...
- 16/34 (47%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/2 return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

Match Report
Sublime from Edberg as he breezes by a well-playing Lendl in a virtual 100% serve-volley match (2 points are non-serve-volley)

The standout difference between the players is Edberg's superior returning. More so than his volleying better, which if not a given, comes as no surprise

Edberg strikes returns cleanly off both wings throughout. Lendl does not, and particularly struggles against body and body-ish serves that cramp him

If Edberg’s superior volleying is all but a given, what isn’t is his being at his very best on the full. Volley after volley are whisked away for winners. Lendl has maybe 4-5 normal - let alone ‘good’ - looks at a pass. When Edberg very firmly volleys a ball back deep at Lendl (who’s too rushed to do anything with it anyway), it comes as a surprise that he didn’t just dispatch into the other corner

Edberg doesn’t face too many difficult, shoelace volleys and but makes the one’s he does too. Just 2 FEs

For that matter, excellent volleying from Lendl too. Misses precious little (3 UEs, same as Edberg - and he has to make a good deal more volleys) and again like Edberg, the tough ones he misses are very, very difficult - to the feet and wide kind of stuff

He doesn’t have Edberg’s killer finish (who does?), but his finishing is as good as you could ask for from anyone. As good as a good Boris Becker showing

With such great volleying from both sides, passing chances are small -

Non-retun pass winners - Edberg 5, Lendl 4
Passing FEs - Edberg 11, Lendl 7

The particularly small number of passing winners and FEs indicate just how killer Edberg is on the volley. He’s got double the volley winners as all of Lendl’s passing shots - hit or miss. Lendl’s done pretty well on the pass, but his chances are so rare it doesn’t register amidst all the flying volley winners (and 40% unreturned serves - more on that later)

Edberg has a few more chances on the pass, but his looks aren’t much better. They come more frequently, so he does appear to have more chances

The opposite side of the numbers above are -

‘Volley’ winners - Edberg 23, Lendl 15
Volley UEs - both 3
Volley FEs - Edberg 2, Lendl 11

Both players putting away volleys well (Edberg about as well as humanly possible), both missing very few regular volleys (all of Edberg’s misses are winner attempts), both leaving passer poor chances. Nominally, Lendl’s got a better hit rate on the pass, but his chances are rarer. Lendl's volleying FEs are very difficult, many impossible. Excellent serve-volley tennis from both players

All of that is shaped by…

 

[Waspsting]

Serve & Return
Both with healthy in-counts (Edberg 66%, Lendl 60%). Lendl with the more powerful serve, though Edberg’s zippy too

Second serve differences are more important. Lendl’s are a toned down version of his firsts, the pace lower, the placement closer. As it turns out, problematically close, in Edberg’s swing zone

Edberg kicks his second serves at or close to Lendl's body. Edberg serves 20% to body (just 15% to FH, by contrast), Lendl just 2%. And much of his serves to the BH are crampingly close to Lendl too. Standard stuff for him

The returning is more important. Lendl adjusts his, Edberg remains constant of style

From get-go, Edberg strikes exceptionally cleanly off the second shot. There’s 13 winners and there are returns that yield impossible volleys wide and at shoe level. Even the ones above net are firmly struck

In final set, he ups it still more by coming in behind the particularly good returns. He’s 6/7 return-approaching, which is a bit deceptive; Most of those returns would have forced errors regardless

Edberg takes first returns from close to baseline, and second returns from slightly inside it

Lendl for his part keeps similar return position in the first set, during which he pokes and guides returns, trying to get them wide or to drop low. It doesn’t work - Edberg swoops to the net before the balls can fall under net and cuts off any width to flash away volley winners. Looks like Lendl was trying the same style of returning that had destroyed Boris Becker at Queen’s, but Edberg’s serve isn’t so fast, he’s at net that much quicker and gets that much closer in. His body serving also makes these types of returns harder to make

After first set, Lendl steps up a bit against both serves. All but on the baseline against firsts, and inside court for seconds. He cuts out blocking and chipping and strikes the ball. His swing is compact - far removed from the flaying of the ‘87 final

He has trouble with the cramping serves. Doesn’t have room to free his arms, and gets jammed by them. Strikes fairly cleanly, though good ways less so than Edberg

Edberg stays back off 2 second serves and Lendl does what he’s supposed to when he sees it; comes in behind the return. Wins 1, loses 1 - as with Edberg, the one he wins probably didn’t need an approach. It’s a powerful strike right to the baseline

Unreturned rates - Edberg 41%, Lendl 33%

That’s a good cushion for Edberg to launch from

Return shot does most of the returners work -

Return pass winners - Edberg 13, Lendl 8
Non-return pass winners - Edberg 5, Lendl 4

Return draws most of the volleying errors too. With the volleying so splendid, the pass in play takes on a very distant second place in the business of getting a break

You can see Edberg's control of volleys from Lendl's passing figures. He doesn't have a single genuine FH passing error (just a running-down-drop-shot at net shot). Edberg, while seemingly volleying freely, clearly isn't going there. And for good reason - Lendl, 0 errors, 4 winners on the FH pass. Meanwhile, he has 0 winners, 6 FEs on the BH

Quality of Edberg’s returning of second serves is rather more than Lendl can handle on the volley, and Lendl wins 47% of second serve points

Clearest indicator of things favouring Edberg sizably: his second serve-volleying winning rate of 76% is higher than Lendl's first of 67%

Better returning - cleaner hit and more regular - is at heart of it. Nothing wrong with Lendl’s volleying or even his second serve

Match Progression
1st serve percentage and Lendl’s returning strategy are main factors of the first set sweep

Lendl makes just 10/19 first serves - and wins just 1/9 second serve points. That’s Edberg striking returns powerfully. Just 1 volley UE for Lendl in the set, so its not as though he’s messing up in forecourt

As for his return, Lendl looks to poke, block, guide and chip returns wide and low. Edberg cuts of the width and gets there before ball can get low and swishes away these returns away for winners. Edberg wins 13/14 first serve points in the set - better than he does afterwards

Opening games gives no sign of things to come. Lendl holds to love to level at 1-1- with 2 service winners and a BHV winner after having to make a shoelace volley first up

He doesn’t win another game. First game features 4 passing winners from Edberg - a brilliant running dtl against a good, deep volley and 3 returns. The last 2 - FH dtl and BH cc - are perfect strikes and seal the break

Low volley errors and a double fault lead to the second break and Edberg serves out to 15. He stays back at 30-0 for the first of 2 times in the match, a point he loses and probably would have even without Lendl coming in behind the return

Second set is a beautiful show from both players. Both face break points in 1 game (Lendl saves 5 in a 20 point game, Edberg 1 in a 10 pointer) and 1 other Edberg game goes to deuce. Holds are comfortable, but not overly so

Standout points include a surprise FH lob from Lendl, Edberg BH dtl slicing a return and following it to net to force a shoelace volley error, a FH lob by Edberg every bit as good as Lendl’s and a wonderful, running, turning FH cc pass winner from Lendl

To the tiebreak. There isn’t a contest. Edberg strikes 4 passing winners in successive Lendl serve points - FH cc (set up by a wide FH inside-out return), FH cc return, BH cc return (a replica of the same shot Lendl had hit a couple points before) and at 6-2, another FH cc return. 7-2 Eberg, 2-0 in sets

Edberg loses 4 service points in his 4 holds in the last set. Lendl first service game has 3 consecutive aces

The break comes in game 6, with Edberg return-approaching 3 times. He wins all the points - the best of them being a FH1/2V winner that’s also a pass, from just behind service line. The other 2 are such strong returns that the approach likely didn’t influence the outcome (Lendl missing shoelace volleys off powerful returns)

He adds a couple more return-approaches game after too. Lendl deftly BH1/2V winners the return away from an at net Edberg the first time. Later in the game, a backtracking Lendl sky hooks a winner and goes on to hold

Edberg serves out to love, with 3 unreturned serves

Summing up, top class showing from Edberg. The finest volleying from the finest of volleyers is a sight to behold but important is the crisp, clean returning he dishes out all match

A very good one from Lendl too, particularly on the volley, on which he’s as decisive as anyone could ask for and only stumped by the unplayable return-pass

He tries different styles of returning but neither soft blocking/guiding or striking works against his opponent’s net game and he struggles to return cramping body and body-ish serves

Stats for the final between Edberg and Boris Becker - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...edberg-vs-becker-wimbledon-final-1990.675878/

Stats for Edberg’s third round match with Amos Mansdorf - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...s-mansdorf-wimbledon-third-round-1990.725627/

 

[Vincent-C]

Serve & Return
Both with healthy in-counts (Edberg 66%, Lendl 60%). Lendl with the more powerful serve, though Edberg’s zippy too

Second serve differences are more important. Lendl’s are a toned down version of his firsts, the pace lower, the placement closer. As it turns out, problematically close, in Edberg’s swing zone

Edberg kicks his second serves at or close to Lendl's body. Edberg serves 20% to body (just 15% to FH, by contrast), Lendl just 2%. And much of his serves to the BH are crampingly close to Lendl too. Standard stuff for him

The returning is more important. Lendl adjusts his, Edberg remains constant of style

From get-go, Edberg strikes exceptionally cleanly off the second shot. There’s 13 winners and there are returns that yield impossible volleys wide and at shoe level. Even the ones above net are firmly struck

In final set, he ups it still more by coming in behind the particularly good returns. He’s 6/7 return-approaching, which is a bit deceptive; Most of those returns would have forced errors regardless

Edberg takes first returns from close to baseline, and second returns from slightly inside it

Lendl for his part keeps similar return position in the first set, during which he pokes and guides returns, trying to get them wide or to drop low. It doesn’t work - Edberg swoops to the net before the balls can fall under net and cuts off any width to flash away volley winners. Looks like Lendl was trying the same style of returning that had destroyed Boris Becker at Queen’s, but Edberg’s serve isn’t so fast, he’s at net that much quicker and gets that much closer in. His body serving also makes these types of returns harder to make

After first set, Lendl steps up a bit against both serves. All but on the baseline against firsts, and inside court for seconds. He cuts out blocking and chipping and strikes the ball. His swing is compact - far removed from the flaying of the ‘87 final

He has trouble with the cramping serves. Doesn’t have room to free his arms, and gets jammed by them. Strikes fairly cleanly, though good ways less so than Edberg

Edberg stays back off 2 second serves and Lendl does what he’s supposed to when he sees it; comes in behind the return. Wins 1, loses 1 - as with Edberg, the one he wins probably didn’t need an approach. It’s a powerful strike right to the baseline

Unreturned rates - Edberg 41%, Lendl 33%

That’s a good cushion for Edberg to launch from

Return shot does most of the returners work -

Return pass winners - Edberg 13, Lendl 8
Non-return pass winners - Edberg 5, Lendl 4

Return draws most of the volleying errors too. With the volleying so splendid, the pass in play takes on a very distant second place in the business of getting a break

You can see Edberg's control of volleys from Lendl's passing figures. He doesn't have a single genuine FH passing error (just a running-down-drop-shot at net shot). Edberg, while seemingly volleying freely, clearly isn't going there. And for good reason - Lendl, 0 errors, 4 winners on the FH pass. Meanwhile, he has 0 winners, 6 FEs on the BH

Quality of Edberg’s returning of second serves is rather more than Lendl can handle on the volley, and Lendl wins 47% of second serve points

Clearest indicator of things favouring Edberg sizably: his second serve-volleying winning rate of 76% is higher than Lendl's first of 67%

Better returning - cleaner hit and more regular - is at heart of it. Nothing wrong with Lendl’s volleying or even his second serve

Match Progression
1st serve percentage and Lendl’s returning strategy are main factors of the first set sweep

Lendl makes just 10/19 first serves - and wins just 1/9 second serve points. That’s Edberg striking returns powerfully. Just 1 volley UE for Lendl in the set, so its not as though he’s messing up in forecourt

As for his return, Lendl looks to poke, block, guide and chip returns wide and low. Edberg cuts of the width and gets there before ball can get low and swishes away these returns away for winners. Edberg wins 13/14 first serve points in the set - better than he does afterwards

Opening games gives no sign of things to come. Lendl holds to love to level at 1-1- with 2 service winners and a BHV winner after having to make a shoelace volley first up

He doesn’t win another game. First game features 4 passing winners from Edberg - a brilliant running dtl against a good, deep volley and 3 returns. The last 2 - FH dtl and BH cc - are perfect strikes and seal the break

Low volley errors and a double fault lead to the second break and Edberg serves out to 15. He stays back at 30-0 for the first of 2 times in the match, a point he loses and probably would have even without Lendl coming in behind the return

Second set is a beautiful show from both players. Both face break points in 1 game (Lendl saves 5 in a 20 point game, Edberg 1 in a 10 pointer) and 1 other Edberg game goes to deuce. Holds are comfortable, but not overly so

Standout points include a surprise FH lob from Lendl, Edberg BH dtl slicing a return and following it to net to force a shoelace volley error, a FH lob by Edberg every bit as good as Lendl’s and a wonderful, running, turning FH cc pass winner from Lendl

To the tiebreak. There isn’t a contest. Edberg strikes 4 passing winners in successive Lendl serve points - FH cc (set up by a wide FH inside-out return), FH cc return, BH cc return (a replica of the same shot Lendl had hit a couple points before) and at 6-2, another FH cc return. 7-2 Eberg, 2-0 in sets

Edberg loses 4 service points in his 4 holds in the last set. Lendl first service game has 3 consecutive aces

The break comes in game 6, with Edberg return-approaching 3 times. He wins all the points - the best of them being a FH1/2V winner that’s also a pass, from just behind service line. The other 2 are such strong returns that the approach likely didn’t influence the outcome (Lendl missing shoelace volleys off powerful returns)

He adds a couple more return-approaches game after too. Lendl deftly BH1/2V winners the return away from an at net Edberg the first time. Later in the game, a backtracking Lendl sky hooks a winner and goes on to hold

Edberg serves out to love, with 3 unreturned serves

Summing up, top class showing from Edberg. The finest volleying from the finest of volleyers is a sight to behold but important is the crisp, clean returning he dishes out all match

A very good one from Lendl too, particularly on the volley, on which he’s as decisive as anyone could ask for and only stumped by the unplayable return-pass

He tries different styles of returning but neither soft blocking/guiding or striking works against his opponent’s net game and he struggles to return cramping body and body-ish serves

Stats for the final between Edberg and Boris Becker - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...edberg-vs-becker-wimbledon-final-1990.675878/

Stats for Edberg’s third round match with Amos Mansdorf - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...s-mansdorf-wimbledon-third-round-1990.725627/

Wonderfully thorough, waspsting- it'll take some time to take this all in. Thank you.