Match Stats/Report - Federer vs Roddick, Wimbledon final, 2004

[Waspsting]

Roger Federer beat Andy Roddick 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-4 in the Wimbledon final, 2004 on grass

Federer was the defending champion and reigning Australian Open champion. He would go onto win the US Open to become the first man in 16 years to win 3 Slam events in a calendar year. Roddick was the world number 2. The two had met in the semis the previous year and would go onto contest the final the following as well - Federer winning both matches

Federer won 150 points, Roddick 137

Serve Stats
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (95/154) 62%
- 1st serve points won (64/95) 67%
- 2nd serve points won (34/59) 58%
- Aces 13 (1 second serve, 1 not clean), Service Winners 3
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (46/154) 30%

Roddick...
- 1st serve percentage (81/133) 61%
- 1st serve points won (60/81) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (21/52) 40%
- Aces 11, Service Winners 8
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (41/133) 30%

Serve Pattern
Federer served...
- to FH 30%
- to BH 64%
- to Body 6%

Roddick served...
- to FH 38%
- to BH 59%
- to Body 3%

Return Stats
Federer made...
- 87 (31 FH, 56 BH), including 1 runaround FH & 1 return-approach
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 22 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (3 BH)
- 19 Forced (12 FH, 7 BH)
- Return Rate (87/128) 68%

Roddick made...
- 105 (34 FH, 71 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 2 return-approaches
- 5 Winners (3 FH, 2 BH)
- 30 Errors, comprising...
- 9 Unforced (3 FH, 6 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 21 Forced (10 FH, 11 BH)
- Return Rate (105/151) 70%

Break Points
Federer 5/10 (6 games)
Roddick 4/14 (7 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Federer 40 (17 FH, 10 BH, 7 FHV, 4 BHV, 2 OH)
Roddick 35 (17 FH, 9 BH, 5 FHV, 1 BHV, 3 OH)

Federer's FHs - 4 cc (2 passes), 2 dtl passes, 5 inside-out, 4 inside-in, 1 lob and 1 drop shot running-down-net-chord-dribbler at net
- BHs - 6 cc passes, 2 dtl (1 pass), 1 lob and 1 net chord dribbler return

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

- 1 other FHV was a swinging shot

Roddick's FHs - 6 cc (2 passes, 1 return), 2 dtl (1 return), 3 inside-out (1 pass, 1 at net), 4 inside-in (1 return) and 1 net chord dribbler
- BHs - 3 cc passes (1 return, 1 net chord clipper), 4 dtl (3 passes), 1 dtl/inside-out pass and 1 net chord dribbler return

- 6 from serve-volley points
- 4 first 'volleys' (2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 FH at net)
- 2 second volleys (1 FHV, 1 OH)

- 1 other OH was on the bounce and 1 was on the full but not a net point, hit from well behind service line while moving forward

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Federer 58
- 29 Unforced (13 FH, 13 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV)
- 29 Forced (11 FH, 14 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.9

Roddick 59
- 39 Unforced (27 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV)… with 1 BH at net
- 20 Forced (8 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.9

(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)

(Note 2: The 'Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is a measure of how aggressive of intent the average UE made was. 60 is maximum, 20 is minimum. This match has been scored using a four point scale - 2 defensive, 4 neutral, 5 attacking, 6 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Federer was...
- 29/46 (63%) at net, including...
- 14/27 (52%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 11/23 (48%) off 1st serve and...
- 3/4 (75%) off 2nd serve
---
- 0/1 return-approaching

Roddick was...
- 24/48 (50%) at net, including...
- 9/14 (64%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 7/10 (70%) off 1st serve and...
- 2/4 (50%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/2 return-approaching
- 1/2 forced back

Match Report
Very good match in which the returning stands out. Serve is strong - as you'd expect from these two - but the returning is better, and that's what makes the match. Roddick is the more aggressive on the whole and because his play is up from his personal norm (Federer is 'just' his usual), its his play that primarily takes the eye. The match is mostly on his racquet (with Federer's consent) and while Fed shows good defence on a fast court, its reasonable to say Roddick blows it more than Fed winning it. On important points, Fed is upto holding to normal level, while Roddick makes some of his worst errors at such times

Note break points stats. Fed 5/10 (6 games) to Roddick's 4/14 (7 games). Credit Fed for converting... all match he's exceptional in returning what would likely be an impossible serve for most players to handle. And discredit Rod for not converting... a large chunk of the points he loses are straightforward attacking shots from advantageous positions. It seems to be a pattern with him. He blew set point in the '03 tiebreak missing a routine attacking FH and more famously, a volley in the '09 final

In play, the key factor is Roddick's FH. Statistically, there are a number of near identical findings -
- unreturned serves - both 30%
- FH winners - both 17
- BH winners - Fed 10, Rod 9
- FHV winners - Fed 7, Rod 5
- net approaches - Fed 46, Rod 48
- first serve in - Fed 62%, Rod 61%

The big difference that stands out is Roddick's 27 FH unforced errors - 2 short of Fed's total UE count. Even that's a bit deceptive because total errors are a near wash (Fed 58, Rod 59), with Fed being forced into more errors, and the forcing shot is usually the FH. So Roddick essentially lives and dies by the FH. Parts of the 'dying part' of that equation are unduly sloppy and ill timed

Serve & Return + Serve-Volleying & Approaching off Rallies
Both serve well by a normal standard. worth noting is quality of Fed's serve is a good ways down from later years. The motion is different. He doesn't 'throw' himself into the shot as he has for most of his career and he doesn't hit spots with it to a great extent. Lots of serves in Roddick's swing zone. Contrast to how he served to Novak Djokovic in their 4 matches at Wimbledon in span 2012-209 where even most second serves were placed away from the returner. For all that, its still a good serve, just as not as good as it'd come to be

Fed had barely been broken in the tournament (from memory, once going into the final. Commentators don't confirm this but mention he'd held serve 100+ times in a row), so for Roddick, who was not a reputed strong returner to do so 4 times in this match was a big surprise. And the way he returner, not surprising

Roddick returns brilliantly. Stands close to baseline and swats balls off both wings, occasionally coming further still against second serves. Despite Fed serving 30-64 across FH-BH respectively, Rod has about the same number of return FEs (10 FH, 11 BH)… I would attribute this to his returning particularly well off BH, not inconsistently off FH against tough serves (he does have double the BH UEs though - 6 to 3 - those are, by definition, against softer serves)

Note also Fed's low 52% serve-volley points won (Rod's is 64%), and he actually loses more than he wins off first serves (48% won. Rod's by comparison is 70%). Fed's numbers are almost entirely down to power of Rod's return. He chip-charges a couple of times too, winning 1 and losing 1. Worth trying more off. The one he loses is down to a top drawer Fed pass. Fed serve-volleys more and more as the match goes on and does so the most at a time when Rod's fallen back a bit on return position. Even then it doesn't help

The returning isn't jus effective against serve-volleying Fed. There are a number of Djokovic-ish hard flat returns to the baseline, forcing near half-volley third balls

Good serving from Fed, even better returning from Rod. Possibly his very best returning

 

[Waspsting]

Same is true on the other side of the match up. Roddick is absolutely blasting serves down. At start, he's clocking mid-140 mph regularly. That falls to mid-130s for bulk of match. Even some second serves are being hammered down at 130 region... and 120 is common. All that with a few change up slower serves (probably should have done it more). When Roddick hits a first serve into the net, it sounds like the ball is hitting a wall

Up against this, Federer returns superbly. First of all, he clearly reads the serve well and isn't caught out by direction. Balls that are a bit wide he moves to and puts in play. Balls he doesn't have to move to are usually put in play. And he does it so naturally you would think he was just returning your average Joe Pro's serve... he doesn't even appear rushed

From memory and reasoning, from Rod's point of view, this is a problem he faces very specific to Roger Federer. At the pace he's serving at, good placement wouldn't be much of a factor against most opposition. Just sheer power - 135-140 mph serve on quick grass in swing zone - would be enough to draw lots of return errors, no need for undue attention to placement. Against Federer, clearly it isn't

While Fed leads the ace count 13-11, note Rod with 8 service winners to Fed's 3. To be 'unreturnable', Rod's first serves don't have to be particularly wide. There's plenty of variance in how stats takers give service winners. I rarely do... 8 is extremely high. I gave Ivanisevic 1 in '94 Wimbledon final as a frame of reference. The high unreturnable serve count for Rod further highlights how sure Fed was in returning... he just doesn't miss many tough returns, as long as they're not out and out unreturnable

There's variety to Fed's returning to. Some are naturally just floated back, majority are blocked back usually firmly and he even gets a good swing in - including on the BH - not infrequently. You could say he mixes up his returns the way a guy might mix up his serves

The variety probably leads to one of Roddick's mistakes in the match. He's obviously not a natural net player, let alone serve-volleyer, but its something he's prepared for the occasion. In early part of match, he serve-volleys far more often than he does later. but he wins a healthy 64% serve-volleying. Approaching of rallies, he's only 14/32 @ 44%

I imagine the variety more than consistency of Fed's returning shaped his decision to curtail serve-volleying. What were his alternatives, in the context of choosing to play the aggressor (a wise choice)? There are weaknesses to his baseline attacking game (more on that later), more so than coming to net. And coming to net off rallies doesn't work well either (that's mostly due to high quality of Fed's passing, with a few weak approaches not helping). Serve-volleying more regularly was probably still Roddick's best bet. Should be noted that this isn't even close to 100% serve-volley match... in this light, serve-volleying more means increasing the number from 10 to somewhere in the 20-30 range, not coming in every point

There are enough weak returns from Fed to feast on at net and Roddick volleys well enough to have done decently even against the bulk firmly pushed back returns

The un-natural serve-volleyer Roddick would have had other problems. Like all super big servers, returners tend to come back before server can position themselves at net and subsequently, there tends to be a lot of low first volleys (including 1/2volleys) around the service line. Even the Becker's and Sampras' struggle, let alone the Roddick's

Interestingly, Fed's results at net are the mirror image of Rod's. He wins 15/18 @ 83% rallying to net and just 52% serve-volleying. Both players volley well enough, and the different results are a product of the baseliners strengths. Roddick's returns are a lot better than his passes and the opposite for Fed. In Fed's case as the man on the baseline, his ability return-pass is severely limited by strength of Roddick's serve. That he can get so many back is a wonder by itself

Play - Baseline
To be clear, most of the action is baseline play. Roddick is the aggressor, especially at the start but more so than not all through

There's little subtlety to his attacks. Hit hard. FH and BH. Not much attention to placement, working Federer around, opening the court or even 1-2 combos. Just hit hard

His BH hitting is decent and just 9 UEs off that side, which is 4 less than Fed. Its the FH that falters with 27 UEs without being able to do enough damage to make it worth it. Some of this is down to Fed's defence - when needed, he runs down balls from well behind baseline and puts it in play and like on the return, brute force doesn't bother him much - but more discredit to Roddick's attack here than credit to Fed

Aside from the big cut, seemingly no intent of direction FHs, Rod occasionally has a plan with his backaway/runaround FHs. He's good with the inside-in (note 3 winners), but the inside-outs aren't particularly heavy. Fed is able to fend them off with routine BHs. Again good from Fed, but more a blackmark against Roddick. On grass, with a shot like attacking FH inside-out, one would expect to be able to finish points

For a brief period, he targets Fed's BH, including with his own BH longline. Fed holds up comfortably. There's a brief run where Fed's shot starts cracking and he makes a few errors in short space of time, but on the whole, not much gained by targeting Fed's weaker side

There's a problem with Roddick's court positioning. I thought not serve-volleying more was not a sound move, but he takes it a step further by not even stepping in to hit his third ball FHs. Plenty of not strong returns to wade into, but he does so from on or even behind the baseline. The extra safe option of attacking... it doesn't help him. This is notable particularly since his big cut hitting was effective even on return games

This is one of Rod's best volleying performances. He doesn't miss much and makes a few difficult ones too. instincts aren't great though, he comes in off not great balls and doesn't seem to know when and how the best time to come in is. Still, he's smart enough to come in to Fed's BH almost always. Fed though, passes brilliantly with power and/or precision and/or heavy spin

1 BH cc pass he picks up casually on the 1/2volley off the baseline for a winner. You'd think he was hitting a mid court groundstroke to open court seeing it. Another is hit so hard it passes not far from Roddick who doesn't even raise a racquet. A third - this time a FH - looks like it'll be a high volley as it passes the net, but by the time it reaches Roddick about 1/2way between net and service line, its dipped down to knee height. Better volleyers than Roddick would have had their wings clipped by shots like this

Fed mostly plays to Roddick's tune. He puts back hard hit shots and runs down what needs to be run down efficiently and with deceptive seeming effortlessness. His attacks are FH based and a lot more surgically precise than Rod's (also against weaker defence) and his approaches are also not met with the kind of blazing shots he gave Rod

Off BH, Fed's steady but for a brief period. Can handle Roddick's heavy shots and uses slice to defend when needed. Generally, Fed's slice gave Roddick a lot of trouble but in this match, Rod is able to runaround or back away to hit FHs to it. he also slice approaches, but Fed's passing usually ends those points

To a large extent though, Fed basically lets Roddick hit himself out without challenging for baseline supremacy. Rod's missing enough big swings for it to work. 56% of Rod's UEs are at least attacking shots and even his regulation shots are on the attacking side. For Fed, 45% are... the rest are regulation shots, which are not out of the ordinary.

 

[RS]

Roddick was brought it in this match. How would you rate him with 2009 final Roddick?

 

[Waspsting]

Match Progression
Roddick starts like a house on fire, blasting groundstrokes and aces. First service game he holds has 3 aces and a near enough service winner (and a double fault). Fed by contrast, is a little slow of footwork. maybe just easing into the match and not quite ready for Roddick's assault

Roddick breaks in game 3 in a error riddled game but some good stuff from the returner too. He passes Fed BH cc on the only net point and on break point, whacks a runaround FH return to force the error. Next game though, Roddick's down 0-40 with 3 errors. Well as he's played in couple of games so far, its not surprising

What is, is the way he copes. He serve-volleys next 2 points (1 a second serve), and makes difficult, low first volleys both times (1 is a half-volley), before finishing with winners on the second volley. Saves third break point with another volley winner and power serves his way through the rest of the game

Federer remains under the gun for the set. His next two holds both go to deuce with Roddick swinging hard on returns, passes and even regular groundstrokes. On serve, Roddick's coming to net and he holds comfortably to see out the set

Second set looks like more of the same, as Fed struggles through opening game, saving a break point in the process, but then Roddick falters. Broken to love with 2 doubles from 0-30 and then broken again making errors, Rod finds himself down 0-4

The worm turns again as Roddick reels off next 4 games to even the set. Great first break game - highlights include Roddick with a BH dtl/inside-out pass, Federer creatively picking up a net chord dribbler for a winner, Roddick whacking a Fed slice FH inside-out for winner and following it up with a BH dtl winner. Roddick wraps up the game with a returner to the baseline that Fed can't handle and an overpowering FH cc winner

Serving to send set to tiebreak, Roddick's broken. Both players have a net chord dribbler winners and Fed makes two great FH dtl passes

Fed goofs his first return game of set 3. He has good chances to take charge of the first 3 points, but makes errors on the attacking shots. Roddick successfully targets Fed's BH on his second return game and 3 errors of that wing give him the break. 1 is a foolish attempt to hit a third ball attacking inside-out shot. Attacking FHs and net approaches get Fed the break back late in the set. He plays a near flawless tiebreak filled with strong serves, commanding groundstrokes and powerful passes

Its Roddick who has the better of most of the 4th set. 3 cracking winners give him 0-40 and 3 break points in game 4. He misses a fairly simple attacking FH and a regulation return to squander first two break points and Fed holds with strong serves thereafter. He has 2 break points next return game 2. On both, he takes charge of the points with FH inside-ins that Fed does well to get back in play, but Roddick has easy FH rejoinder to finish the point. He misses both times

Its the same shot that lets him down as he's broken to love. a bad FH miss gives Fed 0-40, and this time, its a Roddick BH dtl that Fed makes with difficulty. Roddick misses another FH to open court to give up the break. The rest are easy holds, and there is 1 particularly good BH lob winner from Fed

Summing up, high quality match with Andy Roddick playing above himself in returning to give Federer some hairy moments. Fed though is upto defending/playing steady regulation baseline tennis as Rod pounds away, and is able to step it up with stunning passing and choice attacking FH plays of his own. The biggest stand out feature is Fed's returning of the huge Roddick serve - seemingly without trouble and Roddick's own returning isn't too far behind. It makes for exciting tennis. Ultimately, the percentages just aren't in Roddick's favour and his untimely let downs decide the match

Stats for the pair's US Open '06 final - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...federer-vs-roddick-us-open-final-2006.633177/

 

[Breakpointerer]

Thanks for the write-up good job again. Roddick really brought the firepower in this match, was a tough one for Fed to get through.

 

[Red Rick]

So OP you're telling me Rod actually had match on his racket playing that style.

Now I'm sad.

 

[OldschoolKIaus]

Young Roddick was pretty cool.

 

[Waspsting]

Roddick was brought it in this match. How would you rate him with 2009 final Roddick?

Don't remember the specifics of that one. Serve-bot fest wasn't it?

Its the returning that keeps it this one out of that category (thankfully). I was wondering if Roddick could have used his serve differently here

Even 140 mph isn't troubling Fed unduly as long as he can reach it. Placements is what draws errors against him, not sheer power

Maybe take something off the first serve - 120 mph placed well sounds good. Rod serves a lot of second serves at that pace, so he should be able to hit his spots doing it, with margin for missing on a first serve

So OP you're telling me Rod actually had match on his racket playing that style.

Now I'm sad.

Sorry, Rick

Hope this cheers you up - Andy Roddick, the BH consistency machine - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...-agassi-houston-final-semi-final-2002.658084/

 

[RS]

Don't remember the specifics of that one. Serve-bot fest wasn't it?

Its the returning that keeps it this one out of that category (thankfully). I was wondering if Roddick could have used his serve differently here

Even 140 mph isn't troubling Fed unduly as long as he can reach it. Placements is what draws errors against him, not sheer power

Maybe take something off the first serve - 120 mph placed well sounds good. Rod serves a lot of second serves at that pace, so he should be able to hit his spots doing it, with margin for missing on a first serve



Sorry, Rick

Hope this cheers you up - Andy Roddick, the BH consistency machine - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...-agassi-houston-final-semi-final-2002.658084/

Yeah it was a serve reliant fest match. Roddick backhand was quite impressive and he used a lot of variety in his serving in 04 is was all about the power.

 

[TearTheRoofOff]

Roddick LOL

 

[BeatlesFan]

Young Roddick was pretty cool.

We're told here endlessly he was a "chump" and part of a "desperately weak era."

 

[ForehandCross]

Re watching extended highlights of this match, Had Roddick not lost focus in 2nd set beginning he was probably winning this match. After 4-0 he breaks Federer twice as if it's the easiest thing to do.

And as the OP says, 4th set he was better, even in the third he had the break. Roddick should have won this won more than even 2009 imho.

 

[AnOctorokForDinner]

Re watching extended highlights of this match, Had Roddick not lost focus in 2nd set beginning he was probably winning this match. After 4-0 he breaks Federer twice as if it's the easiest thing to do.

And as the OP says, 4th set he was better, even in the third he had the break. Roddick should have won this won more than even 2009 imho.

mury shoula beaten rafi in 2010 wimby lol

 

[metsman]

Re watching extended highlights of this match, Had Roddick not lost focus in 2nd set beginning he was probably winning this match. After 4-0 he breaks Federer twice as if it's the easiest thing to do.

And as the OP says, 4th set he was better, even in the third he had the break. Roddick should have won this won more than even 2009 imho.

Federer outplayed him in the third, aided by the rain. Roddick could have done better in the 2nd and 4th, definitely. Fed did well to not make any mistakes on his end in the fourth at least.

Roddick definitely had chances to take this 5, but it's also worth noting that the style he played is going to leave him vulnerable to ups and downs. The FHs he was nailing in the first, he missed in the 4th and that's the difference between 6-4 one way or the other. So you have to take that into account.

 

[RS]

mury shoula beaten rafi in 2010 wimby lol

Ouch.

 

[TheNachoMan]

Rain gods robbed Roddick of a win here

 

[Breakpointerer]

Rain gods robbed Roddick of a win here

It was created and sent by a top secret Swiss lab