Match Stats/Report - Hewitt vs Ferrero, Year End Championship final, 2002

[Waspsting]

Lleyton Hewitt beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 7-5, 2-6, 2-6, 6-4 in the Year End Championship final, 2002 on indoor hard court in Shanghai, China

Hewitt was the defending champion. This was Ferrero’s only final at the event. Both players had finished second in their round robin groups with 2-1 records

Hewitt won 138 points, Ferrero 143

Serve Stats
Hewitt...
- 1st serve percentage (76/146) 52%
- 1st serve points won (57/76) 75%
- 2nd serve points won (33/70) 47%
- Aces 12
- Double Faults 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (39/146) 27%

Ferrero...
- 1st serve percentage (94/135) 70%
- 1st serve points won (65/94) 69%
- 2nd serve points won (22/41) 54%
- Aces 12
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (36/135) 27%

Serve Pattern
Hewitt served...
- to FH 45%
- to BH 53%
- to Body 2%

Ferrero served...
- to FH 46%
- to BH 50%
- to Body 5%

Return Stats
Hewitt made...
- 97 (47 FH, 50 BH), including 1 runround FH
- 24 Errors, comprising...
- 9 Unforced (7 FH, 2 BH)
- 15 Forced (5 FH, 10 BH)
- Return Rate (97/133) 73%

Ferrero made...
- 101 (43 FH, 58 BH)
- 2 Winners (2 FH)
- 27 Errors, comprising...
- 13 Unforced (10 FH, 3 BH)
- 14 Forced (4 FH, 10 BH)
- Return Rate (101/140) 72%

Break Points
Hewitt 7/13 (8 games)
Ferrero 8/15 (8 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Hewitt 36 (12 FH, 7 BH, 5 FHV, 4 BHV, 8 OH)
Ferrero 25 (15 FH, 6 BH, 3 BHV, 1 OH)

Hewitt's FHs -4 cc (1 pass), 5 dtl (2 passes), 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in, 1 running-down-drop-shot dtl at net
- BHs - 1 cc, 4 dtl (1 not clean), 1 longline/inside-out, 1 lob

- 1 from a serve-volley a point, a second volley BHV

- 1 other FHV was a swinging shot and 1 OH was on the bounce

Ferrero's FHs - 4 cc (2 returns), 3 dtl, 6 inside-out, 1 inside-in, 1 drop shot/cc
- BHs - 2 cc (1 pass, 1 at net), 2 dtl (1 pass), 2 lobs

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Hewitt 76
- 57 Unforced (33 FH, 34 BH)... with 1 FH at net
- 19 Forced (9 FH, 7 BH, 1 FH1/2V, 2 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.9

Ferrero 61
- 32 Unforced (15 FH, 16 BH, 1 FHV)
- 29 Forced (17 FH, 10 BH, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net & 1 FH can reasonably be called an OH on baseline on bounce against an at net smash (flagrantly forced)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.9

(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 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
Hewitt was...
- 34/46 (74%) at net, including...
- 1/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves
---
- 0/3 forced back

Ferrero was 14/24 (58%) at net, with...
- 1/2 forced back

Match Report
Great match of open court, attacking tennis by both players, with Hewitt throwing in net play too, while Ferrero is more consistent off the ground. There’s nothing in the result, and its anybody’s ball game in the fifth set, Ferrero probably slightly more favoured. Court is quickish

Ferrero is twice up a break in the decider. After breaking for second time for 2-1 (having been broken in between), he’s won 6 of last 10 return games going back to start of third set, while only facing break points in one game other than the once he’s broken in. And Hewitt hasn’t played badly in being brushed aside so

Given the scoreline, its not surprising that Fer has better of match long stats

Fer wins 143 points while serving 135 of them, or in percentages 50.9% serving 48.0% of them
Break points - Hewitt 7/13, Fer 8/15, with both players having them in 8 games

Fluctuations in Hewitt’s first serve percentage seems to key to outcome of individual sets, but that’s a superficial statement

He serves at 63% and 61% in first two sets that he wins. Not that that’s any guarantee of result, with both scores being 7-5
He serves at 40% and 35% in the next 2 that he loses. Those are problematic numbers, very likely to see him lose, as evidenced by 2-6 scorelines
He serves at 52% in the decider - low enough not to be too tough for Fer, high enough not to be too easy either

Crucial change in fifth set is in fact Fer’s first serve figures
He serves at 58%. In other sets, range of his in count is 69 - 82%
He wins just 53% first serve points. In other sets, that ranges 65 - 93%

No real reason for the drop in Fer’s serve. He serves at about the same strength he’s been serving all match (other than first set, when he’s particularly banging them down). Percentage dropping can happen, but for winning rate to go down, some combo of Hewitt returning or playing particularly well or Fer playing badly would have to happen

None of it really does. Winning rates of the 3 other serves on show are middling compared to rest of match, which is evidence that balance of play hasn’t changed. Hewitt doesn’t return particularly differently of quality either. Just the way things play out

Match is better than the numbers would suggest. Dual winged, baseline play with both players hitting wide (Hewitt a little more). Crosscourt exchanges often become corner to corner. From there, there are dtl winners and errors trying, or still more sharply cc shots dragging opponent feet outside court. And with court open, lots of moving-opponent around sharply, close to corner to corner. Exciting, fluid, attacking tennis

Hewitt is more apt to go wider cc and more apt to take on dtl winner, but Fer’s not too far behind

Hewitt doesn’t just add net play to his offence, it’s the best part of it. Either coming in early after drawing weak return, or after overpowering/outmanuvering Fer. Fer’s less net hungry, though also coming in not infrequently after drawing weak return, but he’s also met by excellent passing from defensive positions

And Fer is more consistent off the ground, to offset his aggressive handicap, with both players being solid. Even when losing 2 & 2 in the middle, Hewitt at least never gets sloppy with the errors (i.e. giving up routine errors early in rallies)

The hitting is nothing special. Solidly, firm-to-hard hitting stock stuff, unlikely to be bothersome on power grounds alone. Fer’s FH is the most impressive shot of force and he edges BH hitting too. Its direction and angles that cause trouble, not raw weight of shot

Both players’ movement is outstanding, and with dynamics being what they are, there’s plenty of room for both to showcase it. Whose better? Hewitt appears to be a little quicker, but he also seems to be the one who has to be quick to reach wide balls, even though he’s at least as often (probably slightly more) moving Fer around. In other words, Fer seems to be reaching balls more efficiently, obviating the need for eye-catching foot-speed. I’d say Fer edges movement than, but Hewitt is a little tougher to force an error from baseline to baseline, as well as being dangerous on the pass

How does it look in numbers?

Winners - Hewitt 36, Fer 25
Errors Forced - Hewitt 29, Fer 19
(Aggressively ended points - Hewitt 65, Fer 44)
UEs - Hewitt 57, Fer 32

Points won when return is made - Hewitt 97, Fer 101

To start, neutral UEs - Hewitt 26, Fer 17
And total ground UEs -
- Fer FH 15, Fer BH 16
- Hewitt BH 24
- Hewitt FH 33

There’s plenty of stock rallies, and both players move so well that the added edge of wide angles don’t necessarily lead to recipient being out of position, so dynamic still stays one of basic consistency, not defence

Fer with sizable lead there, with Hewitt solid, so more credit to Fer for his advantage. Particularly on the FH, he’s just more secure than Hewitt, but untimely FH errors from him end up being very costly

Baseline-to-baseline winners, Fer 16, Hewitt 14, broken down as -
- Fer FH 15
- Hewitt FH 8, Hewitt BH 6
- Fer BH 1

Effectiveness of Fer’s FH shining through, with match low UEs, match high winners. Same number of winners and UEs (next best differential is his BH with -10). Variety too it to - he finishes points both dtl (3 winners - same as Hewitt), and inside-out (6 winners, Hewitt has 1)

 

[Waspsting]

Just as many winners and considerably fewer UEs is great start for Fer to coming out ahead from baseline. Then there’s the FEs

Ground FEs - Hewitt 16, Fer 27… with Fer’s FH having a whopping 17, and other 3 shots clustered between 7-10
And net points - Hewitt winning 74% of 46 approaches, Fer 58% of 24

With Hewitt having 18 net winners of the 34 net points he wins, he’s forced about 16 errors from net, leaving about 11 ground-to-ground. Fer has 5 net winners, leaving about 9 passing errors drawn and so, about 7 ground-to-ground

In pure numbers, Fer doing comfily better from the baseline - he’s ended about same number of points aggressively and is significantly more consistent

That’s not too accurate because most of Hewitt’s large 46 approaches are product of his exploiting commanding baseline rally. Sans overpowering shots (in other words, not nailing winners regularly), he plays a great game in finishing points by coming forward

Winning 74% net points is better efficiency on finishing attacks than Fer has with his baseline shots (though Fer’s baseline finishing is better than Hewitt’s). Hewitt’s both more net hungry, with Fer not too interested in coming forward and also discourages Fer from doing so with some great passes from defensive positions. 0 volley UEs from Hewitt (he does miss a FH at net)

Passing winners - both 4
Net FEs - Hewitt 3, Fer 2
… in context of Hewitt being at net twice as often is a win for him

Winner Attempt UEs - Hewitt 14, Fer 7 (with just 1 volley in there, its by Fer)

In conjunction with the neutral error rate and virtually same number of ground-to-ground winners, Fer’s doing much better when going for the point ender

Gist - Fer more secure off the ground off both wings and better at being aggressive, especially with his FH from there. Hewitt though doesn’t play a pure baseline game and when he takes charge of rallies, comes in substantially to finish - and that’s the most effective aggression displayed by either player

Before all that of course comes serve-return matters

Unreturneds are equal at 27% (so are aces at 12, with Hewitt serving them at better rate)
In light of Fer serving at 70% to Hewitt’s 52%, that favours Hewitt as better returner

Ironically, its Fer FH, that has by far best of court action, that proves most vulnerable. He’s got 10 UEs on that side. Fair few looking for big returns, but makes more than he misses and then ones he makes don’t necessarily lead to much

Good job by Fer to keep such a high in count. In first set, he’s banging down serves and Hewitt struggles to cope. Thereafter, he takes something off to still be troubling, but safely maintaining high in-counts. Hewitt’s in-count dropping by contrast, is source of most of his problems

And Hewitt returning better. Facing a lot more tough and not-easy serves, he puts just as many back in play. Quality of his returns a little better too. Neither players over-attacks with the return. Fer’s attempts too usually fail. Otherwise, slightly wide returns to get server moving for third ball is about extent of it, with both players indulging some and both players movements upto handling it

Match Progression
Tough first set. Both players getting a lot out of their serves and early on Hewitt in particular has trouble returning. Both hit hard in dual winged rallies, Fer a little harder off the BH. Both hit cc shots wider than average leading to lively action and both take net against weak returns (Hewitt more, with Fer drawing more return errors)

Hewitt is a little quicker and a little tougher to force errors out of of. He’s exceptionally good on both fronts, Fer isn’t bad at all

Fer breaks for 4-3, with a net chord pop up allowing him to come to net to convert his third break point after being at 0-40. Consolidates to love and after nailing a BH dtl passing winner, is 30-30 two points away from the set returning the game after

Hewitt holds and doesn’t lose another game in set. Breaks back for 5-5 in a lively game where Fer makes 2/5 first serves. And breaks again to end the set with Fer making 1/6, with some good defence and and Fer stumbling a bit with a double fault and missing a routine third ball FH

Serves become less potent in second set and there are more rallies, which become even livelier with wider cc shots, and dtl finishers. Fer’s more apt to go very wide, Hewitt’s a little vulnerable on the running FH and Hewitt makes good use of taking net early after powerful serves

Couple of breaks early. Some fine BH-BH rallies go Hewitt’s way for him to break for 2-0. Fer breaks back for 2-3 in a 12 point game in a game with great rallies

Set continues on serve, with open court action and it’s a terrible game from Fer that ends it - double fault, missing easy FHV and routine FH among the points he loses

Fer opens the third set with a booming FH return winners. Hewitt’s in-count drops, h starts double faulting some (hadn’t done so at all earlier) and misses a few returns that he hadn’t been, but he plays solidly in baseline rallies, amidst moving-opponent-around action. Fer just happens to play that much better and breaks twice, while holding from 0-40 down once to take it

By contrast, fourth set is quite poor from Hewitt. He’s broken to start missing routine shots and double faulting and almost seems to be half-tanking return games after that, with casual errors to regulation balls

Perfect BH lob winner by Fer raises another break point late in the set, on which Hewitt double faults to fall behind 2-5

Both players take a medical time out at the changeover, and neither are amputee cases. The ‘treatment’ Hewitt takes is the lightest one you’ll see. Trainer puts something on tip of one of his finger tips. Looks more like an actress getting the final make-up touch than a tennis player who needs medical attention. Fer has his foot looked at. Whole thing looks like unnecessary from both players

Fer serves out the set without trouble. Just 37 points in the set, or 4.63 points per game. Previous set with same scoreline had 54 points or 6.75 per game

Wonderful finale. First 3 games are all breaks, leaving Fer up one. Hewitt eventually levels at 3-3. The two move one another all over the court and Hewitt’s at net regularly too

Ending is a bit sudden. After Hewitt breaks back for 3-3, there are 3 quick holds with just 1 point going against server. And then Hewitt breaks to end the match

Its a risky game by Fer. Misses an ambitious, not far from wild FH winner attempt to start and then indulges a drop shot Hewitt in + lob him combo that he’d pulled off couple times earlier in match. This time, it ends with an easy, pat-down OH winner

Match point though is perfect from Hewitt. Fer does well to make a half-volley at net, but Hewitt’s BH lob is sails over for a so sure a winner that Fer just watches it, even though he’s down match point

Summing up, great match. If the names involved were bigger, it would be talked about in same breath as the ‘88 and ‘96 finals. Baseline rallies feature solidly strong, dual winged hitting from both players as a starting point - and both are apt to play wider shots to open up the court, leading to all kinds of fun things - running corner to corner, down-the-line point ending shots, excessively angled cc point finishers, drop shots and related net play and so on. Both players movements are exemplary

On top of that, Hewitt also utilizes net play with fine instinct to good effect

Ferrero is more consistent and his FH is the most lethal shot on show, but ends up failing him at crucial times. Hewitt’s forecourt trips cancel out however little he trails from the baseline alone. Hewitt returns a little better, with Ferrero apt to miss his attempts at aggressive returns

Shifts in Hewitt’s first serve percentage shape outcome of sets more than anything else, but there’s next to nothing in the result (Hewitt convincingly loses sets he has percentage, but having decent ones isn't a guarentee of winning sets), with Hewitt ending up prevailing

 

[BauerAlmeida]

Ferrero won more games and more points, but Hewitt's clutchness made him win. Sometimes it seems a bit forgotten he won TWO YECs back then. While Roddick or Safin won zero. However, OTOH, he underachieved at M1000 level winning only twice.

 

[Vincent-C]

Hewitt was a wonderful all-courter. That guy would make you pay for *any* mistake,
and he was not (unlike so many!) afraid of the net.

God's tennis..

 

[Mustard]

It looked a horrible situation for Hewitt when he trailed 1-3 in the fifth set after being 2 sets up. Hewitt seemed a bit gassed, but somehow found another wind to win 6-4 in the fifth set. Hewitt shaking hands with his dad in the crowd after his win sticks in my mind, his dad going "Go on, son!".

 

[Vincent-C]

stud

 

[Pheasant]

What a great match! I liked Hewitt’s topspin lob for winner that sealed the deal. Both players loved exceptionally well.

Nice throwback. I love it.

 

[NatF]

Hewitt was running on fumes at the end of a long season and a long hard SF against Fed. Looked done after the 4th set and the early break in the fifth - but my boy was clutch af back then. Raised his game at important moments and ripped the win from Ferrero's grasp.