Match Stats/Report - Kuerten vs Bruguera, French Open final, 1997

[Waspsting]

Gustavo Kuerten beat Sergi Bruguera 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the French Open final, 1997 on clay

Kuerten was unseeded and it was his first title of any kind. Bruguera was seeded 16th and playing his third final at the event, having previously won it in 1993 and 1994

Kuerten won 111 points, Bruguera 84

Serve Stats
Kuerten...
- 1st serve percentage (39/83) 47%
- 1st serve points won (32/39) 82%
- 2nd serve points won (26/44) 59%
- Aces 4, Service Winners 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (17/83) 20%

Bruguera...
- 1st serve percentage (64/112) 57%
- 1st serve points won (37/64) 58%
- 2nd serve points won (22/48) 46%
- Aces 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/112) 10%

Serve Patterns
Kuerten served...
- to FH 12%
- to BH 87%
- to Body 1%

Bruguera served...
- to FH 27%
- to BH 71%
- to Body 2%

Return Stats
Kuerten made...
- 100 (45 FH, 55 BH), including 17 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (2 FH, 4 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 4 Forced (4 BH)
- Return Rate (100/111) 90%

Bruguera made...
- 66 (12 FH, 54 BH), including 6 runaround FHs, 2 return-approaches & 1 drop-return
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 12 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (1 FH, 5 BH)
- 6 Forced (2 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (66/83) 80%

Break Points
Kuerten 6/18 (9 games)
Bruguera 1/9 (4 games)

Winners (excluding serves, including returns)
Kuerten 39 (22 FH, 6 BH, 4 FHV, 3 BHV, 4 OH)
Bruguera 24 (11 FH, 7 BH, 2 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 2 BHV, 1 OH)

Kuerten's FHs - 4 cc (1 return), 1 cc/inside-in, 1 cc/longline, 10 inside-out (2 at net), 1 inside-out/longline, 3 inside-in, 1 drop shot and 1 lob
- BHs - 1 cc, 2 dtl, 1 inside-out and 2 drop shots

- 1 BHV was a net chord roll over and 1 OH was on the bounce

Bruguera's FHs - 2 cc, 4 dtl (1 pass), 2 inside-out, 1 inside-in, 1 drop shot and 1 lob
- BHs - 1 cc, 4 dtl (2 passes), 1 inside-out return and 1 lob (chipped)

- 2 from return-approach points (1 FHV, 1 BHV)

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Kuerten 49
- 36 Unforced (19 FH, 17 BH)
- 13 Forced (6 FH, 4 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50

Bruguera 54
- 34 Unforced (20 FH, 13 BH, 1 OH)
- 20 Forced (13 FH, 7 BH)... with 3 FH running-down-drop-shots (2 at net, 1 not) & 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 42.4

(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
Kuerten was 22/31 (71%) at net with...
- 0/1 return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

Bruguera was 12/19 (63%) at net with...
- 2/2 return-approaching

Match Report
FH shotmaking stands front and center, ably supported by big serving, choice drop shots and trips to the net as Kuerten rolls over a slow out the gate Bruguera

Court is is a funny condition. Its slow as ever in Paris, but something’s a little strange with the bounce; a large number of balls are dying by the time it reaches the receiver - not necessarily short balls, or when the receiver is standing way behind the baseline. With that exception, bounce seems normal enough for clay and French Open center court

22 FH winners by Guga leads the way. Brug has 24 winners total, and Guga’s non-FHs number 17. Guga’s FH is +3 over its UEs. The next best winner/UE differential is -6. They come in all directions, with inside-out most often seen

Its often set up by a big, powerful serve that draws weak returns. Brug takes first returns from about the baseline or slightly inside, though usually steps back for second serves. Its not a good move; the serve is on him too quickly. He does a good job getting returns back in play, but leaves Guga free to take aim with FHs right off the bat

Guga wins 82% first serve point. Next best winning percentage is his own 2nd serve and Brug’s 1st that weigh in at 59% and 58% respectively. Guga’s regular runaround FH returning ( he has 17 runaroudn FH returns) in the the deuce contributes to Brug winning match low 46% second serve points; He smacks them wide and to the line cc, setting Brug back to start the rally (or ending it), and once Brug is pegged back, Guga goes his merry attacking way

Drop shots aren’t overdone, but when they’re done, they’re done well. 3 winners and Brug with 4 errors running them down. Brug plays from well behind baseline in general and is pushed back and encouraged to stay there still more, accentuating the value of drop shots. The ‘dying’ bounce has Brug in a rush to get racquet under the ball too

Finally, with Brug pushed back and Guga hammering FHs, coming to net is Guga’s if he wants. He does. He’s up there 31 times (Brug 19 - considerable times to deal with drop shots), winning 71%. Its common for powerhouse hitters who are having success from the back to spurn the net in favour of their staple. No such staleness from Guga, who adds much to his attacking efficiency by adding net play to it

And what of Bruguera? For starters, he gets off to slow start, and doesn’t move well to wide balls. His shot tolerance is badly off too, and it seems anything hard hit that’s a bit wide will draw an error from him.

Both get better, but shot tolerance remains below par from what one would expect from a clay courter with his credentials and resume, even taking into account Guga’s fiery ‘neutral’ hitting. Brug is beat down considerably in neutral rallies

 

[Waspsting]

Brug gets things together in the second set, and is able to turn rallies into grindy ones, where he wins his fair share. Both players mishit a lot of balls - another sign that something not quite Kosher about the court - but Guga more. Brug’s BH is rock of the match, makes some fine passes on the run or stretch with the ball dying

His returning against first serves as suggested earlier, isn’t good. Or well thought out. Standing so close, he just doesn’t have time to make the shot with any authority (and Guga is not the type of player one can afford to send soft returns back to). But he ups his 2nd returning radically in the third set, moving well into the court - 3-5 paces, at times, almost half-way to service line - to take a full swing

With Guga serving low 10/29 first serves in that set, Brug’s return move has potential to turn his fortunes around. He’s not quite good enough at it, and misses more often than he’d have to were the ploy to lead to breaks

Brug’s own first serve force dwindles down to second serve quality in the last set, too. And his BH - the rock of the match with 7 UEs in first 2 sets - breaks down and yields 8 UEs

Essentially, to off-set Guga’s big serve and FH shot-making/finishing advantages, Brug would need to substantially outgrind his opponent. It doesn’t happen

Neutral UEs - Guga 14, Brug 24 (+1 defensive UE)

That stat doesn’t do full justice to neutral rallies. For starters, relatively high lot of Brug’s UEs are beaten out of him by the hard hitting Guga - it’s more a shot tolerance than consistency problem. And second, its more the case that with Guga, grinding neutral rallies just aren’t his way. He’s apt to go for an attacking or more shot in the midst of the grind - and miss it to lose the point, but not get a neutral UE

Attacking UEs - both 8 (with Guga having forced 20 errors, Brug 13)
Winner Attempt UEs - Guga 14, Brug 1

With 24 winners, that’s staggering efficiency on the finish by Brug (even discounting passes and returns, he has 19 winners). While Guga’s high number is -
a) a price he can afford with 39 winners
b) gets him out of the grind of rallying

With Guga, in general and in his match, avoidance of too much grinding is a choice. He’s not bad at it. In fact, he’s downright good. Simply, it just isn’t his way

Beaten down or not, Brug’s FH is the shot to falter. Match high 20 UEs - just 1 more than Guga’s, but Guga’s is a killer shot doing all manners of damage. Brug’s isn’t and is primarily there to not make errors, which its failed at. And most of those errors are neutral (Guga’s lot would have a large winner attempt component)

A final point about Guga’s shots. While taking big swings at the ball, he doesn’t back down or fall back against very deep balls as most big swingers do. And he rarely misses these near half-volley type shots that he takes a good swing at. Takes a good eye

Match Progression
Guga starts the match with a FH cc winner from near routine position. Bruguera doesn’t move for it. Guga continues to sprinkle in FH winners as the 2 stay on serve to 2-2, when Guga breaks

It’s a baseline hitting game and Guga’s more powerful of shot, forcing 2 errors from the back, and on break point, his volley dies on the ground more for the surface than the quality of the volley. Brug is still a bit slow to move

Brug wins his first return point on 11th attempt the game after - and takes Guga all the way deuce. No break points though and Guga finishes the game as he’d started - with a FH winner. His 4th of the game

Guga breaks again to end the set, appropriately finishing with another FH winner. His 10th of the set

Action in second set is more grindy of nature with Brug gradually getting his game up to speed (and raising his in-count from 44% to 67%). His shot tolerance remains less than great

Guga still has comfortably better of things, though not by firing FH winners in all directions. He serves 33 points in the set to Brug’s 49. Brug’s probably lucky not to be broken more often

Break points for the set - Guga 2/11 (4 games), Brug 1/5 (2 games)

As Guga holds to love twice, Brug survives 10 point hold and is broken in 12 point game. The holds is a sluggy baseline game, the break comes in a more dynamics one with the two players sharing 6 winners

Brug breaks back at once, with Guga missing a variety of aggressive shots - BH dtl, delicate BH drop shot, FH cc, though he strikes a poetic BH inside-out winner. Guga takes net on both break points, saving the first via OH winner, but is misses a BHV from his shoes second time around

Gaining his first break doesn’t change Brug’s fortune. He needs 16 points to consolidate, despite making first serves on 15 of them. And he serves well in the set - the only he does - with decent force as well as good in-count. The important thing is that he holds, saving 4 break points along the way

What might have changed his fortune is aggressive returning. At 4-4, Brug follows hammered returns to net and ends both points with volley winners to bring up 2 break points. He’s outplayed on the first and can’t handle a powerful BH dtl. On the second, he steps in and goes for dtl BH return winner, but misses. Guga goes on to hold

Guga ends the set with a break, with Brug missing attacking FHs, on break point, unable to handle a wide FH cc

Despite the 6-2 scoreline, third set is probably the most competitive of action (helped by Guga making just 10/29 first serves). First 3 games last 8, 10 and 10 points - and Guga has to save 2 break point in both his service games

All 8 points in the opener are 2nd serves. Brug turns to very early taken, aggressive returning against second serves, and bops one for a BH inside-out winner, but misses another eager return on first break point. On last point of game, Brug sweetly drop-returns, but Guga’s up to running ball down, and winning the point with a lunging FHV winner

Some luck for Guga in holding second time. Having erased a break point with a commanding point ending with a smash winner, he’s at net again for the second. His BHV rolls over the net chord for a winner before he goes on to hold

Some good shots from Brug in this part of the match, but his BH for first (and only) time, starts blinking up the errors and his first serve strength goes down to decent second serve level

He’s broken in game 6, with Guga striking 3 BH winners in 5 points (a cc and 2 drop shots) near the end. Earlier in the game, Guga had struck his sole return winner, and Brug, a lovely controlled FH1/2V one

Brug phones in the remaining 2 games as Guga marches to victory

Summing up, commanding and thorough from Kuerten. His big first serve and his wide runaround FH second returns lays the groundwork for it so being - and he follows up with point ending FHs in all directions, beat-down strong groundies, drop shots to capitlize on pushing opponent back and just the right amount of net play to overwhelm Bruguera. And when called upon to grind, he holds his own in Bruguera’s playground - with his other advantages giving him license to bail on it as he chooses

Slow start by Bruguera and by the time he gets up to speed, he’s already well behind. A bad returning strategy of trying to take first serves early leaves him behind the curve and his shot tolerance and at times, movement are unimpressive too. Can’t match Kuerten’s firepower of serve of groundstrokes, can’t keep Kuerten on the grind for long and can’t even beat him consistently at it when he can

A showing on the flat side from Bruguera but far less discredit to him for it than credit to Kuerten for outgunning him so

Stats for Kuerten’s third round match with Thomas Muster - Match Stats/Report - Kuerten vs Muster, French Open third round, 1997 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)

 

[buscemi]

Has there ever been another Major where the winner's easiest or second easiest match was in the final? Kuerten's path to the 1997 French Open title:

1R: beats Doseděl, 6-0, 7-5, 6-1​

2R: beats Bjorkman, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5​

3R: beats Muster, 6-7, 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4​

4R: beats Medvedev, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5​

QF: beats Kafelnikov, 6-2, 5-7, 2-6, 6-0, 6-4​

SF: beats Dewulf, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6​

F: beats Bruguera, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2​

So, I guess the Doseděl match was a bit easier, given the first and third sets, although he at least extended him in the second set. But the final was clearly easier than all of his other matches.

Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 1974 would be the answer, I suppose.

 

[Drob]

Has there ever been another Major where the winner's easiest or second easiest match was in the final? Kuerten's path to the 1997 French Open title:

1R: beats Doseděl, 6-0, 7-5, 6-1​

2R: beats Bjorkman, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5​

3R: beats Muster, 6-7, 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4​

4R: beats Medvedev, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5​

QF: beats Kafelnikov, 6-2, 5-7, 2-6, 6-0, 6-4​

SF: beats Dewulf, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6​

F: beats Bruguera, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2​

So, I guess the Doseděl match was a bit easier, given the first and third sets, although he at least extended him in the second set. But the final was clearly easier than all of his other matches.

Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 1974 would be the answer, I suppose.

I don't understand this:

Connors 1974 Wimbledon:

Bengston
Dent
Panatta
Fillol
Kodes
Stockton

Rosewall 1974 Wimbledon:

Phillips-Moore
V. Armritraj
Kanderal
Tanner
Newcombe
Stan Smith



Connors 1974 USO:

Borowiak
Bengston
Alexander
Kodes
Metreveli
Tanner


Rosewall 1974 USO:

Dibley
Lutz
Pasarell
Ramirez
V. Amritraj
Newcombe