Ivan Lendl beat John McEnroe 6-1, 6-3 in the Canadian Open final, 1989 on hard court in Montreal
It was Lendl's sixth title at the event, which remains a record. McEnroe would go onto finish the year ranked 4. This was the last final the two played
Lendl won 60 points, McEnroe 39
McEnroe serve-volleyed off all first serves and occasionally off seconds
Serve Stats
Lendl...
- 1st serve percentage (28/55) 51%
- 1st serve points won (23/28) 82%
- 2nd serve points won (15/27) 56%
- Aces 7
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (15/55) 27%
McEnroe...
- 1st serve percentage (30/44) 68%
- 1st serve points won (15/30) 50%
- 2nd serve points won (7/14) 50%
- Aces 1 (a second serve)
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (15/44) 34%
Serve Patterns
Lendl served...
- to FH 31%
- to BH 67%
- to Body 2%
McEnroe served...
- to FH 29%
- to BH 43%
- to Body 29%
Return Stats
Lendl made...
- 27 (13 FH, 14 BH)
- 9 Winners (1 FH, 8 BH)
- 14 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 13 Forced (5 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (27/42) 64%
McEnroe made...
- 39 (12 FH, 27 BH), including 1 runaround FH & 12 return-approaches
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH)
- 7 Forced (2 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (39/54) 72%
Break Points
Lendl 4/9 (4 games)
McEnroe 0/3 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Lendl 29 (12 FH, 13 BH, 2 FHV, 2 OH)
McEnroe 12 (2 FH, 1 BH, 3 FHV, 3 BHV, 3 OH)
Lendl's FH passes - 2 cc, 3 dtl (1 return) and 1 lob
- regular FHs - 1 cc/inside-in, 1 dtl, 2 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- BHs (all passes) - 6 cc (3 returns, 1 net chord clipper), 2 dtl (1 return), 1 inside-out return, 3 inside-in returns and 1 longline/inside-out
- 1 FHV was a swinging shot
- 1 OH was on the bounce
McEnroe had 5 from serve-volley points
- 2 first volleys (1 BHV, 1 OH)
- 3 second volleys (2 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 1 FHV from a return-approach point
- FHs - 2 dtl (1 return)
- BH - 1 dtl return
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Lendl 11
- 3 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- 8 Forced (2 FH, 6 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50
McEnroe 14
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV)
- 10 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 1 Back-to-Net)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.5
(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 for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Lendl was...
- 8/8 (100%) at net
McEnroe was...
- 29/55 (53%) at net, including...
- 19/35 (54%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 15/30 (50%) off 1st serve and...
- 4/5 (80%) off 2nd serve
---
- 6/12 (50%) return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back
Match Report
Frighteningly good from Ivan Lendl, especially in the first set. One of his best performances - one of anybody's best performances, I would imagine
In first set, McEnroe makes 15/21 first serves @ 71%. And gets mashed 6-1. Lendl has 17 winners (+2 aces), forces 4 errors (+2 return errors), while making 2 unforced errors (+ a double fault and 1 missed return)
11 of those winners are on return games. Mac wins a total of 15 points in the set!
(As impressive as that is, its not unprecedented for the match up. In fourth set of Antwerp '85 final, Lendl had 17 winners, 1 UE on top of 4 aces and 3 service winners)
McEnroe's serve games
Mac serve-volleys off all first serves and regularly off seconds. And Lendl mostly belts returns, while occasionally guiding them back with elegant precision. Makes a good number of errors (Note Mac's sizable 34% unreturned rate), but anything that comes back, comes back un-volleyable
Mac has 1 ace - and that was a second serve - while Lendl has 9 return of serve winners. Who's hunting who on the serve-return battle here?
The only Mac volley UE is a first FHV that reaches him about net high and on comfortable line, but firmly. He's only at the service line when he plays - and nets - the ball. On power alone, its not far from being marked 'forced error'. Later, he makes a first BHV winner to a comfortable placed ball, but hit very hard. It draws a large round of applause, and would have been marked forced error had he missed
Those are among the easiest volleys Mac has all match. the overwhelming bulk are hit wide, low and most of all, very hard. The one's that aren't hit very hard are placed particularly wide. Stupendous stuff from Lendl
Mac serves at very high 68% for the match, and his serve is fairly conservative of placement. Lots of body serves (29%, same as to the FH) and other body-ish serves. The body serves themselves aren't perfectly precise. Lendl moves a bit to make room to hit them, particularly off FH, but doesn't have to move enough to warrant a return being marked a runaround return. Mac does serve fairly hard though - within the limitations of his capacity for so doing
Something seems to have gone south with McEnroe's serve in this period. Against Jimmy Connors in Toulouse on fast carpet, he serves downright slow. In 3 matches against Boris Becker, his serve seems to be confidently read. And invariably, there's a big chunk of body or body-ish serves... that he doesn't have the power to be fully effective with
Contrast to mid-80s McEnroe serve, which took returners beyond the doubles alley when thrown out wide and which no one - including Lendl and Becker - seemed to be able to read
It was never the most powerful serve but disguise and placement made it possibly the best serve in the world in mid-80s. Neither of those qualities are on show in the matches I've looked at from 1989 period
Still a good serve, but worth noting. Usually, serve is the last thing to go for aging player unless particular injuries are at play, but I'm not aware of Mac having suffered back troubles
Good serve, just not compared to what it had been - and complete credit to Lendl for returning as well as he does
The staple of Lendl's returning and passing is power, but even then, they're mostly well placed. The power norm makes the odd guided or touch shot stand out all the more. There's a particularly good, softly chipped BH cc winner on a point Mac had run Lendl about on before coming in. And just for good measure, superb lobs. Couple of perfect winners, with the lobs clearing Mac decisively but landing about half-way between service line and baseline. On another point, Lendl chip-lobs Mac back to baseline twice from defensive positions
In a nutshell, Lendl returns and passes up a storm of power, placement and touch. The great Mac wins just 50% of his service points. When return is made, he can only win 7/29 points or 24%
It was Lendl's sixth title at the event, which remains a record. McEnroe would go onto finish the year ranked 4. This was the last final the two played
Lendl won 60 points, McEnroe 39
McEnroe serve-volleyed off all first serves and occasionally off seconds
Serve Stats
Lendl...
- 1st serve percentage (28/55) 51%
- 1st serve points won (23/28) 82%
- 2nd serve points won (15/27) 56%
- Aces 7
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (15/55) 27%
McEnroe...
- 1st serve percentage (30/44) 68%
- 1st serve points won (15/30) 50%
- 2nd serve points won (7/14) 50%
- Aces 1 (a second serve)
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (15/44) 34%
Serve Patterns
Lendl served...
- to FH 31%
- to BH 67%
- to Body 2%
McEnroe served...
- to FH 29%
- to BH 43%
- to Body 29%
Return Stats
Lendl made...
- 27 (13 FH, 14 BH)
- 9 Winners (1 FH, 8 BH)
- 14 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 13 Forced (5 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (27/42) 64%
McEnroe made...
- 39 (12 FH, 27 BH), including 1 runaround FH & 12 return-approaches
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH)
- 7 Forced (2 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (39/54) 72%
Break Points
Lendl 4/9 (4 games)
McEnroe 0/3 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Lendl 29 (12 FH, 13 BH, 2 FHV, 2 OH)
McEnroe 12 (2 FH, 1 BH, 3 FHV, 3 BHV, 3 OH)
Lendl's FH passes - 2 cc, 3 dtl (1 return) and 1 lob
- regular FHs - 1 cc/inside-in, 1 dtl, 2 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- BHs (all passes) - 6 cc (3 returns, 1 net chord clipper), 2 dtl (1 return), 1 inside-out return, 3 inside-in returns and 1 longline/inside-out
- 1 FHV was a swinging shot
- 1 OH was on the bounce
McEnroe had 5 from serve-volley points
- 2 first volleys (1 BHV, 1 OH)
- 3 second volleys (2 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 1 FHV from a return-approach point
- FHs - 2 dtl (1 return)
- BH - 1 dtl return
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Lendl 11
- 3 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- 8 Forced (2 FH, 6 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50
McEnroe 14
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV)
- 10 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 1 Back-to-Net)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.5
(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 for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Lendl was...
- 8/8 (100%) at net
McEnroe was...
- 29/55 (53%) at net, including...
- 19/35 (54%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 15/30 (50%) off 1st serve and...
- 4/5 (80%) off 2nd serve
---
- 6/12 (50%) return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back
Match Report
Frighteningly good from Ivan Lendl, especially in the first set. One of his best performances - one of anybody's best performances, I would imagine
In first set, McEnroe makes 15/21 first serves @ 71%. And gets mashed 6-1. Lendl has 17 winners (+2 aces), forces 4 errors (+2 return errors), while making 2 unforced errors (+ a double fault and 1 missed return)
11 of those winners are on return games. Mac wins a total of 15 points in the set!
(As impressive as that is, its not unprecedented for the match up. In fourth set of Antwerp '85 final, Lendl had 17 winners, 1 UE on top of 4 aces and 3 service winners)
McEnroe's serve games
Mac serve-volleys off all first serves and regularly off seconds. And Lendl mostly belts returns, while occasionally guiding them back with elegant precision. Makes a good number of errors (Note Mac's sizable 34% unreturned rate), but anything that comes back, comes back un-volleyable
Mac has 1 ace - and that was a second serve - while Lendl has 9 return of serve winners. Who's hunting who on the serve-return battle here?
The only Mac volley UE is a first FHV that reaches him about net high and on comfortable line, but firmly. He's only at the service line when he plays - and nets - the ball. On power alone, its not far from being marked 'forced error'. Later, he makes a first BHV winner to a comfortable placed ball, but hit very hard. It draws a large round of applause, and would have been marked forced error had he missed
Those are among the easiest volleys Mac has all match. the overwhelming bulk are hit wide, low and most of all, very hard. The one's that aren't hit very hard are placed particularly wide. Stupendous stuff from Lendl
Mac serves at very high 68% for the match, and his serve is fairly conservative of placement. Lots of body serves (29%, same as to the FH) and other body-ish serves. The body serves themselves aren't perfectly precise. Lendl moves a bit to make room to hit them, particularly off FH, but doesn't have to move enough to warrant a return being marked a runaround return. Mac does serve fairly hard though - within the limitations of his capacity for so doing
Something seems to have gone south with McEnroe's serve in this period. Against Jimmy Connors in Toulouse on fast carpet, he serves downright slow. In 3 matches against Boris Becker, his serve seems to be confidently read. And invariably, there's a big chunk of body or body-ish serves... that he doesn't have the power to be fully effective with
Contrast to mid-80s McEnroe serve, which took returners beyond the doubles alley when thrown out wide and which no one - including Lendl and Becker - seemed to be able to read
It was never the most powerful serve but disguise and placement made it possibly the best serve in the world in mid-80s. Neither of those qualities are on show in the matches I've looked at from 1989 period
Still a good serve, but worth noting. Usually, serve is the last thing to go for aging player unless particular injuries are at play, but I'm not aware of Mac having suffered back troubles
Good serve, just not compared to what it had been - and complete credit to Lendl for returning as well as he does
The staple of Lendl's returning and passing is power, but even then, they're mostly well placed. The power norm makes the odd guided or touch shot stand out all the more. There's a particularly good, softly chipped BH cc winner on a point Mac had run Lendl about on before coming in. And just for good measure, superb lobs. Couple of perfect winners, with the lobs clearing Mac decisively but landing about half-way between service line and baseline. On another point, Lendl chip-lobs Mac back to baseline twice from defensive positions
In a nutshell, Lendl returns and passes up a storm of power, placement and touch. The great Mac wins just 50% of his service points. When return is made, he can only win 7/29 points or 24%
