Ivan Lendl beat Mats Wilander 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 in the French Open semi-final, 1984 on clay
Lendl would go onto beat John McEnroe in the final and claim his first Slam title. Lendl and Wilander would go onto play 2 of the next 3 finals at the event (1 win each)
Lendl won 108 points, Wilander 82
(Note: I'm missing 1 Lendl service point won by Lendl. On one point, I've made an educated guess about the serve direction/return type and on a small number of points, made confident guesses about whether a serve was first or second)
Serve Stats
Lendl...
- 1st serve percentage (48/93) 52%
- 1st serve points won (29/48) 60%
- 2nd serve points won (20/45) 44%
- {Unknown serve point (1/1) 100%}
- Aces 7, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (13/93) 14%
Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (86/96) 90%
- 1st serve points won (34/86) 40%
- 2nd serve points won (4/10) 40%
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (4/96) 4%
Serve Patterns
Lendl served...
- to FH 24%
- to BH 75%
- to Body 1%
Wilander served...
- to FH 24%
- to BH 68%
- to Body 8%
Return Stats
Lendl made...
- 92 (32 FH, 60 BH), including 5 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 2 Winners (2 FH), both runaround FHs
- 4 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 1 Forced (1 BH)
- Return Rate (92/96) 96%
Wilander made...
- 78 (29 FH, 49 BH), including 10 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 5 Errors, all forced...
- 5 Forced (1 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (78/91) 86%
Break Points
Lendl 11/23 (12 games)
Wilander 7/9 (8 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Lendl 50 (22 FH, 10 BH, 9 FHV, 2 BHV, 7 OH)
Wilander 25 (3 FH, 7 BH, 2 FHV, 6 BHV, 7 OH)
Lendl had 16 passes (8 FH, 8 BH)
- FHs - 5 cc and 3 dtl
- BHs - 3 cc, 2 dtl, 1 inside-out/dtl and 2 lobs
- regular FHs - 3 cc (1 runaround return), 2 dtl, 5 inside-out, 3 inside-in (1 runaround return) and 1 drop shot at net
- regular BHs - 1 dtl at net and 1 inside-out/dtl
- from serve-volley points, 4 first volleys (2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)… the BHV being a swinging shot and 1 second volley FHV
- 4 other swinging FHV - 3 of them 3rd balls, but not serve-volley points (i.e. 'delayed' serve-volleys) and 1 2nd volley FHV of another such 'delayed' serve-volley
- 1 other BHV was hit from well behind the service line and not a net point
Wilander's FHs - 1 cc, 1 inside-out and 1 longline/cc
- BHs - 3 dtl (2 passes - 1 a return) and 4 inside-out
- 1 BHV was a drop
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Lendl 51
- 25 Unforced (10 FH, 12 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
- 26 Forced (8 FH, 16 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.8
Wilander 44
- 28 Unforced (12 FH, 16 BH)
- 16 Forced (7 FH, 6 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.1
(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...
- 28/36 (78%) at net, including...
- 8/13 (62%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 7/12 (58%) off 1st serve and...
- 1/1 off 2nd serve
--
- 1/1 return-approaching
- 0/3 forced back/retreated
Wilander was...
- 37/59 (63%) at net, with...
- 1/1 forced back
Match Report
Good match with many points of interests. As far as the result goes, Lendl has two things Wilander doesn't. A strong serve and power off the ground. Wilander has nothing Lendl doesn't
First of all, look at the ratio of holds and breaks. Lendl holds 8 times and is broken 7. Wilander holds just 4 times and is broken 11 times. Even on clay, I'd think these numbers are rather unusual... and can't really explain it
Wilander's serve is as innocuous as can be, but its not like Lendl attacks it. He puts it back in play - and then they rally (he does come hard at second serves, but Mats only serves 10 and most games, none at all). Taking all that to roughly equal Wilander's service games = 50/50 points all the time, you might expect to see him hold as often as not (if the two are equal in court play)
They're not equal of court play - Lendl is a better, so say, you'd expect Lendl to win more than 50% return games. Which he does. So far, so good, so logical (winning almost 3 return games for every loss is still a bit more than expected, but lets go with it for now)
Then what is happening on Lendl's service games? If playing skills are about 50/50, then the edge Lendl's first serve gives him should put him over to win more than 50% games. As we've seen, playing skills aren't 50-50... Lendl is better
So Lendl > Wilander on court skills plus Lendl advantage of strong first serve... should lead to Lendl winning the bulk of his service games (more than just 8/15)
Its a bit odd
First set is full of long rallies of the passive variety. More BH-BH than anything else but not overwhelmingly so (like in their '82 French Open match)… there's a fair amount of changing it up with dtl shots, FH inside-outs, FH-FH rallies etc. Still, its mostly who-blinks first stuff
Not much in it, but Wilander probably has a very thin edge in terms of consistency (i. e. not making unforced errors)
That who-blinks-first stuff is interspersed with a fair amount of approaching, particularly by Wilander, while Lendl occasionally serve-volleys. Second surprise... I'd have expected Mats to be the steadier player and thus, approach less (approaching is a way of forcing the action, and I don't think it was in his best interests to do that when he had a small advantage in the staple rallying stuff). The approaches don't go well for Mats in the first set and he's passed a fair amount amount (Lendl by contrast wins almost all his approaches
Just the one hold in the first set (feels funny writing that, usually we write "just the one break") and its to love in game 8. Couple of big serves (1 ace) and flagrantly forced error give it to Lendl and then he breaks to love. So many breaks means each individual break loses lustre, but this is a particularly fine one from Ivan... a break to love, including 3 winners - a running FH cc pass as Wilander was approaching, a flicked BH cc pass placed to perfection and a FH cc winner following up on a thundering return to a rare second serve
Second set, Lendl manages to hold as often as not and Wilander holds his last service game (he'd failed to do so in 8 previous games in the match!). Wilander comes in more and earlier in this set and wins more up front too.... but Lendl is more aggressive from the back (meaning he steps in more... aggressive relative to the low standard for such on clay between these two). And he has the serve to fall back on
Wilander opens up a 3-1 lead in the third (which of course, means next to nothing in this match). This set features the quickest tennis, both players in more of a hurry to finish points. Not necessarily the best tennis of the match (there are more UEs in shorter rallies than at any other point in the match). Both players seem to lose concentration to an extent... Lendl goes for bigger shots from the back, Wilander makes more uncharacteristic UEs than Lendl though. Lendl 'gains' the decisive break to love in an excellent game where he again reels of 3 winners in a row - 2 big FHs and a terrific BH lob in a point he'd been pushed on the defensive on.... and then serves it out in a 12 point game without facing break points
Lendl would go onto beat John McEnroe in the final and claim his first Slam title. Lendl and Wilander would go onto play 2 of the next 3 finals at the event (1 win each)
Lendl won 108 points, Wilander 82
(Note: I'm missing 1 Lendl service point won by Lendl. On one point, I've made an educated guess about the serve direction/return type and on a small number of points, made confident guesses about whether a serve was first or second)
Serve Stats
Lendl...
- 1st serve percentage (48/93) 52%
- 1st serve points won (29/48) 60%
- 2nd serve points won (20/45) 44%
- {Unknown serve point (1/1) 100%}
- Aces 7, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (13/93) 14%
Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (86/96) 90%
- 1st serve points won (34/86) 40%
- 2nd serve points won (4/10) 40%
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (4/96) 4%
Serve Patterns
Lendl served...
- to FH 24%
- to BH 75%
- to Body 1%
Wilander served...
- to FH 24%
- to BH 68%
- to Body 8%
Return Stats
Lendl made...
- 92 (32 FH, 60 BH), including 5 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 2 Winners (2 FH), both runaround FHs
- 4 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 1 Forced (1 BH)
- Return Rate (92/96) 96%
Wilander made...
- 78 (29 FH, 49 BH), including 10 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 5 Errors, all forced...
- 5 Forced (1 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (78/91) 86%
Break Points
Lendl 11/23 (12 games)
Wilander 7/9 (8 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Lendl 50 (22 FH, 10 BH, 9 FHV, 2 BHV, 7 OH)
Wilander 25 (3 FH, 7 BH, 2 FHV, 6 BHV, 7 OH)
Lendl had 16 passes (8 FH, 8 BH)
- FHs - 5 cc and 3 dtl
- BHs - 3 cc, 2 dtl, 1 inside-out/dtl and 2 lobs
- regular FHs - 3 cc (1 runaround return), 2 dtl, 5 inside-out, 3 inside-in (1 runaround return) and 1 drop shot at net
- regular BHs - 1 dtl at net and 1 inside-out/dtl
- from serve-volley points, 4 first volleys (2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)… the BHV being a swinging shot and 1 second volley FHV
- 4 other swinging FHV - 3 of them 3rd balls, but not serve-volley points (i.e. 'delayed' serve-volleys) and 1 2nd volley FHV of another such 'delayed' serve-volley
- 1 other BHV was hit from well behind the service line and not a net point
Wilander's FHs - 1 cc, 1 inside-out and 1 longline/cc
- BHs - 3 dtl (2 passes - 1 a return) and 4 inside-out
- 1 BHV was a drop
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Lendl 51
- 25 Unforced (10 FH, 12 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
- 26 Forced (8 FH, 16 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.8
Wilander 44
- 28 Unforced (12 FH, 16 BH)
- 16 Forced (7 FH, 6 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.1
(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...
- 28/36 (78%) at net, including...
- 8/13 (62%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 7/12 (58%) off 1st serve and...
- 1/1 off 2nd serve
--
- 1/1 return-approaching
- 0/3 forced back/retreated
Wilander was...
- 37/59 (63%) at net, with...
- 1/1 forced back
Match Report
Good match with many points of interests. As far as the result goes, Lendl has two things Wilander doesn't. A strong serve and power off the ground. Wilander has nothing Lendl doesn't
First of all, look at the ratio of holds and breaks. Lendl holds 8 times and is broken 7. Wilander holds just 4 times and is broken 11 times. Even on clay, I'd think these numbers are rather unusual... and can't really explain it
Wilander's serve is as innocuous as can be, but its not like Lendl attacks it. He puts it back in play - and then they rally (he does come hard at second serves, but Mats only serves 10 and most games, none at all). Taking all that to roughly equal Wilander's service games = 50/50 points all the time, you might expect to see him hold as often as not (if the two are equal in court play)
They're not equal of court play - Lendl is a better, so say, you'd expect Lendl to win more than 50% return games. Which he does. So far, so good, so logical (winning almost 3 return games for every loss is still a bit more than expected, but lets go with it for now)
Then what is happening on Lendl's service games? If playing skills are about 50/50, then the edge Lendl's first serve gives him should put him over to win more than 50% games. As we've seen, playing skills aren't 50-50... Lendl is better
So Lendl > Wilander on court skills plus Lendl advantage of strong first serve... should lead to Lendl winning the bulk of his service games (more than just 8/15)
Its a bit odd
First set is full of long rallies of the passive variety. More BH-BH than anything else but not overwhelmingly so (like in their '82 French Open match)… there's a fair amount of changing it up with dtl shots, FH inside-outs, FH-FH rallies etc. Still, its mostly who-blinks first stuff
Not much in it, but Wilander probably has a very thin edge in terms of consistency (i. e. not making unforced errors)
That who-blinks-first stuff is interspersed with a fair amount of approaching, particularly by Wilander, while Lendl occasionally serve-volleys. Second surprise... I'd have expected Mats to be the steadier player and thus, approach less (approaching is a way of forcing the action, and I don't think it was in his best interests to do that when he had a small advantage in the staple rallying stuff). The approaches don't go well for Mats in the first set and he's passed a fair amount amount (Lendl by contrast wins almost all his approaches
Just the one hold in the first set (feels funny writing that, usually we write "just the one break") and its to love in game 8. Couple of big serves (1 ace) and flagrantly forced error give it to Lendl and then he breaks to love. So many breaks means each individual break loses lustre, but this is a particularly fine one from Ivan... a break to love, including 3 winners - a running FH cc pass as Wilander was approaching, a flicked BH cc pass placed to perfection and a FH cc winner following up on a thundering return to a rare second serve
Second set, Lendl manages to hold as often as not and Wilander holds his last service game (he'd failed to do so in 8 previous games in the match!). Wilander comes in more and earlier in this set and wins more up front too.... but Lendl is more aggressive from the back (meaning he steps in more... aggressive relative to the low standard for such on clay between these two). And he has the serve to fall back on
Wilander opens up a 3-1 lead in the third (which of course, means next to nothing in this match). This set features the quickest tennis, both players in more of a hurry to finish points. Not necessarily the best tennis of the match (there are more UEs in shorter rallies than at any other point in the match). Both players seem to lose concentration to an extent... Lendl goes for bigger shots from the back, Wilander makes more uncharacteristic UEs than Lendl though. Lendl 'gains' the decisive break to love in an excellent game where he again reels of 3 winners in a row - 2 big FHs and a terrific BH lob in a point he'd been pushed on the defensive on.... and then serves it out in a 12 point game without facing break points
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