Match Stats/Report - Lendl vs Wilander, Tokyo Indoor final, 1985

[Waspsting]

Ivan Lendl beat Mats Wilander 6-0, 6-4 in the Tokyo Indoor final, 1985 on carpet

It was Lendl’s second title at the event. He had recently won the US Open and would shortly after win the Masters (Year End Championship). Earlier in the year, the two had met in the French Open final, with Wilander winning

Lendl won 56 points, Wilander 31

Lendl serve-volleyed off all first serves, Wilander about a third off first serves

Serve Stats
Lendl...
- 1st serve percentage (26/39) 67%
- 1st serve points won (22/26) 85%
- 2nd serve points won (10/13) 77%
- Aces 9, Service Winners 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (15/39) 38%

Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (36/48) 75%
- 1st serve points won (18/36) 50%
- 2nd serve points won (6/12) 50%
- Aces 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/48) 23%

Serve Patterns
Lendl served...
- to FH 54%
- to BH 44%
- to Body 3%

Wilander served...
- to FH 38%
- to BH 46%
- to Body 17%

Return Stats
Lendl made...
- 37 (14 FH, 23 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (2 FH)
- 8 Forced (3 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (37/48) 77%

Wilander made...
- 24 (10 FH, 14 BH), including 1 runaround BH
- 5 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH)
- 4 Forced (4 FH)
- Return Rate (24/39) 62%

Break Points
Lendl 4/7 (5 games)
Wilander 0

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Lendl 21 (6 FH, 4 BH, 2 FHV, 7 BHV, 2 OH)
Wilander 4 (1 FH, 1 BHV, 2 OH)

Lendl's FHs - 1 cc pass, 2 dtl passes, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in, 1 drop shot
- BHs - 1 cc pass, 3 dtl

- 7 from serve-volley points -
- 5 first volleys (2 FHV, 3 BHV)
- 2 second volleys (1 BHV, 1 OH)

Wilander's FH pass - 1 dtl

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

- the other OH was on teh bounce

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Lendl 16
- 6 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)... with 1 BH at net
- 10 Forced (1 FH, 7 BH, 1 FH1/2V, 1 OH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 53.3

Wilander 20
- 9 Unforced (5 FH, 1 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 11 Forced (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50

(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 are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Lendl was...
- 21/28 (75%) at net, including...
- 12/17 (71%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 12/16 (75%) off 1st serve and...
- 0/1 off 2nd serve
---
- 0/1 forced back

Wilander was...
- 16/26 (62%) at net, including...
- 7/13 (54%), serve-volleying, all 1st serves

Match Report
Brutal and overwhelmingly powerful from Lendl as he thrashes Wilander. Huge serve, huge groundstrokes, lots of net play from Lendl. Wilander returns what he can and looks for net himself to get away from the ground hammering, and is simply, run over without playing badly. Court is fast

21 winners, 16 errors (6 UEs, 10 FEs) in play, to go with 38% first serves being aces/service winners. Remarkable numbers and worthy contender for the best match Lendl has ever played

He ends up serve-volleying off all possible first serves (he’s not always trying to serve-volley off some of what turns out to be aces), draws chest high returns that he can dispatch easily. Off the ground, hammer and tongs stuff off both wings. FH does what its most capable of doing, but no fooling around with the BH either. BH dtl stands out as unusual, but nothing stands out for quality because its all high end

Mats tends to be on receiving end of these kinds of top-drawer showings because his game is so consistent (return and groundstrokes) without being heavy of force and also because he doesn’t have too strong a serve. Opponent get returns in play and get into rallies from where they can shine (as opposed to having low return rates or in defensive positions for rallies). Here, Mats is solid enough, though not as much as Lendl. Serves quite well and also serve-volleys plenty also. He’s not weak from the back either

He’s just outdone on all fronts - Lendl’s returning more powerful than Mats’ serve, Lendl’s passing better than Mats’ volleying, Lendl more powerful and consistent from the back, QED

Is Mats a little slow or his shot tolerance a little off? Or does Lendl’s power overload the capacity? It is unusual for Mats to be knocked back in baseline rallies to extent he is, but court is fast and Lendl’s power exceptional. Probably more about Lendl’s high quality than anything being off in Mats movements or resistance

Stats are largely self-explanatory
1st serve in - Lendl 67%, Mats 75%
1st serve won - Lendl 85%, Mats 50%
2nd serve won - Lendl 77%, Mats 50%

Serving big enough to have 10 aces/service winners or 38% of first serves, that’s an excellent in-count by Lendl. He has 38% to 23% lead in freebies

Mats with just 5 return errors (all but 1 forced), while being aced/service winner’d 10 times. Typical Mats, missing next to nothing that’s makeable (its just that there’s a lot that’s not makeable). 8/10 Lendl’s return errors being marked FE is indicator of fast court and Mats serving pretty well too

Mats winning equal number of first serve and second serve points is surprising because he does have a good, troubling first serve, and a point-starting second. Lendl winning such a fat lot of second serve points is one of the best indicators of how well he plays (there are a lot to choose from)

Perfect symmetry from Mats. Wins exactly half of all his service points, wins exactly half of his service games

First serve-volley frequency - Lendl 100%, Mats 37%
First serve-volley success - Lendl 75%, Mats 54%
Staying back - Mats 45%

As mentioned earlier, this isn’t a typical “serve-volleys of all firs serves” showing in that Lendl isn’t looking to. Just happens that he fires down aces when he isn’t

Lendl draws easy, chest high returns that are easy to putaway. And he does

Good enough serving from Mats to confidently serve-volley behind too. Has Lendl stretched out to return good lot of time. Lendl just about quick enough to reach the return and gives them a good smack. Mats gets fair few shoelace volleys first up

And baseline rallies rest of the time. Lendl hammers the ball, Mats keeps it in play. Power FH’ng from Lendl is common, but he’s hard hitting off both sides here. Shot that stands out is BH dtl, which he rips into regularly

Both players seeks net from rallies. Lendl via overpowering, which is simply what he does. Mats by lightly outmanuvering, often with third ball FH dtl after wide serve has Lendl out of position. It’s a good move because alternative is getting overpowered and dominated

 

[Waspsting]

Winners - Lendl 21, Mats 4
Errors forced - Lendl 11, Mats 10
UEs - Lendl 6, Mats 9

Ground to ground, Lendl with 6 winners, evenly split across wings, Mats 0. Lendl forcing 2 errors, Mats 0. All 3 of Lendl’s BH winners are dtl and both Mats FEs are drawn by same shot. Not at all your typical Lendl-Mats BH cc rallies ‘til the cows come home dynamic. Lendl’s powering BH cc’s too, but Mats is upto handling that, but Lendl turning to attack with very powerful dtl shots almost habitually, and certainly regularly. Few late taken chips by Lendl, but he doesn’t slice or chip for variety, largely only playing it when he’s short on time

Neutral UEs Lendl 1, Mats 3. With Lendl’s ‘neutral’ being pressuringly strong, Mats’ less so

And Lendl smart enough to not just rely on baseline power to finish points, though that’s working very nicely. Last time they’d played was in French Open final, where Lendl’s attempts to finish with bigger and bigger FHs had proved inferior to Mats’ net play. The overpowering thing here leads naturally to chances to come in and far from hesitating, Lendl’s openly on look out for such approaches. More so than trying to win from baseline alone

Rallying to net - Lendl 9/11, Mats 9/13

At net, Lendl with 11 winners, 3 UEs, 2 FEs
Mats on the pass with 1 winner, and 6 passing errors

On flip side, Mats 3 net winners, 3 UEs, 2 FEs
Lendl on the pass with 4 winners, 8 FEs

Those figures including serve-volleying

With just 5 return errors drawn, Lend’s 75% success at net is based on actual volleying success. He’s faced with easy, high volleys. 3 UEs isn’t low for just 28 approaches, but finishing so strongly, he can more than afford it. Mats in difficult position to make passes as approaches are powerful and have him pushed back - and he doesn’t make good passes

Generally, Mats tends to put relatively weak passes in play rather than miss going for strong ones. Here, he doesn’t have much option. Efficient, as needed volleying from Lendl to finish

Mats comes in off good, wide approach shots too, usually early in rallies on his service points after serve has Lendl off-balance. Typical, not very decisive volleying from him and atypically, not very secure either. He’s got same 3 UEs from similar 26 approaches

Gets a few cracking returns to the feet too serve-volleying that he can’t handle. But good move coming in often. 62% winning rate is God send, given he’s only won 36% of total points. Next to no scope to come in in return games though, what with Lendl’s aces, serve-volleys and brutally powerful groundstrokes

Match Progression
First set bagel takes about 20 minutes, with Lendl winning 26 points, Mats 8. Lendl loses 2 service points, Mats extends 1 service game to 10 points

Lendl BH dtl winner to start the match. He takes net twice behind powerful FH play and breaks with a BH cc pass winner to 30

Next break is to love - Mats missing a slightly wide, but routine enough FHV to start and Lendl coming away with 3 different types of winners to follow (FH dtl pass, set up very nicely with a low chip pass that draws up volley, BHV and a blistering FH inside-in)

Last break takes 10 points, with Mats seeking net more readily. Misses easy BHV on game point and Lendl creating an approach with a very good BH dtl/inside-out and finishing with a back-pedalling smash winner that he’s near the baseline for. Mats blinks up ground UEs last 2 points, including an adventurous BH inside-out/dtl winner attempt from normal positin

3 easy holds by Lendl around all that. 6 aces, 1 service winner, and aggressive finishing from both front and back of court to go with it. Only points he loses are to forecourt UEs - an OH and a FHV

Mats serve-volleys and seeks net more in second set and is only broken once. Still can’t get into return games though

Lovely, dink pass that draws not good volley that Lendl smacks away for FH cc pass winner in opening game. The play is very Mats like
Lendl second serve-volleys for only time in game 2 and misses a difficult back-pedalling OH on it

Lendl breaks to 15 for 3-2. BH dtl and a worked approach set up 2 approaches for Lendl, he nails another FH dtl pass winner and on break point, Mats misses a third ball FH dtl after Lendl’s able to make a tough, wide return

Unusually aggressive third ball FH inside-out by Lendl game after. He likes his pounded FHs, but usually doesn’t go for the winner straight up

Mats gets out of 15-40 game after. Saves first break point with his sole ace and Lendl misses powerful BH approach shot on the second, before good serves see Mats through to hold

Mats has 0-15 and 15-30 on the serve out. His only lead in a return game prior had been 0-15. But Lendl comes away with next 3 points with big serves, finishing with a second volley smash winner to wrap up

Summing up, scarily good from Ivan Lendl. Big serves, very powerful groundstrokes off both wings, lots of serve-volleying and powering his way to net to finish. Regular, damaging BH dtl’s stand out for being outside his norm, but FH and serve are just as bruising, only more normal for him

Out served and outhit, Wilander turns more and more to net play himself, using a good serve to set up approaches. It’s a good move because the alternatives are much worse, but only slows down tank on other side a little