John McEnroe beat Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in the Wimbledon final, 1984 on grass
McEnroe was the defending champion and playing in his 5th straight final at the event and this would turn out to be his last Wimbledon title and final. For Connors, it was his last Slam final. He had beaten McEnroe in the title match two years ago
McEnroe won 83 points, Connors 42
McEnroe serve-volleyed off all serves, Connors off the majority of first serves and about half the time off seconds
Serve Stats
McEnroe...
- 1st serve percentage (40/55) 73%
- 1st serve points won (34/40) 85%
- 2nd serve points won (10/15) 67%
- Aces 10 (1 second serve and 1 not clean), Service Winners 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (27/55) 49%
Connors...
- 1st serve percentage (47/70) 67%
- 1st serve points won (24/47) 51%
- 2nd serve points won (7/23) 30%
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (17/70) 24%
Serve Patterns
McEnroe served...
- to FH 44%
- to BH 42%
- to Body 15%
Connors served...
- to FH 48%
- to BH 45%
- to Body 8%
Return Stats
McEnroe made...
- 48 (31 FH, 17 BH), including 5 return-approaches
- 7 Winners (4 FH, 3 BH)
- 17 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (2 BH)
- 15 Forced (7 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (48/65) 74%
Connors made...
- 28 (13 FH, 15 BH)
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 15 Errors, all forced...
- 15 Forced (8 FH, 7 BH)
- Return Rate (28/55) 51%
Break Points
McEnroe 7/12 (7 games)
Connors 0
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
McEnroe 25 (7 FH, 9 BH, 5 FHV, 1 BHV, 3 OH)
Connors 12 (2 FH, 6 BH, 3 FHV, 1 BHV)
McEnroe had 10 from serve-volley points -
- 7 first 'volleys' (4 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 FH at net, 1 BH at net)
- 3 second 'volleys' (1 FHV, 1 OH, 1 BH at net)
- 1 other OH came from a return-approach
- FH passes - 3 inside-out (2 returns), 1 inside-in return and 1 lob
- regular FH - 1 dtl return
- BH passes - 1 cc, 1 dtl return, 1 inside-out, 1 lob and 1 net chord pop over
- regular BHs - 1 cc return and 1 net chord dribbler (with Connors at net)
Connors had 4 from serve-volley points -
- 2 first volleys (1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 2 second volleys (2 FHV)
- FHs (both passes) - 2 cc (1 return)
- BH passes - 3 cc and 2 dtl (1 return, 1 at net)
- regular BH - 1 cc
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
McEnroe 13
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 1 BH, 1 FHV)
- 10 Forced (6 FH, 1 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43.3
Connors 26
- 8 Unforced (3 FH, 2 FHV, 3 BHV)
- 18 Forced (5 FH, 5 BH, 3 FHV, 3 BHV, 2 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 51.3
(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
McEnroe was...
- 36/49 (73%) at net, including...
- 32/43 (74%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 23/29 (79%) off 1st serve..
- 9/14 (64%) off 2nd serve
--
- 3/5 (60%) return-approaching
- 1/2 forced back/retreated
Connors was...
- 24/50 (48%) at net, including...
- 23/46 (50%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 20/35 (57%) off 1st serve and..
- 3/11 (27%) off 2nd serve
--
- 0/2 forced back/retreated
Match Report
As close to flawless as you can get from McEnroe - serving, volleying, passing and returning. Famous blowouts usually feature a healthy dose of the loser playing badly (and usually, that's underplayed to play up the winners showing). Not here. Connors plays about as well as he's capable and allowed to - he even plays smart - but McEnroe just toys with him
Serve & Return
McEnroe serving at 73% on grass while serve-volleying 100% of the time is likely to mean his opponent isn't going to get a sniff on return. Even Jimmy Connors. And so it proves. 49% unreturned serves, 85% first serves won, 67% second serves won, 10 aces and no doubles.... its a hopeless uphill task facing Connors
I've seen Mac place serves more aggressively (i.e. more ace likely). "Just" 10 aces is probably lower than what he's capable. This is largely due to his serving a healthy chunk at the body (8 serves or 15%... and a not insignificant of others are directed crampingly close to Connors). Still gets unreturned serves of these, just not aces
Quality of Mac's second serve is worth noting. He's not serving 2 first serves by any means - the first serves is more powerful and more adventurously placed - but the second serves he delivers are good enough to act as normal first serves. Probably stronger than Connors' firsts... and he doesn't miss a one
Connors returns well. The ones he gets back, he mostly gets back with authority. Fair few low and/or powerfully hit balls for McEnroe to volley first up
Connors' I suppose doesn't serve particularly well. 67% is low for him and what you might get if he was looking to serve particularly hard. Doesn't look particularly hard to me - just his usual pace, so could probably have had a higher percentage. Note also the high 5 double faults
Not that his serving higher percentage would have been likely to make much difference. As often the case, his first serve and second serve are about the same of strength
McEnroe returns fantastically. Taking his serving for granted, its usually the returning that catches my eye in his better performances
With Connors mostly serve-volleying, he's greeted with a host of low or wide first volleys of decent power. And 7 return of serve winners (4 passes, 2 normal and 1 net chord dribbler). The effortlessness of style adds to the impression of toying... strong returns, including winners against Connors on the baseline seem to just be tapped back. Scarcely an easy first volley for Jimbo
Connors serve isn't strong... but there's not much more anyone could do to it than Mac did
Note Connors serving 48% to FH and 45% to BH. Don't think that's the ideal distribution. Mac's more likely to chip-charge off the BH, but he hits FH returns a lot harder and covers that side more comprehensively
Serve-Volleying, Net Play & Passing
When the return is made, Mac usually has a difficult to not-easy first volley. He makes errors on 3 near impossible ones but everything else he puts in play. Usually with decisive placement (couple of winners from not easy volleys from under the net). Near flawless in the forecourt too for Mac
Facing a handful coming forward, Connors struggles up front, winning just less than 50% at net and exactly 50% serve-volleying. That's overwhelmingly down to quality of Mac's returning and passing. Even the 5 volleying UEs of Connors are on the harder side
So why does he keep coming in?
Because the alternative is Mac doing so. Mac chip-charges the first return he faces in the match... a first serve Connors comes in behind. Connors is up to making the first volley winner on that occasion, but its obvious Mac's in the mood to come in to net when he can. Also, that was largely how he was playing round about this period
Connors staying back on serves would likely lead to baseline rallies he'd probably lose the bulk of, or McEnroe manufacturing an approach of (which I suspect Connors would lose a lot more than 50% of)
I think Connors serve-volleying so much, despite getting passed and troubled doing so was still his best shot
Most of Mac's 5 return-approaches aren't chip-charges. 2-3 are strong and/or well placed regular returns that Connors has to move to and Mac comes in on that chance
Both players pass well - Connors more powerfully, Mac with better placement - but Mac is far better at covering the net and on the volley
---
Quality of Mac's play is so high that few points stand out, the norm is just that good. He slips when making a first volley, Connors runs forward to angle the pass at net but Mac manages to get up, chase the ball down on the other side of the forecourt and ease a BH over the net for a winner. Impressive as than the volley winners are, Mac's aggressive low volleys to the corners are even more so. Balls which might be marked forced errors had he missed whisked away almost everytime as to leave Connors with no chance
McEnroe was the defending champion and playing in his 5th straight final at the event and this would turn out to be his last Wimbledon title and final. For Connors, it was his last Slam final. He had beaten McEnroe in the title match two years ago
McEnroe won 83 points, Connors 42
McEnroe serve-volleyed off all serves, Connors off the majority of first serves and about half the time off seconds
Serve Stats
McEnroe...
- 1st serve percentage (40/55) 73%
- 1st serve points won (34/40) 85%
- 2nd serve points won (10/15) 67%
- Aces 10 (1 second serve and 1 not clean), Service Winners 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (27/55) 49%
Connors...
- 1st serve percentage (47/70) 67%
- 1st serve points won (24/47) 51%
- 2nd serve points won (7/23) 30%
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (17/70) 24%
Serve Patterns
McEnroe served...
- to FH 44%
- to BH 42%
- to Body 15%
Connors served...
- to FH 48%
- to BH 45%
- to Body 8%
Return Stats
McEnroe made...
- 48 (31 FH, 17 BH), including 5 return-approaches
- 7 Winners (4 FH, 3 BH)
- 17 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (2 BH)
- 15 Forced (7 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (48/65) 74%
Connors made...
- 28 (13 FH, 15 BH)
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 15 Errors, all forced...
- 15 Forced (8 FH, 7 BH)
- Return Rate (28/55) 51%
Break Points
McEnroe 7/12 (7 games)
Connors 0
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
McEnroe 25 (7 FH, 9 BH, 5 FHV, 1 BHV, 3 OH)
Connors 12 (2 FH, 6 BH, 3 FHV, 1 BHV)
McEnroe had 10 from serve-volley points -
- 7 first 'volleys' (4 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 FH at net, 1 BH at net)
- 3 second 'volleys' (1 FHV, 1 OH, 1 BH at net)
- 1 other OH came from a return-approach
- FH passes - 3 inside-out (2 returns), 1 inside-in return and 1 lob
- regular FH - 1 dtl return
- BH passes - 1 cc, 1 dtl return, 1 inside-out, 1 lob and 1 net chord pop over
- regular BHs - 1 cc return and 1 net chord dribbler (with Connors at net)
Connors had 4 from serve-volley points -
- 2 first volleys (1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 2 second volleys (2 FHV)
- FHs (both passes) - 2 cc (1 return)
- BH passes - 3 cc and 2 dtl (1 return, 1 at net)
- regular BH - 1 cc
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
McEnroe 13
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 1 BH, 1 FHV)
- 10 Forced (6 FH, 1 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43.3
Connors 26
- 8 Unforced (3 FH, 2 FHV, 3 BHV)
- 18 Forced (5 FH, 5 BH, 3 FHV, 3 BHV, 2 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 51.3
(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
McEnroe was...
- 36/49 (73%) at net, including...
- 32/43 (74%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 23/29 (79%) off 1st serve..
- 9/14 (64%) off 2nd serve
--
- 3/5 (60%) return-approaching
- 1/2 forced back/retreated
Connors was...
- 24/50 (48%) at net, including...
- 23/46 (50%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 20/35 (57%) off 1st serve and..
- 3/11 (27%) off 2nd serve
--
- 0/2 forced back/retreated
Match Report
As close to flawless as you can get from McEnroe - serving, volleying, passing and returning. Famous blowouts usually feature a healthy dose of the loser playing badly (and usually, that's underplayed to play up the winners showing). Not here. Connors plays about as well as he's capable and allowed to - he even plays smart - but McEnroe just toys with him
Serve & Return
McEnroe serving at 73% on grass while serve-volleying 100% of the time is likely to mean his opponent isn't going to get a sniff on return. Even Jimmy Connors. And so it proves. 49% unreturned serves, 85% first serves won, 67% second serves won, 10 aces and no doubles.... its a hopeless uphill task facing Connors
I've seen Mac place serves more aggressively (i.e. more ace likely). "Just" 10 aces is probably lower than what he's capable. This is largely due to his serving a healthy chunk at the body (8 serves or 15%... and a not insignificant of others are directed crampingly close to Connors). Still gets unreturned serves of these, just not aces
Quality of Mac's second serve is worth noting. He's not serving 2 first serves by any means - the first serves is more powerful and more adventurously placed - but the second serves he delivers are good enough to act as normal first serves. Probably stronger than Connors' firsts... and he doesn't miss a one
Connors returns well. The ones he gets back, he mostly gets back with authority. Fair few low and/or powerfully hit balls for McEnroe to volley first up
Connors' I suppose doesn't serve particularly well. 67% is low for him and what you might get if he was looking to serve particularly hard. Doesn't look particularly hard to me - just his usual pace, so could probably have had a higher percentage. Note also the high 5 double faults
Not that his serving higher percentage would have been likely to make much difference. As often the case, his first serve and second serve are about the same of strength
McEnroe returns fantastically. Taking his serving for granted, its usually the returning that catches my eye in his better performances
With Connors mostly serve-volleying, he's greeted with a host of low or wide first volleys of decent power. And 7 return of serve winners (4 passes, 2 normal and 1 net chord dribbler). The effortlessness of style adds to the impression of toying... strong returns, including winners against Connors on the baseline seem to just be tapped back. Scarcely an easy first volley for Jimbo
Connors serve isn't strong... but there's not much more anyone could do to it than Mac did
Note Connors serving 48% to FH and 45% to BH. Don't think that's the ideal distribution. Mac's more likely to chip-charge off the BH, but he hits FH returns a lot harder and covers that side more comprehensively
Serve-Volleying, Net Play & Passing
When the return is made, Mac usually has a difficult to not-easy first volley. He makes errors on 3 near impossible ones but everything else he puts in play. Usually with decisive placement (couple of winners from not easy volleys from under the net). Near flawless in the forecourt too for Mac
Facing a handful coming forward, Connors struggles up front, winning just less than 50% at net and exactly 50% serve-volleying. That's overwhelmingly down to quality of Mac's returning and passing. Even the 5 volleying UEs of Connors are on the harder side
So why does he keep coming in?
Because the alternative is Mac doing so. Mac chip-charges the first return he faces in the match... a first serve Connors comes in behind. Connors is up to making the first volley winner on that occasion, but its obvious Mac's in the mood to come in to net when he can. Also, that was largely how he was playing round about this period
Connors staying back on serves would likely lead to baseline rallies he'd probably lose the bulk of, or McEnroe manufacturing an approach of (which I suspect Connors would lose a lot more than 50% of)
I think Connors serve-volleying so much, despite getting passed and troubled doing so was still his best shot
Most of Mac's 5 return-approaches aren't chip-charges. 2-3 are strong and/or well placed regular returns that Connors has to move to and Mac comes in on that chance
Both players pass well - Connors more powerfully, Mac with better placement - but Mac is far better at covering the net and on the volley
---
Quality of Mac's play is so high that few points stand out, the norm is just that good. He slips when making a first volley, Connors runs forward to angle the pass at net but Mac manages to get up, chase the ball down on the other side of the forecourt and ease a BH over the net for a winner. Impressive as than the volley winners are, Mac's aggressive low volleys to the corners are even more so. Balls which might be marked forced errors had he missed whisked away almost everytime as to leave Connors with no chance
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