John McEnroe beat Stefan Edberg 6-2, 6-2 in the Tokyo Outdoor final, 1988 on hard court
It was McEnroe's first tournament of the season and the first he'd won in over a year. The win took the head-to-head between the pair to 7-1 in McEnroe's favour. Edberg would win the remaining 5 matches in the rivalry
McEnroe won 63 points, Edberg 38
McEnroe serve-volleyed off all but 2 first serves and occasionally off seconds. Edberg serve-volleyed off about all but 2 first serves and most of the time off seconds
Serve Stats
McEnroe...
- 1st serve percentage (23/44) 52%
- 1st serve points won (19/23) 83%
- 2nd serve points won (15/21) 71%
- Aces 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (19/44) 43%
Edberg...
- 1st serve percentage (33/57) 58%
- 1st serve points won (18/33) 55%
- 2nd serve points won (10/24) 42%
- Aces 2 (1 second serve)
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (9/57) 16%
Serve Patterns
McEnroe served...
- to FH 30%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 9%
Edberg served...
- to FH 30%
- to BH 54%
- to Body 17%
Return Stats
McEnroe made...
- 45 (21 FH, 24 BH), including 4 runaround FHs
- 5 Winners (3 FH, 2 BH)
- 7 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH)
- 6 Forced (1 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (45/54) 83%
Edberg made...
- 24 (7 FH, 17 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 18 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- 12 Forced (5 FH, 7 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- Return Rate (24/43) 56%
Break Points
McEnroe 4/8 (4 games)
Edberg 0/2 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
McEnroe 20 (7 FH, 4 BH, 2 FHV, 4 BHV, 3 OH)
Edberg 13 (2 BH, 7 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)
McEnroe had 8 from serve-volley points
- 5 first volleys (1 FHV, 4 BHV)
- 3 second 'volleys' (1 FHV, 2 OH)… 1 OH was on the bounce and a forced back/retreated point, hit from near the baseline
- FHs (all passes) - 1 cc, 3 dtl (2 returns), 2 inside-out and 1 inside-in return
- BHs (all passes) - 1 cc, 1 dtl at net and 2 inside-out returns
Edberg had 11 from serve-volley points
- 6 first volleys (5 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 4 second volleys (2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 BHV)… a net chord dribbler
- 1 dtl at net and 1 inside-out return pass
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
McEnroe 15
- 5 Unforced (3 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 10 Forced (4 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 1 FH1/2V)… with 1 FH pass at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48
Edberg 21
- 10 Unforced (2 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV, 3 BHV)
- 11 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 2 FH1/2V, 3 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49
(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...
- 25/32 (78%) at net, including...
- 22/27 (81%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 16/20 (80%) off 1st serve and...
- 6/7 (86%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/2 forced back/retreated
Edberg was...
- 25/48 (52%) at net, including...
- 23/44 (52%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 16/30 (53%) off 1st serve and...
- 7/14 (50%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/1 return-approaching
Match Report
Straight forward match. McEnroe is decent to good and its hard to tell which because Edberg being poor is the stand out feature. Mac's returning is particularly good but there's scarcely an area where Edberg is so little as average (by a general standard even, not his own significantly higher one) of showing
Court seems about standard hard court, maybe tilted to the slow side. Both players virtually serve-volley off all first serves (both stay back twice), while Mac mostly stays back off seconds, Edberg the opposite
Edberg actually wins less than half his service points - 28/57 in holding 4 times and being broken the same. His serve is conservatively placed and returned easily (just 16% unreturned rate).
The return? He can't even put regulation second serves Mac stays back on in play (he misses 6/13 such), misses both first returns Mac doesn't come in behind and forget about returns made against the serve-volleyer. Mac with huge 43% unreturned rate - and he doesn't serve strongly, as just 1 ace hints. You'd be hard pressed to find a milder serving display racking up such a high unreturned count
The volley? 5 UEs in short match, ranging from routine to easy. he also has 10 winners, so its not all bad... but far more error prone than he'd need to be to hold confidently. Just 52% net points won
Groundstrokes? The rallies are passive, out-lasting type stuff - Edberg with 5 groundstroke UEs to Mac's 3. Its not a major factor in the match but is ugly stuff. Mac's stooped-to-rising-from-the-hips push BHs vs Edberg's awkward, pick-up FHs is a sight to make young men old
The pass? Mac's volleying isn't so decisive as to leave Edberg no shot on it. Whatever shot he has, he can't execute. Pretty normal and nothing discredit worthy here... Edberg's problems are more with making the return than the pass in play
And what of Mac? Nothing is bad and its the returning that stands out as particularly strong and to a lesser degree, the passing. How often does McEnroe have more groundstroke winners than volleys?
Serve is grey and conservatively placed. Few demons in it and its not difficult to imagine a strong returner giving him a very hard time. Edberg's returning though is a lot worse than Mac's average serving. 83% first serve points won and 71% second are flattering numbers for Mac
The volleying is decent. He isn't faced with many difficult passes to deal with and whips away easy volleys and places routine volleys away from Edberg. Nothing fancy and nothing bad
Little power in his groundstrokes. Just pushes balls back in play, seemingly preferring BH cc's to using his superior FH side. Probably motivated to go at the supposedly weak Edberg FH. Still, 0 UEs of the FH is something, even in a short match with little baseline play. Every other groundstroke on show has at least 2
There's some excellent returning and passing though, and Edberg faces a number of low-ish first volleys. Getting the ball in low with firm push is Mac's standard, good return. Not easy to deal with - a well playing Edberg could still dominate from such positions most of time probably, but its enough against the Edberg of the day to cause plenty of trouble
He also launches into a few returns with uncharacteristic vigour. Mac's return winners generally tend to be guided and placed well. In this match, he belts a few away the way Jimmy Connors might. And does the same on the pass too
Mac's a bit slow in covering the court - both side to side and moving forward
Mac breaks in game 4 with 3 FH winner passes - 1 cc, 1 dtl and 1 inside-out - along with a BH return to Edberg's feet
Edberg has a break point awhile later on back of a pair of Mac BH errors on which he misses a very makeable return
Mac breaks again to seal the set. Edberg stays back on two first serves in the game, suggesting Mac's returning had got to him a bit
On serve and 3-2 up, Mac wins the last 3 games off the second set. Couple of thundering returning winners, and another one that draws a weak 1/2volley that Mac can run up and OH on the bounce away set up his frist break - which ends with an Edberg double fault
Edberg has a point to break back. He finally tries something new, and wins a point return-approaching and another with a runaround FH return that forces an error. Doesn't come to anything though and Mac holds
And then breaks to love to finish - starting the game with back to back FH return pass winners (1 inside-in, 1 dtl), and ending with a runaround FH return of his own that sets up a firm BH dtl pass that Edberg can't handle
Summing up, some uncharacteristically powerful returning and passing from John McEnroe of high quality. More than that though, the result is a product of an insipid performance from Edberg
It was McEnroe's first tournament of the season and the first he'd won in over a year. The win took the head-to-head between the pair to 7-1 in McEnroe's favour. Edberg would win the remaining 5 matches in the rivalry
McEnroe won 63 points, Edberg 38
McEnroe serve-volleyed off all but 2 first serves and occasionally off seconds. Edberg serve-volleyed off about all but 2 first serves and most of the time off seconds
Serve Stats
McEnroe...
- 1st serve percentage (23/44) 52%
- 1st serve points won (19/23) 83%
- 2nd serve points won (15/21) 71%
- Aces 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (19/44) 43%
Edberg...
- 1st serve percentage (33/57) 58%
- 1st serve points won (18/33) 55%
- 2nd serve points won (10/24) 42%
- Aces 2 (1 second serve)
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (9/57) 16%
Serve Patterns
McEnroe served...
- to FH 30%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 9%
Edberg served...
- to FH 30%
- to BH 54%
- to Body 17%
Return Stats
McEnroe made...
- 45 (21 FH, 24 BH), including 4 runaround FHs
- 5 Winners (3 FH, 2 BH)
- 7 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH)
- 6 Forced (1 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (45/54) 83%
Edberg made...
- 24 (7 FH, 17 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 18 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- 12 Forced (5 FH, 7 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- Return Rate (24/43) 56%
Break Points
McEnroe 4/8 (4 games)
Edberg 0/2 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
McEnroe 20 (7 FH, 4 BH, 2 FHV, 4 BHV, 3 OH)
Edberg 13 (2 BH, 7 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)
McEnroe had 8 from serve-volley points
- 5 first volleys (1 FHV, 4 BHV)
- 3 second 'volleys' (1 FHV, 2 OH)… 1 OH was on the bounce and a forced back/retreated point, hit from near the baseline
- FHs (all passes) - 1 cc, 3 dtl (2 returns), 2 inside-out and 1 inside-in return
- BHs (all passes) - 1 cc, 1 dtl at net and 2 inside-out returns
Edberg had 11 from serve-volley points
- 6 first volleys (5 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 4 second volleys (2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 BHV)… a net chord dribbler
- 1 dtl at net and 1 inside-out return pass
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
McEnroe 15
- 5 Unforced (3 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 10 Forced (4 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 1 FH1/2V)… with 1 FH pass at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48
Edberg 21
- 10 Unforced (2 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV, 3 BHV)
- 11 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 2 FH1/2V, 3 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49
(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...
- 25/32 (78%) at net, including...
- 22/27 (81%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 16/20 (80%) off 1st serve and...
- 6/7 (86%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/2 forced back/retreated
Edberg was...
- 25/48 (52%) at net, including...
- 23/44 (52%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 16/30 (53%) off 1st serve and...
- 7/14 (50%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/1 return-approaching
Match Report
Straight forward match. McEnroe is decent to good and its hard to tell which because Edberg being poor is the stand out feature. Mac's returning is particularly good but there's scarcely an area where Edberg is so little as average (by a general standard even, not his own significantly higher one) of showing
Court seems about standard hard court, maybe tilted to the slow side. Both players virtually serve-volley off all first serves (both stay back twice), while Mac mostly stays back off seconds, Edberg the opposite
Edberg actually wins less than half his service points - 28/57 in holding 4 times and being broken the same. His serve is conservatively placed and returned easily (just 16% unreturned rate).
The return? He can't even put regulation second serves Mac stays back on in play (he misses 6/13 such), misses both first returns Mac doesn't come in behind and forget about returns made against the serve-volleyer. Mac with huge 43% unreturned rate - and he doesn't serve strongly, as just 1 ace hints. You'd be hard pressed to find a milder serving display racking up such a high unreturned count
The volley? 5 UEs in short match, ranging from routine to easy. he also has 10 winners, so its not all bad... but far more error prone than he'd need to be to hold confidently. Just 52% net points won
Groundstrokes? The rallies are passive, out-lasting type stuff - Edberg with 5 groundstroke UEs to Mac's 3. Its not a major factor in the match but is ugly stuff. Mac's stooped-to-rising-from-the-hips push BHs vs Edberg's awkward, pick-up FHs is a sight to make young men old
The pass? Mac's volleying isn't so decisive as to leave Edberg no shot on it. Whatever shot he has, he can't execute. Pretty normal and nothing discredit worthy here... Edberg's problems are more with making the return than the pass in play
And what of Mac? Nothing is bad and its the returning that stands out as particularly strong and to a lesser degree, the passing. How often does McEnroe have more groundstroke winners than volleys?
Serve is grey and conservatively placed. Few demons in it and its not difficult to imagine a strong returner giving him a very hard time. Edberg's returning though is a lot worse than Mac's average serving. 83% first serve points won and 71% second are flattering numbers for Mac
The volleying is decent. He isn't faced with many difficult passes to deal with and whips away easy volleys and places routine volleys away from Edberg. Nothing fancy and nothing bad
Little power in his groundstrokes. Just pushes balls back in play, seemingly preferring BH cc's to using his superior FH side. Probably motivated to go at the supposedly weak Edberg FH. Still, 0 UEs of the FH is something, even in a short match with little baseline play. Every other groundstroke on show has at least 2
There's some excellent returning and passing though, and Edberg faces a number of low-ish first volleys. Getting the ball in low with firm push is Mac's standard, good return. Not easy to deal with - a well playing Edberg could still dominate from such positions most of time probably, but its enough against the Edberg of the day to cause plenty of trouble
He also launches into a few returns with uncharacteristic vigour. Mac's return winners generally tend to be guided and placed well. In this match, he belts a few away the way Jimmy Connors might. And does the same on the pass too
Mac's a bit slow in covering the court - both side to side and moving forward
Mac breaks in game 4 with 3 FH winner passes - 1 cc, 1 dtl and 1 inside-out - along with a BH return to Edberg's feet
Edberg has a break point awhile later on back of a pair of Mac BH errors on which he misses a very makeable return
Mac breaks again to seal the set. Edberg stays back on two first serves in the game, suggesting Mac's returning had got to him a bit
On serve and 3-2 up, Mac wins the last 3 games off the second set. Couple of thundering returning winners, and another one that draws a weak 1/2volley that Mac can run up and OH on the bounce away set up his frist break - which ends with an Edberg double fault
Edberg has a point to break back. He finally tries something new, and wins a point return-approaching and another with a runaround FH return that forces an error. Doesn't come to anything though and Mac holds
And then breaks to love to finish - starting the game with back to back FH return pass winners (1 inside-in, 1 dtl), and ending with a runaround FH return of his own that sets up a firm BH dtl pass that Edberg can't handle
Summing up, some uncharacteristically powerful returning and passing from John McEnroe of high quality. More than that though, the result is a product of an insipid performance from Edberg
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