Match Stats/Report - McEnroe vs Lendl, Canadian Open final, 1985

[Waspsting]

John McEnroe beat Ivan Lendl 7-5, 6-3 in the Canadian Open final, 1985 on hard court in Montreal

McEnroe had also beaten Lendl to win the Stratton Mountain title a tournament ago. The two would meet once more at the US Open final, where Lendl would triumph

McEnroe won 75 points, Lendl 62

McEnroe serve-volleyed off all first serves and Lendl off the vast majority. Both players serve-volleyed occasionally off second serves

(Note: I'm missing 1 Lendl service point won by Lendl)

Serve Stats
McEnroe...
- 1st serve percentage (41/68) 60%
- 1st serve points won (29/41) 71%
- 2nd serve points won (19/27) 71%
- Aces 6 (1 second serve), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (32/68) 47%

Lendl...
- 1st serve percentage (37/68) 54%
- 1st serve points won (27/37) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (14/31) 45%
- ?? serve point (1/1)
- Aces 7 (2 second serves - 1 not clean), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (26/68) 38%

Serve Patterns
McEnroe served...
- to FH 37%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 3%

Lendl served...
- to FH 31%
- to BH 68%
- to Body 2%

Return Stats
McEnroe made...
- 36 (9 FH, 27 BH), including 4 runaround FH & 8 return-approaches
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 18 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH), a return-approach attempt
- 17 Forced (8 FH, 9 BH), including 3 return-approach attempts
- Return Rate (36/62) 58%

Lendl made...
- 33 (17 FH, 16 BH), including 3 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (2 FH)
- 25 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 22 Forced (10 FH, 12 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- Return Rate (33/65) 51%

Break Points
McEnroe 2/7 (3 games)
Lendl 0/3 (1 game)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
McEnroe 15 (3 FH, 4 BH, 3 FHV, 3 BHV, 2 OH)
Lendl 12 (4 FH, 2 BH, 4 FHV, 2 OH)

McEnroe had 3 from serve-volley points - a first volley BHV, a second volley OH and a third volley FHV (close to being an OH)
- 1 BHV was played net-to-net and 1 OH was hit from the baseline

- FHs - 1 inside-out return, 1 cc pass at net and 1 inside-out/dtl pass
- BHs (all passes) - 2 dtl (1 popping over Lendl's volley off a net chord), 1 longline and 1 lob

Lendl had 6 first volleys from serve-volley points (4 FHV, 2 OH)… most of the FHVs can reasonably be said to be OHs and vice-versa

- all ground strokes were passes -
- FHs - 1 cc at net, 3 inside-out (2 returns)
- BHs - 1 cc and 1 longline/inside-out

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
McEnroe 20
- 8 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH, 4 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 12 Forced (5 FH, 1 BH, 1 FH1/2V, 4 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 56.3

Lendl 22
- 9 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH, 4 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 13 Forced (8 FH, 4 BH, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 54.4

(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...
- 43/62 (69%) at net, including...
- 32/45 (71%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 23/35 (66%) off 1st serve and...
- 9/10 (90%) off 2nd serve
---
- 6/8 (75%) return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back

Lendl was...
- 26/41 (63%) at net, including...
- 23/32 (72%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 18/27 (67%) off 1st serve and...
- 5/5 off second serve

Match Report
A good, tough struggle of a match, but not smooth. The likelihood of McEnroe taking the net seems to shape the action

First dominates the first set. Lendl mostly serve-volleys off first serve. There are no break points til McEnroe breaks to end the set. Lendl opens that game with a double, but the rest of the points he loses are down to Mac's play - 2 chip-charge return points ending with Lendl passing errors and a mild forcing error where Lendl runs to a wide but makeable FH that he misses.

Second set is a struggle all the way. Despite being 3 games shorter, it only has 1 fewer point in it. McEnroe is pushed to deuce in his first three service games - and has to save 3 break points in one. Lendl isn't pushed as consistently but doesn't have it easy either... until game 8, a 12 point affair where 3 double faults sink him

In between, there are some controversial line calls that draw the ire of both players, particularly Lendl. He does have a point... the referee didn't do the best of jobs

Serve, Return & Serve-Volley
In a nutshell, McEnroe has a high first serve percentage (60%), does what he does on first serve points (i.e. serve-volleys and wins 71%)…. and its on second serve points (where he mostly stays back) that he overperforms (wins 71%). Crediting McEnroe for the high first serve percentage, taking his showing on first points as a given, lets zero in on what happened on his 2nd serve points

Lendl doesn't return it too well, and McEnroe plays particularly well from the baseline. Its no easy matter to return McEnroe's second serve with authority, but Lendl does it better than almost anyone. Not this day though... he misses many a makeable return. Note Mac winning 9/10 second serve-volley points

Lendl mostly serve-volleys off 87% off his first serves and with his serve, that's good enough to win a big chunk of points via unreturned serve. Mac's returning of the first serve is nondescript. Lendl's second serve is more interesting. From the get go, Mac is on the look out to chip-charge it and he proves to be very successful with the ploy, winning 6/8. These return-approaches are particularly good... deep and occasionally, placed away from Lendl.

Its enough to give Lendl a worry, particularly since his first serve percentage isn't great. He takes to serving big on the second serve. There are a couple of aces and at times, his second serve is indistinguishable from his first. Later, he starts serve-volleying off second serves at critical points (serving slightly less big, but bigger than he usually does).

His results are a mixed bag - he wins 5/5 second serve-volley points and his big serves when he stays back account for a number of return errors. But there's also 6 double faults - 3 in the game he's broken in the second set

Play - Net & Baseline
Mac is characteristically good up front, which is expected. More interest is the question is how Lendl does?

- 26/41 (63%) at net, including...
- 23/32 (72%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 18/27 (67%) off 1st serve and...
- 5/5 off second serve

- are good numbers, but deceptive if they give the impression Lendl was convincing at net. Most of the points he won were by return errors, which his big serve and Mac's average returning lends itself to (his presence coming in behind the fat serves does the rest). The winners he hits at net are almost all easy putaways - most of the 4 FHVs could reasonably be called OHs. He muffs a few easy groundstrokes at net as well - a relatively simple pass and a putaway off a serve-volley point. The volleys he makes to normal balls are nothing to write home about, just putting it in the court basically and how effective they are depends on where Mac's been taken by the approach shot (i.e. the serve)

Lendl makes the odd not-easy volley, but its invariably a defensive shot, leaving Mac with a good shot at the pass. He also makes a few suicidal approaches

The shortcomings in Lendl's net game become easier to identify when compared to Mac's showing. As for Lendl so with Mac... the serve does a lot of the work, but Mac's angles do as much as his power (with Lendl, its mostly power). With Lendl hitting a fair few meaty passes, Mac also has more to do on the volley than Lendl does

Its in the medium, around net high volleys where Mac's superiority shows. Lendl just plunks these volleys in play (or worse, misses them). Mac sweeps them into corner. Note Lendl with 8 FH FEs to 4 BHs.... these are mostly passing attempts and its the number suggests that Mac was volleying to Lendl's FH (a questionable choice). He wasn't volleying to Lendl's FH by design though.... he was volleying into corners and the FH corner does just as well as the BH corner. Its doubtful Lendl could hit a corner off a medium high volley

Both with 5 volleying UEs (with Mac approaching about 20 more times) is a good indicator of Mac's net superiority (and that's not taking into account the groundstrokes Lendl misses at net. Mac misses a couple also)
Mac's 6 volleying and 1/2 volleying FEs to Lendl's 1 is a good indicator of Lendl's superiority on the pass

Baseline encounters are interesting too. There doesn't appear to be too many of them, with Lendl serve-volleying so much. He does not dominate what little there are. Mac is about even with Lendl in play. Note just the 1 BH UE for Mac in the match.... a surprising stat. The possibility of Mac manufacturing an approach likely has a hand in Lendl avoiding going to the BH, which leaves Mac to hit FHs. He's not all offense with these, but does seem to be hitting more powerfully than usual.

 

[Waspsting]

Key Points & Bad Line Calls
At Mac has an easy pass at net to go up 0-30. Lendl's given up the point and has his back half turned as he's walking away to get ready for the next point. Mac misses it... because of all the places to put the ball, he seems to try to hit Lendl. This is Lendl reaping long term benefits from years of blasting passes right at McEnroe

At 15-15 game 11, Lendl's return lands on the baseline right under McEnroe's nose... but is called out. Lendl (who couldn't possibly be sure about it), complains about the call and is told the ball was in. Mac makes it clear verbally that he knew the ball was in fact out. Stops short of making the call against himself though. In the US Open final, Mac did in fact correct a call against himself - giving Lendl an ace that had been called a fault (He was down 40-0 or 40-15 at the time)

No one expects players to make calls against themselves, but good to put in perspective how and when players do. Down 40-0, sure they might make the call. 15-15 at the tail end of the set... probably not

Next game, Lendl hits a passing winner. Which is called out on the side close to the chair umpire. Lendl has a hissy fit, but the call stands. And McEnroe goes on to break to end the set

First game of the second set, Lendl plays wildly - carelessly swishing returns and making foolish approaches... and he ends up taking Mac to deuce for the first time. Novak Djokovic does this occasionally.... when flustered, starts hitting out and it makes him dangerous. Mac holds though

Next Mac service game, he finds himself down 15-40, Lend's first break points. A first serve is called an ace on the line closest to the umpire. The ball was comfortably out and Lendl has another hissy fit. McEnroe stays quiet but seems to know it was out too (he was getting ready to serve a second serve when the call was made). The umpire calls a let (no argument from McEnroe, who would certainly shouted the roof down if he didn't think the ball was out in the first place)

Why a let? If it was in, its McEnroe's point. If it was out, its a second serve.... the decision makes little sense and Lendl is in the right. Demands the supervisor be called out and demands the chair umpire be removed

One understands Lendl's frustrations. In his match with Jimmy Connors at Stratton Mountain the previous week, Connors had a linesperson removed, who had done nothing wrong. Later in the match, when Lendl demanded a linesperson be removed (with greater justification than Connors had had), it was turned down. The explanation given by the umpire was that he couldn't remove a linesperson if he felt they had got the call right. One might deduce than that the umpire felt the person Connors had complained about had made mistakes (she hadn't)…. in which case, why didn't he overrule them?

In this match, Lendl had incurred a warning long before the incidents mentioned. McEnroe at different times behaved worse... he did not get a warning. In the semi-final of this tournament, Connors had made a very audible obscenity speaking to the umpire and not been warned

Umpire calls for a ball change at the wrong time. McEnroe corrects him - not politely - and Lendl chimes in too. McEnroe sarcastically explains to the umpire that if the first two sets are split, the winner of the third set wins the match "in case you don't know". At another point when the ref calls for the crowd to be quiet, McEnroe jumps all over him, saying they can make whatever noise they want... if its bothering us, we'll let you know but if it isn't, who are you to tell them to be quiet?

Tough on the umpire, but he didn't do a good job. Mac probably nailed it when he told the umpire, "You've never overruled a call in your life"... that is the impression the ump gave

The tale the smart player should have taken from all this is to remain on top of one's own game, however one chooses to react to umpiring problems. Both react hotly. Mac continues to play as he was. Lendl tends to drop his level for awhile after

Back to play... ultimately, its the lengths Lendl goes to to keep Mac from net that ultimately undoes him. In game 8, he saves 3 break points with big second serves he comes in behind. Previously, he'd been serving big but not coming in behind the balls. He also double faults twice in this period. Mac brings up his 4th break point in the game with a BH longline pass from a good position made possible by Lendl making 2 plebeian volleys to balls that were there to be put away. And this time, Lendl double faults on break point

Summing up, a choppy match, with McEnroe more in his element than a Lendl who's decided attack is the only form of defence against Mac's net rushing. Its good thinking and he pulls it off reasonably well... just not as well as Mac does his natural game. Bad umpiring and getting distracted by righteous (probably justified) anger doesn't help Lendl either

McEnroe's semi win over Jimmy Connors - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...connors-canadian-open-semi-final-1985.653768/

Lendl and McEnroe in the US Open final soon after this encounter - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...d-lendl-vs-mcenroe-us-open-final-1985.610102/

 

[WCT]

Man, I had no recollection of Lendl s/v that much in this match. I really thought, based on his 2 summer wins over him, that Mcenroe was a pretty heavy favorite in the US Open finals. That's why they play the matches.

 

[Moose Malloy]

@Waspsting
The umpire in this match was Jeremy Shales, who is well remembered by all of us who followed the game in the 80s.

Here is a thread on him

https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/jeremy-shales-un-appreciation-thread.473988/

 

[BringBackWood]

better than Ken 'thank you very much' Slye.

 

[jrepac]

@Waspsting
The umpire in this match was Jeremy Shales, who is well remembered by all of us who followed the game in the 80s.

Here is a thread on him

https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/jeremy-shales-un-appreciation-thread.473988/

He was a lousy umpire....Mac, Connors and Lendl all detested him.

 

[jrepac]

Man, I had no recollection of Lendl s/v that much in this match. I really thought, based on his 2 summer wins over him, that Mcenroe was a pretty heavy favorite in the US Open finals. That's why they play the matches.

I fully expected Mac to win the '85 USO final....I guess Wilander tired him out in the semis.

 

[Waspsting]

The umpire in this match was Jeremy Shales, who is well remembered by all of us who followed the game in the 80s.

Here is a thread on him
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/jeremy-shales-un-appreciation-thread.473988/

He was a lousy umpire....Mac, Connors and Lendl all detested him.

No big players calling the shots on who umpires their matches back then I guess... Nadal and Serena have basically requested away umpires from officiating their matches in modern times by contrast

Reminds me of a cricketing story. The biggest draw in the game was a guy named Grace (admission fee was doubled when he was playing) and he knew it.

He's said to have once told an umpire -

"See them (indicating the huge crowd)? They've come to watch me bat, not watch thee umpire"

 

[krosero]

In a lot of your recently charted matches, Connors has had higher success on second serve than on first: '85 Stratton vs. Lendl, '85 Canadian and '89 Toulouse vs. Mac, '88 USO vs. Agassi.

It's almost true for McEnroe in this match: 70.7% on 1st and 70.4% on 2nd. I don't recall ever seeing Mac higher on 2nd. Normally you wouldn't expect that for a server who has a big first serve, though a few big-serving names appear on the list I started: https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/success-on-second-serve.332138/

Connors is probably the player we see this happen to the most, in the matches all of us have charted.

*******

Very interesting to see Lendl SVing behind 27 of 37 first serves.

The AP reported that Lendl tried more SV than he had the previous week at Stratton, and that he felt he hadn’t played particularly well in either match.

 

[Moose Malloy]

@krosero
I had Mac at 73.5% on 2nd serve points won vs Vitas in the 79 USO final and at 75.5 vs Alexander in 79 Davis Cup. Links to stats for both matches are available in the match stats thread.

 

[krosero]

@krosero
I had Mac at 73.5% on 2nd serve points won vs Vitas in the 79 USO final and at 75.5 vs Alexander in 79 Davis Cup. Links to stats for both matches are available in the match stats thread.

Yes in those his success on second serve comes close to his 1st serve %. Been looking, still can't find one where his 2nd % is actually higher.

 

[Moose Malloy]

Yes in those his success on second serve comes close to his 1st serve %. Been looking, still can't find one where his 2nd % is actually higher.

I misunderstood, thought you were talking about never having seen Mac above 70% 2nd serve pts won.

 

[krosero]

I misunderstood, thought you were talking about never having seen Mac above 70% 2nd serve pts won.

Got it, and that would be an interesting question in itself, how high we've seen %s on 2nd serve. I know we ran into a few at 100%, but some of those are unique circumstances, ie, player didn't have many second serves overall in the match.

Outstanding is Sampras against Rafter in 1997 Grand Slam Cup final: won 92% of his second-serve points (23/25). On 1st serve he was "only" 86%.

 

[Waspsting]

Very interesting to see Lendl SVing behind 27 of 37 first serves.

Think the reasoning behind it was if he doesn't take the net, McEnroe will

He might not like it up there, but its better than being on the baseline with McEnroe at the net

Contrast Connors. Who in these matches between the triad I've looked at
- doesn't come in enough against Lendl (despite getting short end of the stick from the baseline)
- comes in more against Lendl than he does against McEnroe (if there's reasoning behind that, its beyond me)

Lendl might be serve-volleying less against Connors than against McEnroe over concerns about Connors' return, but I doubt it

His default game is baselining... no need to change it, if its working

Against Mac, it probably won't. Against Connors, it ain't broken so need to fix it

Lendl came in much more successfully (and also less) in the US Open final. Memory of that isn't fresh, but I thought he volleyed much better there, but it might just be he served stronger/McEnroe returned less well (Mac struggled to get first serve returns back in play)

Lendl was clearly a thinker, if not an artist. don't see much evidence of Connors planning out how to play a match. Even when he wins

 

[Waspsting]

higher success on second serve than on first...
It's almost true for McEnroe in this match: 70.7% on 1st and 70.4% on 2nd. I don't recall ever seeing Mac higher on 2nd.

I haven't come across McEnroe winning more second serve points than first over a match

If it happened, it'd likely be in a loss on clay

its bound to happen occasionally over so short a period as a set, with the volume of matches we have

One that caught my eye was third set versus Boris Becker in Stratton Mountain 1986

Mac wass 14/19 @ 74% on first serves and 17/20 @ 85% on second serve.... and he still lost(!)

 

[krosero]

Mac wass 14/19 @ 74% on first serves and 17/20 @ 85% on second serve.... and he still lost(!)

That's a good stat for him, though it means he made only 19 of 39 first serves.

 

[jrepac]

No big players calling the shots on who umpires their matches back then I guess... Nadal and Serena have basically requested away umpires from officiating their matches in modern times by contrast

Reminds me of a cricketing story. The biggest draw in the game was a guy named Grace (admission fee was doubled when he was playing) and he knew it.

He's said to have once told an umpire -

"See them (indicating the huge crowd)? They've come to watch me bat, not watch thee umpire"

I think they quietly got Shales out of the umpire's chair a few years later.....

 

[Drob]

John McEnroe beat Ivan Lendl 7-5, 6-3 in the Canadian Open final, 1985 on hard court in Montreal

McEnroe had also beaten Lendl to win the Stratton Mountain title a tournament ago. The two would meet once more at the US Open final, where Lendl would triumph

McEnroe won 75 points, Lendl 62

McEnroe serve-volleyed off all first serves and Lendl off the vast majority. Both players serve-volleyed occasionally off second serves

(Note: I'm missing 1 Lendl service point won by Lendl)

Serve Stats
McEnroe...
- 1st serve percentage (41/68) 60%
- 1st serve points won (29/41) 71%
- 2nd serve points won (19/27) 71%
- Aces 6 (1 second serve), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (32/68) 47%

Lendl...
- 1st serve percentage (37/68) 54%
- 1st serve points won (27/37) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (14/31) 45%
- ?? serve point (1/1)
- Aces 7 (2 second serves - 1 not clean), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (26/68) 38%

Serve Patterns
McEnroe served...
- to FH 37%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 3%

Lendl served...
- to FH 31%
- to BH 68%
- to Body 2%

Return Stats
McEnroe made...
- 36 (9 FH, 27 BH), including 4 runaround FH & 8 return-approaches
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 18 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 BH), a return-approach attempt
- 17 Forced (8 FH, 9 BH), including 3 return-approach attempts
- Return Rate (36/62) 58%

Lendl made...
- 33 (17 FH, 16 BH), including 3 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (2 FH)
- 25 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 22 Forced (10 FH, 12 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- Return Rate (33/65) 51%

Break Points
McEnroe 2/7 (3 games)
Lendl 0/3 (1 game)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
McEnroe 15 (3 FH, 4 BH, 3 FHV, 3 BHV, 2 OH)
Lendl 12 (4 FH, 2 BH, 4 FHV, 2 OH)

McEnroe had 3 from serve-volley points - a first volley BHV, a second volley OH and a third volley FHV (close to being an OH)
- 1 BHV was played net-to-net and 1 OH was hit from the baseline

- FHs - 1 inside-out return, 1 cc pass at net and 1 inside-out/dtl pass
- BHs (all passes) - 2 dtl (1 popping over Lendl's volley off a net chord), 1 longline and 1 lob

Lendl had 6 first volleys from serve-volley points (4 FHV, 2 OH)… most of the FHVs can reasonably be said to be OHs and vice-versa

- all ground strokes were passes -
- FHs - 1 cc at net, 3 inside-out (2 returns)
- BHs - 1 cc and 1 longline/inside-out

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
McEnroe 20
- 8 Unforced (2 FH, 1 BH, 4 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 12 Forced (5 FH, 1 BH, 1 FH1/2V, 4 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 56.3

Lendl 22
- 9 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH, 4 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 13 Forced (8 FH, 4 BH, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 54.4

(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...
- 43/62 (69%) at net, including...
- 32/45 (71%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 23/35 (66%) off 1st serve and...
- 9/10 (90%) off 2nd serve
---
- 6/8 (75%) return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back

Lendl was...
- 26/41 (63%) at net, including...
- 23/32 (72%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 18/27 (67%) off 1st serve and...
- 5/5 off second serve

Match Report
A good, tough struggle of a match, but not smooth. The likelihood of McEnroe taking the net seems to shape the action

First dominates the first set. Lendl mostly serve-volleys off first serve. There are no break points til McEnroe breaks to end the set. Lendl opens that game with a double, but the rest of the points he loses are down to Mac's play - 2 chip-charge return points ending with Lendl passing errors and a mild forcing error where Lendl runs to a wide but makeable FH that he misses.

Second set is a struggle all the way. Despite being 3 games shorter, it only has 1 fewer point in it. McEnroe is pushed to deuce in his first three service games - and has to save 3 break points in one. Lendl isn't pushed as consistently but doesn't have it easy either... until game 8, a 12 point affair where 3 double faults sink him

In between, there are some controversial line calls that draw the ire of both players, particularly Lendl. He does have a point... the referee didn't do the best of jobs

Serve, Return & Serve-Volley
In a nutshell, McEnroe has a high first serve percentage (60%), does what he does on first serve points (i.e. serve-volleys and wins 71%)…. and its on second serve points (where he mostly stays back) that he overperforms (wins 71%). Crediting McEnroe for the high first serve percentage, taking his showing on first points as a given, lets zero in on what happened on his 2nd serve points

Lendl doesn't return it too well, and McEnroe plays particularly well from the baseline. Its no easy matter to return McEnroe's second serve with authority, but Lendl does it better than almost anyone. Not this day though... he misses many a makeable return. Note Mac winning 9/10 second serve-volley points

Lendl mostly serve-volleys off 87% off his first serves and with his serve, that's good enough to win a big chunk of points via unreturned serve. Mac's returning of the first serve is nondescript. Lendl's second serve is more interesting. From the get go, Mac is on the look out to chip-charge it and he proves to be very successful with the ploy, winning 6/8. These return-approaches are particularly good... deep and occasionally, placed away from Lendl.

Its enough to give Lendl a worry, particularly since his first serve percentage isn't great. He takes to serving big on the second serve. There are a couple of aces and at times, his second serve is indistinguishable from his first. Later, he starts serve-volleying off second serves at critical points (serving slightly less big, but bigger than he usually does).

His results are a mixed bag - he wins 5/5 second serve-volley points and his big serves when he stays back account for a number of return errors. But there's also 6 double faults - 3 in the game he's broken in the second set

Play - Net & Baseline
Mac is characteristically good up front, which is expected. More interest is the question is how Lendl does?

- 26/41 (63%) at net, including...
- 23/32 (72%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 18/27 (67%) off 1st serve and...
- 5/5 off second serve

- are good numbers, but deceptive if they give the impression Lendl was convincing at net. Most of the points he won were by return errors, which his big serve and Mac's average returning lends itself to (his presence coming in behind the fat serves does the rest). The winners he hits at net are almost all easy putaways - most of the 4 FHVs could reasonably be called OHs. He muffs a few easy groundstrokes at net as well - a relatively simple pass and a putaway off a serve-volley point. The volleys he makes to normal balls are nothing to write home about, just putting it in the court basically and how effective they are depends on where Mac's been taken by the approach shot (i.e. the serve)

Lendl makes the odd not-easy volley, but its invariably a defensive shot, leaving Mac with a good shot at the pass. He also makes a few suicidal approaches

The shortcomings in Lendl's net game become easier to identify when compared to Mac's showing. As for Lendl so with Mac... the serve does a lot of the work, but Mac's angles do as much as his power (with Lendl, its mostly power). With Lendl hitting a fair few meaty passes, Mac also has more to do on the volley than Lendl does

Its in the medium, around net high volleys where Mac's superiority shows. Lendl just plunks these volleys in play (or worse, misses them). Mac sweeps them into corner. Note Lendl with 8 FH FEs to 4 BHs.... these are mostly passing attempts and its the number suggests that Mac was volleying to Lendl's FH (a questionable choice). He wasn't volleying to Lendl's FH by design though.... he was volleying into corners and the FH corner does just as well as the BH corner. Its doubtful Lendl could hit a corner off a medium high volley

Both with 5 volleying UEs (with Mac approaching about 20 more times) is a good indicator of Mac's net superiority (and that's not taking into account the groundstrokes Lendl misses at net. Mac misses a couple also)
Mac's 6 volleying and 1/2 volleying FEs to Lendl's 1 is a good indicator of Lendl's superiority on the pass

Baseline encounters are interesting too. There doesn't appear to be too many of them, with Lendl serve-volleying so much. He does not dominate what little there are. Mac is about even with Lendl in play. Note just the 1 BH UE for Mac in the match.... a surprising stat. The possibility of Mac manufacturing an approach likely has a hand in Lendl avoiding going to the BH, which leaves Mac to hit FHs. He's not all offense with these, but does seem to be hitting more powerfully than usual.

Good report. Thanks a lot. This informs my take on the USO final, and alters it. I thought that the number of Lendl S/Vs at the USO F was uncharacteristic. But as you explained in another post, Lendl was using the serve-volley to keep McEnroe away from the net. That makes sense.