Match Stats/Report - McEnroe vs Lendl, Forest Hills 1984

[Waspsting]

John McEnroe defeated Ivan Lendl 6-4 6-2 in the final at Forest Hills 1984 on green clay/har tru surface.

(Note: I'm missing one point on Lendl's serve which was won by McEnroe. At other points, it isn't always clear whether the first point of a game is a 1st or 2nd serve - I've used my judgement to fill in the uncertain data in such cases)

McEnroe won 64 points, Lendl 52

Service Stats
McEnroe -
-first serve percentage 30/54 (56%)
-first serve points won 21/30 (70%)
-second serve points won 11/24 (46%)
-aces 7, double faults 5
-unreturned serve percentage 17/49 (35%)

Lendl -
- first serve percentage 38/60 (63%)
- first serve points won 20/38 (53%)
- second serve points won 13/22 (59%)
- aces 4 (1 off a 2nd serve), service winners 2, double faults 2
- unreturned serve percentage 15/54 (28%)

Service Pattern
McEnroe served -
- to the forehand 39%
- to the backhand 49%
- to the body 12%

Lendl served -
- to the forehand 41%
- to the backhand 53%
- to the body 5%

Return Stats
McEnroe returned 43 serves (20 FH, 23 BH). He had 1 Return Winner - a Chip-Charge Forehand

Lendl returned 31 serves (17 FH, 14 BH... 5 times he ran around the BH to hit a FH). He had 3 winners (2 FH, 1 BH - including 1 1 run-around FH)

McEnroe made 9 return errors - 2 Forced (1 FH, 1 BH) and 7 Unforced (2 FH, 5 BH)

Lendl made 10 return errors - 8 Forced (3 FH, 5 BH) and 2 Unforced (1 FH, 1 BH)

Break Points
McEnroe 4/11
Lendl was 1/3

Winners (including return of serves)
McEnroe 22 (3 FH, 2 BH, 6 FHV, 9 BHV, 2 OH)
Lendl 11 (6 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)

- McEnroe's 3 FH winners comprised 1 drop shot, 1 pass and 1 previously mentioned Chip-Charge return

- With one exception, all of Lendl's groundstroke winners were passes (including 1 FH lob). The exception was a FH struck from around the service line

- McEnroe struck the only baseline-to-baseline rally winner, a powerful BH down the line that he set up with an even more powerful, deep BH cross court the previous shot

Errors (excluding double faults and return errors)

McEnroe had 21
- 8 Forced (1 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 13 Unforced (7 FH, 5 BH, 1 FHV)

Lendl had 22
- 12 Forced (3 FH, 7 BH, 2 FHV)
- 10 Unforced (4 FH, 6 BH)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
McEnroe won 43/58 (74%) net points, including 26/35 (74%) serve-volleying

He serve-volleyed 100% of the time on first serve and 26% on second (5/19)

The breakdown of McEnroe's approaches is -

- 24/30 S/V off first serve 80%
- 2/5 S/V off second serve 40%
- 4/9 off chip-charge returns 44%
- 13/14 rallying his way to approach 93%

Lendl won 4/7 net points (57%). He had 0 serve-volley points

 

[Waspsting]

Match Report

The match began with a sublime, guided backhand return of first serve passing winner from Ivan Lendl. It ended with a double fault by the same man. There's something poetically appropriate about that

The first set featured a very high level of play from both men. McEnroe looked to attack as was his wont while Lendl held steady and was consistent from the back. Twice he let fly with his notorious power passing shots straight at Mac from close range... a statement of intent

I was struck by Mac's baseline play. By no means was he outdone in baseline-to-baseline scenarios. From his backhand side in particular, he demonstrated a wide variety of shots - drives, slices, dinks, topspin - to hang tight with the reputed powerhouse Lendl

The elephant in the court, so to speak, was the danger of Mac taking the net.

Lendl had a high first serve percentage but seemed to take a bit off the delivery - both in power and placement - from his semi final double bagelling demolition of Jimmy Connors the previous day (you can find stats and a report on that here - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...stats-lendl-connors-forest-hills-1984.607455/ )

He was also less passive off the ground against Mac, probably for fear of the American snatching the forecourt

McEnroe for his part served excellently and earned many an easy point by way of the big 1st serve.

His returning was more of a treat though

Seemingly reading the serve well, Mac made few errors on return and occasionally chip-charged it to take the net. He often stood inside the court to take the return but was even more dangerous when returning normally and working the point to find the best way to claim the net.

There was no fixed pattern to his method of working his way to net. He seemed to make it up on the fly like, like a true artiste

Once at the net, he lived up to his reputation with a combination of delicate touches, firm pushes and few mistakes on the volley

The stats show how he was most successful when following this course, winning 13/14 such points - even more than when serve-volleying off the first serve

Lendl went into his shell a bit at crunch time in the opening set, just as Mac turned up the heat even more. Serving to stay in the set, the Czech initiated a moonballing rally, as he'd done successfully against Connors in the semi

McEnroe played along, spotted the oppurtune moment to come forward and finished the point with two measured smashes. He continued to press forward as Lendl faltered with an unforced error, before being finished off by a brilliant foray to the net to give up the set

The second set saw Lendl retreat still further. He took a deep position on return. As McEnroe became almost over aggressive, Lendl shrunk to out and out passive.

Down two breaks, he grabbed one back to love as Mac played a horror game serving for the match. It was to no avail as Mac responded with a third break to close out an impressive win

The match in a nutshell - high quality stuff from McEnroe in all areas and the hint of mental frailty from Lendl when the pressure was on

 

[Moose Malloy]

If a player misses the return while they are attempting a chip/charge do you still count it as a chip/charge attempt?

Interesting that Lendl has a better % on 2nd serve than 1st. I have stats on a lot of their matches vs each other, curious how often that happened.

It is annoying when points are missing, or when they come back late and you can't tell if it is a first or second serve. Happened in so many matches I've tracked.

 

[KG1965]

McEnroe won 60 points, Lendl 52

There is little point gap, despite Mac's overwhelming victory.

- first serve points won 20/38 (53%)
- second serve points won 13/22 (59%)

The explanation could be that Lendl that turn does not force the first serves not to be attacked by John on the second, while in the second Mac perhaps forced some return.

McEnroe had 21
- 8 Forced (1 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 13 Unforced (7 FH, 5 BH, 1 FHV)

Lendl had 22
- 12 Forced (3 FH, 7 BH, 2 FHV)
- 10 Unforced (4 FH, 6 BH)

It's quite interesting that the two have the same unforced. Mac84 was super.

 

[Waspsting]

There is little point gap, despite Mac's overwhelming victory.

Nice catch, KG

I've corrected the figure - it should be Mac 64 points - the 4 extra points are all volley winners, 2 FHV and 2 BHV (also corrected). Lendl's numbers are ok

Thanks!

It's quite interesting that the two have the same unforced. Mac84 was super.

Some difference in the nature of them though

A fair few of Mac's came from trying to be aggressive, while most (possibly all) of Lendl's were just him muffing regulation groundstrokes

Interesting that Lendl has a better % on 2nd serve than 1st. I have stats on a lot of their matches vs each other, curious how often that happened.

The explanation could be that Lendl that turn does not force the first serves not to be attacked by John on the second, while in the second Mac perhaps forced some return.

Bit odd. Probably more common on clay than any other surface

The difference in serving pattern for Lendl on 1st and 2nd serves is interesting

On first serve, he went to FH 21 and BH 17.
On second serve, he went to FH 4 and BH 14 (plus 2 to the body, which on second serve were possibly intended to be extra safe serves to the BH)

His only hold to love had 4 second serves (first point, not sure but that was my judgement of it), while the tougher holds had high 1st serve percentages

It was in that love hold that he let rip a 2nd serve ace out wide on game point - that one was basically a 2nd 'first' serve

If a player misses the return while they are attempting a chip/charge do you still count it as a chip/charge attempt?

I did

Only happened 1/9 times in this match

I included it as a "net point".... but can see it being interpreted differently

It's akin to serving a fault - which isn't a net point - but also an approach shot attempt which turns out to be an error. Would that be a net point?

If I perceive the intent of the shot to be about approaching the net, I'm ok with slotting it in the 'net point' category

Makes as much sense as calling a 140 mile an hour ace right on the T corner a 'serve-volley' point because the server seemed to intend to come forward

In this match, interpreting McEnroe is not straight forward. He frequently took the return early and hopped forward a step or two then hopped back

I don't think he was faking Lendl out with stuff like that. It seemed to me he was making split second decisions, based on how well he'd hit the return, on whether to approach or not

 

[jaggy]

Did Forest Hills ever have red clay too or am I spacing?

 

[abmk]

I did

Only happened 1/9 times in this match

I included it as a "net point".... but can see it being interpreted differently

It's akin to serving a fault - which isn't a net point - but also an approach shot attempt which turns out to be an error. Would that be a net point?

If I perceive the intent of the shot to be about approaching the net, I'm ok with slotting it in the 'net point' category

Makes as much sense as calling a 140 mile an hour ace right on the T corner a 'serve-volley' point because the server seemed to intend to come forward

In this match, interpreting McEnroe is not straight forward. He frequently took the return early and hopped forward a step or two then hopped back

I don't think he was faking Lendl out with stuff like that. It seemed to me he was making split second decisions, based on how well he'd hit the return, on whether to approach or not

that's not called a serve&volley point.

 

[big ted]

Did Forest Hills ever have red clay too or am I spacing?

only green from what i know