John McEnroe (United States of America) beat Mats Wilander (Sweden) 9-7, 6-2, 15-17, 3-6, 8-6 in the in the final Davis Cup quarter-final rubber, 1982 on carpet in St. Louis, USA
McEnroe had won has first singles rubber against Anders Jarryd and teamed with Peter Fleming to beat Jarryd and Hans Simonsson in the doubles. Wilander had beaten Eliot Teltscher in his first match
USA, the defending champion, would go onto beat France in the final to defend their title. Wilander was 17 years old and had recently won the French Open. McEnroe had lost the Wimbledon final to Jimmy Connors about a week before this match. This was the first match the two played
McEnroe won 251 points, Wilander 249
McEnroe serve-volleyed off all but 1 first serve and most seconds
(Note: I'm missing 3 McEnroe service points - McEnroe won 2, Wilander 1 - and service data for 1 Wilander service point. In addition, a large number of the final points of second games after a change-over have been cut off - some showing serve-type, some not
Its likely that these were the final points of the games in question. They have been included under 1st serves points unless otherwise shown. The ending of the points are unknown. Unreturned serve percentages and Return rate stats exclude the unknown points)
Serve Stats
McEnroe...
- 1st serve percentage (123/236) 52%
- 1st serve points won (96/123) 78%
- 2nd serve points won (62/113) 55%
- Unknown serve points (2/3) 75%
- Aces 20 (1 second serve), Service Winners 9
- Double Faults 11
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (73/226) 32%
Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (206/259) 79%
- 1st serve points won (141/206) 68%
- 2nd serve points won (27/53) 51%
- Unknown serve points (1/1) 100%
- Aces 2, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (35/244) 14%
Serve Patterns
McEnroe served...
- to FH 27%
- to BH 61%
- to Body 12%
Wilander served....
- to FH 23%
- to BH 69%
- to Body 8%
Return Stats
McEnroe made...
- 210 (59 FH, 149 BH, 2 ??), including runaround 10 FHs & 12 return-approaches
- 3 Winners (3 BHH)
- 32 Errors, comprising...
- 15 Unforced (3 FH, 12 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach attempt
- 17 Forced ( FH, BH)
- Return Rate (210/242) 87%
Wilander made...
- 148 (46 FH, 102 BH), including 5 runaround FHs
- 15 Winners (3 FH, 12 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 44 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 40 Forced (15 FH, 25 BH), including 3 runaround FHs
- Return Rate (148/215) 69%
Break Points
McEnroe 7/20 (11 games)
Wilander 5/12 (8 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
McEnroe 85 (12 FH, 12 BH, 35 FHV, 15 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 10 OH)
Wilander 55 (10 FH, 32 BH, 7 FHV, 4 BHV, 2 OH)
McEnroe had 45 from serve-volley points
- 25 first 'volleys' (11 FHV, 8 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 2 OH, 2 FH at net, 1 BH at net)… 1 FHV was a net chord dribbler
- 17 second volleys (9 FHV, 5 BHV, 3 OH)
- 2 third volleys (1 FHV, 1 OH)…. the FHV hits an at-net WIlander
- 1 re-approach volley (1 FHV)
- 5 from return-approach points (2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH, 2 FH at net)
- 1 other FHV was a non-net point and 1 was a net chord dribbler
- FHs (all passes) - 1 cc and 2 dtl
- BH passes - 4 cc and 1 dtl
- BH regular - 3 cc (2 returns), 1 inside-out, 1 drop shot and 1 net chord dribbler
Wilander had 15 returns, all passes
- FHs - 1 cc and 2 dtl (1 runaround FH)
- BHs - 5 cc, 1 dtl, 3 inside-out and 3 inside-in
- regular passes 24 (6 FH, 18 BH)
- FHs - 4 cc, 1 dtl/inside-out and 1 inside-out running-down-drop-volley at net
- BHs - 8 cc, 5 dtl, 2 inside-out, 2 dtl/inside-out and 1 lob
- non-pass groundstrokes - 1 FH at net and 2 BHs (1 cc, 1 dtl)
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
McEnroe 131
- 73 Unforced (19 FH, 36 BH, 9 FHV, 7 BHV, 1 OH, 1 Code Violation)
- 58 Forced (13 FH, 21 BH, 8 FHV, 2 FH1/2V, 3 BH1/2V, 1 BHOH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.5
Wilander 89
- 34 Unforced (19 FH, 15 BH)
- 55 Forced (26 FH, 24 BH, 1 FH1/2V, 3 BHV, 1 OH)… 1 BHV was not a net point. The OH was from the baseline and flagrantly forced, an attempt to cope with a smash from an at net McEnroe
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43.8
(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...
- 153/236 (65%) at net, including...
- 112/167 (67%) serve-volleying, comprising..
- 67/92 (73%) off 1st serve and..
- 45/75 (60%) off 2nd
--
- 10/12 (83%) return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back
Wilander was...
- 43/58 (74%) at net
Match Report
Despite its mammoth length, this is a fairly simple (and high quality match). McEnroe has much the better of play and its his choice of strategy that allows Wilander to stay so close. Nonetheless, Wilander plays exceptionally well also (within the confines of his limitations) and with better officiating, would likely have won anyway.
Officiating Issues
Lets get this out of the way first. Failure to enforce rules is an unfortunate feature of the match
McEnroe is in one of his moods and is regularly confronting umpire and lines people - usually at least hotly and more often than that, abusively. Apparently there's a rule in the Davis Cup that players are not allowed to approach the officiating team and only the team captain can
I would think this is a 'soft' rule, like time violations, and a player having a word with umpire or a linesman wouldn't be seen as a major problem, and the rule is only in place to prevent excessive or abusive protests. Excessive and abusive is exactly what McEnroe does - about once every two game, I'd estimate. This is akin to a player taking 2 minutes between points regularly, when the (soft) rule limit in place is 30 seconds
Simple solution is to warn him. Its more than a solution, its the rule. The chair umpire seems to have no interest in doing so. The Swedish captain approaches the chair and reminds the Chair of his duties more than once to no avail. That failing, he takes to holding up a copy of the rulebook and directing Mac's attention to it. You can guess how much effect that has. McEnroe waves back to him once
McEnroe is finally given a warning at 14-14 in third set when he casually hits a ball into the stands. He'd just held serve and there was no anger in the gesture... the sort of thing you could let slide. But the umpire gives him the long overdue warning.... having let go dozens of worse violations
The rules are -
- 1st a warning
- 2nd point penalty
- 3rd game penalty
- 4th match forfeit
McEnroe eases up on going at the officials but not completely. He has 3 to 4 more confrontations, 1 particularly over the top at a lines women who called him for a foot fault
No violations awarded. Should have lost a point first offence after. Presumably he would have ceased then but if he hadn't, there were the next two steps waiting to happen
Things take an unofficial turn. The chairman of referees is courtside and apparently is prepared to pull all linesmen from the match if Mac continues abusing them. This is conveyed via court-side commentary team man Vic Braden. Presumably McEnroe would have been informed of this by his captain, Arthur Ashe
No more outbursts, but he does hit a ball suspiciously near the lines women who had called him for a foot fault awhile earlier. And is given a second code violation and loses a point. Its at a critical juncture.... the point gives Wilander break point in opening game of the 5th (Mac goes on to hold)
The umpire had not overruled a single call all match. Commentators talk specifically about the umpire in questions philosophy - that he only overrules if there's a clear mistake
The game after Mac's second violation, the umpire calls a Wilander ball long at a critical point, giving Mac break point (which he converts). Not only is the call too close to overrule, it isn't even out. Not only isn't it even out, it isn't even on the line but a couple of inches inside
The whole thing looks very much like having very reluctantly called McEnroe - after letting him go with about 2 dozen offences - he wanted to give him one back
Commentators spoke earlier about the umpire being well known for handling Mac well. During Mac's rants, he's usually stone faced with an occasional hint of being amused. Cliff Drysdale calls him "unflappable". "Spineless" might be a better word... and "cheating" not too strong a one to describe what he does
After a call goes against Mac, he addresses somebody at courtside - the match referee I think - saying something like, "Come on, we're pals". Head of Swedish Tennis Federation apparently stood up and declared something like "Now we know what's going on" in response. On another point, when McEnroe's strong first serve is called a let by the net chord judge, he addresses the latter with words to the effect of "come on, you're an American"
In a nutshell, very poor behaviour from McEnroe, enabled by very poor umpiring that probably amounts to cheating. Great credit to Mats Wilander. He's 17 years old and still has pimples... but just keeps playing his game, seemingly oblivious to the soap opera around him
McEnroe had won has first singles rubber against Anders Jarryd and teamed with Peter Fleming to beat Jarryd and Hans Simonsson in the doubles. Wilander had beaten Eliot Teltscher in his first match
USA, the defending champion, would go onto beat France in the final to defend their title. Wilander was 17 years old and had recently won the French Open. McEnroe had lost the Wimbledon final to Jimmy Connors about a week before this match. This was the first match the two played
McEnroe won 251 points, Wilander 249
McEnroe serve-volleyed off all but 1 first serve and most seconds
(Note: I'm missing 3 McEnroe service points - McEnroe won 2, Wilander 1 - and service data for 1 Wilander service point. In addition, a large number of the final points of second games after a change-over have been cut off - some showing serve-type, some not
Its likely that these were the final points of the games in question. They have been included under 1st serves points unless otherwise shown. The ending of the points are unknown. Unreturned serve percentages and Return rate stats exclude the unknown points)
Serve Stats
McEnroe...
- 1st serve percentage (123/236) 52%
- 1st serve points won (96/123) 78%
- 2nd serve points won (62/113) 55%
- Unknown serve points (2/3) 75%
- Aces 20 (1 second serve), Service Winners 9
- Double Faults 11
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (73/226) 32%
Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (206/259) 79%
- 1st serve points won (141/206) 68%
- 2nd serve points won (27/53) 51%
- Unknown serve points (1/1) 100%
- Aces 2, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (35/244) 14%
Serve Patterns
McEnroe served...
- to FH 27%
- to BH 61%
- to Body 12%
Wilander served....
- to FH 23%
- to BH 69%
- to Body 8%
Return Stats
McEnroe made...
- 210 (59 FH, 149 BH, 2 ??), including runaround 10 FHs & 12 return-approaches
- 3 Winners (3 BHH)
- 32 Errors, comprising...
- 15 Unforced (3 FH, 12 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach attempt
- 17 Forced ( FH, BH)
- Return Rate (210/242) 87%
Wilander made...
- 148 (46 FH, 102 BH), including 5 runaround FHs
- 15 Winners (3 FH, 12 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 44 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 40 Forced (15 FH, 25 BH), including 3 runaround FHs
- Return Rate (148/215) 69%
Break Points
McEnroe 7/20 (11 games)
Wilander 5/12 (8 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
McEnroe 85 (12 FH, 12 BH, 35 FHV, 15 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 10 OH)
Wilander 55 (10 FH, 32 BH, 7 FHV, 4 BHV, 2 OH)
McEnroe had 45 from serve-volley points
- 25 first 'volleys' (11 FHV, 8 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 2 OH, 2 FH at net, 1 BH at net)… 1 FHV was a net chord dribbler
- 17 second volleys (9 FHV, 5 BHV, 3 OH)
- 2 third volleys (1 FHV, 1 OH)…. the FHV hits an at-net WIlander
- 1 re-approach volley (1 FHV)
- 5 from return-approach points (2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH, 2 FH at net)
- 1 other FHV was a non-net point and 1 was a net chord dribbler
- FHs (all passes) - 1 cc and 2 dtl
- BH passes - 4 cc and 1 dtl
- BH regular - 3 cc (2 returns), 1 inside-out, 1 drop shot and 1 net chord dribbler
Wilander had 15 returns, all passes
- FHs - 1 cc and 2 dtl (1 runaround FH)
- BHs - 5 cc, 1 dtl, 3 inside-out and 3 inside-in
- regular passes 24 (6 FH, 18 BH)
- FHs - 4 cc, 1 dtl/inside-out and 1 inside-out running-down-drop-volley at net
- BHs - 8 cc, 5 dtl, 2 inside-out, 2 dtl/inside-out and 1 lob
- non-pass groundstrokes - 1 FH at net and 2 BHs (1 cc, 1 dtl)
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
McEnroe 131
- 73 Unforced (19 FH, 36 BH, 9 FHV, 7 BHV, 1 OH, 1 Code Violation)
- 58 Forced (13 FH, 21 BH, 8 FHV, 2 FH1/2V, 3 BH1/2V, 1 BHOH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.5
Wilander 89
- 34 Unforced (19 FH, 15 BH)
- 55 Forced (26 FH, 24 BH, 1 FH1/2V, 3 BHV, 1 OH)… 1 BHV was not a net point. The OH was from the baseline and flagrantly forced, an attempt to cope with a smash from an at net McEnroe
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43.8
(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...
- 153/236 (65%) at net, including...
- 112/167 (67%) serve-volleying, comprising..
- 67/92 (73%) off 1st serve and..
- 45/75 (60%) off 2nd
--
- 10/12 (83%) return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back
Wilander was...
- 43/58 (74%) at net
Match Report
Despite its mammoth length, this is a fairly simple (and high quality match). McEnroe has much the better of play and its his choice of strategy that allows Wilander to stay so close. Nonetheless, Wilander plays exceptionally well also (within the confines of his limitations) and with better officiating, would likely have won anyway.
Officiating Issues
Lets get this out of the way first. Failure to enforce rules is an unfortunate feature of the match
McEnroe is in one of his moods and is regularly confronting umpire and lines people - usually at least hotly and more often than that, abusively. Apparently there's a rule in the Davis Cup that players are not allowed to approach the officiating team and only the team captain can
I would think this is a 'soft' rule, like time violations, and a player having a word with umpire or a linesman wouldn't be seen as a major problem, and the rule is only in place to prevent excessive or abusive protests. Excessive and abusive is exactly what McEnroe does - about once every two game, I'd estimate. This is akin to a player taking 2 minutes between points regularly, when the (soft) rule limit in place is 30 seconds
Simple solution is to warn him. Its more than a solution, its the rule. The chair umpire seems to have no interest in doing so. The Swedish captain approaches the chair and reminds the Chair of his duties more than once to no avail. That failing, he takes to holding up a copy of the rulebook and directing Mac's attention to it. You can guess how much effect that has. McEnroe waves back to him once
McEnroe is finally given a warning at 14-14 in third set when he casually hits a ball into the stands. He'd just held serve and there was no anger in the gesture... the sort of thing you could let slide. But the umpire gives him the long overdue warning.... having let go dozens of worse violations
The rules are -
- 1st a warning
- 2nd point penalty
- 3rd game penalty
- 4th match forfeit
McEnroe eases up on going at the officials but not completely. He has 3 to 4 more confrontations, 1 particularly over the top at a lines women who called him for a foot fault
No violations awarded. Should have lost a point first offence after. Presumably he would have ceased then but if he hadn't, there were the next two steps waiting to happen
Things take an unofficial turn. The chairman of referees is courtside and apparently is prepared to pull all linesmen from the match if Mac continues abusing them. This is conveyed via court-side commentary team man Vic Braden. Presumably McEnroe would have been informed of this by his captain, Arthur Ashe
No more outbursts, but he does hit a ball suspiciously near the lines women who had called him for a foot fault awhile earlier. And is given a second code violation and loses a point. Its at a critical juncture.... the point gives Wilander break point in opening game of the 5th (Mac goes on to hold)
The umpire had not overruled a single call all match. Commentators talk specifically about the umpire in questions philosophy - that he only overrules if there's a clear mistake
The game after Mac's second violation, the umpire calls a Wilander ball long at a critical point, giving Mac break point (which he converts). Not only is the call too close to overrule, it isn't even out. Not only isn't it even out, it isn't even on the line but a couple of inches inside
The whole thing looks very much like having very reluctantly called McEnroe - after letting him go with about 2 dozen offences - he wanted to give him one back
Commentators spoke earlier about the umpire being well known for handling Mac well. During Mac's rants, he's usually stone faced with an occasional hint of being amused. Cliff Drysdale calls him "unflappable". "Spineless" might be a better word... and "cheating" not too strong a one to describe what he does
After a call goes against Mac, he addresses somebody at courtside - the match referee I think - saying something like, "Come on, we're pals". Head of Swedish Tennis Federation apparently stood up and declared something like "Now we know what's going on" in response. On another point, when McEnroe's strong first serve is called a let by the net chord judge, he addresses the latter with words to the effect of "come on, you're an American"
In a nutshell, very poor behaviour from McEnroe, enabled by very poor umpiring that probably amounts to cheating. Great credit to Mats Wilander. He's 17 years old and still has pimples... but just keeps playing his game, seemingly oblivious to the soap opera around him
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