Match Stats/Report - Murray vs Simon, Madrid final, 2008

[Waspsting]

Andy Murray beat Gilles Simon 6-4, 7-6(6) in the Madrid final, 2008 on indoor hard court

It was Murray’s second Masters title and second in a row, having won in Cincinnati. In between, he’d been runner-up at the US Open. Simon was unseeded and had won his last 3 matches in third set tie-breaks, including beating top seed Rafael Nadal in the semi-final. This was the last edition of the indoor tournament and following year, its Masters slot was taken by Shanghai

Murray won 75 points, Simon 66

(Note: I have only partial visual for 1 point, a FH return error by Murray against a first serve. Its been marked an FE
Partial missing point - Set 1, Game 9, Point 4)

Serve Stats
Murray...
- 1st serve percentage (43/66) 65%
- 1st serve points won (36/43) 84%
- 2nd serve points won (12/23) 52%
- Aces 10
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (21/66) 32%

Simon...
- 1st serve percentage (41/75) 55%
- 1st serve points won (29/41) 71%
- 2nd serve points won (19/34) 56%
- Aces 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (16/75) 21%

Serve Patterns
Murray served...
- to FH 45%
- to BH 50%
- to Body 5%

Simon served...
- to FH 45%
- to BH 53%
- to Body 2%

Return Stats
Murray made...
- 58 (29 FH, 29 BH), including 1 runaround FH & 2 return-approaches
- 3 Winners (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 15 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (7 BH)
- 8 Forced (7 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (58/74) 78%

Simon made...
- 45 (26 FH, 19 BH), including 4 runaround FHs
- 1 Winners (1 BH)
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (3 FH)
- 8 Forced (6 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (45/66) 68%

Break Points
Murray 1/4 (2 games)
Simon 0

Winners (excluding serves, including returns)
Murray 12 (3 FH, 6 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
Simon 18 (6 FH, 8 BH, 2 FHV, 2 BHV)

Murray FHs - 2 dtl (1 return, 1 pass at net), 1 inside-out
- BHs - 2 dtl (1 return, 1 pass), 2 inside-out (1 return), 1 drop shot, 1 lob

Simon's FHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 1 dtl, 2 inside-out, 1 inside-out/dtl
- BH - 4 cc (2 passes), 1 dtl return, 1 longline, 2 running-down-drop-shot passes at net (1 cc, 1 dtl)

- 1 from a serve-volley point, a first volley FHV

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Murray 32
- 22 Unforced (11 FH, 11 BH)
- 10 Forced (7 FH, 2 BH, 1 OH)... the OH was flagrantly forced, on the bounce from the baseline against an at net smash
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45

Simon 41
- 25 Unforced (14 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 16 Forced (5 FH, 10 BH, 1 FHV)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48.8

(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)

(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Murray was...
- 14/19 (74%) at net, with...
- 1/2 return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back/retreated

Simon was...
- 10/18 (56%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 0/1 forced back

Match Report
Murray having the better serve is the main difference between the two players, both of whom deliver polished showings on a quick court

That difference doesn’t amount to much; just 1 break in the match (and just 1 other break point in all the other games). Even going through the match without facing break point isn’t a guarantee of victory for Murray. Simon has first two set points in the second set tie-break - the second of them on his own serve - so easy for the match to have gone to decider

Murray though has had better of things, and its mostly because of his serve

Aces - Murray 10, Simon 1 (also, Sim has 1 double fault to Murray’s 0)
Unreturned serves - Murray 32%, Simon 21%

Court action is close enough to even, the two playing in slightly different ways
Winners - Murray 12, Simon 18
Errors Forced - Murray 16, Simon 10
(Aggressively ended points - both 28)
UEs - Murray 22, Simon 25

Just the difference of 3 UEs in Murray’s favour, with Simon having 2 volleying ones (including the most crucial of all on match point) to Murray’s 0. So a difference of 1 ground UE, in a baseline match

Close as can be. But for the big freebie cushion

Neither player gets carried away on quick court. Both play from baseline, both strike the ball with clean ease. Murray’s usually further up near the baseline than Sim. Sim occasionally injects an extra dose of power into his shots, particularly the BHs

Nice job by Murray coming to net to finish points, almost always dtl in the best possible way. His dtl BH is particularly effective for being damaging. Rarely does Murray go for clean winners from the back, but his polished hitting is enough to keep any ambitions Sim might have of so doing in check

Sim though is one cool customer. More than happy to play along and wait. Often well behind baseline, but he too strikes the ball beautifully and does in fact, go for his shots. Never rashly, rarely even in a hurray, so excellent judgement. Hits rate remains sub-optimal though - room for improvement in execution, but smartly played

Serve & Return
Murray with better serve and returning steadily on a court where that’s not easy. The numbers, if not deceptive, aren’t entirely what they appear

Murray’s 10-1 lead in aces is clear indicator of both his superiority and the quality of his serve. He doesn’t serve his first until serving out the first set (where he serves 3 of them) and continues to send down 1 a game for rest of match

Sim somewhat loses interest in denying aces. The aces would go unreturned anyway, but certainly a few he could get a racquet on at least. They’re fast serves, but good lot aren’t too far away from Sim as they pass by

0 double faults for Murray. His second serve is weak, an invitation to be thrashed. Sim comes to that party late. Only at the very end does he smack a few with full power and deep and these end the point at a stroke. If there’s an area where Sim’s judgment’s off, its in being too perfect in his percentage play; trailing as he does on the serve, taking a risk or 2 is necessary. Going after the very go-after-able second serves would have been a good start, but little of that from Sim

Great as 10 aces look, its Murray’s return that’s more impressive. Sim with a decent serve, and on court like this, can be bothersome. Murray returns it with fair comfort. Serves out wide to FH draw errors (all but 1 of his FEs are FHs), but he’s very secure against good serves to his BH. Against second serves, steps in and whacks the ball early. 3 return winners from Murray, against a better second serve than his own - including at crucial juncture late in tie-break

Sim leading 2nd serve points won 56% to 52% good indicator of how well he plays, and this despite having the only double fault and Murray regularly going after his second serves (which also leads to errors trying though)

Gist - Strong serving and good returning (both getting balls back and attacking as appropriate) by Murray. Simon with room for upping his 2nd returning aggression. When he does right at the end, he’s a hit but most of match, lets doesn’t do more than put the weak serves back in play

 

[Waspsting]

Play - Baseline (& Net)
Action is baseline stuff. On average, Murray plays from further forward, with Sim seemingly content to stay well behind, but that fluctuates. When necessary (and its often necessary in return games), Murray falls back and Sim’s not slow to move forward

Sim has a (justified) reputation for being a pusher. Many of his BHs are the closest thing to a literal ‘push’ shot you’ll see, but he does have ability to suddenly hit a powerful shot with same limited back-swing (though the drastic change in quickness with which he hits through such shots makes it easy enough to spot). Contrary to pusher reputation, his judgment of when to attack is sound

He’s often behind baseline, but steps in just so when serve has drawn even average, let alone weak, return. Leads, if not dictates rallies regularly. And build up to stronger attacks soundly. Trailing as he does on serve-return, he’d either have to have Murray screw up with errors, or that failing, take a few risks

Murray doesn’t screw up with errors. And Sim does take a few risks (after ensuring Murray isn’t screwing up with errors) and not in a rash or hurried way. His shot-making isn’t the best, but how and when he switches gears is almost perfect

Neutral UEs - Murray 13, Sim 11

Basically the same. Better to have 11 than 13, so good start for Sim there

Attacking UEs - Murray 7, Sim 7
Errors Forced - Murray 16, Sim 10

Murray winning here. He attacks smartly, coming in behind good dtl approach shots. Murray’s 13/17 rallying to net, with many near token approaches where his approach shot has done all the work. Sim comes in behind good shot too, but not to token approach extent and more of his approaches are to deal with drop shots (that is, he’s not attacking). He’s just 10/18 at net

Winner Attempt UEs - Murray 2, Sim 8
Winners - Murray 12, Sim 18

Low winners and errors trying from Murray coupled with excellent finishing at net behind great dtl approach shots that he builds up to as he pushes Sim further back while gradually moving forward himself in medium and long rallies - neat and efficient aggression from Murray. Sim with a few more errors going for the winner - those are the calculated risks he takes. Not bad at it, not quite good enough, but well played by Sim. Otherwise, he plays much like Murray does - gradually improving his position from lead starting point, pushing Murray further back and going for the finisher when he’s ready to. Unlike Murray, he tends to do so more from groundstrokes than approaches - as numbers suggest, he’s not as efficient with it as Murray

Finally, all this is in context of polished, easy but firm hitting from both players off both sides. Neither coughing up weak balls that can be attacked, neither giving up errors easily

Excellent tennis from both

Match Progression
Both players ease into the match. Early on, Simon pushes firmly, Murray hits with average force, but both maintain good depth and are consistent. Murray leads rallies more often than not. Both play more freely as set goes on, both coming in behind good dtl shots to finish at net

Serve gets Murray good lot of freebies, while Simon has to outlast Murray more to hold

Just the 1 break and it’s the only game that returner gets into. Pair of winner attempts misses (third ball BH cc and FH dtl/inside-out) from Sim puts him down 0-40. He saves a couple of break points - the second with a fantastic jumping BH cc winner after a long rally - and takes net to thwart the third. Good lob from Murray semi-forces him back to baseline and Murray comes in to win the point and go up 3-2

Murray serves out the set with 3 aces - though serving strongly, he hadn’t an ace prior

Murray has break point in opening game of the second. A good deep return and Sim with a terrible putaway FH from mid court miss gets him there, before Sim goes on to hold

No more break points and just 1 deuce game (also, no love holds) for rest of match. Fairly smooth sailing for server, without complete dominance. Action is similarly smooth - clean hitting and both players attacking with wide shots when they’ve built up advantage from such tidy rallies. Murray sends down aces at fair clip. Murray still more often than not the one leading play

As tiebreak approaches, Sim hammers a few second returns with point ending strength. Little late for that, but not a bad move to maybe ruffle Murray’s feathers in the ‘breaker

Brilliant ‘breaker from both players, with Murray riskily using drop shots

Sim carries on with the big returns and scores mini-break at once with one. Hands it back with a strange BH dtl error to ball that wasn’t there for it or worth the risk, before Murray moves ahead with a fantastic BH inside-out winner

Murray then starts with the drop shots. They’re good ones, but Sim’s just as quick as they are good. Sim wins his half of the 4 Murray drop shot led points and move ahead with a surprise serve-volley winner (only serve-volley of the match) and a brilliant FH cc winner to bring up 2 set points at 6-4

Murray persists with drop shots to save the first, but next one is on Sim’s serve. Rally develops that Murray takes lead in, drawing an error with a strong, wide FH dtl’ish approach shot to make it 6-6. Superb BH inside-out return winner follows to bring up Murray’s first set point

That’s a lively one too, with Murray forced back from net, but quick to release a pass on the way back. Not the easiest of volleys for Sim, but easy enough that his missing comes as a surprise

Summing up, good match of sound action. Both players hitting cleanly, keeping the errors down, not giving up weak balls and building up to attacking sensibly. Murray’s stronger serve gives him an overall advantage and he’s little more efficient in finishing attacks via well-placed, strong approaches then Simon is hammering the final nail from the baseline

@The Green Mile

 

[President]

Simon once said playing Murray was a nightmare, because they played very similarly, but Murray was better at virtually everything.

 

[Mainad]

Simon entered the top #10 for the first time following his run to the 2008 Madrid final. I think he debuted at #6.