Thomas Muster beat Sergi Bruguera 7-6(8), 6-3, 6-1 in the Miami final, 1997 on hard court
This was the 8th and last of Muster’s Masters titles and only one on hard court. It was Bruguera’s only only hard court Masters final
Muster won 99 points, Bruguera 76
Serve Stats
Muster...
- 1st serve percentage (46/83) 55%
- 1st serve points won (39/46) 85%
- 2nd serve points won (24/37) 65%
- Aces 6
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (30/83) 36%
Bruguera...
- 1st serve percentage (49/92) 53%
- 1st serve points won (36/49) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (20/43) 47%
- Aces 6
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (18/92) 20%
Serve Patterns
Muster served...
- to FH 23%
- to BH 73%
- to Body 4%
Bruguera served...
- to FH 48%
- to BH 51%
- to Body 1%
Return Stats
Muster made...
- 69 (46 FH, 23 BH), including 15 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (2 FH), including 1 runaround FH
- 12 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (5 FH, 1 BH)
- 6 Forced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (69/87) 79%
Bruguera made...
- 49 (13 FH, 36 BH), including 1 return-approach
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 24 Errors, comprising...
- 8 Unforced (8 BH)
- 16 Forced (6 FH, 10 BH)
- Return Rate (49/79) 62%
Break Points
Muster 4/6 (4 games)
Bruguera 0/2 (1 game)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Muster 13 (11 FH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)
Bruguera 23 (10 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV, 3 BHV, 5 OH)
Muster's - 1 cc pass, 3 dtl passes, 3 inside-out (1 runaround return), 1 inside-in, 1 inside-in/cc, 2 net chord dribblers (1 return)
Bruguera's FHs -5 cc (2 passes), 2 dtl (1 return), 2 inside-out, 1 inside-in
- BHs - 2 cc (1 slice), 1 dtl pass (a net chord pop over)
- 2 from serve-volley points (1 BHV, 1 OH), both first volleys
- 1 other OH was on the bounce
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Muster 31
- 23 Unforced (13 FH, 10 BH)
- 8 Forced (4 FH, 2 BH, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.7
Bruguera 51
- 40 Unforced (17 FH, 21 BH, 2 FHV)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- 11 Forced (6 FH, 3 BH, 2 BHV)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46
(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 are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Muster was...
- 6/11 (55%) at net, including...
- 0/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 1/1 retreated
Bruguera was...
- 14/26 (54%) at net, including...
- 3/4 (75%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
---
- 0/1 return-approaching
- 0/2 forced back
Match Report
Disappointing progression to what was shaping to be a very good match. After an enthralling, tough and ultimately coin-flip first set, Bruguera gives up the ghost and Muster’s allowed to coast readily to finish line. Court is normal of pace and bounce
No breaks or even break points in first set, but no serve-botting either. Both players serve hard and play hard from the back. Baseline rallies dual winged with both looking to lead with FHs, and are a combo of hard-hitting to extent of at least pressuring (if not beat-down), with some heavily top-spun shots (especially from Brug with the FH)
It’s a coin flip deal. In tie-break, Brug leads 6-4, with a return point to come. He just misses the line in what would have been a bold, early taken second return winner
Next set point is on his own serve though. Rally develops. Brug’s shot pops over the net chord, allowing Muster to come to net to win - and now its 6-6
Brug serve-volleys. Good volley doesn’t end the point. Good (and not easy) back-pedalling OH doesn’t end the point, with Muster jabbing the ball up again. Third times’ not the charm for Brug, as his next OH (to an easy ball) is tepid and Muster poke OH lobs it back. Brug doesn’t judge the ball well, is a bit slow to get back and timid in netting his turnaround shot on the baseline, with Muster having remained on his own baseline. 7-6 Muster with serve point to come
No monkeying around by Muster - big serve draws short return that he dispatches FH inside-in/cc from the up the court. Lots of big serves from Muster in match but rarely is he so decisive in following it up
That’s not quite it, but its close. Muster breaks in a not bad game from Brug to open up 3-0 lead in second sit. Brug takes a medical time out at the change-over where his foot gets treatment for what looks like blisters. Though not broken again in the set, Brug’s efforts and quality both do a nose dive
Whereas entire first set had been hard fought, Brug regularly half-asses his efforts - not moving properly, some careless throwaway shots, faulty returning. Even Muster eases up a bit, apparently content with his one break
The one break proves to be enough - and Brug goes from half-assed to close to all out phoning it in to drop the third set in quick time
As such, match long stats are of limited value. Better to look at them in 2 parts - the first set (tough fight) & next 2 sets (one-sided)
First Set - Tough fight
1st serve in - Muster 43%, Brug 59%
1st serve won - Muster 100%, Brug 78%
2nd serve won - Muster 62%, Brug 63%
Unreturned serves - Muster 38%, Brug 21%
(Double faults - Muster 3, Brug 0)
After that -
Winners - Muster 3, Brug 11
Errors Forced - Muster 6, Brug 5
(Aggressively ended points - Muster 9, Burg 16)
UEs - Muster 9, Brug 17
Big lead in freebies for Muster and not only doesn’t that change much in rest of match, the gap actually gets smaller (Match long, Muster has 36%, Brug 20%)
Put that down to Muster being just that much more bloody-minded in returning. Serve quality is about the same (match long, both have 6 aces, with Brug serving 3 more first serves). And Brug willing to go for the point ending return dtl or very wide
Looks like Muster’s superior consistency on the return is key, with difference in freebies not due to disparity in serves
Muster winning all 16 first serve points (he extends that run to 21 in the second set @Moose Malloy ), with 10/16 of them being unreturned (4aces). Otherwise, he beats Brug down from the back on those points. His only third ball winner is on set point (the other 2 are passes)
In rallies, Brug is aggressor, both due to more of them developing on his service points and even controlling for that. Muster’s happy to play intense hitting baseline game, preferring to go FH inside-in or cc rather than inside-out for the point finisher. Brug targets Muster’s BH with FH cc’s too, but is more apt to take on the point ending shot
All 8 ground-shot winners are FHs. Muster has just 1 non-pass - the swooping forward FH on set point. All 5 of Brug’s winners are non-passes (1 cc, 2 dtl - 1 return, 2 inside-out). Evidence of Brug being the one to be more on look out for winner
2/6 Brug’s net winners are from serve-volleys. He’s at net 14 times to Muster’s 4 (1 of which is a throwaway point, another where he retreats to baseline). More evidence of Brug being the aggressor with Muster having no interest in taking net (as is his reputation, though I haven’t found it to be a particularly accurate one)
This was the 8th and last of Muster’s Masters titles and only one on hard court. It was Bruguera’s only only hard court Masters final
Muster won 99 points, Bruguera 76
Serve Stats
Muster...
- 1st serve percentage (46/83) 55%
- 1st serve points won (39/46) 85%
- 2nd serve points won (24/37) 65%
- Aces 6
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (30/83) 36%
Bruguera...
- 1st serve percentage (49/92) 53%
- 1st serve points won (36/49) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (20/43) 47%
- Aces 6
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (18/92) 20%
Serve Patterns
Muster served...
- to FH 23%
- to BH 73%
- to Body 4%
Bruguera served...
- to FH 48%
- to BH 51%
- to Body 1%
Return Stats
Muster made...
- 69 (46 FH, 23 BH), including 15 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (2 FH), including 1 runaround FH
- 12 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (5 FH, 1 BH)
- 6 Forced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (69/87) 79%
Bruguera made...
- 49 (13 FH, 36 BH), including 1 return-approach
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 24 Errors, comprising...
- 8 Unforced (8 BH)
- 16 Forced (6 FH, 10 BH)
- Return Rate (49/79) 62%
Break Points
Muster 4/6 (4 games)
Bruguera 0/2 (1 game)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Muster 13 (11 FH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)
Bruguera 23 (10 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV, 3 BHV, 5 OH)
Muster's - 1 cc pass, 3 dtl passes, 3 inside-out (1 runaround return), 1 inside-in, 1 inside-in/cc, 2 net chord dribblers (1 return)
Bruguera's FHs -5 cc (2 passes), 2 dtl (1 return), 2 inside-out, 1 inside-in
- BHs - 2 cc (1 slice), 1 dtl pass (a net chord pop over)
- 2 from serve-volley points (1 BHV, 1 OH), both first volleys
- 1 other OH was on the bounce
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Muster 31
- 23 Unforced (13 FH, 10 BH)
- 8 Forced (4 FH, 2 BH, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.7
Bruguera 51
- 40 Unforced (17 FH, 21 BH, 2 FHV)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- 11 Forced (6 FH, 3 BH, 2 BHV)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46
(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 are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Muster was...
- 6/11 (55%) at net, including...
- 0/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 1/1 retreated
Bruguera was...
- 14/26 (54%) at net, including...
- 3/4 (75%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
---
- 0/1 return-approaching
- 0/2 forced back
Match Report
Disappointing progression to what was shaping to be a very good match. After an enthralling, tough and ultimately coin-flip first set, Bruguera gives up the ghost and Muster’s allowed to coast readily to finish line. Court is normal of pace and bounce
No breaks or even break points in first set, but no serve-botting either. Both players serve hard and play hard from the back. Baseline rallies dual winged with both looking to lead with FHs, and are a combo of hard-hitting to extent of at least pressuring (if not beat-down), with some heavily top-spun shots (especially from Brug with the FH)
It’s a coin flip deal. In tie-break, Brug leads 6-4, with a return point to come. He just misses the line in what would have been a bold, early taken second return winner
Next set point is on his own serve though. Rally develops. Brug’s shot pops over the net chord, allowing Muster to come to net to win - and now its 6-6
Brug serve-volleys. Good volley doesn’t end the point. Good (and not easy) back-pedalling OH doesn’t end the point, with Muster jabbing the ball up again. Third times’ not the charm for Brug, as his next OH (to an easy ball) is tepid and Muster poke OH lobs it back. Brug doesn’t judge the ball well, is a bit slow to get back and timid in netting his turnaround shot on the baseline, with Muster having remained on his own baseline. 7-6 Muster with serve point to come
No monkeying around by Muster - big serve draws short return that he dispatches FH inside-in/cc from the up the court. Lots of big serves from Muster in match but rarely is he so decisive in following it up
That’s not quite it, but its close. Muster breaks in a not bad game from Brug to open up 3-0 lead in second sit. Brug takes a medical time out at the change-over where his foot gets treatment for what looks like blisters. Though not broken again in the set, Brug’s efforts and quality both do a nose dive
Whereas entire first set had been hard fought, Brug regularly half-asses his efforts - not moving properly, some careless throwaway shots, faulty returning. Even Muster eases up a bit, apparently content with his one break
The one break proves to be enough - and Brug goes from half-assed to close to all out phoning it in to drop the third set in quick time
As such, match long stats are of limited value. Better to look at them in 2 parts - the first set (tough fight) & next 2 sets (one-sided)
First Set - Tough fight
1st serve in - Muster 43%, Brug 59%
1st serve won - Muster 100%, Brug 78%
2nd serve won - Muster 62%, Brug 63%
Unreturned serves - Muster 38%, Brug 21%
(Double faults - Muster 3, Brug 0)
After that -
Winners - Muster 3, Brug 11
Errors Forced - Muster 6, Brug 5
(Aggressively ended points - Muster 9, Burg 16)
UEs - Muster 9, Brug 17
Big lead in freebies for Muster and not only doesn’t that change much in rest of match, the gap actually gets smaller (Match long, Muster has 36%, Brug 20%)
Put that down to Muster being just that much more bloody-minded in returning. Serve quality is about the same (match long, both have 6 aces, with Brug serving 3 more first serves). And Brug willing to go for the point ending return dtl or very wide
Looks like Muster’s superior consistency on the return is key, with difference in freebies not due to disparity in serves
Muster winning all 16 first serve points (he extends that run to 21 in the second set @Moose Malloy ), with 10/16 of them being unreturned (4aces). Otherwise, he beats Brug down from the back on those points. His only third ball winner is on set point (the other 2 are passes)
In rallies, Brug is aggressor, both due to more of them developing on his service points and even controlling for that. Muster’s happy to play intense hitting baseline game, preferring to go FH inside-in or cc rather than inside-out for the point finisher. Brug targets Muster’s BH with FH cc’s too, but is more apt to take on the point ending shot
All 8 ground-shot winners are FHs. Muster has just 1 non-pass - the swooping forward FH on set point. All 5 of Brug’s winners are non-passes (1 cc, 2 dtl - 1 return, 2 inside-out). Evidence of Brug being the one to be more on look out for winner
2/6 Brug’s net winners are from serve-volleys. He’s at net 14 times to Muster’s 4 (1 of which is a throwaway point, another where he retreats to baseline). More evidence of Brug being the aggressor with Muster having no interest in taking net (as is his reputation, though I haven’t found it to be a particularly accurate one)
Last edited: