Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-1 in the French Open final, 2011 on clay
Nadal was defending champion and this was his 6th title at the event, tying Bjorn Borg's record. To date, he has 12 titles. Federer, champion in 2009, was playing his 5th and to date, last final at the event
Nadal won 143 points, Federer 130
(Note: I'm missing a point, which appears to have been a second serve by Nadal that he lost
From commentary and stats presented, its been deduced to be a double fault - and included as such
Missing point - Set 3, Game 1, Point 1)
Serve Stats
Nadal...
- 1st serve percentage (106/147) 72%
- 1st serve points won (69/106) 65%
- 2nd serve points won (21/41) 51%
- Aces 4
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (34/147) 23%
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (80/126) 63%
- 1st serve points won (55/80) 69%
- 2nd serve points won (18/46) 39%
- Aces 11, Service Winners 3
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (29/126) 23%
Serve Pattern
Nadal served...
- to FH 10%
- to BH 81%
- to Body 8%
Federer served...
- to FH 34%
- to BH 65%
- to Body 2%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 96 (41 FH, 55 BH), including 9 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 15 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 11 Forced (4 FH, 7 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- Return Rate (96/125) 77%
Federer made...
- 110 (25 FH, 85 BH), including 12 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 30 Errors, comprising...
- 21 Unforced (7 FH, 14 BH), including 5 runaround FHs
- 9 Forced (1 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (110/144) 76%
Break Points
Nadal 7/15 (8 games)
Federer 5/15 (7 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nadal 33 (19 FH, 10 BH, 2 FHV, 2 OH)
Federer 41 (16 FH, 11 BH, 8 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 2 BHV, 3 OH)
Nadal's FHs - 2 cc, 7 dtl (1 return, 3 passes - 1 at net), 9 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- BHs - 8 cc (3 passes), 1 dtl pass (a net chord flicker), and 1 inside-out return
- 1 OH was on the bounce
Federer's FHs - 5 cc, 1 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out at net, 5 inside-out (1 runaround return), 2 inside-in and 2 drop shots
- BHs - 1 cc, 4 dtl (1 return) and 6 drop shots
- 4 from serve-volleys points
- 3 first volleys (3 FHV)… 1 of which can reasonably be called an OH
- 1 second volley (1 BHV)
- 3 swinging FHVs - 1 not a net shot
- 1 OH on the bounce from no-man's land
- the FH1/2V was net-to-net
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nadal 57
- 29 Unforced (15 FH, 14 BH)… with 1 FH pass & 1 BH at net
- 28 Forced (15 FH, 13 BH)… with 1 FH at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.8
Federer 75
- 52 Unforced (22 FH, 28 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)
- 23 Forced (13 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.2
(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 for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Nadal was...
- 8/11 (73%) at net
Federer was...
- 30/43 (70%) at net, including...
- 9/12 (75%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 7/9 (78%) off 1st serve and...
- 2/3 (67%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/2 forced back
Match Report
A very good match that differs from the pair's norm in some key ways, though not enough in the most key one to alter the outcome: unforced errors - Nadal going into "never-going-to-miss-a-ball" mode and the vulnerability of the Federer BH
Other notable features of the match are Federer's excellent serving, up from norm attacking returns, stellar use of drop shots and a 10 minute rain delay that seems to lower bounce of court
Federer dominates the early part of the match and the standout feature is his returning. He steps in and takes BH returns early, always swinging (i.e. not blocking or chipping) and its enough to rush Nadal on the third ball. He serve-volleys some and sparingly comes to net at other times effectively. And he's also quite consistent off the ground, which means a reasonable number of longer rallies go his way with Nadal making the error
Nadal is also error prone by his standard. The effects of the light ball that flies faster is in evidence. While the court seems typically slow with high bounce, the 'flying' quality of balls more typical of high-altitude Madrid is also on show
Down 2-5, Nadal serves to stay in the set and Fed reaches break and set point, on which he misses an ill-advised BH inside-out drop shot. He'd go onto use the shot exceptionally well in the match, but here, the ball wasn't really there for the shot and Nadal well placed to run it down even had it landed in. Nadal goes on to hold
Fed is broken serving for the set and he makes 1/6 first serves. In his previous. In his previous 4 service games, he'd made 18/22. Thereafter, Fed's BH falters a bit against the usual Nadal stream of FH cc's. Nadal breaks again with some great counter-net play - 2 different types of FH dtl passes, and forcing Fed back from net twice - coming in himself to finish one of the points and takes the set
Nadal enters full scale can't-miss-a-ball mode in the second, breaks early and is near flawless in play. Fed's BH by contrast is cracking. Its his serve that keeps him in the match. Some strong attacking play gets Fed the break back late in the set, but Nadal breaks right back
With Nadal serving for the set at deuce, there's a 10 minute rain delay, too short for the court to be covered. On resumption, Nadal's broken on back-to-back FH errors
Tiebreak is soft from Fed. He opens by missing a routine FH, misses another third ball winner attempt and 2 second serve returns. Nadal wraps up the set with a third ball FH inside-out winner
In set 3, Federer utilizes drop shots of both wings and play is about even. He plays a poor game to be broken to love in game 6, but a very strong one to break back right away by the same score. He gains decisive break with another very played game, with FH dtl doing the damage, and this time, serves out the set with 3 winners - a BH dtl, a BH drop shot and on set point, a third ball FH inside-out winner
Carrying on the good work, Fed leads 0-40 in opening game of the 4th. Nadal, who'd done little more than spin in first serves all match, throws out some big serves to commandingly save the break points and then hold. And then again enters can't-miss-a-ball mode. First point of the set had been a Nadal UE. rest of the match, he makes just 1. Fed has 10. Nadal takes it easily in the end 6-1
Nadal was defending champion and this was his 6th title at the event, tying Bjorn Borg's record. To date, he has 12 titles. Federer, champion in 2009, was playing his 5th and to date, last final at the event
Nadal won 143 points, Federer 130
(Note: I'm missing a point, which appears to have been a second serve by Nadal that he lost
From commentary and stats presented, its been deduced to be a double fault - and included as such
Missing point - Set 3, Game 1, Point 1)
Serve Stats
Nadal...
- 1st serve percentage (106/147) 72%
- 1st serve points won (69/106) 65%
- 2nd serve points won (21/41) 51%
- Aces 4
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (34/147) 23%
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (80/126) 63%
- 1st serve points won (55/80) 69%
- 2nd serve points won (18/46) 39%
- Aces 11, Service Winners 3
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (29/126) 23%
Serve Pattern
Nadal served...
- to FH 10%
- to BH 81%
- to Body 8%
Federer served...
- to FH 34%
- to BH 65%
- to Body 2%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 96 (41 FH, 55 BH), including 9 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 15 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 11 Forced (4 FH, 7 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- Return Rate (96/125) 77%
Federer made...
- 110 (25 FH, 85 BH), including 12 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 30 Errors, comprising...
- 21 Unforced (7 FH, 14 BH), including 5 runaround FHs
- 9 Forced (1 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (110/144) 76%
Break Points
Nadal 7/15 (8 games)
Federer 5/15 (7 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nadal 33 (19 FH, 10 BH, 2 FHV, 2 OH)
Federer 41 (16 FH, 11 BH, 8 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 2 BHV, 3 OH)
Nadal's FHs - 2 cc, 7 dtl (1 return, 3 passes - 1 at net), 9 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- BHs - 8 cc (3 passes), 1 dtl pass (a net chord flicker), and 1 inside-out return
- 1 OH was on the bounce
Federer's FHs - 5 cc, 1 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out at net, 5 inside-out (1 runaround return), 2 inside-in and 2 drop shots
- BHs - 1 cc, 4 dtl (1 return) and 6 drop shots
- 4 from serve-volleys points
- 3 first volleys (3 FHV)… 1 of which can reasonably be called an OH
- 1 second volley (1 BHV)
- 3 swinging FHVs - 1 not a net shot
- 1 OH on the bounce from no-man's land
- the FH1/2V was net-to-net
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nadal 57
- 29 Unforced (15 FH, 14 BH)… with 1 FH pass & 1 BH at net
- 28 Forced (15 FH, 13 BH)… with 1 FH at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.8
Federer 75
- 52 Unforced (22 FH, 28 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)
- 23 Forced (13 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.2
(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 for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Nadal was...
- 8/11 (73%) at net
Federer was...
- 30/43 (70%) at net, including...
- 9/12 (75%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 7/9 (78%) off 1st serve and...
- 2/3 (67%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/2 forced back
Match Report
A very good match that differs from the pair's norm in some key ways, though not enough in the most key one to alter the outcome: unforced errors - Nadal going into "never-going-to-miss-a-ball" mode and the vulnerability of the Federer BH
Other notable features of the match are Federer's excellent serving, up from norm attacking returns, stellar use of drop shots and a 10 minute rain delay that seems to lower bounce of court
Federer dominates the early part of the match and the standout feature is his returning. He steps in and takes BH returns early, always swinging (i.e. not blocking or chipping) and its enough to rush Nadal on the third ball. He serve-volleys some and sparingly comes to net at other times effectively. And he's also quite consistent off the ground, which means a reasonable number of longer rallies go his way with Nadal making the error
Nadal is also error prone by his standard. The effects of the light ball that flies faster is in evidence. While the court seems typically slow with high bounce, the 'flying' quality of balls more typical of high-altitude Madrid is also on show
Down 2-5, Nadal serves to stay in the set and Fed reaches break and set point, on which he misses an ill-advised BH inside-out drop shot. He'd go onto use the shot exceptionally well in the match, but here, the ball wasn't really there for the shot and Nadal well placed to run it down even had it landed in. Nadal goes on to hold
Fed is broken serving for the set and he makes 1/6 first serves. In his previous. In his previous 4 service games, he'd made 18/22. Thereafter, Fed's BH falters a bit against the usual Nadal stream of FH cc's. Nadal breaks again with some great counter-net play - 2 different types of FH dtl passes, and forcing Fed back from net twice - coming in himself to finish one of the points and takes the set
Nadal enters full scale can't-miss-a-ball mode in the second, breaks early and is near flawless in play. Fed's BH by contrast is cracking. Its his serve that keeps him in the match. Some strong attacking play gets Fed the break back late in the set, but Nadal breaks right back
With Nadal serving for the set at deuce, there's a 10 minute rain delay, too short for the court to be covered. On resumption, Nadal's broken on back-to-back FH errors
Tiebreak is soft from Fed. He opens by missing a routine FH, misses another third ball winner attempt and 2 second serve returns. Nadal wraps up the set with a third ball FH inside-out winner
In set 3, Federer utilizes drop shots of both wings and play is about even. He plays a poor game to be broken to love in game 6, but a very strong one to break back right away by the same score. He gains decisive break with another very played game, with FH dtl doing the damage, and this time, serves out the set with 3 winners - a BH dtl, a BH drop shot and on set point, a third ball FH inside-out winner
Carrying on the good work, Fed leads 0-40 in opening game of the 4th. Nadal, who'd done little more than spin in first serves all match, throws out some big serves to commandingly save the break points and then hold. And then again enters can't-miss-a-ball mode. First point of the set had been a Nadal UE. rest of the match, he makes just 1. Fed has 10. Nadal takes it easily in the end 6-1