Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4 in the Monte Carlo final 2007 on clay
The result saw Nadal defend the title from the previous year (https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...dal-vs-federer-monte-carlo-final-2006.644745/) and move to 5-0 vs Federer on clay. He would go onto win the French Open in the coming weeks - beating Federer in the final again
Nadal won 73 points, Federer 59
Serve Stats
Nadal....
- 1st serve percentage (53/66) 80%
- 1st serve points won (39/53) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (7/13) 54%
- Aces 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (15/66) 23%
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (36/66) 55%
- 1st serve points won (26/36) 72%
- 2nd serve points won (13/30) 43%
- Aces 3, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (13/66) 20%
Serve Pattern
Nadal served...
- to FH 9%
- to BH 88%
- to Body 3%
Federer served...
- to FH 35%
- to BH 65%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 49 (26 FH, 23 BH), including 10 runaround FHs
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (3 FH), all 3 runaround FH attempts
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (49/62) 79%
Federer made...
- 50 (12 FH, 38 BH), including 8 runaround FHs
- 14 Errors, comprising...
- 9 Unforced (3 FH, 6 BH), including 3 runaround FH attempts
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (50/65) 77%
(Neither player had a return of serve winner)
Break Points
Nadal 2/8 (5 games)
Federer 0/3 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nadal 15 (9 FH, 4 BH, 2 BHV)
Federer 16 (6 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV, 4 OH)
Nadal's FHs - 2cc, 5 dtl (including 1 pass), 1 inside-out and 1 drop shot
- BHs - 1 cc and 3 dtl (all passes)
Federer's FHs - 1 cc, 2 dtl, 2 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- BHs - 2 dtl (1 a sliced pass) and 1 drop shot (which was possibly not clean but I'd include it as a judgement call even than)
- 5 from serve-volley points - 3 first volleys (1 FHV, 2 OH) with the FHV being a swinging shot and 2 second volleys (1 FHV, 1 BHV)
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nadal 29
- 16 Unforced (11 FH, 5 BH)
- 13 Forced (10 FH, 2 BH, 1 Tweener)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.4
Federer 39
- 28 Unforced (16 FH, 11 BH, 1 BHV)
- 11 Forced (7 FH, 2 BH, 2 BHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43.2
(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 a measure of how aggressive of intent the average UE made was. 60 is maximum, 20 is minimum. This match has been scored using a four point scale - 2 defensive, 4 neutral, 5 attacking, 6 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Nadal was 6/9 (67%) at net, with no serve-volleying
He was 1/2 when forced back
Federer was 18/26 (69%) at net, including 8/12 (67%) serve-volleying - 8/10 (80%) off first serves and 0/2 off second serves
He was 0/1 when forced back
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Match Report
The background to this match is Nadal having established himself over the last two years as being by far the best clay courter in the world. Federer, equally clearly, had proved to be the second best - but the gap between the two was significant. And increasing, if this match is anything to go by
In their matches in 2005 and 2006, it had been established that Nadal was a far more solid baseliner than Federer.... in other words, if the two played who-makes-the-error-first tennis (generally the backbone of successful clay courters), Nadal would inevitably come out on top. Hence, the onus fell on Federer to proactively attack
He had previously done so with -
- aggressive FHs from the back of the court
- net approaches
At the start of this match, he seems to have opted for net rushing as his go to weapon. He's successful in the forecourt (mostly drawing passing errors), but has toned down the aggression from the baseline. Whereas he used to 'lash' the FH, now he's just putting it in play - sometimes with Nadal like (but inferior) top spin
To a point, it works. Match goes on serve comfortably, with Federer if anything, coming off slightly better. Game 8 changes all that. Having pushed Nadal hard and conjured 3 break points (to 0 for Nadal), the Swiss goes on a merry error strewn path. He loses the 12 point game by making 3 consecutive unforced errors. Is broken to 15 in the next game making 4 more (the 1 point he wins is a net point). And for good measure, adds 3 more as Nadal serves out the set.
10 unforced errors (8 FH, 2 BH) in 14 points … and the errors aren't even to particularly aggressive shots (6 neutral shots, 4 attacking shots, 0 winner attempts)
Second set is slaughter. Other than when he's at net, Fed has no answers for the machine that is Nadal - and he's not even trying to find a way to get to net most of the time. For most of the baseline rallies, Federer is playing from further behind the baseline than Nadal is. The Spaniard takes the opportunity to run around BHs and take aim with FH cc's or rain down FH inside-outs
An indicator that Nadal has sussed out the change in Federer is that he even takes to running around serves directed to his BH in the deuce court - leaving the court completely wide open. And it doesn't hurt him because Federer can't capitilize. The 05/06 version of the Swiss would have carved out FH inside-outs against this play
Nadal is superior in almost all ways. First serve percentage (80% to 55%), first serve points won (74% to 72%), second serve points won (54% to 43%), unreturned serves (23% to 20%). Federer has a slight edge in winners/errors forced (29 to 26 - most of the errors that Nadal is forced into are attempted passes), which is more than offset by Nadal's superiority in not making unforced errors (16 to 28)
Summing up - a thrashing with Nadal proving far better from the baseline. Federer's only hope was taking the net more and he doesn't seem to know how to go about doing that
The result saw Nadal defend the title from the previous year (https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...dal-vs-federer-monte-carlo-final-2006.644745/) and move to 5-0 vs Federer on clay. He would go onto win the French Open in the coming weeks - beating Federer in the final again
Nadal won 73 points, Federer 59
Serve Stats
Nadal....
- 1st serve percentage (53/66) 80%
- 1st serve points won (39/53) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (7/13) 54%
- Aces 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (15/66) 23%
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (36/66) 55%
- 1st serve points won (26/36) 72%
- 2nd serve points won (13/30) 43%
- Aces 3, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (13/66) 20%
Serve Pattern
Nadal served...
- to FH 9%
- to BH 88%
- to Body 3%
Federer served...
- to FH 35%
- to BH 65%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 49 (26 FH, 23 BH), including 10 runaround FHs
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (3 FH), all 3 runaround FH attempts
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (49/62) 79%
Federer made...
- 50 (12 FH, 38 BH), including 8 runaround FHs
- 14 Errors, comprising...
- 9 Unforced (3 FH, 6 BH), including 3 runaround FH attempts
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (50/65) 77%
(Neither player had a return of serve winner)
Break Points
Nadal 2/8 (5 games)
Federer 0/3 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nadal 15 (9 FH, 4 BH, 2 BHV)
Federer 16 (6 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV, 4 OH)
Nadal's FHs - 2cc, 5 dtl (including 1 pass), 1 inside-out and 1 drop shot
- BHs - 1 cc and 3 dtl (all passes)
Federer's FHs - 1 cc, 2 dtl, 2 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- BHs - 2 dtl (1 a sliced pass) and 1 drop shot (which was possibly not clean but I'd include it as a judgement call even than)
- 5 from serve-volley points - 3 first volleys (1 FHV, 2 OH) with the FHV being a swinging shot and 2 second volleys (1 FHV, 1 BHV)
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nadal 29
- 16 Unforced (11 FH, 5 BH)
- 13 Forced (10 FH, 2 BH, 1 Tweener)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.4
Federer 39
- 28 Unforced (16 FH, 11 BH, 1 BHV)
- 11 Forced (7 FH, 2 BH, 2 BHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43.2
(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 a measure of how aggressive of intent the average UE made was. 60 is maximum, 20 is minimum. This match has been scored using a four point scale - 2 defensive, 4 neutral, 5 attacking, 6 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Nadal was 6/9 (67%) at net, with no serve-volleying
He was 1/2 when forced back
Federer was 18/26 (69%) at net, including 8/12 (67%) serve-volleying - 8/10 (80%) off first serves and 0/2 off second serves
He was 0/1 when forced back
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Match Report
The background to this match is Nadal having established himself over the last two years as being by far the best clay courter in the world. Federer, equally clearly, had proved to be the second best - but the gap between the two was significant. And increasing, if this match is anything to go by
In their matches in 2005 and 2006, it had been established that Nadal was a far more solid baseliner than Federer.... in other words, if the two played who-makes-the-error-first tennis (generally the backbone of successful clay courters), Nadal would inevitably come out on top. Hence, the onus fell on Federer to proactively attack
He had previously done so with -
- aggressive FHs from the back of the court
- net approaches
At the start of this match, he seems to have opted for net rushing as his go to weapon. He's successful in the forecourt (mostly drawing passing errors), but has toned down the aggression from the baseline. Whereas he used to 'lash' the FH, now he's just putting it in play - sometimes with Nadal like (but inferior) top spin
To a point, it works. Match goes on serve comfortably, with Federer if anything, coming off slightly better. Game 8 changes all that. Having pushed Nadal hard and conjured 3 break points (to 0 for Nadal), the Swiss goes on a merry error strewn path. He loses the 12 point game by making 3 consecutive unforced errors. Is broken to 15 in the next game making 4 more (the 1 point he wins is a net point). And for good measure, adds 3 more as Nadal serves out the set.
10 unforced errors (8 FH, 2 BH) in 14 points … and the errors aren't even to particularly aggressive shots (6 neutral shots, 4 attacking shots, 0 winner attempts)
Second set is slaughter. Other than when he's at net, Fed has no answers for the machine that is Nadal - and he's not even trying to find a way to get to net most of the time. For most of the baseline rallies, Federer is playing from further behind the baseline than Nadal is. The Spaniard takes the opportunity to run around BHs and take aim with FH cc's or rain down FH inside-outs
An indicator that Nadal has sussed out the change in Federer is that he even takes to running around serves directed to his BH in the deuce court - leaving the court completely wide open. And it doesn't hurt him because Federer can't capitilize. The 05/06 version of the Swiss would have carved out FH inside-outs against this play
Nadal is superior in almost all ways. First serve percentage (80% to 55%), first serve points won (74% to 72%), second serve points won (54% to 43%), unreturned serves (23% to 20%). Federer has a slight edge in winners/errors forced (29 to 26 - most of the errors that Nadal is forced into are attempted passes), which is more than offset by Nadal's superiority in not making unforced errors (16 to 28)
Summing up - a thrashing with Nadal proving far better from the baseline. Federer's only hope was taking the net more and he doesn't seem to know how to go about doing that
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