Rafael Nadal beat David Ferrer 6-4, 7-5 in the Monte Carlo final, 2011 on clay
It was Nadal's 7th straight title at the event. Ferrer was seeded 4th and playing his second Masters final,having lost to Nadal in Rome final the previous year.
Nadal won 81 points, Ferrer 72
Serve Stats
Nadal...
- 1st serve percentage (50/83) 60%
- 1st serve points won (32/50) 64%
- 2nd serve points won (19/33) 58%
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/83) 13%
Ferrer...
- 1st serve percentage (33/70) 47%
- 1st serve points won (24/33) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (16/37) 43%
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (5/70) 7%
Serve Patterns
Nadal served...
- to FH 25%
- to BH 65%
- to Body 10%
Ferrer served...
- to FH 16%
- to BH 84%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 63 (27 FH, 36 BH), including 17 runaround FHs
- 5 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (3 FH), all runaround FHs
- 2 Forced (1 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (63/68) 93%
Ferrer made...
- 69 (31 FH, 38 BH), including 9 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 8 Unforced (4 FH, 4 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 3 Forced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (69/80) 86%
Break Points
Nadal 4/11 (5 games)
Ferrer 2/7 (4 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Nadal 22 (12 FH, 4 BH, 3 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
Ferrer 25 (15 FH, 1 BH, 4 FHV, 2 BHV, 3 OH)
Nadal's FHs - 5 dtl (2 passes), 4 inside-out and 3 inside-in
- BHs - 1 cc at net, 1 cc/longline (a Ferrer whiff), 1 dtl pass at net and 1 running-down-drop-shot drop shot at net
- 1 FHV was a swinging inside-out shot
Ferrer's FHs - 2 dtl, 5 inside-out, 2 inside-in (1 return), 1 inside-in/cc, 1 longline at net and 4 drop shots
- BH return - 1 cc
- 1 FHV was a swinging shot and 1 OH was on the bounce
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Nadal 39
- 28 Unforced (12 FH, 15 BH, 1 FHV)
- 11 Forced (8 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV)... with 3 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.1
Ferrer 46
- 38 Unforced (20 FH, 16 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)
- 8 Forced (4 FH, 4 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.4
(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
Nadal was 13/20 (65%) at net
Ferrer was...
- 14/20 (70%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back
Match Report
A scraggy, gritty affair with 2 players playing similarly and Nadal being a bit better at most things
With low unreturned rates, rallying determines outcome and they are essentially who-blinks-first of nature. Such matches are usually decided by UEs and this one is no exception; Nadal has 28, Fer 38.
Going into it further, Nadal has the edge across both staple cc rallies -
Nadal FH 12, Fer BH 16
Nadal BH 15, Fer FH 20
Just neutral UEs read Nadal 15, Fer 20
Within the context of gritty, who-blinks-first action, Ferrer is slightly more attacking player - as is smart when coming off 2nd best off consistency
a) He looks to attack Nadal's half-open FH side with early taken BH cc's and FH dtl's. Not too many FH inside-outs, which is odd since its his favourite play to a weak ball drawn by return. Some good tennis when Fer attacks/Nadal defends.
Fer doesn't quite have the power to finish Nadal off. His attacks aren't lacking, but Nadal's defence is typically outstanding - running full tilt to poke balls back from well behind baseline on the slide, and ready to go in the opposite direction for the next shot
Nadal with match high 8 FH FEs - Ferrer has that many total and Nadal's non-FH FEs total 3
But just the 2 FH dtl winners and no BH cc's from Ferrer. FH inside-out does the most damage with match high 5 winners and he also throws in 4 FH drop shot winners when he's pinned Nadal well back, which usually happens after running Nadal the opposite way after covering a running ball to FH corner
The cost is 18 attacking and winner attempt UEs by Fer. Nadal has 13, biased towards the less aggressive of the 2 shot types
Fer is also terrific in his net instincts and volleying. He comes in from very strong positions and clinically putsaway the volley. Nadal being Nadal gets the odd danger pass off despite hopeless position, and Fer makes excellent, difficult volleys first up to set up an easier second one. Only at the very end does Fer falter at net - missing an easy OH and on match point, a not easy FHV that's been marked a UE. 70% net points won by Fer and 74% sans a forced back point. Nadal, in same number of approaches wins 65%
In short, some good, exciting tennis within this dynamic, with Nadal edging things
b) More often, Fer looks to pit his FH cc with Nadal's BH in a consistency battle.
Rarely does he switch to FH dtl attack amidst the FH-BH rallies; he's either attacking with a) or looking to grind out points with b)
Nadal keeps a BH-leaning court position, which generally is his habit when looking to play back-away FH combinations to attack or command play (it's also why his FH side is half-open and vulnerable to attack)
Despite the position, he doesn't do much runaround FH'ng and most of what he does is just hit heavier, more spinny neutral shots than his normal BH. And the normal BH is usually loopily spun too (as opposed to firmly hit), with just the odd hard hit change up
When leading rallies, Nadal keeps things FH cc to Ferrer's BH. He wins the consistency battle, but Fer doesn't cough up weak balls. Not much Nadal attacking/Ferrer defending play going on
And that's play - gritty cc rallies along both diagonals, Fer occasionally taking up attacking Nadal's FH corner and Nadal defending against it
Whatever the dynamic, Nadal gets just a bit better of things
The dangers of Nadal's FH comes through in its 12 winners, 12 UE yield. This is achieved without any systematic attacking or looking for his shots. Despite usually preferring a heavy spun, neutral shot when he proactively moves over to take a FH, he still has 7 winners inside-out and inside-in combined. Just rallying to make things awkward for Fer, being consistent or finishing a point, Nadal's FH stands out
Other stand out stat is Nadal returning at 93%. Even for him, that's a remarkably high number and he misses just 5 returns all match. Fer's no slouch either with 86% rate. Nadal has meatier serve, without either player having a troubling one. Both seem to know exactly what to expect. Nadal's on all out runaround FH mode and has 17 such returns (including a few deuce court). Fer for that matter has sizable 9, including a couple against first serves. 0 aces in match
Huge 30% gap between 1st and 2nd serve points won by Fer is a bit surprising, seeing as both types of points tend to lead to similar types of gritty rallies and with low unreturned rate. Some Fer attacking third ball off his first serve, but not too much and he ends up losing points he's on attacking quite often over match too. By contrast, 2nd serve points virtually all start neutrally. There's a difference there - but wouldn't have though it'd amount to 30%
Match isn't uniform, and first set is particularly gruelling. 6/10 games go to deuce and both Nadal's breaks are in shorter games. In other words, 8/10 games go to deuce or are breaks. Only the last 2 games are 'easy' holds to 30 - and Fer is down 15-30 in his 'easy' one
average game lasts 8.3 points (2nd set, its just 5.8). Nadal serves 50 points or 10 per game, Fer 33 or 6.6
Break point number for set read Nadal 2/4 (2 games), Fer 1/ 6 (3 games). Nadal though is always the one up by a break
Nadal saves 2 break points in game 2 by outmuscling Fer to finish with a mid court FH inside-out winner and then outlasting him in a BH longline exchange before going on to hold. Then there are 3 breaks on the trot - Nadal gaining the first on back of a pair of BH UEs, Fer striking back by finishing a superb point where he has Nadal running all over the place with a FH drop shot winner to break back.
Fer is down 0-40 the game after. He saves 2 break points, but hits a por drop shot after that that Nadal runs up to smack away for a winner
Nadal is down 0-40 the game after too, but comes through to hold. Fer misses relatively easy mid court FH on first break point. Nadal erases the last with a perfect running-down-drop-shot drop shot at net. Nadal endures a 14 point hold (no break points) on his next service game too, ending with 2 bad Fer errors
Fer holds from 0-40 down to open the 2nd set with some excellent attacking play, but is broken in next service game from 30-0 up - Nadal finishing a perfect, running FH dtl pass winner
Thereafter, intensity (and messiness) of play goes down. Both players seem to lose the rally-til-cows-come-home mentality that had shaped the 1st set. Fer goes for (and misses) some very ambitious aggressive shots and Nadal makes some strange BH longline errors. One of them is on break point, which sees set go back on serve at 4-4
That doesn't last long. At 5-5 deuce, with Nadal surprisingly missing 2nd serve return on his first break point, Fer double faults and then lashes a FH dtl winner attempt wildly wide to get broken. Nadal serves it out in a lively deuce game where he's at net 4 times and Ferrer twice
Summing up, gritty match of grinding, who-blinks-first action with Nadal in particular playing loopy shots and Ferrer occasionally attacking the BH-leaning Nadal's FH corner. Action is close with Nadal just a bit better at everything - he defends better than Ferrer attacks and otherwise keeps ball in play one shot longer a little more often.
It was Nadal's 7th straight title at the event. Ferrer was seeded 4th and playing his second Masters final,having lost to Nadal in Rome final the previous year.
Nadal won 81 points, Ferrer 72
Serve Stats
Nadal...
- 1st serve percentage (50/83) 60%
- 1st serve points won (32/50) 64%
- 2nd serve points won (19/33) 58%
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/83) 13%
Ferrer...
- 1st serve percentage (33/70) 47%
- 1st serve points won (24/33) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (16/37) 43%
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (5/70) 7%
Serve Patterns
Nadal served...
- to FH 25%
- to BH 65%
- to Body 10%
Ferrer served...
- to FH 16%
- to BH 84%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 63 (27 FH, 36 BH), including 17 runaround FHs
- 5 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (3 FH), all runaround FHs
- 2 Forced (1 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (63/68) 93%
Ferrer made...
- 69 (31 FH, 38 BH), including 9 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 8 Unforced (4 FH, 4 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 3 Forced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (69/80) 86%
Break Points
Nadal 4/11 (5 games)
Ferrer 2/7 (4 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Nadal 22 (12 FH, 4 BH, 3 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
Ferrer 25 (15 FH, 1 BH, 4 FHV, 2 BHV, 3 OH)
Nadal's FHs - 5 dtl (2 passes), 4 inside-out and 3 inside-in
- BHs - 1 cc at net, 1 cc/longline (a Ferrer whiff), 1 dtl pass at net and 1 running-down-drop-shot drop shot at net
- 1 FHV was a swinging inside-out shot
Ferrer's FHs - 2 dtl, 5 inside-out, 2 inside-in (1 return), 1 inside-in/cc, 1 longline at net and 4 drop shots
- BH return - 1 cc
- 1 FHV was a swinging shot and 1 OH was on the bounce
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Nadal 39
- 28 Unforced (12 FH, 15 BH, 1 FHV)
- 11 Forced (8 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV)... with 3 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.1
Ferrer 46
- 38 Unforced (20 FH, 16 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)
- 8 Forced (4 FH, 4 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.4
(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
Nadal was 13/20 (65%) at net
Ferrer was...
- 14/20 (70%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back
Match Report
A scraggy, gritty affair with 2 players playing similarly and Nadal being a bit better at most things
With low unreturned rates, rallying determines outcome and they are essentially who-blinks-first of nature. Such matches are usually decided by UEs and this one is no exception; Nadal has 28, Fer 38.
Going into it further, Nadal has the edge across both staple cc rallies -
Nadal FH 12, Fer BH 16
Nadal BH 15, Fer FH 20
Just neutral UEs read Nadal 15, Fer 20
Within the context of gritty, who-blinks-first action, Ferrer is slightly more attacking player - as is smart when coming off 2nd best off consistency
a) He looks to attack Nadal's half-open FH side with early taken BH cc's and FH dtl's. Not too many FH inside-outs, which is odd since its his favourite play to a weak ball drawn by return. Some good tennis when Fer attacks/Nadal defends.
Fer doesn't quite have the power to finish Nadal off. His attacks aren't lacking, but Nadal's defence is typically outstanding - running full tilt to poke balls back from well behind baseline on the slide, and ready to go in the opposite direction for the next shot
Nadal with match high 8 FH FEs - Ferrer has that many total and Nadal's non-FH FEs total 3
But just the 2 FH dtl winners and no BH cc's from Ferrer. FH inside-out does the most damage with match high 5 winners and he also throws in 4 FH drop shot winners when he's pinned Nadal well back, which usually happens after running Nadal the opposite way after covering a running ball to FH corner
The cost is 18 attacking and winner attempt UEs by Fer. Nadal has 13, biased towards the less aggressive of the 2 shot types
Fer is also terrific in his net instincts and volleying. He comes in from very strong positions and clinically putsaway the volley. Nadal being Nadal gets the odd danger pass off despite hopeless position, and Fer makes excellent, difficult volleys first up to set up an easier second one. Only at the very end does Fer falter at net - missing an easy OH and on match point, a not easy FHV that's been marked a UE. 70% net points won by Fer and 74% sans a forced back point. Nadal, in same number of approaches wins 65%
In short, some good, exciting tennis within this dynamic, with Nadal edging things
b) More often, Fer looks to pit his FH cc with Nadal's BH in a consistency battle.
Rarely does he switch to FH dtl attack amidst the FH-BH rallies; he's either attacking with a) or looking to grind out points with b)
Nadal keeps a BH-leaning court position, which generally is his habit when looking to play back-away FH combinations to attack or command play (it's also why his FH side is half-open and vulnerable to attack)
Despite the position, he doesn't do much runaround FH'ng and most of what he does is just hit heavier, more spinny neutral shots than his normal BH. And the normal BH is usually loopily spun too (as opposed to firmly hit), with just the odd hard hit change up
When leading rallies, Nadal keeps things FH cc to Ferrer's BH. He wins the consistency battle, but Fer doesn't cough up weak balls. Not much Nadal attacking/Ferrer defending play going on
And that's play - gritty cc rallies along both diagonals, Fer occasionally taking up attacking Nadal's FH corner and Nadal defending against it
Whatever the dynamic, Nadal gets just a bit better of things
The dangers of Nadal's FH comes through in its 12 winners, 12 UE yield. This is achieved without any systematic attacking or looking for his shots. Despite usually preferring a heavy spun, neutral shot when he proactively moves over to take a FH, he still has 7 winners inside-out and inside-in combined. Just rallying to make things awkward for Fer, being consistent or finishing a point, Nadal's FH stands out
Other stand out stat is Nadal returning at 93%. Even for him, that's a remarkably high number and he misses just 5 returns all match. Fer's no slouch either with 86% rate. Nadal has meatier serve, without either player having a troubling one. Both seem to know exactly what to expect. Nadal's on all out runaround FH mode and has 17 such returns (including a few deuce court). Fer for that matter has sizable 9, including a couple against first serves. 0 aces in match
Huge 30% gap between 1st and 2nd serve points won by Fer is a bit surprising, seeing as both types of points tend to lead to similar types of gritty rallies and with low unreturned rate. Some Fer attacking third ball off his first serve, but not too much and he ends up losing points he's on attacking quite often over match too. By contrast, 2nd serve points virtually all start neutrally. There's a difference there - but wouldn't have though it'd amount to 30%
Match isn't uniform, and first set is particularly gruelling. 6/10 games go to deuce and both Nadal's breaks are in shorter games. In other words, 8/10 games go to deuce or are breaks. Only the last 2 games are 'easy' holds to 30 - and Fer is down 15-30 in his 'easy' one
average game lasts 8.3 points (2nd set, its just 5.8). Nadal serves 50 points or 10 per game, Fer 33 or 6.6
Break point number for set read Nadal 2/4 (2 games), Fer 1/ 6 (3 games). Nadal though is always the one up by a break
Nadal saves 2 break points in game 2 by outmuscling Fer to finish with a mid court FH inside-out winner and then outlasting him in a BH longline exchange before going on to hold. Then there are 3 breaks on the trot - Nadal gaining the first on back of a pair of BH UEs, Fer striking back by finishing a superb point where he has Nadal running all over the place with a FH drop shot winner to break back.
Fer is down 0-40 the game after. He saves 2 break points, but hits a por drop shot after that that Nadal runs up to smack away for a winner
Nadal is down 0-40 the game after too, but comes through to hold. Fer misses relatively easy mid court FH on first break point. Nadal erases the last with a perfect running-down-drop-shot drop shot at net. Nadal endures a 14 point hold (no break points) on his next service game too, ending with 2 bad Fer errors
Fer holds from 0-40 down to open the 2nd set with some excellent attacking play, but is broken in next service game from 30-0 up - Nadal finishing a perfect, running FH dtl pass winner
Thereafter, intensity (and messiness) of play goes down. Both players seem to lose the rally-til-cows-come-home mentality that had shaped the 1st set. Fer goes for (and misses) some very ambitious aggressive shots and Nadal makes some strange BH longline errors. One of them is on break point, which sees set go back on serve at 4-4
That doesn't last long. At 5-5 deuce, with Nadal surprisingly missing 2nd serve return on his first break point, Fer double faults and then lashes a FH dtl winner attempt wildly wide to get broken. Nadal serves it out in a lively deuce game where he's at net 4 times and Ferrer twice
Summing up, gritty match of grinding, who-blinks-first action with Nadal in particular playing loopy shots and Ferrer occasionally attacking the BH-leaning Nadal's FH corner. Action is close with Nadal just a bit better at everything - he defends better than Ferrer attacks and otherwise keeps ball in play one shot longer a little more often.
