Rafael Nadal beat Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in the French Open final, 2010 on clay
It was Nadal's 5th title at the venue, having previously won in 2005-08. His only loss had come to Soderling the previous year in the 4th round. For Soderling, it was his second successive runner-up finish. In route to the final, he had ended Roger Federer's record streak of 23 consecutive Slam semi-finals with a win in the quarters
Nadal won 100 points, Soderling 81
Serve Stats
Nadal...
- 1st serve percentage (69/90) 77%
- 1st serve points won (51/69) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (13/21) 62%
- Aces 7, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (23/90) 26%
Soderling...
- 1st serve percentage (51/91) 56%
- 1st serve points won (33/51) 65%
- 2nd serve points won (22/40) 55%
- Aces 7, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (21/91) 23%
Serve Pattern
Nadal served...
- to FH 26%
- to BH 72%
- to Body 2%
Soderling served...
- to FH 33%
- to BH 67%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 66 (17 FH, 49 BH)
- 13 Errors, comprising...
- *5 Unforced (2 FH, 3 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 8 Forced (6 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (66/87) 76%
(*Note: Nadal successfully returned a BH, but stopped play immediately afterwards believing the serve to have been a fault. Inspection of the mark showed the ball had been good. This has been counted as an Unreturned Serve for Soderling and an Unforced Return Error for Nadal)
Soderling made...
- 66 (16 FH, 50 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 15 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (2 FH, 5 BH)
- 8 Forced (3 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (66/89) 74%
Break Points
Nadal 4/12 (7 games)
Soderling 0/8 (4 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nadal 21 (16 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV)
Soderling 21 (14 FH, 5 BH, 2 FHV)
Nadal's FHs - 4 cc, 4 dtl, 6 inside-out, 1 longline and 1 running-down-drop-volley cc at net
- BHs - 4 cc (2 passes)
- the FHV was a drop
Soderling's FHs - 3 cc, 6 inside-out, 2 inside-in, 1 runaround longline, 1 inside-out pass at net and 1 net chord dribbler
- BHs - 2 cc, 1 dtl pass, 1 drop shot and 1 net chord dribbler
- 1 FHV was a drop
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nadal 38
- 13 Unforced (8 FH, 5 BH)
- 25 Forced (15 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.4
Soderling 52
- 35 Unforced (26 FH, 9 BH)
- 17 Forced (5 FH, 11 BH, 1 FH1/2V)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50.9
(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 5/8 (63%) at net
Soderling was...
- 9/16 (56%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back/retreated
Match Report
A straightforward match between a more than usual attacking Nadal and the swinging for the fences battery of Robin Soderling. Nadal defends with customary tenaciousness, the aggressive errors inevitably come from Soderling… and Nadal throws in some attack of his own to decide the result
Soderling's display is as aggressive from the baseline as can be. Note his UEFI of 50.9. I've seen higher figures where there's a lot of net play involved (volley errors are very, very rarely marked less than a 5 and usually a 6), but don't think I've come across one this high for an out and out baseline match. The breakdown of Soderling's UEs are 6 neutral, 20 attacking and 9 winner attempts.
That of course only measures the attacking intent of the unforced errors he made in play. If we were to stat attacking intent of all shots played, I suspect he'd have the highest score of any match I've seen. He basically doesn't hit any 'neutral' shots... virtually every shot he hits is at least an attacking one. Given this, 35 doesn't seem a particularly high number of unforced errors to make
Nadal had missed much of the previous year with a knee injury and seems to have tweaked parts of his game and/or played with a slightly different strategy than his norm round about the time
Serve & Return
Nadal is serving more strongly than was his wont on clay. Whereas typically he rolled or spun serves in on, he's serving normally the way he might on a hard court. Serves out wide are placed to genuinely go out wide and challenge the returners reach, not just a token serve in that direction
Its hard to gauge if the speed of his serve is higher than typical because it looks completely pedestrian next to Soderling's bombs. 7 aces and a service winner though are good indicators that he was serving strongly (the unreturned serve percentage of 26% is another sign, but that can be confounded by quality of Soderling's returning)
Even so, Soderling doesn't have much trouble reaching serves (normal on clay)... and looks to swat returns. Not to the extent he does groundstrokes in play... but hard enough.
Note Nadal's very high 77% first serves in. This would suggest he wasn't going all out with the serve. 77% in at the power/placement of the way he served is excellent
Soderling is absolutely bombing serves. Typically speeds must be in the 130s. He misses a bundle as you'd expect (just 56% in) doing so. Power is the calling card, not placement. Big second serves too
Nadal returns well. He doesn't take the returns from a full on back position. Against the pace of the serve, his position is probably optimal by a normal standard (in other words, early by his). Excellent 76% return rate against such bombs, usually returning loopily and often deep. In the mood Soderling is in though, he still goes after 3rd balls as if they were all short
It was Nadal's 5th title at the venue, having previously won in 2005-08. His only loss had come to Soderling the previous year in the 4th round. For Soderling, it was his second successive runner-up finish. In route to the final, he had ended Roger Federer's record streak of 23 consecutive Slam semi-finals with a win in the quarters
Nadal won 100 points, Soderling 81
Serve Stats
Nadal...
- 1st serve percentage (69/90) 77%
- 1st serve points won (51/69) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (13/21) 62%
- Aces 7, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (23/90) 26%
Soderling...
- 1st serve percentage (51/91) 56%
- 1st serve points won (33/51) 65%
- 2nd serve points won (22/40) 55%
- Aces 7, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (21/91) 23%
Serve Pattern
Nadal served...
- to FH 26%
- to BH 72%
- to Body 2%
Soderling served...
- to FH 33%
- to BH 67%
Return Stats
Nadal made...
- 66 (17 FH, 49 BH)
- 13 Errors, comprising...
- *5 Unforced (2 FH, 3 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 8 Forced (6 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (66/87) 76%
(*Note: Nadal successfully returned a BH, but stopped play immediately afterwards believing the serve to have been a fault. Inspection of the mark showed the ball had been good. This has been counted as an Unreturned Serve for Soderling and an Unforced Return Error for Nadal)
Soderling made...
- 66 (16 FH, 50 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 15 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (2 FH, 5 BH)
- 8 Forced (3 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (66/89) 74%
Break Points
Nadal 4/12 (7 games)
Soderling 0/8 (4 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nadal 21 (16 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV)
Soderling 21 (14 FH, 5 BH, 2 FHV)
Nadal's FHs - 4 cc, 4 dtl, 6 inside-out, 1 longline and 1 running-down-drop-volley cc at net
- BHs - 4 cc (2 passes)
- the FHV was a drop
Soderling's FHs - 3 cc, 6 inside-out, 2 inside-in, 1 runaround longline, 1 inside-out pass at net and 1 net chord dribbler
- BHs - 2 cc, 1 dtl pass, 1 drop shot and 1 net chord dribbler
- 1 FHV was a drop
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nadal 38
- 13 Unforced (8 FH, 5 BH)
- 25 Forced (15 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.4
Soderling 52
- 35 Unforced (26 FH, 9 BH)
- 17 Forced (5 FH, 11 BH, 1 FH1/2V)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50.9
(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 5/8 (63%) at net
Soderling was...
- 9/16 (56%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back/retreated
Match Report
A straightforward match between a more than usual attacking Nadal and the swinging for the fences battery of Robin Soderling. Nadal defends with customary tenaciousness, the aggressive errors inevitably come from Soderling… and Nadal throws in some attack of his own to decide the result
Soderling's display is as aggressive from the baseline as can be. Note his UEFI of 50.9. I've seen higher figures where there's a lot of net play involved (volley errors are very, very rarely marked less than a 5 and usually a 6), but don't think I've come across one this high for an out and out baseline match. The breakdown of Soderling's UEs are 6 neutral, 20 attacking and 9 winner attempts.
That of course only measures the attacking intent of the unforced errors he made in play. If we were to stat attacking intent of all shots played, I suspect he'd have the highest score of any match I've seen. He basically doesn't hit any 'neutral' shots... virtually every shot he hits is at least an attacking one. Given this, 35 doesn't seem a particularly high number of unforced errors to make
Nadal had missed much of the previous year with a knee injury and seems to have tweaked parts of his game and/or played with a slightly different strategy than his norm round about the time
Serve & Return
Nadal is serving more strongly than was his wont on clay. Whereas typically he rolled or spun serves in on, he's serving normally the way he might on a hard court. Serves out wide are placed to genuinely go out wide and challenge the returners reach, not just a token serve in that direction
Its hard to gauge if the speed of his serve is higher than typical because it looks completely pedestrian next to Soderling's bombs. 7 aces and a service winner though are good indicators that he was serving strongly (the unreturned serve percentage of 26% is another sign, but that can be confounded by quality of Soderling's returning)
Even so, Soderling doesn't have much trouble reaching serves (normal on clay)... and looks to swat returns. Not to the extent he does groundstrokes in play... but hard enough.
Note Nadal's very high 77% first serves in. This would suggest he wasn't going all out with the serve. 77% in at the power/placement of the way he served is excellent
Soderling is absolutely bombing serves. Typically speeds must be in the 130s. He misses a bundle as you'd expect (just 56% in) doing so. Power is the calling card, not placement. Big second serves too
Nadal returns well. He doesn't take the returns from a full on back position. Against the pace of the serve, his position is probably optimal by a normal standard (in other words, early by his). Excellent 76% return rate against such bombs, usually returning loopily and often deep. In the mood Soderling is in though, he still goes after 3rd balls as if they were all short