Pat Rafter beat Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in US Open final, 1997 on hard court
It was Rafter’s first Slam title and he would go onto defend it the follow year. This was the unseeded Rusedski’s only Slam final
Rafter won 127 points, Rusedski 106
Rafter serve-volleyed off serves bar 2 second serves, Rusedski serve-volleyed off all but 2 first serves and most of the time off seconds
Serve Stats
Rafter...
- 1st serve percentage (69/110) 63%
- 1st serve points won (57/69) 83%
- 2nd serve points won (19/41) 46%
- Aces 7
- Double Faults 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (37/110) 34%
Rusedski...
- 1st serve percentage (74/123) 60%
- 1st serve points won (47/74) 64%
- 2nd serve points won (25/49) 51%
- Aces 10
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (44/123) 36%
Serve Patterns
Rafter served...
- to FH 34%
- to BH 57%
- to Body 10%
Rusedski served...
- to FH 51%
- to BH 46%
- to Body 3%
Return Stats
Rafter made...
- 75 (46 FH, 29 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 3 return-approaches
- 6 Winners (4 FH, 2 BH)
- 34 Errors, all forced...
- 34 Forced (15 FH, 19 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- Return Rate (75/119) 63%
Rusedski made...
- 67 (22 FH, 45 BH)
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 30 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 29 Forced (14 FH, 15 BH)
- Return Rate (67/104) 64%
Break Points
Rafter 6/17 (10 games)
Rusedski 3/9 (5 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Rafter 37 (9 FH, 8 BH, 12 FHV, 3 BHV, 5 OH)
Rusedski 14 (5 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV, 3 OH)
Rafter had 18 from serve volley points -
- 10 first volleys (8 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)... 1 FHV can reasonably be called an OH
- 7 second volley (3 FHV, 1 BHV, 3 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 FHV)
- 1 from a return-approach point, a BHV pass
- 17 passes - 6 returns (4 FH, 2 BH) & 11 regular (5 FH, 6 BH)
- FH returns - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in
- BH returns - 1 cc, 1 inside-out
- FHs - 2 cc, 3 dtl (1 net chord flicker, 1 at net)
- BHs - 3 cc, 2 dtl, 1 longline (that hits Rusedski)
Rusedski had 6 from serve volley points -
- 4 first volleys (1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 1 second volley (1 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 OH)
- 7 passes - 1 return (1 FH) & 6 regular (4 FH, 2 BH)
- FH return - 1 dtl
- FHs - 2 cc, 1 dtl, 1 inside-out
- BHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Rafter 42
- 10 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH, 4 BHV, 1 OH, 1 BHOH)... with 1 FH at net
- 32 Forced (8 FH, 10 BH, 3 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 4 BHV, 5 BH1/2V, 1 Over-the-Shoulder)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49
Rusedski 49
- 15 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH, 2 FHV, 7 BHV, 2 OH)... with 1 BH at net
- 34 Forced (10 FH, 9 BH, 2 FHV, 2 FH1/2V, 8 BHV, 2 BH1/2V, 1 BHOH)... with 1 FH pass attempt at net, 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net, 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net & the BHOH was a flagrantly forced, baseline shot against an at net smash
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 55.3
(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
Rafter was...
- 73/103 (71%) at net, including...
- 67/95 (71%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 50/62 (81%) off 1st serve and...
- 17/33 (52%) off 2nd serve
---
- 2/3 (67%) return-approaching
- 0/3 forced back
Rusedski was...
- 61/110 (55%) at net, including...
- 55/95 (58%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 36/62 (58%) off 1st serve and...
- 19/33 (58%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/2 retreated
Match Report
Serve-volley match and Rafter is better at the skillsets on on show, particularly the volleying, with Rusedski’s being poor much of the time and his serve making it difficult for him to get into proper position at net. Court is quick
Rafter serve-volleys almost always (stays back on 2 second serves). The serve and the volley are equal partners in his success serve-volleying. It’s a powerful serve, closer to in pace to Pete Sampras’ norm than that norm is to Rusedski’s serve, and when his in-count falls, he suffers
On the volley, he’s better at dealing with the not-easy and tough stuff than he is the routine. Greg returns with heat, and Rafter’s upto volleying under-net and lowish stuff into open court and near corners without missing much. Also makes more shoelace volleys and half-volleys than he misses
He’s not bad at dispatching or commanding routine volleys, but there is room for improvement and he’s not as good as against the tougher stuff. A little unusually, he likes to FHV inside-out and BHV line more than is normal
As a serve-volleyer, he looks like might be the future of ‘classic’ serve-volleying (where the volleying has big hand in success), as opposed to the then new norm of big serving, serve-volley as practiced by Sampras, Richard Krajicek, Goran Ivaniseivc etc. A strong enough serve to be challenging, without being overwhelming coupled with elegant volleying
To contrast, Stefan Edberg by the end of his career the year before (and for few years before that), looked like any given serve might get bashed for a winner. Rafter serve is better than that and is tough to handle on its own merit, without serve-volleying support
Greg by contrast is in line with overwhelmingly serving, ‘serve-volleyer’. Among other things, he apparently breaks the world record for the fastest ever recorded serve at 143mph in the match. He usually doesn’t serve that hard and when he does, he can’t get up to net properly. He can’t even get upto net properly even when he doesn’t. And he volleys poorly, dumping routine ones into the net or even missing putaways. For all that, even his serve doesn’t garner too many freebies
Nice returning form Rafter. Moves well and it doesn’t look like Greg’s serve is hard to read. Against such pace, blocked and short-swing returns are the way to go, and Rafter times ball well enough to still get them to go through at reasonable pace. Would need some volleying skills to cope with, which Greg doesn’t show. He’s either not upto net or if he is, misses routine volleys
Greg doesn’t putaway the volleys he makes either, and Rafter’s quick to move for the follow-up passes and strikes those well too
Greg has his moments on the return in particular, fewer on the pass. Strikes returns with enough power to be potentially troubling (drawing a few UEs and not good volleys he can have a crack at), getting a few down to feet. As noted, Rafter deals with tough stuff well though. Too rarely, he blocks or chips returns neatly to deliberately get them to feet. Given his fat serve, the subtlety comes as surprise. Would have done well to do it more - it’s a safer way to return (thus, way to get more returns in play) and it proves effective on the rare times he tries. Mostly, he sticks to trying to bash returns. Not too bad at that either, but would need help Rafter’s help in missing net high volleys to make head-way that way. Which Rafter doesn’t grant too often
Finally, Greg showing some brains by easing up on first serve to get more in and cutting back on second serve-volleying - both good moves, in light of how unreliable his volleying is
That’s match in words, and Rafter has much better of it
17 break points in 10 different games against the world record setting serve is a job well done.
Net points - Rafter winning 71% of 103 approaches, Greg 55% of 110 is also clear indicator of Rafter’s superiority
Action & Stats
Numbers are surprising
First serve in - Rafter 63%, Greg 60%
First serve won - Rafter 84%, Greg 64%
Second serve won - Rafter 46%, Greg 51%
If anything, that makes Rafter look like the bigger server and the more serve-shot dependent player, Greg possibly the better volleyer - the opposite of things
So why are the numbers like that?
For starters, Greg’s in count fluctuates and he usually isn’t all out with the first serve.
When losing first 2 sets 3 & 2, his in count is just 47%. He tones it down wisely after that to raise it thereafter
Its good idea for 2 reasons. His first serve is so big that if it comes back, he’s in no position to volley. And his volleying isn’t good either. Even with that low in count, he wins just 68% first serve points for first 2 sets
Record breaking serve, you’d think he’d look to win at least 80% when bombing them down, but no. He isn’t able to get them wide enough, and its raw pace that’s challenging to handle, not width
Good job by Rafter to make the returns against that heat too. He blocks returns back, timing ball well - and rest is up to Greg. Good job yes, still, mostly discredit Greg for his follow-up volleying. He’d do better going all in with the serve all the time and staying back to draw more errors and get more weak returns he can hammer off the third ball (as opposed to have server returner, find himself in awkward no-man’s land or/and screwing up routine volleys)
In time, he adjusts, and starts staying back off second serves (which are hefty too) and coming in behind third ball powerful FHs
Greg’s second serves
- serve-volleys 73% of the time, winning 58% (same as his first serve-volleying rate)
- stays back 27% of the time, winning 50%
(also double faults 4 times, or 8% of all second serves)
However bad he looks on volley, he’s still done better second serve-volleying than not, though much of the reasons are the same (bad volleying)
First serve ace rate - Rafter 10%, Greg 14%
An area where Greg would look for much bigger lead. The not good placement. His in count isn’t too good bombing them down even conservatively
It was Rafter’s first Slam title and he would go onto defend it the follow year. This was the unseeded Rusedski’s only Slam final
Rafter won 127 points, Rusedski 106
Rafter serve-volleyed off serves bar 2 second serves, Rusedski serve-volleyed off all but 2 first serves and most of the time off seconds
Serve Stats
Rafter...
- 1st serve percentage (69/110) 63%
- 1st serve points won (57/69) 83%
- 2nd serve points won (19/41) 46%
- Aces 7
- Double Faults 6
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (37/110) 34%
Rusedski...
- 1st serve percentage (74/123) 60%
- 1st serve points won (47/74) 64%
- 2nd serve points won (25/49) 51%
- Aces 10
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (44/123) 36%
Serve Patterns
Rafter served...
- to FH 34%
- to BH 57%
- to Body 10%
Rusedski served...
- to FH 51%
- to BH 46%
- to Body 3%
Return Stats
Rafter made...
- 75 (46 FH, 29 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 3 return-approaches
- 6 Winners (4 FH, 2 BH)
- 34 Errors, all forced...
- 34 Forced (15 FH, 19 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- Return Rate (75/119) 63%
Rusedski made...
- 67 (22 FH, 45 BH)
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 30 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 29 Forced (14 FH, 15 BH)
- Return Rate (67/104) 64%
Break Points
Rafter 6/17 (10 games)
Rusedski 3/9 (5 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Rafter 37 (9 FH, 8 BH, 12 FHV, 3 BHV, 5 OH)
Rusedski 14 (5 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV, 3 OH)
Rafter had 18 from serve volley points -
- 10 first volleys (8 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)... 1 FHV can reasonably be called an OH
- 7 second volley (3 FHV, 1 BHV, 3 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 FHV)
- 1 from a return-approach point, a BHV pass
- 17 passes - 6 returns (4 FH, 2 BH) & 11 regular (5 FH, 6 BH)
- FH returns - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in
- BH returns - 1 cc, 1 inside-out
- FHs - 2 cc, 3 dtl (1 net chord flicker, 1 at net)
- BHs - 3 cc, 2 dtl, 1 longline (that hits Rusedski)
Rusedski had 6 from serve volley points -
- 4 first volleys (1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)
- 1 second volley (1 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 OH)
- 7 passes - 1 return (1 FH) & 6 regular (4 FH, 2 BH)
- FH return - 1 dtl
- FHs - 2 cc, 1 dtl, 1 inside-out
- BHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Rafter 42
- 10 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH, 4 BHV, 1 OH, 1 BHOH)... with 1 FH at net
- 32 Forced (8 FH, 10 BH, 3 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 4 BHV, 5 BH1/2V, 1 Over-the-Shoulder)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49
Rusedski 49
- 15 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH, 2 FHV, 7 BHV, 2 OH)... with 1 BH at net
- 34 Forced (10 FH, 9 BH, 2 FHV, 2 FH1/2V, 8 BHV, 2 BH1/2V, 1 BHOH)... with 1 FH pass attempt at net, 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net, 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net & the BHOH was a flagrantly forced, baseline shot against an at net smash
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 55.3
(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
Rafter was...
- 73/103 (71%) at net, including...
- 67/95 (71%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 50/62 (81%) off 1st serve and...
- 17/33 (52%) off 2nd serve
---
- 2/3 (67%) return-approaching
- 0/3 forced back
Rusedski was...
- 61/110 (55%) at net, including...
- 55/95 (58%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 36/62 (58%) off 1st serve and...
- 19/33 (58%) off 2nd serve
---
- 1/2 retreated
Match Report
Serve-volley match and Rafter is better at the skillsets on on show, particularly the volleying, with Rusedski’s being poor much of the time and his serve making it difficult for him to get into proper position at net. Court is quick
Rafter serve-volleys almost always (stays back on 2 second serves). The serve and the volley are equal partners in his success serve-volleying. It’s a powerful serve, closer to in pace to Pete Sampras’ norm than that norm is to Rusedski’s serve, and when his in-count falls, he suffers
On the volley, he’s better at dealing with the not-easy and tough stuff than he is the routine. Greg returns with heat, and Rafter’s upto volleying under-net and lowish stuff into open court and near corners without missing much. Also makes more shoelace volleys and half-volleys than he misses
He’s not bad at dispatching or commanding routine volleys, but there is room for improvement and he’s not as good as against the tougher stuff. A little unusually, he likes to FHV inside-out and BHV line more than is normal
As a serve-volleyer, he looks like might be the future of ‘classic’ serve-volleying (where the volleying has big hand in success), as opposed to the then new norm of big serving, serve-volley as practiced by Sampras, Richard Krajicek, Goran Ivaniseivc etc. A strong enough serve to be challenging, without being overwhelming coupled with elegant volleying
To contrast, Stefan Edberg by the end of his career the year before (and for few years before that), looked like any given serve might get bashed for a winner. Rafter serve is better than that and is tough to handle on its own merit, without serve-volleying support
Greg by contrast is in line with overwhelmingly serving, ‘serve-volleyer’. Among other things, he apparently breaks the world record for the fastest ever recorded serve at 143mph in the match. He usually doesn’t serve that hard and when he does, he can’t get up to net properly. He can’t even get upto net properly even when he doesn’t. And he volleys poorly, dumping routine ones into the net or even missing putaways. For all that, even his serve doesn’t garner too many freebies
Nice returning form Rafter. Moves well and it doesn’t look like Greg’s serve is hard to read. Against such pace, blocked and short-swing returns are the way to go, and Rafter times ball well enough to still get them to go through at reasonable pace. Would need some volleying skills to cope with, which Greg doesn’t show. He’s either not upto net or if he is, misses routine volleys
Greg doesn’t putaway the volleys he makes either, and Rafter’s quick to move for the follow-up passes and strikes those well too
Greg has his moments on the return in particular, fewer on the pass. Strikes returns with enough power to be potentially troubling (drawing a few UEs and not good volleys he can have a crack at), getting a few down to feet. As noted, Rafter deals with tough stuff well though. Too rarely, he blocks or chips returns neatly to deliberately get them to feet. Given his fat serve, the subtlety comes as surprise. Would have done well to do it more - it’s a safer way to return (thus, way to get more returns in play) and it proves effective on the rare times he tries. Mostly, he sticks to trying to bash returns. Not too bad at that either, but would need help Rafter’s help in missing net high volleys to make head-way that way. Which Rafter doesn’t grant too often
Finally, Greg showing some brains by easing up on first serve to get more in and cutting back on second serve-volleying - both good moves, in light of how unreliable his volleying is
That’s match in words, and Rafter has much better of it
17 break points in 10 different games against the world record setting serve is a job well done.
Net points - Rafter winning 71% of 103 approaches, Greg 55% of 110 is also clear indicator of Rafter’s superiority
Action & Stats
Numbers are surprising
First serve in - Rafter 63%, Greg 60%
First serve won - Rafter 84%, Greg 64%
Second serve won - Rafter 46%, Greg 51%
If anything, that makes Rafter look like the bigger server and the more serve-shot dependent player, Greg possibly the better volleyer - the opposite of things
So why are the numbers like that?
For starters, Greg’s in count fluctuates and he usually isn’t all out with the first serve.
When losing first 2 sets 3 & 2, his in count is just 47%. He tones it down wisely after that to raise it thereafter
Its good idea for 2 reasons. His first serve is so big that if it comes back, he’s in no position to volley. And his volleying isn’t good either. Even with that low in count, he wins just 68% first serve points for first 2 sets
Record breaking serve, you’d think he’d look to win at least 80% when bombing them down, but no. He isn’t able to get them wide enough, and its raw pace that’s challenging to handle, not width
Good job by Rafter to make the returns against that heat too. He blocks returns back, timing ball well - and rest is up to Greg. Good job yes, still, mostly discredit Greg for his follow-up volleying. He’d do better going all in with the serve all the time and staying back to draw more errors and get more weak returns he can hammer off the third ball (as opposed to have server returner, find himself in awkward no-man’s land or/and screwing up routine volleys)
In time, he adjusts, and starts staying back off second serves (which are hefty too) and coming in behind third ball powerful FHs
Greg’s second serves
- serve-volleys 73% of the time, winning 58% (same as his first serve-volleying rate)
- stays back 27% of the time, winning 50%
(also double faults 4 times, or 8% of all second serves)
However bad he looks on volley, he’s still done better second serve-volleying than not, though much of the reasons are the same (bad volleying)
First serve ace rate - Rafter 10%, Greg 14%
An area where Greg would look for much bigger lead. The not good placement. His in count isn’t too good bombing them down even conservatively
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