Match Stats/Report - Tsonga vs Nalbandian, Paris final, 2008

[Waspsting]

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat David Nalbandian 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Paris final, 2008 on indoor hard court

It was the first of Tsonga’s 2 Masters titles. Nalbandian was the defending champion

Tsonga won 93 points, Nalbandian 84

Serve Stats
Tsonga...
- 1st serve percentage (57/89) 64%
- 1st serve points won (47/57) 82%
- 2nd serve points won (15/32) 47%
- Aces 25
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (38/89) 43%

Nalbandian...
- 1st serve percentage (54/88) 61%
- 1st serve points won (40/54) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (17/34) 50%
- Aces 4
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (22/88) 25%

Serve Patterns
Tsonga served...
- to FH 36%
- to BH 61%
- to Body 2%

Nalbandian served...
- to FH 42%
- to BH 57%
- to Body 1%

Return Stats
Tsonga made...
- 62 (30 FH, 32 BH), including 4 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 2 Winners (2 FH), including 1 runaround FH
- 18 Errors, comprising...
- 12 Unforced (4 FH, 8 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- 6 Forced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (62/84) 74%

Nalbandian made...
- 50 (16 FH, 34 BH), including 2 return-approach attempts
- 13 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (6 FH)
- 7 Forced (1 FH, 6 BH)
- Return Rate (50/88) 57%

Break Points
Tsonga 2/4 (3 games)
Nalbandian 1/9 (5 games)

Winners (excluding serves, including returns)
Tsonga 23 (10 FH, 2 BH, 4 FHV, 3 BHV, 4 OH)
Nalbandian 18 (4 FH, 5 BH, 5 FHV, 2 BHV, 2 BHOH)

Tsonga's FHs - 3 cc (2 passes - 1 at net), 1 dtl return, 1 dtl/inside-out, 2 inside-out (1 runaround return), 1 inside-out/dtl, 1 inside-in, 1 lob
- BHs - 1 dtl, 1 running-down-drop-shot cc pass at net

- 1 from a serve-volley points, a second volley FHV

Nalbandian's FHs - 1 cc, 1 longline, 2 lobs
- BHs - 2 cc at net (1 pass, very finely played), 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 longline at net pass, 1 net chord dribbler

- 1 from a serve-volley point, a second volley FHV
- 1 from a return-approach point, a FHV
- 1 other FHV was a lob

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Tsonga 43
- 27 Unforced (18 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV)
- 16 Forced (5 FH, 11 BH)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48.1

Nalbandian 28
- 16 Unforced (10 FH, 5 BH, 1 BHV)
- 12 Forced (6 FH, 5 BH, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45 (raw 72)

(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 are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Tsonga was...
- 19/28 (68%) at net, including...
- 2/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves
---
- 0/1 return-approaching

Nalbandian was...
- 23/31 (74%) at net, including...
- 1/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves
---
- 2/2 return-approaching
- 1/1 forced back

Match Report
Brilliant, aggressive match from both players. Serve and FH are Tsonga’s weapons, while Nalbandian’s shot-making and attacking point construction is superb and a joy to watch. Court is on quick side of normal

1 break per set and final break points read Tsonga 2/4 (3 games), Nalb 1/9 (5 games), so very close too. Tsonga twice escapes 0-40 holds, including in serving out the match. But he breaks early in both sets he wins so Nalb is playing catch-up (and ultimately, isn’t able to). By contrast, Nalb wins his set by breaking to finish

25 aces from Tsonga from just 56 first serves steals the eye. Nalb has 22 unreturned serves, to put that in context and only makes 13 return errors. Despite the extreme ace rate, Tsonga still lands a good 64% first serves in

Nalb with delightful 18 winners, 16 UEs and forcing 16 errors showing in court action with measured brilliance against a good, powerful FH, steady BH opponent is as effective and a lot more entertaining
A turnaround FH lob winner after being forced back from net
Drop shotting Tsonga in, approaching himself and lob-volleying a winner
2 lovely BHOH winners - the second of them, particularly delectable
An amazing, very wide BH cc from well behind baseline that forces an error. How did he create that angle?
Holding a running pass at net to last instant and then rolling it fine for winner, with Tsonga moving the other way

That’s the highlights of the highlights, but there’s more along similar lines from Nalb. And not against a slouch. Tsonga with a bludgeoning FH that would keep most opponents honest (leaving aside the damage it does), while his BH proves solid. But Nalb’s able to work his magic - and stay steadier still while doing it

Turns out just shy of extent to override the 17% freebie handicap he has. 25 aces is a lot to overcome

In short - brilliant stuff from both players, but different kinds of brilliant and they’re near all square at end of it
Break points of Tsonga 2/4 (3 games), Nalb 1/9 (5 games) looks like it favours Nalb
Match progression of Tsonga grabbing early breaks to win his sets, Nalb the opposite, gives match different flavour

Serve & Return
Big advantage on serve for Tsonga on the serve. His is first class, Nalb’s average
Such a vast advantage on serve means two returners are virtually playing different games, thus making comparing their showings almost a silly exercise. Tsonga is solid on the return, credit to him for that too

Aces - Tsonga 25, Nalb 4
First serve ace rate - Tsonga 45%, Nalb 7%

Doesn’t need too much amplification
45% first serve ace rate is one of the highest I’ve come across for anybody on any surface. Likes of Goran and Krajicek only hit this in their best showings
Trade of might be low in count, but no, Tsonga with very good 64% first serves in. Nalb is stone as most of the aces go by and that’s where some explanation is needed

Great serving, sure, but probably not 45% first serves being aces great. That’s a ‘has-anyone-ever-served-better?’ figure, not just a run-of-the-mill ‘great’ showing
Nalb usually not moving when aces go by. Would it help if he did? Probably not to get the ball back in play, but to deny a few aces, probably yes
Of return errors, Nalb has 6 UEs, 6 FEs. Weirdly small for one who’s been aced 25 times by an at least shy of top category serve (e.g. Karlovic, Isner). Its not a slow court, but its far from lightning fast also

More to the point, unreturned serves Tsonga 42%, Nalb 25%
That’s more acceptable from Nalb the returner’s point of view. Very high, and still very much a win for Tsonga, but not fully eye-popping like the ace count and frequency

Lost in sea of aces is Tsonga being commendably solid returning
He’s up against average serve without too many demons to it (as the low ace rate hints at)

But 75% return rate is good mark. With some of the misses due to aggressive returning

If Nalb’s kept the match coin-flip close, despite having so much worse serve, it follows logically he must be vastly better court player (and he is)
But Tsonga’s won full 50% of second return points, despite that. Aggressive returning would be necessary for that, and with it, a few misses

Gist, great serving from Tsonga, with Nalb seemingly resigned to the wider first serves going for aces. Average serving from Nalb
On return, Nalb returning firmly against what he doesn’t think is just too good, Tsonga returning regularly, with dashes of attacking returning thrown in. Tsonga coming out of serve-return contest with a big advantage

 

[Waspsting]

Play - Baseline & Net
Brilliant, all court action from both players. Nalb’s the star, but Tsonga’s no blank canvas for him to shine against. Tsonga actually leads winners by 5 and even aggressively ended points by 1, so very much part of the aggressive stew

Tsonga’s FH is the most powerful shot on show, has both match high winners with 10 (next highest is 5) and UEs of 18 (next highest 10). Doing a lot of damage, missing trying to but very importantly, minimizing chances for Nalb to be proactive. Between that serve and a very powerful FH, Tsonga’s overall showing is liable to turn opponent into spectator and have the whole match be on Tsonga’s racquet to win or lose

Nalb isn’t any old opponent and finds way to proactively be aggressive anyway

Staple play features hard hitting stuff, biased to FH play. Nalb hard hitting too, though less so than Tsonga, and willing to fall back to defend at times (as opposed to stubbornly insisting on fighting a losing battle for command of rallies all the time)

For starters, Nalb remains very solid off both wings. Tsonga’s FH’s UEs are largely product of straining to overpower Nalb, but his BH proves secure. Not as secure as Nalb though
Nalb finding angles now and then, using drop shots, cleverly taking net (including with odd serve-volley or return approach), or drawing Tsonga there. Artsy stuff, against base play of hard hitting play, which makes regularly doing the artsy stuff impractical

Tsonga more conventional, as he can afford to be with big head start from serve-return complex

Pressuringly powerful FH at least and he looks to up that to attacking and finishing (as opposed to just carrying on pressuring away with not wide shots), firm and steady BH. He uses net too, with about same amount of very small serve-volley and return-approach as Nalb

In baseline rallies -
Winners - Tsonga 8 (7 FHs), Nalb 4 (2 FHs)
Errors forced - Tsonga 6, Nalb 6
UEs - Tsonga 26, Nalb 15

Tsonga edging the aggressive stuff, with his FH winners the reason. The ability to overpower a strong opponent and finish
Nalb leading overall for being more consistent, for 2 reasons, a) substantial Tsonga’s straining for advantage or attacking FH UEs and b) Nal being more solid off BH, where both players are commendably steady

Neutral UEs - Tsonga 10, Nalb 9
Virtually equal. Tsonga not staying in neutral, and pushing on to attacking, while Nalb’s UEs in this area tend to be more pressured than Tsonga’s

Attacking UEs - Tsonga 12, Nalb 6
Winner attempt UEs - Tsonga 5, Nalb 1
(all UEs of this type, not just in baseline rallies. Both players have just 1 volley in their counts)

Nalb almost perfect in his efficiency. Nothing wrong with Tsonga’s, and Nalb’s superiority down to his being outstanding

UEs by shots -
- FHs - Tsonga 18, Nalb 10
-BHs - Tsonga 8, Nalb 5

While FHs see more action, BH staple is also good enough of ball striking to make artsy stuff difficult to conjure. Nalb manages occasionally by finding angles from nowhere or drop shots or attacking dtl shots. To be clear though, that’s the spice, not the staple. As his low aggressive UEs indicate, his execution when making plays out of pressured-routine positions is flawless

Rallying to net - Tsonga 17/25 or 68%, Nalb 20/27 or 74%
Tsonga’s approaches are combo of overpowering and coming in, with smaller lot of being forced forward. Nalb mixes net play and baseline attacking with same clarity if his attacking choices from the back

Gist - while Nalb’s highlights reel is particularly beautiful, he hasn’t necessarily got better of being aggressive part of action. Tsonga’s aggro is meat-&-potatoes, power FH’ng and looking to up things from there with the FH or coming to net to finish. Often forced to react, if not counter-punch, Nalb has to create his own attacks from little, and manages with impeccable choices and execution

And Nalb being very steady off both wings amidst hard hitting play - both players with solid BHs, but Nalb more (who also creates attacks off that wing as described above), Nalb withstanding Tsonga’s power FH’ng to stay secure, while straining for advantage and attacking errors come from Tsonga on that wing

Match Progression
Big serving, a lot of aces and overpowering FHs from Tsonga in first set. Outcome is on his racquet, with Nalb reacting and doing what he can or is forced to

Tsonga breaks for 2-0 at start. Perfect FH lob winner from him gets things going, coule of double faults from Nalb seal the matter, with power-baseline rallies in between, with Tsonga having better of it

Returning at 2-4, Nalb garners his only break point of the set. Nifty FHV winner off a damaging BH inside-in return-approach and a couple of third ball FH UEs by Tsonga (1 pressuring FH inside-out, 1 dtl winner attempt) get him there. Boldly, Tsonga serve-volleys to thwart it and ends the game with another volley winner son after

Fantastic turnaround FH lob winner by Nalb game after. A gem, but worth one service point. Tsonga serves out to 30 a little later

Action picks up in second set. Tsonga’s serve is even more effective and he largely ‘bots his way through holds. Nalb ups his aggression, quickly getting on the attack whenever he can (which isn’t often in return games) and almost flawless in doing so

Lively, aggressive game from both players to start off, which Nalb has to save a break point with (ace) before going on to hold in 12 points
Gorgeous, very wide BH cc from well behind baseline from Nalb that forces error as he makes a dash for net in game 3 is one the best shots of the match. Stiff competition for that accolade

Double fault and 2 FH UEs (a third ball and an on the move shot - both attack shots) see Tsonga fall to 0-40 in game 8. He’s got 4 aces rest of game and a smash winner, but Nalb still has chances, missing an aggressive second return to go down A-40 before the last ace ends things

Tsonga’s broken to love next go around to end the set. Winning return to baseline starts the process and Nalb follows up by racing down a drop volley, holding his pass to last instant and pushing it very fine and wide for winner point after. Nalb defends his way to the next point with a great get and Tsonga misses a third ball FH to see the match leveled

If anything, the deciding set is even more aggressive from both players. Nalb holds deuce game to start, finishing with a lovely BHOH winner, but is broken next go around

By matches standard, a banal game. Its actually a game of good, pressuring baseline rallies that happen to end with UEs. Just normal tennis. What makes it unusual for this match is that its Nalb who gives up the errors, though not easily. Rest of match, he hasn’t given away anything, easily or otherwise. 2-1 Tsonga with a break

Plenty of great tennis for rest of match, which Nalb has better off. Tsonga serves his way out of 30-40 to hold for 4-2
Many a brilliance in succeeding games, before Tsonga steps up to serve for the match. He falls to 0-40, with a couple of FH UEs, and Nalb dismissing an easy pass at net

Nalb misses a routine enough second return on first break point
Tsonga keeps the next 2 on his own racquet - a drop shot play that sees him come away with FHV winner and a not-obvious third ball FH dtl/inside-out winner
He closes out match with an ace and by drawing a pressured FH error

Summing up, brilliant match from both players
Tsonga gets even more out of a great serve than he could reasonably expect, but doesn’t sit on those laurels and back it up with powerful FH play, trips to net and his BH is firm of force and steady too

Nalbandian ordinary serve being returned comfortably, and occasionally attacked put him at disadvantage. Plus he’s outhit off the FH where bulk of action takes place. His prospects look dubious against a very strong opponent
He evens them out by staying consistent in tough rallies, while creating attacks out of little or nothing with angles, drop shots, approaches, direction changers - his choices of when and how to do so as perfect as the follow-up execution

Next to nothing in the result - point-here,-point-there, Tsonga able to snatch one more chance than Nalbandian can, with both having scant ones

 

[Galvermegs]

Not too many french players won the paris masters title.. i count 3. I would happily say tsonga was the best and most talented of the winners, although forget and grosjean are eye catching in their own way if having a good day.

Nalbandian would win a few more titles but his career was meandering down. Some casual sports fans may only remember him for his default at queens when he couldnt see far enough in front of his big toe.

Like some of my other favourite players he lost more finals than he won and he should also have made more major finals. We all know the main reasons, but at least he had some real bright spots.

 

[Drob]

Not too many french players won the paris masters title.. i count 3. I would happily say tsonga was the best and most talented of the winners, although forget and grosjean are eye catching in their own way if having a good day.

Nalbandian would win a few more titles but his career was meandering down. Some casual sports fans may only remember him for his default at queens when he couldnt see far enough in front of his big toe.

Like some of my other favourite players he lost more finals than he won and he should also have made more major finals. We all know the main reasons, but at least he had some real bright spots.

good observation. it is odd.

Monfils so close in 2009, losing decider tiebreak to Nole.

Forget was formidable. Underrated. Came close to defending title.

I liked Grosjean and saw his big win there. Not the the talent of the other three.

 

[Waspsting]

Not too many french players won the paris masters title.. i count 3

Not too many French players have won any of the masters title
Is there any other masters with even 2 French champions?

I would happily say tsonga was the best and most talented of the winners, although forget and grosjean are eye catching in their own way if having a good day.

Can't disagree
Forget was a favourite of mine and I don't have an explanation for why he didn't have a better career. He was good in all areas - serve, movement, baseline, net. He was having personal best year in one of the first years I followed the game closely in 1991, which has probably skewed my perception of him

He was up there with Sampras that year. But rest of his career... journeyman results, less than Tsonga

All 3 finals won by the Frenchmen were great matches and showings

Forget-Sampras is one of the best matches I've seen and in my opinion, better than the '96 YEC final even
Grosjean-Kafelnikov... whole lot of fun, with Grosjean's high, aggressive level never wavering
And this one

Crowd really get involved when they have one of their own in there. They seemed to intimidate Sampras a little!