Match Stats/Report - Vilas vs Sadri, Australian Open final, 1979

[Waspsting]

Guillermo Vilas beat John Sadri 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-2 in the Australian Open final, 1979 on grass

Vilas was the defending champion and this would be his second and last title at the event. This would be Sadri’s only Slam final

Vilas won 96 points, Sadri 81

Vilas serve-volleyed off all serves, Sadri off all but 7 (3 firsts, 4 seconds) serves

Serve Stats
Vilas...
- 1st serve percentage (65/95) 68%
- 1st serve points won (52/65) 80%
- 2nd serve points won (14/30) 47%
- Aces 6
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (30/95) 32%

Sadri...
- 1st serve percentage (47/82) 57%
- 1st serve points won (35/47) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (17/35) 49%
- Aces 8 (1 possibly not clean), Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (40/82) 49%

Serve Patterns
Vilas served...
- to FH 13%
- to BH 85%
- to Body 2%

Sadri served...
- to FH 33%
- to BH 59%
- to Body 7%

Return Stats
Vilas made...
- 41 (12 FH, 29 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 3 Winners (2 FH, 1 BH)
- 31 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH), a runaround FH
- 30 Forced (15 FH, 15 BH)
- Return Rate (41/81) 51%

Sadri made...
- 61 (4 FH, 57 BH)
- 5 Winners (5 BH)
- 24 Errors, all forced...
- 24 Forced (4 FH, 20 BH)
- Return Rate (61/91) 67%

Break Points
Vilas 4/9 (4 games)
Sadri 1/3 (2 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Vilas 31 (8 FH, 4 BH, 7 FHV, 3 BHV, 5 OH, 4 BHOH)
Sadri 18 (2 FH, 6 BH, 3 FHV, 4 BHV, 3 OH)

Vilas had 19 from serve-volley points -
- 8 first volleys (6 FHV, 2 BHV)
- 10 second volleys (1 FHV, 5 OH, 4 BHOH)
- 1 third volley (1 BHV)

- 12 passes - 3 returns (2 FH, 1 BH) & 9 regular (6 FH, 3 BH)
- FH returns - 2 dtl
- BH return - 1 dtl
- regular FHs - 1 cc, 2 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in, 1 longline
- regular BHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out

Sadri had 6 from serve-volley points -
- 1 first volley (1 FHV)
- 4 second volleys (3 BHV, 1 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 OH)

- 7 passes - 5 returns (5 BH) & 2 regular (1 FH, 1 BH)
- BH returns - 3 cc, 2 inside-in
- regular FH - 1 dtl
- regular BH - 1 longline/down-the-middle (a net chord pop over)

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Vilas 19
- 4 Unforced (3 FHV, 1 BHOH)
- 15 Forced (4 FH, 2 BH, 6 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 BHOH, 1 Back-to-Net)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 52.5

Sadri 34
- 13 Unforced (2 FH, 3 BH, 3 FHV, 4 BHV, 1 OH)... with 1 BH at net
- 21 Forced (6 FH, 7 BH, 3 FH1/2V, 4 BHV, 1 OH)... the OH was on the bounce, from the baseline pass attempt against an at net smash
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 50

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

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Vilas was...
- 61/89 (69%) at net, including...
- 60/85 (71%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 46/59 (78%) off 1st serve and...
- 14/26 (54%) off 2nd serve
---
- 5/11 (45%) forced back

Sadri was...
- 43/73 (59%) at net, including...
- 39/65 (60%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 24/35 (69%) off 1st serve and...
- 15/30 (50%) off 2nd serve
---
- 0/1 retreated

Match Report
Serve-volley match, Vilas is at least good in all areas (and more than that in some), Sadri is poor sans the serve and lobs. Unfortunately for him, Vilas is exceptionally good on the smash off both wings to render Sadri’s lob based return game ineffective. Punched volleys don’t go through the court the way they typically do at Wimbledon, and there’s occasional bad bounce

31 winners, 19 errors (4 UEs, 15 FEs) for Vilas. To go with healthy 32% freebies. First rate figures. He’s well in the positives on the volley, on the pass and gets better of baseline rallies (there aren’t many)

Serve clicks and he swings and swerves the first shot about, almost always to weak Sadri BH. Serve-volleys 100% of the time. Doesn’t err on the volley and though not faced with many difficult ones, is excellent when he is. The only real danger is Sadri’s excellent lobs

Sadri lob vs Vilas smash (both wings) is defining point of the match. Sadri’s passing is weak, but his under-the-ball lobs are excellent. Vilas’ smash though is better still and he comes away with 9 smash winners (5 OH, 4 BHOH)

BHOH isn’t an every match shot and BHOH winners tend to be rare. A player having 2 in a match is blue moon + goldust rare - and I don’t recall ever seeing someone with 3
Vilas has 4 winners with it here, along with a UE and an FE. Fully extended jumping shots, with no question of them being just a high BHV. 4-6 other times he uses the shot

He’s also forced back from net 11 times. Given his ability to make fully stretched out, jumping, back-pedalling smashes off both wings, if he’s forced back, the lob has to be perfect. On top of all those forced back points, many of Vilas smash winners are very difficult, potential winning lobs by Sadri, but Vilas is too good on the smashes

Rest of Sadri’s passing arsenal is below part, but those lobs are potentially match winning. All credit to Vilas for first class smashing

Sadri bombs out 49% unreturned serves, while double faulting just once
Great big serve. If Roscoe Tanner is the Ivo Karlovic of his time, then Sadri would be Milos Raonic. His serve is categorically bigger than Borg or McEnroe’s. Of size, its around 1985 Boris Becker territory. Powerful enough to jar returner with in swing zone serve

There’s not a whole lot else he does well though. Much of it is downright poor even
He misses some very easy volleys
His placement of volleys is average (and Vilas is extremely quick)
He misses most not-easy (as opposed to hard) volleys
His BH return is weak (and Vilas serves there 85% of the time)
His passing is weak (he’s got 2 winners, 12 FEs - and 1 of the winners is a lucky net chord pop over)

He’s no genius either. How quickly he comes in behind serves varies, with little relation to how big the serve is; sometimes he’s well up at net, sometimes barely half-way to service line. Looks more like a novice trying things out than calibrated decision making

And even more strangely, he usually stays on the baseline when lobbing Vilas back to baseline. When he comes in, almost always wins the point with easy volley putaway, but majority of time, stays where he’s at, Vilas runs down ball and puts it back in play - and now they’re in a neutral baseline rally

Couldn’t ask for an easier approach than when Vilas is chasing the ball with his back to the net. Against an opponent whose virtually full serve-volleying, so presumably, happy at net. At least once, he stays back as Vilas retrieves the ball, and then tries to manufacture approach on the next shot. Wouldn’t it be easier to just come in as Vilas is heading back?

Its not a uniform match. In first set, both players win 42 points, with Vilas serving 45 of them
Break points read Vilas 1/2 (1 game), Sadri 1/3 (2 games)
Next 2 sets, Vilas wins 52 points, Sadri 39. Break points - Vilas 3/7 (3 games), Sadri 0

There’s more than 1 rain delay after the first set. Sadri doesn’t seem tired at all, but perhaps a little temperamental in blowing hot and cold, or not upto maintaining a high standard of play for very long. In other words, his level falling looks more like weak mentality than conditioning

Commentary makes the briefest possible mention of Sadri having played earlier in the day, a half-line throwaway comment. Do not say how long he’d been playing but seem confident he’s fit enough not to be much of a factor. They considerable time draw attention to how long Vilas takes between points and how he tends to keep Sadri waiting after change-overs. They’re not wrong. By standards of the time, Vilas takes long time between points, though probably usually within allotted 30 seconds. Amusingly to modern ears, they point out Sadri towelling off between a point as unusual, though they seem to feel he’s doing it to throw Vilas off during tiebreak. He only does it 2-3 times all match

Vilas’ serve game
100% serve-volleying from Vilas and 85% of his serves go to Sadri’s BH
Serves with decent power and typical lefty shape. Placement is good. He has safety cushion of Sadri not being able to punish weaker serves too

6 aces or 9% of first serves (Sadri has 19%)
4 doubles or 13% of second serves (Sadri has 3%)

For him, a reputed average server, not bad. Starts the match double faulting regularly, it doesn’t get him broken and for most of match, second serve is very reliable
Wins 78% first serve-volley points and 54% second serve-volley ones, so serve quality is a factor for him. In that light, first serve serve percentage is important for him. He manages a very good 68%

Sadri mostly dabs BH returns, looking to touch them wide and low (in that order). Rarer attempts to rip returns usually miss. When they land in, Vilas is very good at making the tough volley neatly. Some combo of extra powerful, low-ish and wide returns are plucked back in play, almost without strain. To be clear, such exchanges are rare

Bulk is Sadri dabbing at returns. Still misses a good deal. Along with rest of his play, seems to have mental lapses when returning is particularly loose

Vilas punching the FHV firmly. It doesn’t go through the court too well. Better BHV which he comes under more
Lot of easy volleys which Vilas putsaway or gets wide. Misses little, without necessarily putting away ball for sure winner. Sadri’s passing is not powerful or precise, so again, some safety cushion for volleying quality for Vilas

 

[Waspsting]

The high point of contest spring from Sadri’s lob
Its an ‘under-spin’ shot without much spin on the ball. As much a scoop up-push as a slice. Its never a top spin shot

Vilas is outstanding on the smash. In scampering for, jumping for and executing the smash. Fully extended, he still pounds the overhead, off both wings. And he’s usually fully extended. His extended BHOH is probably more powerful than typical Borg OH

Vilas on volley has 19 winners, 4 UEs, 8 FEs
Sadri on the pass in play 2 winners (1 FH, 1 BH), 13 FEs (5 FH, 7 BH, 1 OH), to go with 5 return winners at 67% return rate and making 61 returns

Couple of points -
- Vilas FHV has 7/10 volley winners, all 3 UEs and 6/7 FEs (not counting smashes)

He serves to BH in both courts, and Sadri with basic cc and inside-in return directions. Probably not targetting a side by Sadri and certainly not preferring one by Vilas. The heavy FHV bias is just due to Vilas’ serving 85% to BH and Sadri’s limited returning variety. And Vilas’ serving choices is probably based on that return being quite feeble

We don’t get to see how good or not Sadri’s FH is because he hardly gets such a ball. He only faces 12 serves there (BH cops 77), makes 4, misses 4 and rest are aces. He makes no effort to move over for FH return.

- Vilas’ 8 FEs are deceptive. 4 are in 1 game (that he ends up holding). An outlier game where Sadri executes well with, dab, guided returns and forces wide, low/dropping FHV errors
So sans outlier game, just 3 pure volley FEs (+ 1 BHOH)

So Vilas with low UEs, sans one game low FEs, good few winners and forcing a lot of passing errors, while Sadri barely has a passing winner. Of Sadri’s 2, 1 is a net chord pop over

Vilas has 5 OH and 4 BHOH winners, for 2 errors (1 UE, 1 FE - both BHOHs)
He’s forced back from net 11 times (wins 5 of those)
Sadri only has 2 lob errors, but he surprisingly, doesn’t have a winner

Perfect, measured height on the under-’chip’ lob by Sadri; Anything less, and Vilas is excellent on the full jumping smash. But the pushy nature of shot (as opposed to top spin) + Vilas commitment to chasing them down + Vilas being very quick = no lob winners
The role of the last mentioned is big factor. Some, possibly most of these lobs that force Vilas back would be winners against many players

Why Sadri doesn’t come to net as Vilas is being forced back, Heaven knows. It’s a stupid move. When he does come in, He only comes in 5/11 times and usually wins with easy volley winner. It’s the easiest possible approach chance, but Sadri not taking advantage. Vilas able to win 5/11 points when he’s forced back. Such superb lobs, such crappy follow-up. Huge waste from Sadri

Vilas smash winners are stunning, especially the BHOHs. Full jump and extension as he’s moving back and full swat. Potentially winner lobs and most of the BHOHs would be marked FEs had Vilas missed. For that matter, the OHs aren’t easy either

Few defensive ‘smashes’ while being forced back from Vilas too, including a sky hook. His judgment of when to smash and how to smash (offensively or defensively) is as good as his actual execution and also, his speed in reaching the ball near the baseline

Rare for match’s high point to be such contest. Great lobbing by Sadri, great handling of it by Vilas (not just the aggressive smashing). Rest of the contest, Vilas dominating - his serve is good, Sadri’s return isn’t, his volleying is good (and not tasked much), Sadri’s passing isn’t

Baseline rallies are few and far between in the match, divided among Sadri’s occasional stay back points and Vilas being forced back ones

Ground UEs - Vilas 0, Sadri 4 sums up most of it
Both players also force an error and Sadri has the sole winner

Gist - Vilas’ serve-volleying much better than Sadri’s returning passing, with the latter below par limiting the former’s scope (and ability) to shine
Exception, high end part of contest is Sadri’s lobs and Vilas’ handling of it. Excellent contest, high quality from both players, with Vilas having better of it - with an assist from bone-headed (non) follow-up of successful lobs by Sadri

Sadri’s serve game
Sadri serve-volleys 92% of the time off first serves, winning 69% so doing, and 2/3 staying back
He serve-volleys 88% of the time off second serves, winning 50% so doing and 2/4 staying back
Along with significant 19% first serve ace rate and negligible 1 double fault

He has a very big serve. The kind that’s powerful enough to jar a weak error even when returner can readily swing through the ball
49% unreturend serves from Sadri, and just the 1 double fault. Seems great platform to dominate

His follow-up game is disappointing
On the volley, Sadri with 10 winners, 9 UEs, 8 FEs
The winners are easy. The UEs are also easy. The FEs are relatively easy. Anything not-easy, he’s liable to miss. He’s got 3 half-volley FEs and they’re about as simple as you can get for half-volley - average pace around service line, perfectly covered

Vilas on pass in play has 9 winners (6 FH, 3 BH), 5 FEs (3 FH, 2 BH)
He’s got 3 return winners at 51% return rate

Sadri’s volley numbers are fair reflection of volleying: bad. If anything, worse than the numbers because the FEs are relatively easy

 

[Waspsting]

Vilas passes well. Holds the pass to last instant when position allows him to. Sets up a few with powerful or/and low returns. As with his volleying, he’s got a cushion in Sadri’s volleys being average quality. He’s not a plonk volleyer, but not a very good puncher either and doesn’t get them too wide

Vilas also very quick to reach passes. He does have to move to reach them, though he doesn’t have to be as quick as he is to have done so
Its more Sadri’s so-so volleys leaving decent passing chances than Vilas power returns forcing weak volleys and gaining decent passing chances, though there's significant amounts of the latter

49% unreturned serves, with just 1 double fault, goes long way towards holding. Its earned by a very powerful serve
Poor net game from Sadri to back it up and good passing from Vilas to complete picture of play. Passer would have to dominate to override 49% freebies - and that’s just what happens

Match Progression
Good serve-volley tennis contest at start. No love holds, no deuce games as score reaches 3-3
The odd strong return or pass, usually comfy volleys, a dashing BHOH or 2 from Vilas against excellent lobs, some very powerful serves from Sadri. A double fault a game from Vilas for first 3 games

Down 40-30 in his first return game, Sadri lobs Vilas back to baseline, comes in and misses an easy, high BHV

Vilas starts his next service game with a terrific BHOH winner
Vilas plucks a difficult wide half-volley in play awhile later, and for once, Sadri with feeble lob response that’s easily smashed away

Vilas breaks for 4-3 in excellent game. He Agassi like early swats 2 FH dtl return-pass winners against first serves and forces a low-ish, BHV error. Sadri gives up the break with a very poor OH error

Takes Vilas 12 points to consolidate, saving 2 break points along the way. He’s forced back from net 3 times in the game, including by a desperate running lob and also makes a not-easy BHOH UE
At deuce, Sadri lobs him back again, but strangely stays on the baseline, allows Vilas to recover and loses the point with a BH UE. Seems strange then, but he makes a habit of it later on

Sadri breaks next go around to level at 5-5, despite missing a relatively easy FH pass, after Vilas again picks up a first half-volley. Deft, touch BH cc return-pass winner, a powerful winning BH return and coming in to easily dispatch FHV winner after lobbing Vilas back gets him to break point. On it, he smacks a powerful pass down the center, which Vilas has covered, but it pops over the net chord for a winner

Another BHOH winner from Vilas, after making another first half-volley ushers in the tiebreak

Vilas misses regulation FHV to fall 1-2 behind, but draws FH1/2V error to level 2-2
Nice BH cc return-pass winner puts Sadri up again, which he extends to 5-3
Sadri has to half-volley powerful return from behind the service line, and chooses to retreat to the baseline. Not necessarily a bad choice. He loses the point with an approach UE
After Vilas holds his 2 service points to reach 6-5, Sadri makes a complete hash of a putaway, second FHV to end the set

Rest of match isn’t too competitive. Vilas winning 54 points to Sadri’s 39

Vilas breaks for 2-0 at start of second set in a bad game from Sadri. His sole double fault to start, an unnecessarily rushed FHV UE and an easy BHV one are Sadri’s crimes. Vilas throws in FH inside-in pass winner after drawing a first half-volley

Game 4 is eventful. Vilas strikes 2 BHOH winners in it and is forced back from net 3 times also. Sadri responds differently each time
First time, he lets Vilas retrieve the ball and then approaches from the rally. Gets passed
Second time, comes in as Vilas back-tracks and putsaway easy BHV winner
Last time, lets Vilas retrieve again and loses point with FH UE in baseline rally

Sadri stays back a few times, after a rain break, without harming himself and Vilas goes on to serve out the set in due time

Sadri’s best return game of the match comes in game 4 of set 3. His dab, wide BH cc return score and he forces 4 wide, low FHV errors in the game. Still can’t reach break point. He makes a not-up call against himself late in the game, just before Vilas holds in 10 points

Vilas wins the next 4 games also to end the match

Crap game from Sadri to give up first break (2 easy BHV UEs and a BH at net one)
Good game from Vilas to snatch the second (3 different kinds of passing winners - a FH cc from close to service line after drawing weak shoelace volley, a full running FH dtl pass from shin height, and a precise BH dtl/inside-out that he holds to last instant). Sadris misses relatively easy FH1/2V and can’t handle a difficult low BHV also

Vilas serves out to 30. Sadri hitting his only clean (as in, not assisted by net chord) non-return passing winner of the match. It brings home how hopeless he’s been on the pass otherwise. Match ends with a 50% pass that Sadri misses, from an ordinary Vilas volley

Summing up, a fun match. Vilas’s regular BHOH’ng is brilliant and for that shot to be in play so often makes the match almost unique. There can’t be BHOH’ng without lobs, and Sadri is very nice in his under-’spin’ lobbing - either getting the ball over Vilas or forcing him to fully stretch out to smash

Its not too competitive though. Vilas is good in all areas. Slingy serve (against weak return), some good return (against very strong serve), on the volley (not difficult task, but handles what is well and is efficient on what isn’t). And he’s very quick

Sadri with fat serve - and pretty bad at most everything else
Worth noting, he does lob well enough to be threatening, and in conjunction with fat serve, potentially match winning, despite the poor volleying, returning and passing

Vilas handling of the lob - judgment of when to play, how to play, execution in playing - trumps it. With an assist to dumb, not approaching behind the lobs as Vilas' running back to baseline by Sadri

 

[WCT]

Been awhile since I saw this match. I didn't remember that Vilas came in behind every serve. I thought he stayed backed behind at least some seconds. Gotten broken 4 times in 3 sets with a 49% unreturned rate sure suggests that Sadri didn't have much going for him beside the serve. Back then, I always thought that Vilas had the best backhand overhead in the sport. And I thought Dick Stockton had the best conventional one. Vilas was no slouch there either.

 

[bobcolbert]

Vilas's backhand overhead in that match was just incredible. And he served and volleyed very well. In Australia he was an other player.

 

[Waspsting]

I didn't remember that Vilas came in behind every serve. I thought he stayed backed behind at least some seconds.

I was surprised too
Even people like Edberg and Cash stay back on the odd serve in Kooyong. He was nowhere near so regular in '77 final

Back then, I always thought that Vilas had the best backhand overhead in the sport.

Vilas's backhand overhead in that match was just incredible.

Absolutely brilliant
The best BH smashing I've seen, even without adjustments for racquet tech
Full jump, full stretched out... and he slams the ball with full power