Mats Wilander beat Darren Cahill 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the US Open semi-final, 1988 on hard court
Wilander would go onto beat defending champion Ivan Lendl in the final, in reversal of the previous years finals. Winning the event gave Wilander his third Slam of the year - the first person to win more than 2 in 14 years, and it would be another 16 before the feat was repeated. This was Cahill's only Slam semi, his next best result being third round appearances
Wilander won 97 points, Cahill 73
Wilander won 100 points, Cahill 77 (estimated - assuming both missing games were love holds, which is unlikely)
Cahill serve-volleyed off overwhelming majority of first serves and frequently off seconds
(Note: I'm missing first 2 games of the match, but for the ending of the last point of the second game. Both players held serve
I've guessed serve type for a couple of points)
Serve Stats
Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (62/79) 78%
- 1st serve points won (39/62) 63%
- 2nd serve points won (8/17) 47%
- Unknown serve point (1/1)
- Aces 1, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (16/80) 20%
Cahill...
- 1st serve percentage (44/90) 49%
- 1st serve points won (27/44) 61%
- 2nd serve points won (14/46) 30%
- Double Faults 7
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (10/90) 11%
Serve Patterns
Wilander served...
- to FH 51%
- to BH 39%
- to Body 10%
Cahill served...
- to FH 14%
- to BH 73%
- to Body 12%
Return Stats
Wilander made...
- 73 (18 FH, 55 BH), including 4 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 2 Winners (2 BH)
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH), a runaround FH
- 9 Forced (1 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (73/83) 88%
Cahill made...
- 62 (38 FH, 23 BH, 1 ??), including 3 runaround FHs & 3 return-approaches
- 1 Winners (1 FH)
- 14 Errors, comprising...
- 8 Unforced (5 FH, 3 BH), including 1 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach attempts
- 6 Forced (2 BH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (62/78) 79%
Break Points
Wilander 9/18 (10 games)
Cahill 5/13 (5 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Wilander 30 (8 FH, 14 BH, 3 FHV, 3 BHV, 3 OH)
Cahill 30 (5 FH, 3 BH, 7 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 7 BHV, 7 OH)
Wilander's FHs (all passes) - 1 cc, 4 dtl, 2 longline/inside-out and 1 lob
- BHs (all passes) - 8 dtl (1 return), 1 inside-out/dtl, 1 inside-in return and 4 lobs
- 1 BHV was the second volley off a serve-volley point
- 1 OH was on bounce from no-man's land and not a net point
Cahill had 13 from serve-volley points
- 4 first volleys (2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
- 8 second volleys (3 FHV, 2 BHV, 3 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 FH1/2V)
- FH passes - 2 cc (1 return), 1 cc/inside-in and 1 dtl at net
- regular FH - 1 dtl at net
- BH passes - 1 cc and 1 inside-out/longline
- regular BH - 1 dtl
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Wilander 31
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 27 Forced (12 FH, 13 BH, 1 FHV, 1 FH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 42.5
Cahill 44
- 24 Unforced (8 FH, 7 BH, 3 FHV, 5 BHV, 1 OH)… including 4 clear approach errors
- 20 Forced (7 FH, 1 BH, 5 FHV, 5 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 1 BHOH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49.6
(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
Wilander was...
- 19/30 (63%) at net, including...
- 6/8 (75%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
--
- 1/1 return-approaching
- 2/4 (50% forced back/retreated
Cahill was...
- 55/101 (54%) at net, including...
- 25/50 (50%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 21/37 (57%) off 1st serve and...
- 4/13 (30%) off 2nd serve
--
- 1/3 (33%) return-approaching
- 1/4 (25%) forced back/retreated
Match Report
Good match, centering around Cahill rushing net and Wilander passing on a slow-ish hard court. Action is like a clay court match, with 15 breaks of serve in 28 games. Points of interest include Wilander's use of the lob and the way he uses his BH
Cahill's Game
Weak serve + Weak return = Not Good prospects. I'm not surprised Cahill's career record is ordinary (career high ranking 22, next best Slam result third round). But there are two things he does very well in this match - volley and game plan
The serve is distinctly ordinary. 0 aces, 0 service winners, 11% unreturned serve despite serve-volleying regularly. Despite the lack of power and penetration of his serve, he still only gets 49% first serves in. And double faults 7 times to boot. These are horrendous numbers
He's not as bad as the numbers look because Mats' typical high quality and uber-consistent returning has a hand in it. But it would be a stretch to call Cahill's serving as little as 'decent'
The return is likewise ordinary. Mats serves gently all match. Probably less than half a dozen first serves strong enough to warrant marking a return error forced (sans serve-volleying). Even then, Cahill doesn't return too consistently or too damagingly. Note 8 return UEs
FH return in particular is a bit feeble. Often just pushes gentle serves back of that side. Mats knows what he's doing serving the bulk there
His ground game isn't great either. Note 15 groundstroke UEs to Mats' 4. Being outlasted by Mats Wilander to such an extent doesn't necessarily mean a players game is weak - it definitely means its weaker than Mats' but that's true for almost everybody - but in this match, Cahill's groundies are inconsistent to the point of being weak. Rallies don't have to go on long before he yields the error. Couple of times he swings for big shots and wins a couple points doing so. Should have done it more... he had nothing to lose. Baseline-to-baseline is a no contest... but that's not his strategy. His strategy is taking net
Cahill does well to move forward to the extent he does. He's at net 101/171 points the stats cover or 59%. This is by far the best way to play when one is hopelessly outmatched from the back of the court... smart play from Cahill. Wilander is particularly susceptible to so being counter-attacked because while very consistent of shot from the back, his shots aren't heavy enough to discourage coming in such as, say, Ivan Lendl or Bjorn Borg... coming into Mats is relatively easy
He's not in a mad rush to get to net either. When second serve-volleying starts going against him, he stays back and looks to approach early in rallies. In baseline encounters, he waits for a particularly good ball to come in off. Late in the match, he stays back of a few first serves too and comes in early on the ensuing rallies (very successfully - he wins 6/7 first serve points he didn't come in behind)
Against Wilander, I've seen so celebrated a player as John McEnroe err strategically - both in victory in their marathon '82 Davis Cup encounter and in defeat at French Open '85. Henri Leconte didn't quite get it right in the '88 French final either. Whatever limitations there are to Cahill's game, I think strategically, he was perfect
Cahill's volleying is top drawer. He punches them through and puts them corners. Also faced with a lot of not-easy to difficult, low and/or wide volleys - makes most of them, while still placing the ball very well. Does miss a few routine ones (8 volleying UEs)… but excellent volleying from him. Pace of the court is not his friend - and Mats returns and passes superbly (more on that later). You get a sense of how good his volleying is when you see Mats at net not punching balls through or placing the ball to anything near as well as Cahill did
Wilander would go onto beat defending champion Ivan Lendl in the final, in reversal of the previous years finals. Winning the event gave Wilander his third Slam of the year - the first person to win more than 2 in 14 years, and it would be another 16 before the feat was repeated. This was Cahill's only Slam semi, his next best result being third round appearances
Wilander won 97 points, Cahill 73
Wilander won 100 points, Cahill 77 (estimated - assuming both missing games were love holds, which is unlikely)
Cahill serve-volleyed off overwhelming majority of first serves and frequently off seconds
(Note: I'm missing first 2 games of the match, but for the ending of the last point of the second game. Both players held serve
I've guessed serve type for a couple of points)
Serve Stats
Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (62/79) 78%
- 1st serve points won (39/62) 63%
- 2nd serve points won (8/17) 47%
- Unknown serve point (1/1)
- Aces 1, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (16/80) 20%
Cahill...
- 1st serve percentage (44/90) 49%
- 1st serve points won (27/44) 61%
- 2nd serve points won (14/46) 30%
- Double Faults 7
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (10/90) 11%
Serve Patterns
Wilander served...
- to FH 51%
- to BH 39%
- to Body 10%
Cahill served...
- to FH 14%
- to BH 73%
- to Body 12%
Return Stats
Wilander made...
- 73 (18 FH, 55 BH), including 4 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach
- 2 Winners (2 BH)
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH), a runaround FH
- 9 Forced (1 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (73/83) 88%
Cahill made...
- 62 (38 FH, 23 BH, 1 ??), including 3 runaround FHs & 3 return-approaches
- 1 Winners (1 FH)
- 14 Errors, comprising...
- 8 Unforced (5 FH, 3 BH), including 1 runaround FHs & 1 return-approach attempts
- 6 Forced (2 BH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (62/78) 79%
Break Points
Wilander 9/18 (10 games)
Cahill 5/13 (5 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Wilander 30 (8 FH, 14 BH, 3 FHV, 3 BHV, 3 OH)
Cahill 30 (5 FH, 3 BH, 7 FHV, 1 FH1/2V, 7 BHV, 7 OH)
Wilander's FHs (all passes) - 1 cc, 4 dtl, 2 longline/inside-out and 1 lob
- BHs (all passes) - 8 dtl (1 return), 1 inside-out/dtl, 1 inside-in return and 4 lobs
- 1 BHV was the second volley off a serve-volley point
- 1 OH was on bounce from no-man's land and not a net point
Cahill had 13 from serve-volley points
- 4 first volleys (2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
- 8 second volleys (3 FHV, 2 BHV, 3 OH)
- 1 third volley (1 FH1/2V)
- FH passes - 2 cc (1 return), 1 cc/inside-in and 1 dtl at net
- regular FH - 1 dtl at net
- BH passes - 1 cc and 1 inside-out/longline
- regular BH - 1 dtl
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Wilander 31
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 27 Forced (12 FH, 13 BH, 1 FHV, 1 FH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 42.5
Cahill 44
- 24 Unforced (8 FH, 7 BH, 3 FHV, 5 BHV, 1 OH)… including 4 clear approach errors
- 20 Forced (7 FH, 1 BH, 5 FHV, 5 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 1 BHOH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49.6
(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
Wilander was...
- 19/30 (63%) at net, including...
- 6/8 (75%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
--
- 1/1 return-approaching
- 2/4 (50% forced back/retreated
Cahill was...
- 55/101 (54%) at net, including...
- 25/50 (50%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 21/37 (57%) off 1st serve and...
- 4/13 (30%) off 2nd serve
--
- 1/3 (33%) return-approaching
- 1/4 (25%) forced back/retreated
Match Report
Good match, centering around Cahill rushing net and Wilander passing on a slow-ish hard court. Action is like a clay court match, with 15 breaks of serve in 28 games. Points of interest include Wilander's use of the lob and the way he uses his BH
Cahill's Game
Weak serve + Weak return = Not Good prospects. I'm not surprised Cahill's career record is ordinary (career high ranking 22, next best Slam result third round). But there are two things he does very well in this match - volley and game plan
The serve is distinctly ordinary. 0 aces, 0 service winners, 11% unreturned serve despite serve-volleying regularly. Despite the lack of power and penetration of his serve, he still only gets 49% first serves in. And double faults 7 times to boot. These are horrendous numbers
He's not as bad as the numbers look because Mats' typical high quality and uber-consistent returning has a hand in it. But it would be a stretch to call Cahill's serving as little as 'decent'
The return is likewise ordinary. Mats serves gently all match. Probably less than half a dozen first serves strong enough to warrant marking a return error forced (sans serve-volleying). Even then, Cahill doesn't return too consistently or too damagingly. Note 8 return UEs
FH return in particular is a bit feeble. Often just pushes gentle serves back of that side. Mats knows what he's doing serving the bulk there
His ground game isn't great either. Note 15 groundstroke UEs to Mats' 4. Being outlasted by Mats Wilander to such an extent doesn't necessarily mean a players game is weak - it definitely means its weaker than Mats' but that's true for almost everybody - but in this match, Cahill's groundies are inconsistent to the point of being weak. Rallies don't have to go on long before he yields the error. Couple of times he swings for big shots and wins a couple points doing so. Should have done it more... he had nothing to lose. Baseline-to-baseline is a no contest... but that's not his strategy. His strategy is taking net
Cahill does well to move forward to the extent he does. He's at net 101/171 points the stats cover or 59%. This is by far the best way to play when one is hopelessly outmatched from the back of the court... smart play from Cahill. Wilander is particularly susceptible to so being counter-attacked because while very consistent of shot from the back, his shots aren't heavy enough to discourage coming in such as, say, Ivan Lendl or Bjorn Borg... coming into Mats is relatively easy
He's not in a mad rush to get to net either. When second serve-volleying starts going against him, he stays back and looks to approach early in rallies. In baseline encounters, he waits for a particularly good ball to come in off. Late in the match, he stays back of a few first serves too and comes in early on the ensuing rallies (very successfully - he wins 6/7 first serve points he didn't come in behind)
Against Wilander, I've seen so celebrated a player as John McEnroe err strategically - both in victory in their marathon '82 Davis Cup encounter and in defeat at French Open '85. Henri Leconte didn't quite get it right in the '88 French final either. Whatever limitations there are to Cahill's game, I think strategically, he was perfect
Cahill's volleying is top drawer. He punches them through and puts them corners. Also faced with a lot of not-easy to difficult, low and/or wide volleys - makes most of them, while still placing the ball very well. Does miss a few routine ones (8 volleying UEs)… but excellent volleying from him. Pace of the court is not his friend - and Mats returns and passes superbly (more on that later). You get a sense of how good his volleying is when you see Mats at net not punching balls through or placing the ball to anything near as well as Cahill did
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