Match Stats/Report - Wilander vs Vilas, French Open final, 1982

[Waspsting]

Mats Wilander beat Guillermo Vilas 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-0, 6-4 in the French Open final, 1982 on clay

The unseeded Wilander was playing the event for the first time and had won the juniors event the previous year. He beat the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th seeds in claiming the title. Vilas was playing in the final for the 4th and last time. He’d previously won the title in 1977

Wilander won 127 points, Vilas 124

(Note: I’m missing serve and return data for 1 point. Other than serve type, direction and return type all the fields for the point have been recorded
Partial missing point - Set 4, Game 7, Point 3)

Serve Stats
Wilander...
- 1st serve percentage (78/117) 67%
- 1st serve points won (48/78) 62%
- 2nd serve points won (14/39) 36%
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (8/117) 7%

Vilas...
- 1st serve percentage (72/133) 54%
- 1st serve points won (38/72) 53%
- 2nd serve points won (30/61) 49%
- ?? serve points won (1/1)
- Aces 1
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (9/134) 7%

Serve Patterns
Wilander served...
- to FH 32%
- to BH 58%
- to Body 9%

Vilas served....
- to FH 20%
- to BH 70%
- to Body 11%

Return Stats
Wilander made...
- 120 (47 FH, 52 BH, 1 ??), including 22 runaround FHs & 1 runaround BH
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (120/129) 93%

Vilas made...
- 109 (56 FH, 53 BH), including 14 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (5 FH, 1 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- 2 Forced (1 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (109/117) 93%

Break Points
Wilander 9/19 (11 games)
Vilas 7/14 (9 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Wilander 39 (9 FH, 17 BH, 8 FHV, 3 BHV, 2 OH)
Vilas 40 (10 FH, 7 BH, 7 FHV, 4 BHV, 10 OH, 2 BHOH)

Wilander's regular FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 1 inside-out/dtl and 1 inside-in/cc
- regular BHs - 4 cc, 2 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 inside-out/dtl, 1 inside-in/cc and 1 net chord dribbler

- 12 passes (5 FH, 7 BH)
- FH passes - 2 cc, 1 dtl and 2 lobs
- BH passes - 2 cc, 1 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 inside-out and 2 lobs

Vilas' regular FHs - 1 cc, 2 dtl (1 return) and 1 dtl/inside-out
- passes (6 FH, 7 BH)
- FHs - 3 cc and 3 dtl (1 at net - a net chord pop over)
- BHs - 2 cc, 2 dtl, 1 inside-out/dtl and 2 lobs

- 1 from a serve-volley point, a first volley FHV

- 1 OH was on the bounce from no-man's land

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Wilander 75
- 62 Unforced (23 FH, 34 BH, 3 BHV, 1 OH, 1 BHOH)
- 13 Forced (7 FH, 4 BH, 2 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.3

Vilas 75
- 48 Unforced (25 FH, 15 BH, 5 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)... the OH was on the bounce from the baseline
- 27 Forced (10 FH, 12 BH, 3 BHV, 1 BHOH, 1 Sky Hook)... with 1 FH running-down-drop shot (not at net) & 1 BH running-down-drop shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.3

(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
Wilander was...
- 31/53 (58%) at net, with...
- 0/1 retreated

Vilas was...
- 34/61 (56%) at net, including...
- 2/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves
---
- 1/3 (33%) forced back

Match Report
Wilander’s superior fitness is key to his coming out on top in this dull, gruelling encounter, with a nod to Vilas demonstrating a cornerstone of action: “Look very, very, very long before you leap”

This match has gained a reputation for being very boring. Its not unjustified. Overwhelming bulk of action consists of the two players engaging in painfully long rallies of slow, loopily hit balls back and forth, back and forth like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. 50+ shot rallies aren’t unusual and 20+ is common. You can go the bathroom during a point and come back to find the same rally going on, with the two players standing in the exact same spot and hitting the exact same BH longline as when you’d left

They don’t even rally cc. Staple rally is BH longline, mostly with Mats in deuce court, Vilas ad. When they do trade cc shots, angles are blunt. Neither player seems willing to break the monotony of slow, loopy shots, each trusting that the other will blink first to give up the inevitable error

Boring? Perhaps. The irony is… its largely justified by action. Whoever tries to liven up the rallies from the back usually loses the point trying. In case of coming to net, that changes to unless the player comes in after a (very, very) long exchange of groundies, they lose the point

Match long stats are of limited use in explaining the result. Not least because they’re near enough to dead even

Both with 7% unreturned serves
Vilas with 1 more winner
Errors dead even
Biggest difference is double faults - Mats with 0, Vilas 5

Both at net similar number of times - Mats 53, Vilas 61
Both winning about same amount there - Mats 58%, Vilas 56%

What does explain the outcome? Vilas tiring more and Vilas daring to stray from the beaten path of ‘no-approaches-before-50-shots’

Match by Sets
First set. They trade very slow, loopy groundies. Mats blinks more often. Vilas (after looking a very, very long time) leaps to net to putaway a number of sweet volleys. 6-1 Vilas

Second set. They trade very slow, loopy groundies. They blink at same rate, Both (after looking a very, very long time) leap to net, both have similar success there

Until the ‘breaker, where Vilas is aggressive - hammering returns, power hitting groundies, coming to net quickly. It gets him to set point at 6-5, where he ‘84 McEnroe-ishly charges the return and misses it. The only such return he plays all match, the only second serve return he misses. And Mats takes the ‘breaker to level match

Third set. Vilas sins and breaks faith with very slow, loopy groundies. He serves hard (relatively speaking), hits at angles, hits harder and comes to net ‘early’ in rallies

By any normal standard, his play is still conservative. By standards of this match, its wild, scandalous and is struck down. He blinks a lot more from the back and combo of missing routine volleys and some fine passing by Mats see to. 6-0 Mats

Is Vilas tiring? Maybe. It becomes more apparent the set after. Is he angry at losing the last set? Possibly. Simply had it with the 60 shot rallies?

Fourth set. They trade very slow, loopy groundies. For first time, you can see a difference in comfort each player has in them - Mats playing with more comfort, Vilas less and looking more tired (not that play now or before involved having to move around quickly). Vilas blinks more often. Mats (after looking only a very long time) leaps to net to end points. 6-4 Mats

Approaches by set
- 1st - Vilas 14, Mats 11… Vilas wins
- 2nd (sans tiebreak) - both 17… even
In tiebreak - Vilas 8, Mats 1... Mats wins
3rd set - Vilas 12, Mats 6… Mats wins
4th set - Vilas 10, Mats 18… Mats wins

Both players winning when approaching more, as long as approaches come after long, very slow, loopy ground exchanges

Vilas losing when approaching more, but early and quickly

That’s gist of how outcome is determined

“Look very, very long before you leap” is the tenant for approaching net
“He who dares, loses” applies to baseline aggression

Play - Baseline & Net
Baseline UEs - Mats 57, Vilas 41 (including an OH on the bounce)
Net UEs - Mats 5, Vilas 7

And UE breakdown
- Neutral - Mats 35, Vilas 27
- Attacking Mats 15, Vilas 12
- Winner Attempts Mats 12, Vilas 9

One thing that stands out is how unsuccessful both players are at attacking from the baseline

Mats has 5 net UEs, but 27 attacking or winner attempt ones... 22 of those are baseline shots
Vilas has 7 net UEs, but 21 attacking or winner attempt ones... 14 of those are baseline shots

Those guys aren't winning 22 and 14 point from the baseline by hitting winners and forcing errors

 

[Waspsting]

Non-pass ground winners - Mats 13, Vilas 4 (including an OH on bounce from no-man’s land)

(should be noted, almost all these ground winners are hit from well inside the court)

Again, somewhat justifying the general passivity of shots and disinclination of both players to stray from loopy, safe ones. When they try to put some edge into the point - let alone end it - with attacking baseline shots, usually, they miss

Mats takes on a few BH dtl’s from well in the court and occasionally tries to open court with wide FH inside-out. Net negative trying both - misses the shot most of the time

Vilas likewise fares poorly, though there’s no particular shot to pinpoint for him. He has a good looking FH inside-out, but usually uses it neutrally without going too wide. More rarely still, sweeps a BH cc wide

Which leaves us with the bane of neutral UEs. Mats has 35, Vilas 27

Ground UEs, ordered by consistency
- Vilas BH 15
- Mats FH 23
- Vilas FH 25
- Mats BH 34

Slightly surprising. I’d have expected the winner of the match to be the guy with fewer neutral UEs, and given the unusal preponderance of BH-BH rallies, the one with fewer BH UEs to be the winner

Instead, Vilas’ BH with by far fewest UEs, Mats’ BH on opposite side. Most of Mats’ attacking and winner attempt misses would be BHs to temper that a bit

That’s all in context of the match being one of parts. As mentioned earlier, overall stats are basically dead even

Winners - Mats 39, Vilas 40
… broken down as Mats (26 groundies, 13 net), Vilas (17 groundies, 23 net)

The difference between more passes vs more volley winners - nothing else

Errors - both 75
… broken down as Mats (62 UEs, 13 FEs), Vilas (48 UEs, 27 FEs)

Mats’ relative dearth of volley winners transfer onto Vilas’ FEs - tying up with the winner count breakdown

Vilas has done better on UE front - in all ways
- Neutral - Vilas 27, Mats 35
- Attacking - Vilas 12, Mats 15
- Winner Attempts - Vilas 9, Mats 12

… so Mats has got his frequency of approaching just right to off set that

Vilas is the cleaner volleyer, and his finishing is good as can be asked for. Only he misses a few easy ones. Mats isn’t so clean on the volley, but his form on the shot is just fine. Likes to volley at short angles and short rather than deep and punched through. And he doesn’t miss as much

Volley winners (excluding OHs) - both 11 (with Mats lobbing much more, Vilas has to OH a lot more)
Volley UEs - Mats 3, Vilas 7

Mats’ lobs stand out amidst the passing. He even lobs when he’s got a sitting duck pass. 4 lob winners from Mats, but Vilas has 12 OH ones (2 BHOHs). Also variety of 3 errors and forced back from net 3 times. Mats doing a bit better lobbing than he does with normal passing

Unreturned serves - both 7%
… and Vilas with 5 double faults to Mats’ 0

With Mats winning 3 more points in the match, you could say double faults are biggest difference between the two players. Practically, its not even untrue. The key to outcome is the second set tiebreak, which is up for grabs, making Vilas’ double fault in it crucial

Or for that matter, return consistency. They both have 8 errors, but Mats has just 3 UEs to Vilas’ 6

One of those 2 of those 6 are in the ‘breaker - 1 missing a routine return, the second an aggressive point ending attempt. In light of match, the routine miss stands out as crucial

Seemingly negligible differences, with timing being crucial

Finally, an odd stat with no explanation

Mats wins 62% first serve points and 36% second serve ones. With 0 double faults, no difference in Vilas’ returning of the two serves and negligible difference in in advantage gained by first serve.
The rallies that develop off either serve are indistinguishable. Why such a big gap?

Vilas with much more expected closeness - 53% first serve points won, 49% seconds. Sans the solitary ace and double faults, 52% first serves won, 54% seconds

Just looking at basic stats, it looks like Mats having some kind of great first serve or Vilas doing some crazy second return attacking is big difference in play!

Match Progression
Vilas crawls out to a 5-0 lead, with 2 breaks

Very, very long, pseudo moonball rallies make up play, and Mats gives up the error eventually before Vilas does. Some nice net play by Vilas too. 8 of his forecourt winners take place in this little part of the match. 6 of them are volleys (as opposed to OHs), which means he has just 5 more for rest of the match. Mats steps up to hit a ball harder or go BH dtl for winner rarely, almost always missing

5th game is a Vilas hold that lasts 18 points, where he saves 4 break points - 2 with volley winners, 1 with a lob one

Vilas adds another BHV winner and wraps up the set with a BH cc pass winner

The muscley, tree-trunk thighed Vilas is soaked in sweat by the third game of the match

From 6-1, to 6-7(6) is a huge change in score, but action doesn’t change much. Still very long, dull rallies, but both players end up giving up error at about the same rate

Going into tiebreak, there are 6 breaks and Mats is faced with break points in 2 other games, saving 4 across the two

3/4 break points he saves aggressively - twice with net points, once with a 1-2 ending with a BH cc winner set up by a BH inside-out. On the other, Vilas misses a high FHV that was probably going out

All things considered, Vilas has the better of this set too

He shifts gears to genuinely aggressive in the breaker and takes net 8/14 points, winning 4 of them. Hits hard from the back too

Its 3 costly errors that cost him dearly. Misses routine return on first point. Double faults when up 5-4. And on his only set point, he charges at the return, smacks a FH just long. No forecourt UEs - good passing from Mats to counter the net rushing. The set ends with Mats throwing up a lob to a powerful approach shot that keeps Vilas from getting to net, and he misses his OH on the bounce from no-man’s land

Vilas shifts gears again, to more controlled aggression in the third set. He serves bigger, hits angled shots off the ground at least and comes to net regularly

Doesn’t do any of it particularly well. Very low in count of 6/22 serving. Misses considerably more groundies than Mats. And combo of good passing from Mats and equally, Vilas missing volleys sees him come out net negative at net too

Ironically, Vilas hits an OH on the bounce from no-man’s land winner second point of the set - the same shot he’d missed to lose the previous set

Long of it is Mats wins the set 6-0

In set 4, Vilas begins to show signs of tiring. His serve is gentle and Mats spontaneously runsaround to hit FH returns against first serves. Rallies return to being loopy and slow and long. Vilas holds up his end, while not bothering to move as much as he had earlier (not that it requires any great feat of movement to play the kinds of balls that are on show - earlier or now)

Vilas also makes little effort to move to net. Earlier, he’s the one who’d thrown in the rare quick dash approach. Mats moves forward into court for the rallies, while still hitting loopy slow shots, and gradually hits harder from there or approaches. He wins 10/18 at net

2 trade breaks early on. Mats loses his serve missing a fairly attacking BH cc, and breaks back with a BH dtl winner

2 trade long holds in the middle. Vilas saves a break point in 10 point game, on which Mats misses dtl FH. Mats holds a game of same length for which he’s at net 6 times. Lovely, perfectly placed BH inside-out/dtl pass winner in the game, but Mats finishes with non-pass groundstroke winners in 3 of the last 4 points. Score is 3-3

There follows 3 breaks on the trot. Mats continues his strong showing to break first, wrapping up with 2 net points

Vilas hits back with a love break with 3 winners - BHOH, FH cc pass and a flicked FH dtl return

Mats gains the decisive break to 30, finishing with 2 winners - a FH inside-out/dtl from up in court, and nice, line FHV on break point

Mats serves out to 15. On match point, he delivers a very rare BH inside-in/cc winner. 4.5 hours of tennis… and its on match point we see something rare

Summing up, a dull match mostly made up of very, very long, slow and loopy groundstroke exchanges longline or at blunt angles, with both players averse to livening it up and content to wait for the error from the other

Ironically, its somewhat justified; Attempts to attack early - off the ground or at net - usually doesn’t end well for whoever tries

Wilander is fitter and remains even-keeled in his his commitment to playing so. Vilas tires later in match, and strays at times trying to attack quickly, for which he’s punished

Two players are evenly matched - undamaging serves, very sure returns, the ability to play safe shots over and over and over again without missing, frequency of coming to net, success at net - with Vilas having match long edge on the primary primary front of consistency

A point here and there pushes second set Wilander’s way and thereafter, Vilas’ change to aggression and weariness make Wilander the considerably better player

Stats for Wilander’s quarter-final with Vitas Gerulaitis - Match Stats/Report - Wilander vs Gerulaitis, French Open quarter-final, 1982 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)

Stats for Wilander’s fourth round match with Ivan Lendl - Match Stats/Report - Wilander vs Lendl, French Open fourth round, 1982 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)

 

[WCT]

Is this the lowest unreturned serve % between both players that you have done?

 

[Waspsting]

Is this the lowest unreturned serve % between both players that you have done?

Not quite

'78 French final

Serve Stats
Borg...
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (5/68) 7%

Vilas...
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (3/65) 5%

'91 Monte Carlo, first round

Serve Stats
Arrese...
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (3/55) 5%

Borg...
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (3/48) 6%

 

[WCT]

Not quite

'78 French final


'91 Monte Carlo, first round

I know you did the 78 final. I must have not noticed then. I should have totals that low. I just did a partial match of Connors which was played indoors. 47 serves, none of them unreturned. At least this is red clay.

 

[jrepac]

If anyone says "Boring GS finals" it's this match that comes to mind....I watched SOME of it.....Mother of God, it was boring. Perhaps only surpassed by all Maleeva vs. Evert matches. Surprised it didn't immediately kill off future coverage of the men's FO final....LOL

Mats' coming through here was surprising and impressive. I thought Vilas would take him to the woodshed, honestly.

 

[Waspsting]

If anyone says "Boring GS finals" it's this match that comes to mind....I watched SOME of it.....Mother of God, it was boring.... Surprised it didn't immediately kill off future coverage of the men's FO final....LOL

I was wondering - there's a lot of time to wonder about a lot of things while watching this match - if there's a cultural bias at work

An American audience, brought up on hard court and indoor tennis, will find this boring. Is it possible that maybe other parts of the world, particularly those brought up on clay - might find it entertaining? Or at least, maybe interesting?

Some stuff from commentary in the '89 final between Chang and Edberg. Bud Collins spots one of the Musketeers in the audience and starts talking about him. And gets around to a recent discussion they'd had

He quotes the Musketeer as saying (paraphrasing) "I know why Borg retired early. After boring everyone else, he bored himself into retirement" - and Bud goes on to add that not at Wimbledon, Borg played entertainingly at Wimby

I found it amusing, because there's no reason to bring this up and I took it that Bud was voicing his own opinion of how dull Borg's clay play was, while ascribing to to someone else

Couple of points. Dull as it is to watch, this kind of loopy ground play gave a lot of players fits

I've seen Borg spifflicate Newcombe, Laver, Ashe, Pecci with it. Just keeps hitting these high balls that rise to the shoulders and errors are quick in coming from the other end. Ashe, after being thrashed by Borg 1 and 2 when asked what Borg does that's so challenging snaps back, "He doesn't do anything to anyone. He just hits the ball up in the air"

This match is that happening from both ends, to a stalemate

Mats' coming through here was surprising and impressive. I thought Vilas would take him to the woodshed, honestly.

There are a couple interesting and surprising things in the match. I'd have expected the guy with fewer ground UEs to win, particularly off the BH. Instead -

Wilander 62 Unforced (23 FH, 34 BH... and Vilas 48 Unforced (25 FH, 15 BH...

You expected Vilas to win. Did you have an idea of what kind of a match it would, in terms of action?

 

[jrepac]

I was wondering - there's a lot of time to wonder about a lot of things while watching this match - if there's a cultural bias at work

An American audience, brought up on hard court and indoor tennis, will find this boring. Is it possible that maybe other parts of the world, particularly those brought up on clay - might find it entertaining? Or at least, maybe interesting?

Some stuff from commentary in the '89 final between Chang and Edberg. Bud Collins spots one of the Musketeers in the audience and starts talking about him. And gets around to a recent discussion they'd had

He quotes the Musketeer as saying (paraphrasing) "I know why Borg retired early. After boring everyone else, he bored himself into retirement" - and Bud goes on to add that not at Wimbledon, Borg played entertainingly at Wimby

I found it amusing, because there's no reason to bring this up and I took it that Bud was voicing his own opinion of how dull Borg's clay play was, while ascribing to to someone else

Couple of points. Dull as it is to watch, this kind of loopy ground play gave a lot of players fits

I've seen Borg spifflicate Newcombe, Laver, Ashe, Pecci with it. Just keeps hitting these high balls that rise to the shoulders and errors are quick in coming from the other end. Ashe, after being thrashed by Borg 1 and 2 when asked what Borg does that's so challenging snaps back, "He doesn't do anything to anyone. He just hits the ball up in the air"

This match is that happening from both ends, to a stalemate



There are a couple interesting and surprising things in the match. I'd have expected the guy with fewer ground UEs to win, particularly off the BH. Instead -

Wilander 62 Unforced (23 FH, 34 BH... and Vilas 48 Unforced (25 FH, 15 BH...

You expected Vilas to win. Did you have an idea of what kind of a match it would, in terms of action?

I had no real expectations....I was still in my early days of tennis fandom...based on reputation, I figured Vilas was the better player and he'd be ready for him, having seen the string of upsets. Silly me! Who knew? I also expected Mats to defend in '83 over Noah and win over Lendl in '87. So, truly, I know nothing!

 

[NicoMK]

If anyone says "Boring GS finals" it's this match that comes to mind....I watched SOME of it.....Mother of God, it was boring. Perhaps only surpassed by all Maleeva vs. Evert matches. Surprised it didn't immediately kill off future coverage of the men's FO final....LOL

Mats' coming through here was surprising and impressive. I thought Vilas would take him to the woodshed, honestly.

Am I the only one here who likes this match? Sure not the most entertaining of all but first it was 1982 on clay and then the two players just tried to neutralise each other. The better one that day won.

Thanks @Waspsting for this analysis!

 

[jrepac]

Am I the only one here who likes this match? Sure not the most entertaining of all but first it was 1982 on clay and then the two players just tried to neutralise each other. The better one that day won.

Thanks @Waspsting for this analysis!

you may be the only one
Just not my kind of match...and I really like Mats
I was serious about Evert too....watching her play Maleeva made me want to shoot myself
It was moonball mania
Just not my cup of tea...I like some aggression in the play

 

[Torben]

Am I the only one here who likes this match? Sure not the most entertaining of all but first it was 1982 on clay and then the two players just tried to neutralise each other. The better one that day won.

No matter how you look at this match, it was an impressive win for Wilander.

As Waspsting points out, he had just won the junior title there the year before.

It was also his first appearance at the slam and his first ATP title. It’s an impressive showing considering who he was playing. Vilas was one of the great clay court players.

 

[Torben]

Not quite

'78 French final


'91 Monte Carlo, first round

It doesn’t surprise me in the least that of all the matches you’ve done, it’s the clay court matches that have yielded the lowest unreturned service percentage of the matches you’ve done.

There was a saying back in the day that the serve was used to get the point started.

 

[NicoMK]

you may be the only one
Just not my kind of match...and I really like Mats
I was serious about Evert too....watching her play Maleeva made me want to shoot myself
It was moonball mania
Just not my cup of tea...I like some aggression in the play

Me too, but I just loved Mats more than any style of play, so it didn't really matter to me...

Plus considering how his game evolved over the years, he was just a king!

 

[bobcolbert]

Vilas used a very bad tactic. He was much too defensive in the first set when he had been very attacking in his previous matches. Faced with a much younger opponent and with this temperature, we had to be much more aggressive. Vilas was exhausted after the first set. Probably a mistake of Tiriac...

 

[Torben]

Vilas used a very bad tactic. He was much too defensive in the first set when he had been very attacking in his previous matches. Faced with a much younger opponent and with this temperature, we had to be much more aggressive. Vilas was exhausted after the first set. Probably a mistake of Tiriac...

Well if he was tired after the first set, he was in for a real workout because the second went to a tie breaker and lasted 90 minutes.

 

[Waspsting]

Vilas used a very bad tactic. He was much too defensive in the first set when he had been very attacking in his previous matches. Faced with a much younger opponent and with this temperature, we had to be much more aggressive. Vilas was exhausted after the first set. Probably a mistake of Tiriac...

could you talk a bit more about how he played earlier in the event?

Was he attacking in terms of coming to net more, or earlier? Or also in intent of his groundies

I don't know how well he knew Wilander's game (seems unlikely he wouldn't have familiarized himself before the final) and that Wilander was more than capable of going moonball for moonball with him, but as a starting point, don't think he his strategy was bad

Vilas is master of that type of outlasting play. He's up against a new kid, unseeded... why not bleed him out that way if he can?

When he turns to more aggressive... it doesn't go so well for him. Or Mats, when he does either

Well if he was tired after the first set, he was in for a real workout because the second went to a tie breaker and lasted 90 minutes.

I doubt he's tired after first set, but he is soaked in sweat as early as 3 games into match (which take about half an hour). Being sweaty and tired aren't the same thing of course - some guys just sweat more (Nadal is an example), not necessarily related to tiredness or not

It was also his first appearance at a slam and his first ATP title. It’s an impressive showing considering who he was playing. Vilas was one of the great clay court players.

Didn't know that. Just like Guga

 

[buscemi]

Vilas used a very bad tactic. He was much too defensive in the first set when he had been very attacking in his previous matches. Faced with a much younger opponent and with this temperature, we had to be much more aggressive. Vilas was exhausted after the first set. Probably a mistake of Tiriac...

Was he exhausted after the 6-1 first set? From the match report, it sounds like he was the better player in the second set, with 2 additional opportunities to break before the tiebreaker and then a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker. From the looks of it, Mats did well to hang in there and turn the match around.

 

[NicoMK]

Was he exhausted after the 6-1 first set? From the match report, it sounds like he was the better player in the second set, with 2 additional opportunities to break before the tiebreaker and then a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker. From the looks of it, Mats did well to hang in there and turn the match around.

Vilas seemed to be tired in the third set, I think. He was close to win the second set, had he won it, maybe he'd have won the final in three or four sets.
Mats said that he was happy and surprised to win the second set, as he came "not to lose 3 x 6/0" , I think he says something like this in the interview below :

My guess is that Guillermo felt tired mentally too after the loss of the third set and thought somewhere that it would be too long a way to go to a fifth against a fresher and younger Mats. In June 1982, Vilas was already 30, which was pretty old for pro tennis at the time and that day was a damned hot day in Paris.

A lost opportunity for Vilas, as Borg wasn't here, and it was the birth of a champion for Mats

 

[Torben]

I doubt he's tired after first set, but he is soaked in sweat as early as 3 games into match (which take about half an hour). Being sweaty and tired aren't the same thing of course - some guys just sweat more (Nadal is an example), not necessarily related to tiredness or not

I was responding to bobcolbert's post as he was saying that Vilas was exhausted after the first set. I had mentioned that if he was exhausted/tired (bobcolbert's assertion) he would be in for a real workout because the 2nd set went on for 90 minutes and ended in a tie breaker.

 

[bobcolbert]

Was he exhausted after the 6-1 first set? From the match report, it sounds like he was the better player in the second set, with 2 additional opportunities to break before the tiebreaker and then a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker. From the looks of it, Mats did well to hang in there and turn the match around.

if we look closely at the match, we see that Vilas is already a little physically affected after the first set. He is still able to make a good second set, which he really should have won (and he would have won the match). From the 3rd set, he physically collapses.

 

[bobcolbert]

could you talk a bit more about how he played earlier in the event?

Was he attacking in terms of coming to net more, or earlier? Or also in intent of his groundies

I don't know how well he knew Wilander's game (seems unlikely he wouldn't have familiarized himself before the final) and that Wilander was more than capable of going moonball for moonball with him, but as a starting point, don't think he his strategy was bad

Vilas is master of that type of outlasting play. He's up against a new kid, unseeded... why not bleed him out that way if he can?

When he turns to more aggressive... it doesn't go so well for him. Or Mats, when he does either



I doubt he's tired after first set, but he is soaked in sweat as early as 3 games into match (which take about half an hour). Being sweaty and tired aren't the same thing of course - some guys just sweat more (Nadal is an example), not necessarily related to tiredness or not




Didn't know that. Just like Guga

Against Noah, Vilas came up to the net a lot. Less against Higueras, but still too. Vilas and Tiriac knew that Wilander could return the ball indefinitely, that he was 13 years younger than Vilas, and that the final was going to be played in scorching temperatures... Vilas should have been much more attacking at the start of the match, and come up to the net as in his previous matches. Despite what we sometimes think, Vilas, through hard work, had become a fairly good volleyball player.

 

[NicoMK]

Against Noah, Vilas came up to the net a lot. Despite what we sometimes think, Vilas, through hard work, had become a fairly good volleyball player.

Yes it's true. Often a single version of a player is stuck in people's mind. It was mostly true when we had different surfaces / specialists.

Lendl and Wilander were too boring baseliners. Wrong, they both had a tremendous net game.

Sampras is a S&V specialist. Yes, but he also had a great all court game and could hit winners from any corners of a court (clay excepted maybe...). Same with Becker.

Etc.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

Non-pass ground winners - Mats 13, Vilas 4 (including an OH on bounce from no-man’s land)

That is a big number of non-pass ground winners given the time and that it is a clay match. If we compare that to the Borg FO finals he surprisingly almost never hit a non-pass ground winner.

 

[Waspsting]

That is a big number of non-pass ground winners given the time and that it is a clay match. If we compare that to the Borg FO finals he surprisingly almost never hit a non-pass ground winner.

True

He's got 5 in that match, Lendl's 14 (excluding a pseudo drop shot)

The non-pass winners in those days were almost all hit from well up the court, on average closer to service line than baseline. Borg rarely advanced that far up to begin with

Even when he's drawn in half-way to service line by a ball that's dying or/and short, he'd often just run up, hit his stock loopy shot and then fall back to the baseline - which looks strange. Haven't seen anyone else go that far up to hit a neutral shot and then just fall back... others would either take net behind their forward momentum, or smack the ball aggressively from so far up

All that talk abot Borg's retirement deprieving us of such a great rivalry with McEnroe. Can you imagine what his clay rivalry with Wilander might have been like?

People remembering and clamouring for the excitement of the '82 final

I was responding to... (assertion) that Vilas was exhausted after the first set. I had mentioned that if he was exhausted/tired ....he would be in for a real workout because the 2nd set went on for 90 minutes and ended in a tie breaker.

I understand

"the dog ate my homework". you should see some of the comments I get on the general section

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

True

He's got 5 in that match, Lendl's 14 (excluding a pseudo drop shot)

The non-pass winners in those days were almost all hit from well up the court, on average closer to service line than baseline. Borg rarely advanced that far up to begin with

Even when he's drawn in half-way to service line by a ball that's dying or/and short, he'd often just run up, hit his stock loopy shot and then fall back to the baseline - which looks strange. Haven't seen anyone else go that far up to hit a neutral shot and then just fall back... others would either take net behind their forward momentum, or smack the ball aggressively from so far up

All that talk abot Borg's retirement deprieving us of such a great rivalry with McEnroe. Can you imagine what his clay rivalry with Wilander might have been like?

Thanks Wasp, 5 is actually more than I remember, then again it has been some time since I watched the Lendl match. As for Mats, I think between 1982 and 1985 this could indeed have been a great rivalry, after this Borg would have been to old imho. In 1982 Mats famously stated that he couldn’t win sets from Borg in practice so I doubt he would have stood a chance. 1983 I still favour Borg but 1984 and 1985 Mats may well have prevailed had they played. Of course we also need to factor in Lendl here, could have been a great era with three top clay courters playing at the same time.

 

[Waspsting]

In 1982 Mats famously stated that he couldn’t win sets from Borg in practice so I doubt he would have stood a chance. 1983 I still favour Borg but 1984 and 1985 Mats may well have prevailed had they played. Of course we also need to factor in Lendl here, could have been a great era with three top clay courters playing at the same time.

I was mostly joking about how dull the match would be, but yeah, I'm sure it would have been interesting to see how it evolved

in '78 final, and Monte Carlo '80, Borg played Vilas exactly the same way Mats does here - those pseudo-moonball rallies 'til someone gives up error or approaches

Here, both players win their share of those rallies (Vilas more actually) and both end up coming to net

Borg? He slaughtered Vilas on the error rate... Vilas has 4 for every 1 Borg makes. So Borg doesn't bother coming forward - and he can pass Vilas to his hearts content when Vilas does

So I take it Borg was just the best at this type of thing

As for Lendl, as a green kid, he took Borg to 5 sets. admittedly, the most one sided 5 setter I've seen, but still, Borg hadn't lost a set reaching the final, so not too shabby

Lendl improved categorically in years to come. It follows logically that if he could be competitive with Borg as a green kid, and if we accept that he improved as he matured... he may well have surpassed Borg's gold standard (and by extension, Wilander, roughly Lendl's equal, too)

 

[Torben]

Of course we also need to factor in Lendl here, could have been a great era with three top clay courters playing at the same time.

Lendl would definitely become a factor on clay in the years to come. He was only 21 when he pushed Borg to five sets at the French Open. There is something that people need to remember and that is Borg lost his opening round match in Monte Carlo before the French Open that year. He lost to Victor Pecci and there were questions swirling around about his shoulder injury and game in general.

Lendl would show everyone just how good he could play on clay in winning three French Opens in the mid to later 80s.

 

[buscemi]

Lendl would definitely become a factor on clay in the years to come. He was only 21 when he pushed Borg to five sets at the French Open. There is something that people need to remember and that is Borg lost his opening round match in Monte Carlo before the French Open that year. He lost to Victor Pecci and there were questions swirling around about his shoulder injury and game in general.

Lendl would show everyone just how good he could play on clay in winning three French Opens in the mid to later 80s.

The French final didn't seem like a one off, either. They played later that year in Stuttgart on clay. Lendl was up 6-1, 4-2 before Borg turned things around and took the second set in a tiebreaker. Third set wasn't close at 6-2 to Borg, then it was 4-4 in the fourth set before Borg broke and served it out for the win. So, yeah, I think Lendl could have been a problem for Borg had he stuck around for another few years.

 

[Torben]

The French final didn't seem like a one off, either. They played later that year in Stuttgart on clay. Lendl was up 6-1, 4-2 before Borg turned things around and took the second set in a tiebreaker. Third set wasn't close at 6-2 to Borg, then it was 4-4 in the fourth set before Borg broke and served it out for the win. So, yeah, I think Lendl could have been a problem for Borg had he stuck around for another few years.

I completely agree and Borg had that way about him on clay. He could hit with you all day and may even lose a set but he could raise his level almost at will when needed.

Lendl was going to be a serious challenge for him and it was real unfortunate that we couldn’t see that rivalry happen in their later years. You always hear people saying we were robbed of a great Borg and McEnroe rivalry and that was true, but I was very interested in seeing how he would’ve handled both Lendl and Wilander on clay.

It was his favourite surface and we were also robbed of the potential rivalries between Borg, Wilander and Lendl.