Stats for 1978 W final (Borg-Connors)

Moose Malloy

G.O.A.T.
Borg d Connors 62, 62, 63

Borg hit 28 non service winners: 8 BH, 1 FH, 7 FHV, 8 BHV, 4 0
Connors hit 32: 8 FH, 5 BH, 7 FHV, 8 BHV, 4 0

Borg hit 5 aces, 0 doubles
Connors hit 0 aces, 4 doubles

Borg had 17 unreturned serves(2 of which I judged service winners), Connors 7

Borg was 47 of 85 on serves or 55%

Connors was 56 of 96 or 58%

Borg was 7 of 17 on break points, Connors 1 of 7(his only break was in the 1st game of the match)

At 4-3 in the 3rd, NBC said that Borg had 10 unforced errors, Connors 22.

According to the NY times, Borg had 6 service winners & 13 return errors in addition to his 5 aces. Maybe I undercounted.
 
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krosero

Legend
Borg hit 28 non service winners: 8 BH, 1 FH, 7 FHV, 8 BHV, 4 0
Connors hit 32: 8 FH, 5 BH, 7 FHV, 8 BHV, 4 0
So both men had more winners from volleys/overheads (both had 19) than from ground strokes.

This was the only Wimbledon final in which this was true for Borg, of those we did (we now have stats for all of his Wimbledon finals except his first). It was true, though, in his '81 SF against Connors.

Borg had 17 unreturned serves(2 of which I judged service winners), Connors 7

Borg was 47 of 85 on serves or 55%

Connors was 56 of 96 or 58%

According to the NY times, Borg had 6 service winners & 13 return errors in addition to his 5 aces. Maybe I undercounted.
It's also possible that the Times stat for return errors is an undercount. They report that Borg made only 4 service-return errors, and you have him at 7.

Also they have Borg making 49 of 88 first serves.
 

krosero

Legend
From the Washington Post:

The Washington Post

July 9, 1978, Sunday, Final Edition

Borg Stuns Connors, Wins Wimbledon;
Swede Earns 3rd in Row With 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 Romp;
Play at Net Helps Borg With Crown

BYLINE: By Barry Lorge, Washington Post Staff Writer

SECTION: Sports; D1

LENGTH: 1449 words

DATELINE: LONDON



In what he had called "absolutely, for sure" the biggest match of his life, Bjorn Borg reached back yesterday and produced absolutely, for sure the finest tennis seen at Wimbledon this year, and perhaps in many years.

The 22-year-old Swede turned what everyone expected to be a gripping duel into a startling execution, gunning down arch-rival Jimmy Connors, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, to capture the most cherished prize in tennis for the third consecutive year.

Borg is the first man to win three successive Wimbledon singles titles since Englishman Fred Perry in 1934-35-36, and now has the first two legs of the traditional French-Wimbledon-U.S.-Australian Gran Slam achieved by only two men; Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and '69).

Borg, in devastating form, was the aggressor throughout the match, swarming the net on grass as successfully as he attacks from the back court on clay.

He served ferociously, especially on the most critical points, and followed every first serve to the net.


He cleverly varied his usual barrage of heavily topspun ground strokes, frequently slicing backhand approach shots short and low to Connors' vulnerable forehand, coming in behind them for telling volleys.

He pinned Connors, who served poorly, to the baseline, ripping his returns hard and deep, punishing Connors's short second serves.

"I was not scared of his game when he was serving," said Borg, who lost his serve only once, to trail 0-2 in the first set, and then ran off six games in a row, climbing on top to stay, "I felt I could maybe break even every single time."

It was murder in the cathedral of tennis, and at the finish Borg dropped to his knees in a prayerful pose and looked heavenward, toward the gloomy, leaden skies that had smiled on him.

On the last point, Borg hit one of his shortest returns of the 1 hour 49 minute match, a forehead off a Connors first serve. The brash left-hander from Belleville, Ill., who chose to stay back on his first serve most of the afternoon, came steaming in behind a deep forehand approach shot. Borg drilled a backhand down-the-line passing shot. Connors lunged for it and punched a backhand volley long to lose his serve for the seventh and last time.

As the ball whistled beyond the baseline. Borg dropped his racket, sliped to his knees, clasped his hands together and raised them above his head, as if to say "Amen" and "Thanks."

Still kneeling on the turf, he turned to the competitors' guest box, elevated in one corner of the Elizabethan-style Centre Court stadium at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. There his fiancee, Rumanian player Mariana Simionescu, and his coach, Swedish Davis Cup captain Lennart Bergelin, were beaming, sharing the jubilation of his proudest moment.

Perry, still dapper and robust at 69, rushed from his microphone in the BBC radio booth to Centre Court a few moments later. He hugged Borg, and offered condolences to Connors, who seemed not to hear.

"He just congratulated me, and then said I had to shave," Borg said. This was a prior gentlemen's agreement. Borg had promised Perry that if he equaled his feat, he would put a razor to the scruffy whiskers he has tried for three years, without success, to cultivate into a respectable beard.

Borg received $34,200, but he had said repeatedly that money means nothing here, at the game's shrine. What is priceless is the golden trophy he received from the Duke and Duchess of Kent in Wimbledon's brief, dignified, moving presentation ceremonies, then held aloft for photographers and the gallery before returning it to a circular table draped with a Union Jack.

There have been five more decisive men's finals at Wimbledon in the postwar era, but none so surprising, between players of such similarly high standard. The only performance comparable to Borg's ironically, was Connors' 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 ravaging of Ken Rosewall in 1974, the first of his four finals and only championship here.

Rosewall, in his fourth final at age 40, was the sentimental favorite that year, but he was eaten alive by Connors, Pancho Segura, Connors' coach called his 20-year-old charge "a lion, a ruthless killer who could dominate this place for a decade."

That final did not have the sense of occasion yesterday's did, given Borg's dream of matching Perry's 42-year-old "hat trick" and the grandeur of past Borg-Connors encounters.

Theirs has been the men's tennis rivalry of the '70s, characterized by bruising, uncompromising matches played full-throttle from first ball to last. The Wimbledon final a year ago was once of those, Borg winning by 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, after Connors surged from 0-4 to 4-4 in the final set.

Connors still leads the series, 8-6, but Borg has won three of four meetings in 1978, five of the last six over two years.

Borg routed Connors, 6-1, 6-2, in Tokyo in April in a four-man exhibition tournament that received little attention outside Japan. "That was one of my best matches ever," Borg said. But it wasn't until he flattened "Jimbo" again yesterday - with 14,000 spectators watching live and millions more on global television - that the world appreciated just what that meant.

Four weeks ago, Borg pummeled Guillermo Vilas, the second-best player in the world on slow clay courts, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, in the final of the French Open, the premier clay court test. He begrudged Connors, the second-best player on fast grass, only two more games in the oldest and most important tournament of all.

Borg is the first player since Rod Laver in 1962 to sweep the Italian, French, and Wimbledon titles in one summer. And after rising so splendidly to his most challenging moment, there can be no lingering doubt that he belongs in the company of the game's immortals.

"He's won three French, two Italian and three Wimbledon championships, that it not bad for a beginning, at 22," Perry said. "I didn't win my first Wimbledon until I was 25."

"This wasn't a great emotional final, in the sense of being close, but it was a demonstration of tennis you'd have to wait a lot of years to see again.

"Jimmy wasn't able to force him today. His serve wasn't working and he was struggling all the way. His two-handed (backhand) passing shot wasn't passing anything, and he made very few winners off it," Perry added.

"But Borg went for everything. He came in on every three-quarter-length ball, which he's never done before. The way he was playing, I think if he had fallen out of a 45-story window, he'd have gone straight up."

Borg did not play up to his 1976-77 form in the first week of this damp, dreary Wimbledon fortnight, which had only one day without rain. He was down two sets to one, 1-3 and 30-40 on his serve to victor Amaya in the first round and survived only by the margin of a gutsy second serve at that point.

But he played better with each passing round, and he showed a couple of new punches against Connors.

On big points, his once-suspect first serve is now as oppressive as anyone's. He has seldom, if ever, volleyed as surely. And the underspin backhand that paved his way to the net so often was a tactic for this special occasion.

"This was the first time I did that in a match," Borg said. "Usually that is not my game, but I found out that the court is pretty soft and the bounce very low because it has been raining so much. So if I could slice and come in to his forehead, I know he doesn't like that so much. I won so many points that way."

He won so many more by serving and volleying that Connors must have thought he was playing one of the Australian net-rushers who dominated Wimbledon in the 1960s, rather than the most consistent ground stroker in the game.

Borg walloped his usual allotment of topspin passing shots, especially backhand cross-court buzzers that dived into the court like Sandy Koufax curve balls, but it was his serve-volley attack that gave Connors no quarter.

"That was one of my plans, to come in more," Borg said. "Usually . . . he always puts pressure on me. I have to do the passing shot or the good lob. But today I realized I must put the pressure on him.

"I also had very good depth on my returns. Maybe Jimmy should have come in more on his serve, but it is difficult when you are missing so many first serves. Most of the time I kept him on the baseline, and I think maybe that's the way you have to play Jimmy.

"If you hit too many short ones, then immediately he's making an approach and coming in. I knew this before the match, if I don't keep him away from the net, then I'm going to be in a big trouble . . . But I had so much confidence in my serve and my ground strokes. I felt I could do anything."
 

krosero

Legend
And here is another, with some service stats that contradict the NY Times:

The Washington Post

July 9, 1978, Sunday, Final Edition

Borg: Man For All Surfaces

SECTION: Sports; D4

LENGTH: 552 words

DATELINE: LONDON



Jack Kramer, the Wimbledon champion of 1947-48, noted in a recent book would always be a formidable clay court player but vulnerable on fast surfaces such as Wimbledon grass.

That opinion was shared by many tennis experts until Borg won Wimbledon for the first time in 1976, at age 20, withoug losing a set.

"He made two adjustments in particular that impressed me with his adaptability and his dangerousness on all surfaces," wrote Kramer of that year.


"He flattened out his stroking motion somewhat, reducing that extreme vertical lift of his, and so got better depth off the ground. And he improved his serve when he had to."

Borg probably never has served better than he did in winning his third consecutive Wimbledon title this week. He put in 46 of 85 first serves in clobbering Jimmy Connors, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, in yesterday's final, and won many points outright on his serve when he needed then most.

he thought the most important game of the match, for instance, came when he served at 2-1 in the second set. He was down 0-40, but got back to deuce after crunching three first serves and ultimately escaped one more break point to win the game. That kept him on top, and he stomped Connors from there.

"Before Wimbledon in 1976 I was practicing my serve a lot. Before that it was not a strong part of my game, but I was practicing it every single day," Borg recalled yesterday. "My coach, Lennart Bergelin, told me a few little things I was doing wrong with my feet just before I threw up the ball to serve. When I corrected these I found my rhythm, and then suddenly I was serving well."

Borg, 22, is slender - 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds - but the muscles of his broad shoulders ripple underneath his form-fitting Italian tennis shirts. He has powerful legs as well - the build, strength and swiftness of a football running back.

The topspin ground strokes he hits with such a big, roundhouse flourish - the whippy forehand and the two-fisted backhand that starts at his knees arcs past his head on the follow-through - are still the most reliable weapons in his arsenal.

But Borg has become a complete player, able to serve volley and hit slice approach shots as well. He has no obvious weaknesses any more, on any surface. Connors, in a rather defiant postmatch press conference, said he say nothing new in Borg's game.

"He plays the same all the time. He has no variation in his game at all . . He was serving pretty well, but he wasn't overpowering me in any way," said the vanquished.

Top Seeds Bow

The second-seeded team of Merrily Krauser and Dr. Ray Lake rallied from near-elimination in the second set to capture a 4-6, 7-6, 6-0 triumph over Anne and Mark Geier yesterday for the mixed doubles championship of the D.C. Public Parks tennis tournament at Edgemoor Tennis and Swin Club in Bethesda.

Leading in the second set, 6-5, the top-seeded Geiers were forced to replay a point that would have given let call. Krauser and Lake then broke captured the tie breaker, 5-4, and easily won the final set, 6-0.

The men's doubles championship was postponed until early August after Rusty Addie broke his wrist in a semifinal win last week with teammate Randy Sherfy. Addie and Sherfy, second-seeded in men's doubles, will face Lake and Fred Farzanegan for the title

Compare that with the Times which reported that he put in 49 of 88 first serves.

I also found a contradiction between the Post and Times for the 1981 final, which I'll post soon. The discrepancy was about the same, just a handful of serves.

ETA: The Globe and Mail put Borg at 5 aces.
 

krosero

Legend
And the 1979 semifinal:

The Washington Post


July 6, 1979, Friday, Final Edition


Borg Brushes Off Connors at Wimbledon;
Tanner Earns Date With Swede;
Borg Dominates Connors

BYLINE:
By Barry Lorge, Washington Post Staff Writer

SECTION:
Sports; C1

LENGTH: 1411 words

DATELINE:
LONDON, July 5, 1979



Bjorn Borg hammered Jimmy Connors in the semifinals of the Wimbledon tennis championships today even more decisively than he did in last year's startling one-sided final. Now, only first-time finalist Roscoe Tanner stands between Borg and his fourth consecutive singles title.

The astounding 23-year-old Swede dazzled the crowd of 15,000 spectators jammed around the Centre Court of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on a brilliantly sunny day, ripping shots of remarkable pace and accuracy as he flogged Connors, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, in 1 hour and 49 minutes.

Compared with that extraordinary demonstration of tennis, the second semifinal in which Tanner beat fellow Stanford grad Pat DuPre, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, was dull and ordinary fare.

Tanner's sometimes electrifying first serve produced few sparks, but he got good depth on his second serves and volleyed solidly in stopping impossible dreamer DuPre, whose body finally paid the toll for the five long matches he played in his delightfully improbable trip to the semifinals.


Borg, who started the fortnight an 11-10 favorite to retain his title, has now won 27 consecutive singles matches at Wimbledon since Arthur Ashe beat him in the 1975 quarterfinals.

He is considered such a prohibitive favorite to beat Tanner Saturday and capture his fourth successive singles title - a feat that no man has achieved since New Zealander Tony Wilding in 1910-13 - that many London bookmakers have stopped taking bets on the outcome.

But Borg predictably downplayed suggestions that his victory over Connors, his longtime archrival whom he had routed in all three of their matches this year and has beaten in eight of their last 11 meetings, was the de facto final.

"Absolutely not. It is going to be more difficult on Saturday because I have now more pressure on me," said Borg, who historically has responded to pressure with a sure touch and eagerness that has produced his best performances.

"Everybody says that it is going to be an easy match, but I know it is going to be difficult. I just hope I can play as well as I did today."

When Borg dumped Connors in the final here a year ago, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, Englishman Fred Perry - the last previous man to win the Wimbledon men's singles gles three successive years (1934-36) - said, "The way Borg was playing, if he had fallen out of a 45th story window, he would have gone straight up."

Today, he was even better. It took him three minutes less to win. And one got the impression that if he had fallen out of that same window, he would have fallen on Connors.

"I'm feeling much, much more confident, more comfortable now playing against Jimmy than three or four years ago," said Borg, who now has asserted clear superiority in their rivalry.

In their two previous matches this year, Borg won on clay at Boca Raton, Fla., 6-2, 6-3, and on cement, Connors' favorite surface, at Las Vegas, 6-3, 6-2.

"I'm hitting my ground strokes better now. Before, I was pushing the ball more, playing more soft balls, and I didn't put pressure on him. He was the one who put pressure on me, and I just tried to slice it back so that could make the mistake," Borg said.

"Now, I'm hitting through the ball, both sides. I'm not hitting so many short balls that he can come in on. I'm putting the pressure on him so he has to stay back at the baseline."

While most of the crowd, which included such diverse celebrities as jockey Steve Cauthen and Princess Caroline of Monaco, was stunned by Borg's superiority, Tanner was not.

"I've been practicing at the same club as Jimmy for the last couple of weeks, and I really felt he wasn't playing that well," said the 27-year-old native of Lookout Mountain, Tenn., who in two prior semifinals here was beaten by Connors (1975) and Borg (1976).

"He would have had to play very well to beat Bjorn, so I wasn't that surprised - particularly when he lost the first set. Bjorn has an awful lot of confidence against Jimmy now. He's pounded him the last few times they've played, and when he beat him in Las Vegas on cement, I think that was a key turning point in both their minds, because now Bjorn is content to stay back and play to Jimmy's backhand on a lot of points.

"When he does that, he's content to play the way Jimmy likes to play - slugging his backhand. He wasn't even hitting to Jimmy's forehand until he had to. So I felt that Bjorn showed he has so much confidence against Jimmy that he can challenge his strength, and play him almost any way he wants to . . ."

Connors came out looking as if he were ready to fight for his life, and, in fact, played well enough - at least in the first nine games - to beat almost any other opponent.

He started out charging the net, hurtling himself into shots, his feet and hair flying in the inimitably physical style that makes him the Raggedy Andy of tennis.

But it wasn't long before Borg knocked the stuffing out of the rag doll, discouraging his advances to the net, rocking him back on his heels with devastating service returns.

Borg hit out on everything - indeed, his only failing was a tendency to overhit some forehands - and pinned Connors to the baseline. That was where he wanted him, for no one outslugs Borg from the backcourt.

The first set was full of torrid shotmaking, but Borg grabbed the upper hand early. He held serve from 15-40 in the fourth game and broke Connors in the fifth, getting to his fourth break point with a screaming backhand down-the-line passing shot, then feeding Connors a short ball that he raked into the net with a backhand.

Connors froze, hunched his shoulders and extended his familiar middle finger toward the net. He stalked angrily to the changeover and pounded his chair with his racket before sitting down.

But he could never channel his anger into an assault on Borg, and gradually it turned to abject frustration. The Swede saved a break point in the next game and pulled out of trouble with two mighty serves, as he did often the rest of the match. Almost everytime he needed one, he reached back and exploded an ace (he served 11) or a service winner.

By the time Connors lost his serve again in the seventh game, he was getting punched out. He had invested incalculable energy in every point, having to win some of them two and three times, and still he found himself 2-5 down.

The second set was even more discouraging for Connors, because while he struggled in every game on his serve, Borg lost only one point in four service games. By now Borg was blistering Connors with his returns, scorching him with blazing passing shots down both lines, and coming in when he felt like it behind deep approach shots, to make winning volleys.

Connors did lead, 2-0, in the third set, Borg playing his only loose game to lose his serve in the first game. But from 0-2, Borg lost only 11 more points in the match, running the last six games.

In the end, Connors became almost as ragged as Borg was sharp. Precisely, 10 minutes after the last ball was struck, he piled into a waiting silver Mercedes with his mother, cornerman Lornie Kuhle, and a driver, and sped off - not even waiting to shower.

"Have you got a couple of minutes?" pleaded one reporter, encouraging Connors, who has been incommunicado since he arrived in London, to end his boycott of the press.

"A couple of mimutes are passing right now," snarled Connors, slamming the door as the car pulled away. He was expected to be back in L.A. where his wife is awaiting the birth of their first child, before the day was out.

Compared with the scintillating shotmaking of the Borg-Connors match, Tanner's 1-hour 43-minute victory over DuPre was bald and uninspiring. It was hit-or-miss tennis, few points going beyond five shots. Many were decided either by return errors or first volleys. There was hardly any stroke play.

There were only two service breaks in the match, Tanner breaking DuPre with a buzzing backhand cross-court pass in the eighth game of the first set, DuPre bungling a couple of volleys to lose his serve at love in the eighth game of the third set.

Tanner won the second set in a tie breaker, 7 points to 3, forcing a backhand volley error with a hard forehand on the first point and making an nice forehand down-the-line pass for 6-3.

Those were the only points that went against serve, as Tanner got in four of five first serves - a much higher percentage than he enjoyed for the whole match.
 

Moose Malloy

G.O.A.T.
Stats for the '78 USO Final(Connors-Borg)

Connors had 33 non service winners: 6 fh, 13 bh, 8 fhv, 3 bhv, 3 ov
Borg had 25: 10 fh, 4 bh, 3 fhv, 6 bhv, 2 ov

winners by set:

Connors - 21, 9, 3
Borg - 9, 11, 5

Borg had 8 aces, 6 doubles
Connors didn't have any aces or doubles

Borg was 59 of 104 on 1st serves, or 57%
Connors was 62 of 79, or 78%

Borg had 10 unreturned serves(one I considered a service winner), Connors 13

Connors was 5 of 17 on break points(Borg didn't have one break point in the match)
 
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krosero

Legend
The Washington Post:

September 11, 1978, Monday, Final Edition


Connors, Evert Win U.S. Open Titles;
Borg Hampered by Blistered Right Thumb Connors Rips Borg in 3 Sets

BYLINE: From News Services

SECTION: Sports; D1

LENGTH: 536 words

DATELINE: NEW YORK



Jimmy Connors, beginning his retribution against Bjorn Borg, beat the top-seeded Swede, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, yesterday and regained the U.S. Open tennis championship.

Connors, who lost the title to Guillermo Vilas last year, jumped in the air, his arms raised, walked to the net and affectionately rubbed Borg's head after the decisive victory.

The 26-year-old American's triumph spoiled the 22-year-old Borg's bid for the Grand Slam. He previously won the French and Wimbledon titles.



Borg, his right thumb bandaged to protect a swollen, infected blister, lost his racket twice while serving. It was reported Borg had played with the aid of pain-killers. He did not ask the trainer's assistance during the match.

A standing-room-only crowd of 19,537 capped the series of record-breaking attendance figures. Total paid attendance for the two-week event reached 275,300 - nearly 57,000 more than last year.

Borg double-faulted six times and got only 58 percent of his first serves in while Connors never double-faulted, made 80 percent of his first serves and never was broken.

Borg has a history of problems at the Open.

In 1976, Borg suffered a severe groin injury and received pain-killing injections from the quarterfinals until his loss to Connors in the final. Last year, Borg quit with shoulder pain in midmatch against Dick Stockton in the fourth round.

Borg's thumb began throbbing Saturday night following his semifinal match with Vitas Gerulaitis. Bort's thumb was red and swollen and he was so concerned he called the tournament physician, Dr. Irving Glick, at midnight.

Borg wrapped his thumb with ice at Glick's suggestion and the swelling went down considerably. But Borg was still in pain and could not grip his racket comfortably in the morning when Glick visited him.

"We tried various types of padding but he said it felt too cumbersome." Glick said, "I gave him some anti-inflammatory medication."

Two hours before the finals Glick also injected a pain-killing drug directly into Borg's thumb.

"Half of his thumb he doen't feel," said Lennart Bergelin, Borg's Swedish coach.

Borg went out to practice with his fiance, Mariana Simonescue, and hit normally, although he kept looking at his taped thumb. Suddenly, Borg's racket flew out of his hand on an easy forehand and he looked concerned as he walked over to retrieve it.

Glick, watching Borg practice, was asked whether the injury could affect Borg's play, especially in a long match.

"It surely could," Glick said. "He's hoping he'll get away with it. I used a strong pain killer but it will only last a few hours."

Connors, taking chances and attacking from the start, broke service in the fifth game. Games went with service the rest of the set.

Borg opened the second set with two aces both down the middle. He took the game at love, reaching 40-0 with an overhead cross-court and taking the game on a service winner.

But his serving success was spotty thereafter. Connors broke him in the third game, allowing him only one point. The fifth game went to deuce five times, Connors getting break point twice. The second time, Borg's racket flew from his hand as he served and landed near the net post.
 

krosero

Legend
Stats for 1979 Wimbledon SF

Well with this match we now have stats for all the Borg-Connors meetings in Slams except the 1975 USO. I don't think that one's available anywhere yet.

Borg d. Connors 6-2, 6-3, 6-2

Borg reached 89% success on first serve in this match, the highest figure I have in 8 matches for him, Tanner and McEnroe from 1979-81. However none of those matches are straight-set wins by Tanner or Mac, and it's possible that in blowouts those men might have broken 90%. Right now I have each man at 79% (in the '79 and '81 W finals, respectively).

Connors got 7 games in this match, the same as in the '78 final, but it was my impression that he played more poorly in this match. He had flashes of good play but couldn't sustain it.

Per the New York Times, Borg lost only one point on serve in the second set and hit 11 aces overall.


My stats:

Borg won 98 points overall, Connors 69.

Borg won 13 straight points on serve before he lost the one point in the second set.


SERVICE

Borg had 89% success on first serve (33/37) and 47% on second (17/36). On first serve Borg went 10 of 10 in the second set and 12 of 12 in the third.

Connors had 50% success on first serve (28/56) and 47% on second (18/38).


Borg served at 51%, making 37 of 73 first serves.
Connors served at 60%, making 56 of 94 first serves.

Borg's % by set:
15/32 - 46.88%
10/17 - 58.82%
12/24 - 50.00%

Connors' % by set:
20/31 - 64.52%
22/41 - 53.66%
14/22 - 63.64%


Borg converted 7 of 16 break points, Connors 1 of 7.

Borg made his first serve on 4 of 7 break points. The one time he was broken it was on second serve.

Connors made his first serve on 9 of 16 break points. But he was broken 5 times on first serve, twice on second.


Borg had 10 clean aces and 2 df's. Connors had 3 and 2.

Borg drew 15 return errors, Connors 6. Out of all those serves I gave Borg 4 service winners, Connors none.

Borg drew 3 return errors with second serves, Connors 1.


WINNERS

Borg hit 27 clean winners: 9 FH, 11 BH, 4 FHV, 1 BHV, 2 OH.

Connors hit 24 clean winners: 2 FH, 3 BH, 8 FHV, 6 BHV, 5 OH.

(Unless it also happened in their 1975 USO meeting, this is the only one of their Slam meetings in which Borg led in winners.)

Tanner's observation from the Post article above -- that Borg was now comfortable hitting with Connors from the baseline -- is reflected in the stats. In their '78 final (and '81 sf) most of Borg's winners were volleys; in this match they were ground strokes.

Borg's winners by set: 9, 10, 8
Connors' by set: 11, 7, 6

Borg made 3 return winners, all off first serve: a FH and 2 BH’s. The BH’s were passes. He made 16 other passing shots, including 9 BH’s (of which two were lobs).

Connors made one BH return pass winner off a first serve. He made 3 other passing shots, two of which were BH’s (and one of those a lob).


ERRORS (forced and unforced)

Subtracting the winners and aces from the total points won:

Borg made 42 total errors. Of those I counted 6 return errors and 2 double-faults. That leaves him making 34 errors in exchanges that had at least a successful return, that is, in rallies.

Connors made 61 total errors. Of those I counted 15 return errors and 2 double-faults. That leaves him making 44 errors in rallies.
 
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Borgforever

Hall of Fame
Great work! Ans yes, Connors was a little uneven in W 79 SF...

I omitted the groin injury when mentioning US Open 76 since Borg said it didn't hamper him in the final rounds (or destroy any practice-schedule after Forest Hills either). Then the long rest he was forced to take for several weeks after W 76 that was the culprit in disturbing Borg's great summer-season form before Forest Hills. Even when Borg fell in the final and scratched his leg he said it wasn't a problem (more than that the har-tru green clay could be more slippery than en-tout-cas...)

Great, well-written, well-researched articles as well...
 

abmk

Bionic Poster
I just watched this final and took down the remaining stats (not all of them , as I do usually):

FH wing UEs: Borg - 5, Connors - 12

BH wing UEs: Borg - 3, Connors - 10

FH wing FEs: Borg - 12, Connors - 18

BH wing FEs: Borg - 24, Connors - 25

Net points : Borg - 53/79(67.01%), Connors - 36/59(61%)

SnV points : Borg - 30/40(75%), Connors - 7/12(58.33%)

# of games with BP chances : Borg - 7/9, Connors : 1/4

Combining with Moose's stats above :
( I remember only one service winner for Borg, not 2 - so adjusting accordingly)

Winners : (Non-service+Aces+Service winners)
Borg - 28+5+1 = 34
Connors - 32+0+0=32

FEs : Borg - 36, Connors - 43

UEs : Borg - 8, Connors - 26

Points : Borg - 103, Connors - 76
 

abmk

Bionic Poster
Comments :

1. Borg was razor sharp almost everywhere - serve, return, passing shots,movement, adjusting to the bad bounces and was very good with his approach shots and at the net.

2. Connors serve failed him in this match. He was not placing it well/getting good variation with it. A big part if why it seemed like Borg could break him in almost every service game. He also should've SnVed more. Yes, even with his serve not working that well -- Borg was getting his serves back and outlasting him eventually His best shot at winning points on serve was to come to the net after his serve.

Strange , but Connors went both extremes in the 2 finals at wimby in which he was demolished -- he SnVed far too less in this 78 W final and SnVed far too much in the 84 final (including on 2nd serves)

3. Borg as per his usual game on grass, SnVed on almost every 1st serve and stayed back on every 2nd serve.

4. Connors did play fine from the ground, returned fine and passed fine, though not his best. Connor's serve not working well and his reluctance to SnV clearly made his performance just about decent in the end./
 

pc1

G.O.A.T.
Comments :

1. Borg was razor sharp almost everywhere - serve, return, passing shots,movement, adjusting to the bad bounces and was very good with his approach shots and at the net.

2. Connors serve failed him in this match. He was not placing it well/getting good variation with it. A big part if why it seemed like Borg could break him in almost every service game. He also should've SnVed more. Yes, even with his serve not working that well -- Borg was getting his serves back and outlasting him eventually His best shot at winning points on serve was to come to the net after his serve.

Strange , but Connors went both extremes in the 2 finals at wimby in which he was demolished -- he SnVed far too less in this 78 W final and SnVed far too much in the 84 final (including on 2nd serves)

3. Borg as per his usual game on grass, SnVed on almost every 1st serve and stayed back on every 2nd serve.

4. Connors did play fine from the ground, returned fine and passed fine, though not his best. Connor's serve not working well and his reluctance to SnV clearly made his performance just about decent in the end./
Some were of the opinion Borg even played better in their 1979 Wimbledon semifinal. Anyone have the stats for that match? Borg also lost just seven games to Connors in that match. Borg if I recall stayed more at the baseline in that match but I thought he hit with even more pace off the ground.

Edit-Found it.
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...978-w-final-borg-connors.195691/#post-2891266
 

KG1965

Legend
To Wimbly the difference make it basically of the serves and the many unforced errors of Connors.
To Flushing Borg's serve is always very strong but not enough because the feeling is that Connors is attacking him more on the Bjorn's second and always takes the game on the own serve, so Borg commits more unforced errors.
 

krosero

Legend
I actually have service stats for the '78 Wimb final, surprised I've never posted them. Or maybe I posted them to another thread?

These are all my stats, taken maybe 5 years ago?


Borg d. Connors 6-2, 6-2, 6-3

Borg won 105 points overall, Connors 77.


Borg had 78% success on first serve (36/46) and 51% on second (20/39).

Connors had 47% success on first serve (27/58) and 54% on second (21/39).


If you exclude the aces, double-faults and all other unreturned serves, these are the numbers:

Borg 63% on first serve (17/27) and 44% on second (15/34).
Connors 40% on first serve (21/52) and 59% on second (20/34).




Borg served at 54%, making 46 of 85 first serves.

Connors served at 60%, making 58 of 97 first serves.


Borg's % by set:
18/29 - 62.1%
17/34 - 50.0%
11/22 - 50.0%

Connors' % by set:
19/33 - 57.6%
21/29 - 72.4%
18/35 – 51.4%


Borg made his first serve on 4 of 7 break points.

Connors made his first serve on 11 of 17 break points.


When facing break point, Borg won 4 of 4 points on first serve (100%) and 2 of 3 on second (67%).

When facing break point, Connors won 5 of 11 points on first serve (45%) and 5 of 6 on second (83%).


Borg converted 7 of 17 break points, Connors 1 of 7.

Borg was broken in his opening service game and then closed out the match with 11 straight holds.


Borg drew 19 return errors – five with second serves. The New York Times had 19, too.

Connors drew 7 return errors – one with a second serve.

Out of all the return errors that they drew, I gave Borg 2 service winners, Connors none.

None of the aces were second serves.

Borg served on 85 points, and 24 serves did not come back: 28.2%
Connors served on 97 points, and 7 serves did not come back: 7.2%
 
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