Stats for 1982 French Open QF(Higueras-Connors)

[Moose Malloy]

Higueras d Connors 6-2, 6-2, 6-2

Connors was the #1 seed, Higueras #14

Higueras won 94 pts, Connors 68

Higueras served at 53%(40 of 76)
He won 28 of 40 pts on 1st serve(70%)
and 14 of 36 on 2nd(39%)
1 ace, 4 df's
drew 12 return errors(2 on 2nd serve)
10-15 on break points(Connors made 1st serves on 11 of them)

Connors served at 59%(51 of 86)
He won 20 of 51 pts on 1st serve(39%)
and 14 of 35 on 2nd(40%)
no aces, no df's
drew 6 return errors(2 on 2nd serve)
4-8 on break points(Higueras made 1st serves on 3 of them)

Higueras didn't miss a return in the 2nd set.

Non service winners:
Higueras: 15 - 4 fh, 10 bh, 1 fhv
Connors: 20 - 7 fh, 8 bh, 2 fhv, 1 bhv, 2 ov

Unforced errors
Higueras: 32 - 13 fh, 19 bh
Connors: 58 - 30 fh, 25 bh, 3 at net

net points
Higueras 2-5(40%)
Connors 9-26(35%)

came across this article:

PARIS, June 2— Jose Higueras, a 29-year-old Spaniard whose bout with hepatitis two years ago made him concerned about his future in tennis, left little doubt about his recovery today as he posted a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 victory over top-seeded Jimmy Connors in the French Open.

Higueras, who is seeded 14th, demonstrated the classical clay-court game that won him renown in 1979, when he broke into the world's top 10. He refused to let Connors lure him to the net, disdaining the approach shot and staying on the baseline. Connors gave up trying to volley, because Higueras was beating him with blazing passes.

Also, the American's forehand was erratic, and Higueras kept pounding the ball to that side. The tactic worked, as Connors, forcing the pace, hit many balls into the net.

''I'm in very good condition,'' said Higueras, who won a five-hour final in Hamburg last month. ''I've played a lot of matches lately.'' The lopsided score betrayed the amount of work done on the court. ''I didn't think it was an easy match at all,'' said Higueras, who beat Connors last year at North Conway, N.H. ''I was running a lot.''

''We were close in a lot of games,'' said Connors. ''I just couldn't put two or three points together. I wasn't hitting the ball badly, but he didn't miss many.''

Higueras's illness left him 10 pounds lighter and was largely responsible for his slump in 1980. He said that he felt cramps in his legs during a first-round match last year in Madrid, and thought then that if he did not soon begin to feel healthy, he would quit the tour.

Ranked 17th in the world, he had not won a tournament in almost three years until Hamburg. And before today's victory, his main memory of Roland Garros Stadium was of breaking an arm in the 1976 tournament.

Connors, who had previously beaten the Spaniard five times, failed for the second straight year to make the semifinals of the only Grand Slam tournament he has not won. No American has won the men's singles here since 1955, when Tony Trabert took the trophy. Questions were raised as to whether American men, preferring fast, hard surfaces, with an eye on the United States Open, would ever be able to master these slow clay courts.

Connors said that the ideal preparation for the French would be four or five months of playing on European clay. ''But I just can't do that at this point in my career,'' he said.

Then he emphasized: ''There aren't many guys who can beat me on clay. I don't see why an American can't win here. If I didn't think I could win, I wouldn't play here.''

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/03/sports/higueras-topples-conners-in-3-sets.html

Some articles say Connors should have come in more, but Higueras was hitting with great depth(not moonballing). Connors just seemed completely overmatched this day. Higueras had an almost perfect claycourt game for this era imo. and was sporting an impressive beard

We have stats on Connors' green clay USO finals, thought it would be interesting to take stats on a red clay match of his(maybe this wasn't 'prime' Connors, but he did have a pretty good 1982 season)

There was a 44 ball rally in the 2nd set that may be the longest Connors point I've ever seen. Ended with an unforced error by him.

 

[kiki]

Higueras had two superb yrs in 79,82 and two more good yrs in 78,83 but hepatitis hurt him when at his peak
Very solid, one of the best cc players for years and excellent BH
However he failed at DC and his slam record is not that good
When he retired went to live in California, running a very succesful tennis academy and I think he became US citizem
For sone years was a reputed coach, mostly with Courier
I am sure Jim excellent cc record is partially due to Higueras coaching
And yes, what a beard...should have been Christ Superstar

 

[jrepac]

Higueras was very tough on clay....and clearly not one of Connor's best days, based on those stats. He clearly did not let it bother him as he had a terrific year the rest of the way.

 

[Gizo]

Higueras had excellent passing shots as Connors found out whenever he came to the net that day, and also a strong backhand and good anticipation. A very nice player to watch when he was in form.

A few weeks earlier that year he that beaten McNamara in an epic 5 hour 20 minute final (the longest match in grand prix history at the time) to win the German Open title. Also interesting was his North Conway final against Lendl later in 1982. He was trailing 3-6 2-3 when rain stopped play. He could have taken the $16,000 runners-up cheque there and then, but refused and instead returned from Barcelona 2 months later to finish match (which Lendl wrapped up in under 10 minutes).

 

[krosero]

From an AP article:

On a scorching hot day with 17,000 fans packed around the center court, Higueras gave Connors a lesson in slow-surface tennis. The 29-year-old Spaniard seldom left his baseline and kept his patience during long rallies that sometimes lasted 30 or 40 strokes.​

Presumably the court would have been playing relatively fast (by RG standards) under those conditions.

Sports Illustrated:

Higueras had overcome many obstacles, including breaking his arm in a match at the French in 1974 and recently winning a two-year tiebreaker against hepatitis, to knock off the top American seeds, Teltscher (No. 6) and Connors (No. 1) with the loss of only six games in each match.​

 

[krosero]

He won 20 of 51 pts on 1st serve(39%)
and 14 of 35 on 2nd(40%)

Another match in which Connors did better on second serve than on first. We've got 10 such matches for him now.

no aces, no df's

Wilander had this same stat in the final against Vilas. Can't think of too many men's performances with no aces or doubles. Connors in the '78 USO final is one.

Higueras didn't miss a return in the 2nd set.

Always a good stat, even for claycourt matches.

Higueras served 76 points, and 13 serves did not come back: 17%
Connors served 86 points, and 6 serves did not come back: 7%

net points
Higueras 2-5(40%)
Connors 9-26(35%)

Not good numbers at all. They look a lot like the net points in the 2008 final.

 

[kiki]

Higueras won three GP superseries tites on clay in 1979 at Hamburg ( defeating Solomon in a gruelling final), Boston (Gildemeister) and Houston (Tanner and Mayer)

He lost to Solomon in North Conway, and Vilas at Rome and Gerulaitis at RG ousted him in the quarterfinals.

Higueras came back strong in 82, beating top tenner Mc Namara at Hamburg, reaching the semis at RG and the F at North Conway ( lost to Lendl) .In 1983, lost the final at Palm Springs against Connors and Rome against the newcomer american Jimmy Arias.

He was never fortunate at home, and never made it to the semis at his country club during the Spanish Open.He also had serious trouble with spanish officials for DC reasons ( similar to Orantes, whom he was pretty good friends)

 

[kiki]

That 79 final was brutal...........neither did anything with the ball - Jose was just a bit more agressive

Even worse was 1980......Solly over Vilas - in 5 Verrrrrry long sets!

Hamburg was a great place for spaniards.Orantes,Higueras and Juan Aguilera won the tournament, then one of the best cc tourneys, twice each.Gimeno won also the 1971 title, if I recall well.In the 90´s, even a lowly ranked guy such as Portas did it so...

Aguilera was a very talented, but very unconsistent and not tennis focused player, with great expectations among the media.he didn´t fulfill them ( he rather played drums at a local rock band) but he was very inspirated at Hamburg, beating the very strong Sundstrom of 1984...and the local hero and world´s nº1 player Boris Becker in 1990.That speaks volume about how dangerous an inspired Aguilera could become...

 

[Moose Malloy]

On a scorching hot day with 17,000 fans packed around the center court

was there some sort of heat wave at the French that year? you mentioned the high temperature in the final as well. amazing that a 17 year old from Sweden who was regularly involved in 40, 50 ball rallies during his matches could handle these tough conditions so well. It sounds like a superhuman effort, tenniswise.

the crowd gave Connors quite an ovation at the start, they were behind him from beginning to end.

his patience during long rallies that sometimes lasted 30 or 40 strokes.

I sometimes wonder if I should count ue's if they happen after 30 shots. Not quite as easy to make shots after a really long rally.

was a bit surprised that Connors was almost equal in ue's from the bh as the fh(which was known for being the more error prone side)

Also, the American's forehand was erratic, and Higueras kept pounding the ball to that side. The tactic worked, as Connors, forcing the pace, hit many balls into the net.