Stats for 1988 FO Final(Wilander-Leconte)

M

Moose Malloy

G.O.A.T.
Wilander d Leconte 7-5, 6-2, 6-1

Wilander served at 97%(70 of 72)
Leconte served at 54%(40 of 74)

Wilander won 49 of 70 points on 1st serve(70%)
He won 1 of 2 on 2nd(50%)

Leconte won 23 of 40 points on 1st serve(57.5%)
He won 11 of 34 on 2nd(32%)

Wilander had 22 non service winners(7 fh, 15 bh)
Leconte had 25(3 fh, 6 bh, 6 fhv, 6 bhv, 4 ov)

Wilander had 20 passing shot winners(5 fh, 15 bh)
Leconte had 2, both bh

Wilander had 1 ace, no doubles
Leconte had 1 ace, 3 doubles

Wilander had 10 unreturned serves
Leconte had 12, two I judged service winners

Wilander was 7 of 12 on break points(Leconte made 1st serves on 6 of them)
Leconte was 2 of 4(Wilander made first serves on all of them)

Leconte served for the 1st set at 5-4

net stats
Leconte 27 of 57(47%), he was 13 of 28 on S&V attempts
Wilander was 4 of 6(67%)

stats from NBC
at 3-0 in the 3rd, 43 unforced errors for Leconte, 8 for Wilander.
They said Wilander finished the match with 8.

There was a steady rain through much of the match, the only other final I can recall this happening in was the '87 Final(Lendl-Wilander)

Wilander had a lot of close calls in this tournament. In the 3rd round, Zivojinovic served for the match in the 5th set. At 5-3, 30-30, he failed to putaway a bh volley. Wilander won 6-2, 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
In the QF, Emilio Sanchez won the first set & had a 5-1 lead in the 2nd & 3 set points. Wilander won 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4. And he had a 5 setter with Agassi in the semis. He said in the post match interview that he didn't think he really played his best tennis throughout the tournament.

The post match interview Leconte had with Bud Collins was pretty uncomfortable. NBC didn't show his speech at the trophy presentation but Dick Enberg said that Leconte seemed visibly upset at the crowd's reaction to what he said. Bud asked Leconte what was said, & he said "I said I hope to come back next year & win it & they laughed at me." He also said the French crowd are very difficult & that Wimbledon & the USO have much better crowds.

Wish I could find the trophy presentation & get a translation. here are some highlights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RMu1lEKh80&feature=related
 
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I remembered this match well; I was hoping against hope that Henri would win, but I guessed (correctly) that Wilander's grinding style would be too much for Leconte.
After the match, I remembered that Henri grabbed the mike and spoke in French; up till this day I did not know what he said, but he seemed upset with something (the crowd? the pain of his loss?). For a Leconte supporter, it was one very painful loss; was this Leconte's only chance at a grand slam title? I think he never got to another slam final.
 
vive le beau jeu ! said:
97% ???... is it correct ?

about leconte, unfortunately for him, his after-match speech was very ankward, and it took some time before the parisian crowd forgets it...
"i hope now you have understood a bit my game"
http://www.ina.fr/sport/tennis/vide...nd-garros-le-discours-d-henri-leconte.fr.html
Click to expand...

vive, can you tell me what Henri said? It's been so many years now, will be good for me to put this piece of history to rest :(
The 97% was unreal, but it was truly Wilander's aim to keep the ball in play for as long as possible, and to wait for Leconte to implode; I don't think Wilander was aiming for too fast a serve then.
 
Moose Malloy said:
Wilander had 1 ace, no doubles
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So then in the 3 Slam finals that Wilander won in '88, he made a total of 5 aces and 2 double-faults. Very low totals considering the AO and USO finals went to five sets.

But it was very good serving because of the high service percentages. Back in the '85 AO final he served at only 58%, going for bigger serves -- and he made 10 aces, which I think is a high number for him. Yet he got swept in straight sets.

Moose Malloy said:
Wilander served at 97%(70 of 72)
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This is a major reason he won those 3 big matches in '88. Every one of his opponents would have taken the chance to attack him on his second serves but he rarely allowed them the chance. Cash liked to chip-and-charge on second serves; Lendl liked to take big roundhouse swipes on second balls; and Leconte did some of both.

Mustard mentioned in another thread that Leconte had been devastating his opponents' second serves throughout the tournament, which is why Wilander spun his first serves in. And Leconte mentioned it specifically after the match -- how Wilander gave him no second serves.

Wilander's service % against:

Cash - 77%
Leconte - 97%
Lendl - 87%
 
Moose Malloy said:
Wilander had a lot of close calls in this tournament. In the 3rd round, Zivojinovic served for the match in the 5th set. At 5-3, 30-30, he failed to putaway a bh volley. Wilander won 6-2, 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
In the QF, Emilio Sanchez won the first set & had a 5-1 lead in the 2nd & 3 set points. Wilander won 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4. And he had a 5 setter with Agassi in the semis. He said in the post match interview that he didn't think he really played his best tennis throughout the tournament.
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I think that might be true. I don't mean in the final, because Wilander said himself in the article I linked to that he made almost no errors and his BH was finally clicking. And of course his serve was working to perfection.

But I thought his performance against Agassi was not necessarily his best. I know we talked about this in another thread, about whether he was particularly attackable in that match, and I still wouldn't say that he was. But it's sort of a by-the-numbers performance. He did what he had to do, and he did it well, but he didn't push himself to do anything special. He didn't approach the net like he did in the '85 final, for example.
 
krosero said:
This is a major reason he won those 3 big matches in '88. Every one of his opponents would have taken the chance to attack him on his second serves but he rarely allowed them the chance. Cash liked to chip-and-charge on second serves; Lendl liked to take big roundhouse swipes on second balls; and Leconte did some of both.
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This once again proves the point about how Wilander played smart tennis, and used his brain to beat opponents who had 'bigger' games.

But he also did work on his fitness that year, which he spoke about in the Swedish "This Is Your Life" program that was on earlier this year (mentioned in another thread). He made a conscious effort to devote himself to trying to become #1, just to be able to say he did it. As he said in that show, he either wanted to prove to himself and others that he could, or he couldn't. But he would at least know he made his best attempt.
 
roundiesee said:
vive, can you tell me what Henri said? It's been so many years now, will be good for me to put this piece of history to rest :(
The 97% was unreal, but it was truly Wilander's aim to keep the ball in play for as long as possible, and to wait for Leconte to implode; I don't think Wilander was aiming for too fast a serve then.
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i understand it was his aim to put as many 1st serves as possible... but still... if it was to avoid "being attacked on the 2nd serve" (what leconte apparently did to other opponents on his way to the final), this means these 1st serves were not as weak as regular 2nd serves... and missing only 2 during the whole match is really impressive ! ;)

about what leconte said, here's an approximate translation:
(anyway, leconte is making grammar mistakes while speaking... which are not easy to translate !) :p

riton: i think it's difficult to say something after having played a final... i'm very happy to be here today, although mats played very very well, he made me play bad, and i think... that it's his big strength... and i thank you, the crowd, i think/hope now you have understood a bit my game... it's a difficult (?!) game...

(beginning of hubbub in the crowd)

commentator 1: it doesn't lack of humor...
commentator 2: no, but he's right ! it's true...... it's his game... to attack... well......

some random guy in the crowd: we don't bear a grudge after you, henri !

riton: ah bon ? (smiling) well... all i can say is that 2 months ago i was very far... and i came back here... i really didn't think i could make a great tournament, and...

another random guy in the crowd: we're gonna cry !

riton: we're gonna cry... and you ? you'll cry too ?
commentator 2: umm, he's cracking up a bit...
riton: well... anyway, i hope to win next year. i'll come back and this time, i'll win ! thanks.

commentator 1: ah in any case, these are words of a champion ! it's announced, maybe a bit early, but if he believes in it... it's strong !

(... a bit early !)
 
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Thanks so much vive! Poor Henri; just wished he would have won at least a slam; actually I think his best surface was grass, remembered that he was in several quarter finals at Wimbledon, but he seemed always to lose to the guy in form (eg to Becker several times I think)
 
roundiesee said:
Thanks so much vive! Poor Henri; just wished he would have won at least a slam; actually I think his best surface was grass, remembered that he was in several quarter finals at Wimbledon, but he seemed always to lose to the guy in form (eg to Becker several times I think)
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Leconte did reach the semi finals of Wimbledon in 1986. Becker beat him.
 
SusanDK said:
But he also did work on his fitness that year, which he spoke about in the Swedish "This Is Your Life" program that was on earlier this year (mentioned in another thread). He made a conscious effort to devote himself to trying to become #1, just to be able to say he did it. As he said in that show, he either wanted to prove to himself and others that he could, or he couldn't. But he would at least know he made his best attempt.
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He was always one of the fittest -- perhaps some years more than others. But in '88 he went 7-0 in five-setters by the time he beat Lendl. Then he took a small break, as he said, to enjoy the moment. Came back and finally lost a five-setter at the end of the year in that Davis Cup final.
 
krosero said:
He was always one of the fittest -- perhaps some years more than others. But in '88 he went 7-0 in five-setters by the time he beat Lendl. Then he took a small break, as he said, to enjoy the moment. Came back and finally lost a five-setter at the end of the year in that Davis Cup final.
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Against Steeb. That was the only match in Wilander's career that he lost after being 2 sets up.
 
97% First serve percentage - Yes!

vive le beau jeu ! said:
97% ???... is it correct ?

about leconte, unfortunately for him, his after-match speech was very ankward, and it took some time before the parisian crowd forgets it...
"i hope now you have understood a bit my game"
http://www.ina.fr/sport/tennis/vide...nd-garros-le-discours-d-henri-leconte.fr.html
Click to expand...

It sure was. Actually I thought it was higher. I thought he only missed one first serve the entire match not two. Just amazing really.
 
But it was very good serving because of the high service percentages. Back in the '85 AO final he served at only 58%, going for bigger serves -- and he made 10 aces, which I think is a high number for him. Yet he got swept in straight sets.
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Commentators said he was having an arm problem, which may have caused him to go for his serves more that tournament(was using a lower tension)

Mustard mentioned in another thread that Leconte had been devastating his opponents' second serves throughout the tournament
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who knows if that was actually true statistically, seems pretty unlikely considering Leconte had three 5 setters prior to the final. I doubt he was putting up Agassi like numbers or something on 2nd serve return.

And tv coverage was limited in 1988, I wonder how many outside of France got to see much of Leconte's matches that tournament.

Leconte seemed to be attacking Mats' first serve pretty well early on. He just seemed pretty deflated after playing a poor game when he served for the first set at 5-4 & his level of play dropped dramatically from that point.

Not to take anything away from Mats, but he was a huge favorite playing against a flaky player who had never won a major. His % vs Lendl in a 5 set USO final was more impressive to me.
 
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another random guy in the crowd: we're gonna cry !

riton: we're gonna cry... and you ? you'll cry too ?
commentator 2: umm, he's cracking up a bit...
riton: well... anyway, i hope to win next year. i'll come back and this time, i'll win ! thanks.

commentator 1: ah in any case, these are words of a champion ! it's announced, maybe a bit early, but if he believes in it... it's strong !
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do commentators still talk over a player's speech in France? how annoying.
 
roundiesee said:
Mustard,
Did Leconte reach either semi or quarter in other Grand Slams other than Wimbledon and Roland Garros?
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Leconte got to the quarter finals of the 1986 US Open, where he was only man to take a set off Lendl in the tournament. His best performance at the Australian Open was the Round of 16 in 1985, a 5-set match against McEnroe.
 
Moose, it's possible that Leconte's stats for the tournament as a whole -- if we had them -- might not look so great, as far as attacking second serves. He did get pushed to five sets by qualifiers in the first two rounds, so in those matches it doesn't look like he was playing well. On the other hand he dropped no more sets before the final except to Becker who also took him to five (nothing to be ashamed of there).

But we do know Leconte complained after the final about not getting any second serves to attack. And Wilander mentions it himself in this article below -- although what I find interesting is that Wilander's strategy was a broad one, and not merely to prevent Leconte from attacking second serves.

Playing a skillful defensive game, Wilander won the majority of his points against the left-handed Leconte on passing shots, never once hitting a volley. He did come to the net, but on those occasions Leconte did not keep the ball in play.

Moreover, Wilander missed just one first serve, denying Leconte the chance to come to the net on a second service. And he pounded ground strokes deep and high to Leconte's vulnerable right side until his backhand collapsed.

The match was over in 1 hour 52 minutes and was nearly as one-sided as Steffi Graf's straight-set victory over Natalya Zvereva in the women's final Saturday. Addressing the crowd after accepting the tournament trophy, Wilander said: ''Steffi said she was sorry it was so short. I'm not sorry at all. I was very happy to win.''

He also complimented the spectators, calling them ''the best tennis crowd in the world.''

Leconte might not think so. His home fans have always been very critical of his up-and-down play. Following the singing of ''La Marseillaise'' and a flyover by French air force jets trailing blue, red and white smoke, the crowd cheered loudly for Leconte. But after he lost the opportunity to serve out the first set, the crowd abandoned him.

The score was 4-all in that opening set when Leconte, in his first Grand Slam final, produced the kind of winning string that lifts French expectations, breaking Wilander at love. He pushed Wilander back into the court and then drove home a forehand winner for the first point. On the second he followed a drive with a sharp volley that Wilander returned out. The third point came on a backhand down the line off a Wilander lob and the game point was a forceful backhand putaway to one corner. Refuses to Give In

Serving for the set, however, Leconte found a stubborn Swede on the other side of the net. On the first point of that game, he threw everything at Wilander - a driving forehand putaway, an overhead and a sharp volley - but Wilander picked up each shot and won the point. Leconte contributed his own errors, including a double fault. On game point, Leconte held a commanding position at the net but hit a volley far out of the court. Thunder rumbled in the distance and Wilander had broken back to 5-all. That was as good as Leconte's game got.

''I expected the match to be more like the first set, very tight,'' said Wilander later. ''I thought he would come to the net more.''

The Swede said it was his strategy to hit comparatively safe but decent first serves.

''I wanted to stay in the point,'' he said. ''I didn't want too many quick points, which is going to happen if I hit a big first serve or if I hit a second serve, he's going to come up to the net. The worst thing that can happen is to have short points against Leconte.''

Wilander, who earned nearly $260,000 for the victory, said he was a bit surprised at the crowd's lack of enthusiasm for Leconte, who took home half as much money. ''If he had won the first set it would have been a completely different story,'' he said. ''They weren't there when he needed them.'' Derision and Sarcasm

Instead, by the rainy and windy third set, the crowd was whistling at Leconte's errors. At 5-0, Leconte managed to win a point for 30-30 with a backhand cross-court shot. Someone in the crowd yelled sarcastically in French: ''He's tired Henri. Go for it!'' and the crowd tittered.

Leconte's refrain is that his countrymen do not understand his game, which, he says, is built on quick play and risk, not the baseline consistency of usual clay-court play, which he calls ''boring.''

''I think they don't want me to make mistakes,'' he said. ''They want me to make all winners all over the place all the time and it's difficult. I'm not a machine. I'm human.'' Wilander said his most difficult match of the tournament was his five-set victory over Andre Agassi in the semifinal Tuesday. Way back in the tournament's third round, he was nearly evicted by Slobodan Zivojinovic of Yugoslavia. Zivojinovic was ahead by 5-2 in the fifth set and serving for the match, but Wilander pulled out of it to win.

''I did think I was out of the tournament for sure,'' Wilander recalled. ''He was serving well. There was no reason he shouldn't have served out the match. I guess it does come down to the important points, but I did think I was out of the tournament then.''

(NY Times)
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So Wilander mentions how Leconte might attack second serves but he also thinks big first serves might be a problem.

Data and I talked about this in another thread, how Leconte might get into the match by hitting flashy winners against big serves.

Also reminds me of what roundiesee said above -- that Wilander was trying to keep the points long and not trying to go for big serves.
 
From the NYT report, it would seem that Wilander was indeed adept at winning matches from a seemingly hopeless position, much like what Nadal is able to do today. No wonder these guys won so many French titles between the 2 of them. I remember the first time I saw Wilander play in his first French final against Vilas. After he lost the first set, I did not think he would win at all, but Wilander came back superbly and basically drove Vilas crazy with his never-say-die attitude and his consistency. I remember his topspin lobs were really telling in that final.
 
Moose Malloy said:
do commentators still talk over a player's speech in France? how annoying.
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now i don't know... the only one i saw in recent times is RG 2009, and i don't think they spoke too much.
(go figure why i didn't see more !) ;)

but in this 1988 video, they're not speaking too much... just filling the gaps... and maybe it's also due to the ankwardness of leconte's speech ?

in fact it bothers me more when commentators speak during the points !
 
Mustard said:
Leconte got to the quarter finals of the 1986 US Open, where he was only man to take a set off Lendl in the tournament. His best performance at the Australian Open was the Round of 16 in 1985, a 5-set match against McEnroe.
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I saw Leconte play a Round of 16 match against Jimmy Connors at the 1987 US Open on the Stadium Court. It was very close and exciting, with Connors winning 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. I remember after they split the first two sets, the third set was extremely tight and one could feel that whoever pulled out the third set would win. I had a plane to catch at LaGuardia and almost missed it because I kept staying for 'one more game.' Didn't find out who won until I got home that night.
 
krosero said:
So Wilander mentions how Leconte might attack second serves but he also thinks big first serves might be a problem.

Data and I talked about this in another thread, how Leconte might get into the match by hitting flashy winners against big serves.

Also reminds me of what roundiesee said above -- that Wilander was trying to keep the points long and not trying to go for big serves.
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Wilander wanted to give Leconte no rythym against his serve. We know how much Leconte likes a rythym to fire himself up. Wilander consistently made sure, throughout the match as a whole, that Leconte got no rythym. Leconte seemed to hit through this for a while and actually served for the first set, but then it all changed.
 
SusanDK said:
I saw Leconte play a Round of 16 match against Jimmy Connors at the 1987 US Open on the Stadium Court. It was very close and exciting, with Connors winning 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. I remember after they split the first two sets, the third set was extremely tight and one could feel that whoever pulled out the third set would win. I had a plane to catch at LaGuardia and almost missed it because I kept staying for 'one more game.' Didn't find out who won until I got home that night.
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Funny thing about that match was that Leconte hit shot that appeared to be on the line but was called out. Leconte was very upset by the call and a little later hit a shot that seemed exactly the same and hit just about if not the same spot and was called in! Leconte mentioned that he hit the same spot earlier. Leconte was more annoyed but I couldn't help but laugh.
 
Moose Malloy said:
stats from NBC
at 3-0 in the 3rd, 43 unforced errors for Leconte, 8 for Wilander.
They said Wilander finished the match with 8.
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From an article at http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/tag/sergi-bruguera/page/2/

1988 – In a near flawless display of clay court tennis, Mats Wilander wins the French Open for a third time in his career, defeating French native son Henri Leconte 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 in the men’s singles final. Wilander misses only two of 74 first serves, committs only nine unforced errors and does not hit a volley during the one-hour and 52 minute match.​
 
Everybody knew Wilander was going to win.He, as expected, outhought Leconte, who was not a real champion.Like Rios, he could be brilliant and flashy but did not have the mind or heart of a champion.Wilander is one of the coolest, most balanced players of all time.
 
Mustard said:
Against Steeb. That was the only match in Wilander's career that he lost after being 2 sets up.
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When I had a chance to talk to him, Mats said that was probably the worst lost of his career. I was expecting a grand slam final lost, like the '87 USO, but he said that lost to Steeb hurt the most. Weird how he lost again to Steeb the following year in '89 Davis Cup final also.
 
Mustard said:
Leconte got to the quarter finals of the 1986 US Open, where he was only man to take a set off Lendl in the tournament. His best performance at the Australian Open was the Round of 16 in 1985, a 5-set match against McEnroe.
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lot to Wilander in the 85 FO QF after beatin Noah in the last 16.He did very well at Wimbledon with a few semis or quarters.

Leconte had great results against Lendl who could never know what to expect against the frenchman.And Lendl was the utmost planning man, he had already played a match in his mind before it was played on court.So, a guy like Leconte was the last thing that suited to his menthal scheme.

But Leconte could never beat Mc Enroe, who owned him left and right
 
Zimbo said:
When I had a chance to talk to him, Mats said that was probably the worst lost of his career. I was expecting a grand slam final lost, like the '87 USO, but he said that lost to Steeb hurt the most. Weird how he lost again to Steeb the following year in '89 Davis Cup final also.
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He actually beat Steeb in the '89 match (went five sets again).

The Germans had the home advantage then and were playing on carpet, Wilander's weakest surface by far. The year before Wilander had lost in Sweden and on his favorite surface (clay).
 
kiki said:
Leconte had great results against Lendl who could never know what to expect against the frenchman.And Lendl was the utmost planning man, he had already played a match in his mind before it was played on court.So, a guy like Leconte was the last thing that suited to his menthal scheme.

But Leconte could never beat Mc Enroe, who owned him left and right
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Nice point about the Lendl matchup. Leconte also said, after beating Lendl at Wimbledon in '85, that he always knew where Lendl was serving.

You're right, McEnroe was improvisational himself so he would have no trouble necessarily with someone as unpredictable as Leconte.
 
krosero said:
He actually beat Steeb in the '89 match (went five sets again).

The Germans had the home advantage then and were playing on carpet, Wilander's weakest surface by far. The year before Wilander had lost in Sweden and on his favorite surface (clay).
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Thanks for correction, can't believe my memory let me down.
 
kiki said:
But Leconte could never beat Mc Enroe, who owned him left and right
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Leconte and McEnroe had a good match at the 1985 Australian Open, with McEnroe winning 5-7, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-1. McEnroe's behaviour during this match was pretty crazy.

krosero said:
Nice point about the Lendl matchup. Leconte also said, after beating Lendl at Wimbledon in '85, that he always knew where Lendl was serving.
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Yes, Leconte regularly hurt Lendl by hitting forehand returns down the line when retrieving from the deuce court. It was great stuff.
 
Here are stats on Leconte's win over Becker in the 4th round. Very entertaining match.

Leconte won 162 points, Becker 142.

Leconte d Becker 67(5), 63, 61, 57, 64
Leconte served at 61.6%(90 of 146)
Becker served at 59.49% (94 of 158)

Leconte won 65 of 90 points on first serve(72%)
he won 37 of 57 points on 2nd serve(66%)

Becker won 69 of 94 points on first serve(73%)
he won 29 of 64 points on 2nd serve(45%)

Leconte had 64 non service winners: 12 fh, 17 bh, 10 fhv, 18 bhv, 7 ov
Becker had 29: 14 fh, 7 bh, 3 fhv, 3 bhv, 2 ov

Leconte had 6 aces, 7 df's
Becker had 4 aces, 6 df's

Leconte drew 32 return errors(5 on 2nd serve)
Becker drew 38 return errors(13 on 2nd serve)

of the return errors Leconte made, 16 were fh, 22 were bh
of the return errors Becker made, 10 were fh, 22 were bh

26% of Leconte's serves were unreturned
26.58% of Becker's serves were unreturned

Leconte was 6 of 10 on break points. Becker made first serves on 6 of them.
Becker was 2 of 3 on break points, Leconte made first serves on all 3.

Leconte was 74 of 109 at net(68%). He was 35 of 52 on S&V pts(67%)
Becker was 28 of 50 at net(56%). He was 12 of 19 on S&V pts(63%)

Surprisingly, Leconte only S&Ved 5 times in the first 2 sets, and mostly came to net on approach shots. He did attack Becker 2nd serve quite a bit and made some amazing drop volleys when he came in. I didn't feel like Becker was just hitting safe 2nd serves either, so it was a pretty risky plan from Leconte that overall worked well(made some return errors which was to be expected).

The most shocking stat was how great Leconte was on serve. He held 19 straight times, was broken for the first time in the last game of the 4th set. He didn't even face a break point until the 3rd set. The longest hold streaks I can recall in a clay match were by Borg in the 79 RG Final and Nadal in this year's RG Final. Both held 12 straight times(Nadal's streak spanned the entire match). Leconte held 23 out of 25 service games.
 
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Moose Malloy said:
The most shocking stat was how great Leconte was on serve. He held 19 straight times, was broken for the first time in the last game of the 4th set. He didn't even face a break point until the 3rd set. The longest hold streaks I can recall in a clay match were by Borg in the 79 RG Final and Nadal in this year's RG Final. Both held 12 straight times(Nadal's streak spanned the entire match). Leconte held 23 out of 25 service games.
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Very impressive by Leconte.

You asked me about holding streaks on clay, I do have a list but only in matches up through the '84 RG final:

- Ashe was unbroken in the fourth (live) rubber of a 1967 Davis Cup tie against Osuna, 16 straight holds
(outdoor clay in Mexico)

- Osuna was unbroken in an opening rubber of a 1964 Davis Cup tie against Stolle, 15 straight holds
(outdoor clay in Mexico)

- Rosewall was unbroken to start off his loss to Pancho Gonzalez in the 1965 Dallas CBS Pro final, 14 straight holds

- Vilas was unbroken against Noah in the 1980 Italian Open final, holding 13 straight times

- Noah was unbroken against Frawley in the R32 at the 1984 French, holding 13 straight times

- Connors was unbroken in the 1976 USO semis against Vilas, holding 12 straight times

- Borg began the 1979 RG final against Pecci with 12 straight holds

- McEnroe ended a five-set win over Noah in the 1982 Davis Cup final by holding 12 straight times

- Nastase ended the 1973 RG final against Pilic with 11 straight holds

- Vilas won the 1974 Canadian Open final over Orantes with no more than 11 straight holds

- Borg was unbroken in his 1980 RG semifinal against Solomon, holding 11 straight times

- McEnroe began the 1984 RG final against Lendl with 11 straight holds

Borg could possibly have held in 11 of 11 service games against Nastase in ’79 Davis Cup, on outdoor clay in Bucharest. I can’t find any specific information about the progress of that match.
 
Moose Malloy said:
Wilander d Leconte 7-5, 6-2, 6-1

Wilander served at 97%(70 of 72)
Leconte served at 54%(40 of 74)

Wilander won 49 of 70 points on 1st serve(70%)
He won 1 of 2 on 2nd(50%)

Leconte won 23 of 40 points on 1st serve(57.5%)
He won 11 of 34 on 2nd(32%)

Wilander had 22 non service winners(7 fh, 15 bh)
Leconte had 25(3 fh, 6 bh, 6 fhv, 6 bhv, 4 ov)

Wilander had 20 passing shot winners(5 fh, 15 bh)
Leconte had 2, both bh

Wilander had 1 ace, no doubles
Leconte had 1 ace, 3 doubles

Wilander had 10 unreturned serves
Leconte had 12, two I judged service winners

Wilander was 7 of 12 on break points(Leconte made 1st serves on 6 of them)
Leconte was 2 of 4(Wilander made first serves on all of them)

Leconte served for the 1st set at 5-4

net stats
Leconte 27 of 57(47%), he was 13 of 28 on S&V attempts
Wilander was 4 of 6(67%)

stats from NBC
at 3-0 in the 3rd, 43 unforced errors for Leconte, 8 for Wilander.
They said Wilander finished the match with 8.

There was a steady rain through much of the match, the only other final I can recall this happening in was the '87 Final(Lendl-Wilander)

Wilander had a lot of close calls in this tournament. In the 3rd round, Zivojinovic served for the match in the 5th set. At 5-3, 30-30, he failed to putaway a bh volley. Wilander won 6-2, 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
In the QF, Emilio Sanchez won the first set & had a 5-1 lead in the 2nd & 3 set points. Wilander won 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4. And he had a 5 setter with Agassi in the semis. He said in the post match interview that he didn't think he really played his best tennis throughout the tournament.

The post match interview Leconte had with Bud Collins was pretty uncomfortable. NBC didn't show his speech at the trophy presentation but Dick Enberg said that Leconte seemed visibly upset at the crowd's reaction to what he said. Bud asked Leconte what was said, & he said "I said I hope to come back next year & win it & they laughed at me." He also said the French crowd are very difficult & that Wimbledon & the USO have much better crowds.

Wish I could find the trophy presentation & get a translation. here are some highlights.

Click to expand...

Do you agree that Wilander had some pretty damn good volleys !!!!
 
I remember the first serve stat being just ridiculously good. It was a nothing serve. But he kept it deep with heavy enough spin to keep Leconte from attacking too much. The real problem for Leconte, though, was when he did attack Wilander's accuracy on passing shots and lobs was even more devastating than his first serve percentage.

The crowd went home disappointed. It was really a letdown of a match. But when in a certain mindset, Wilander had a way of spoiling everyone's fun - including the fans'.
 
suwanee4712 said:
I remember the first serve stat being just ridiculously good. It was a nothing serve. But he kept it deep with heavy enough spin to keep Leconte from attacking too much. The real problem for Leconte, though, was when he did attack Wilander's accuracy on passing shots and lobs was even more devastating than his first serve percentage.

The crowd went home disappointed. It was really a letdown of a match. But when in a certain mindset, Wilander had a way of spoiling everyone's fun - including the fans'.
Click to expand...

His USO 1988 win against Lendl was pretty entertaining.
 
Olli Jokinen said:
His USO 1988 win against Lendl was pretty entertaining.
Click to expand...

Yes it was. I've been entertained by Wilander on many occasions especially when he is forced to become the aggressor. In the Leconte match he knew all that he had to do to win was be steady and consistent allowing the impulsive Leconte to lose the match. And that's exactly what happened. Kudos to Wilander for being smart enough to know that and disciplined enough to play that way. But it was a snore.
 
Moose Malloy said:
Here are stats on Leconte's win over Becker in the 4th round. Very entertaining match.
Leconte had 64 non service winners: 12 fh, 17 bh, 10 fhv, 18 bhv, 7 ov
Becker had 29: 14 fh, 7 bh, 3 fhv, 3 bhv, 2 ov
Click to expand...

I'm guessing Becker didn't play very well if he only had 29 non service winners in a 5 set match? It seems to often be the case that Becker has less winners despite being known as aggressive.
 
BringBackWood said:
I'm guessing Becker didn't play very well if he only had 29 non service winners in a 5 set match? It seems to often be the case that Becker has less winners despite being known as aggressive.
Click to expand...

Yeah, 29 winners was surprising. Usually that sort of extreme winner differential is between a defensive player and an offensive player(like Lendl Wilander) Not two power players. Guess the diffential can be partly be explained by Leconte coming to the net a lot more than Becker did. he was having to hit a lot of passing shots. I didn't take forced or unforced errors, but I did think Becker played well. He served at 64% through the first 4 sets, which was high for him. And he was up 3-2 in the 5th, so he came close to stealing a match that, according to the stats he had no business doing do(couldn't get a break of serve for amost 4 sets). Leconte was at his best in this match, it's a credit to Becker that he managed to keep it close.

But you are right, Becker often doesn't have high winner rates in the matches we've tracked. when you add the aces, he looks better. And I suspect he forces a lot of errors as well.

Interestingly, I've also done stats on the 3 matches he played vs Leconte at Wimbledon. And Leconte had more non service winners in 2 of the matches('85 and '93)

Also thought it was interesting that Becker held in all his service games in their semi at 1986 Wimbledon(20 service games) while Leconte held serve in 19 straight games in this match.
 
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Moose Malloy said:
Yeah, 29 winners was surprising. Usually that sort of extreme winner differential is between a defensive player and an offensive player(like Lendl Wilander) Not two power players. Guess the diffential can be partly be explained by Leconte coming to the net a lot more than Becker did. he was having to hit a lot of passing shots. I didn't take forced or unforced errors, but I did think Becker played well. He served at 64% through the first 4 sets, which was high for him. And he was up 3-2 in the 5th, so he came close to stealing a match that, according to the stats he had no business doing do(couldn't get a break of serve for amost 4 sets). Leconte was at his best in this match, it's a credit to Becker that he managed to keep it close.

But you are right, Becker often doesn't have high winner rates in the matches we've tracked. when you add the aces, he looks better. And I suspect he forces a lot of errors as well.

Interestingly, I've also done stats on the 3 matches he played vs Leconte at Wimbledon. And Leconte had more non service winners in 2 of the matches('85 and '93)

Also thought it was interesting that Becker held in all his service games in their semi at 1986 Wimbledon(20 service games) while Leconte held serve in 19 straight games in this match.
Click to expand...

Was Boris S & V on 1st but not 2nd serves?

You should post all the stats you make if you have time. They're always appreciated I assure you. Have you done any other Leconte matches on clay? I think clay brought out his magic the best.
 
BringBackWood said:
Was Boris S & V on 1st but not 2nd serves?

You should post all the stats you make if you have time. They're always appreciated I assure you. Have you done any other Leconte matches on clay? I think clay brought out his magic the best.
Click to expand...

I posted all my net stats. Becker only served and volleyed 19 times. Don't know how many were on 2nd serve. Considered how often Leconte directly came in off his 2nd serve, he probably should have done it more.
 
roundiesee said:
vive, can you tell me what Henri said? It's been so many years now, will be good for me to put this piece of history to rest :(
The 97% was unreal, but it was truly Wilander's aim to keep the ball in play for as long as possible, and to wait for Leconte to implode; I don't think Wilander was aiming for too fast a serve then.
Click to expand...
I believe LeConte had made the final by attacking second serves with abandon so Mats game plan was to give him no second serves.
 
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