Stats for 1988 French Open 4R(Lendl-McEnroe)

[Moose Malloy]

Lendl d McEnroe 6-7(3-7), 7-6(7-3), 6-4, 6-4

Lendl won 146 points, McEnroe won 130

The match was played over 2 days. It was suspended due to darkness at 4-2 in the 3rd set on the first day.

Lendl served at 64.4%(87 of 135)
he won 61 of 87 points on 1st serve(70%)
and 31 of 48 points on 2nd serve(65%)
serve % by set
17/38: (45%)
33/48: (69%)
17/28: (61%)
20/21: (95%)
3 aces(1 on 2nd serve), 5 df's
he drew 28 other return errors(10 were on 2nd serve)
23% of his service points were unreturned(31/135)

McEnroe served at 60%(85 of 141)
he won 58 of 85 points on 1st serve(68%)
and 29 of 56 points on 2nd serve(52%)
serve % by set
21/38: (55%)
28/42: (67%)
17/33: (51.5%)
19/28: (68%)
5 aces, 3 df's
he drew 35 other return errors(5 were on 2nd serve)
28.3% of his service points were unreturned(40/141)

Lendl was 5-11 on break points. McEnroe made first serves on 8 of them.
McEnroe was 3-5 on break points. Lendl made first serves on 4 of them.
There were no break points by either player in the first set. Lendl faced no break points in the 4th set. He won 20 of 21 service points in that set.

McEnroe had 34 non service winners: 5 fh, 2 bh, 14 fhv, 7 bhv, 6 ov
Lendl had 50: 23 fh, 19 bh, 1 fhv, 3 b hv, 4 ov

winners by set
McEnroe: 12, 10, 6, 6
Lendl: 15, 16, 9, 10

McEnroe was 77-132(58%) at net. He was 46-74(62%) on S&V points
Lendl was 11-13(85%) at net. He had no S&V attempts.

more to come

 

[vive le beau jeu !]

'what if' mcenroe won the TB of the 2nd set ?...
(and assuming he wins the match... that makes him play vs. svensson/leconte/wilander)

 

[NonP]

Lendl d McEnroe 6-7(3-7), 7-6(7-3), 6-4, 6-4

Lendl won 146 points, McEnroe won 130

The match was played over 2 days. It was suspended due to darkness at 4-2 in the 3rd set on the first day.

Lendl served at 64.4%(87 of 135)
he won 61 of 87 points on 1st serve(70%)
and 31 of 48 points on 2nd serve(65%)
serve % by set
17/38: (45%)
33/48: (69%)
17/28: (61%)
20/21: (95%)
3 aces(1 on 2nd serve), 5 df's

McEnroe served at 60%(85 of 135)
he won 58 of 85 points on 1st serve(68%)
and 29 of 56 points on 2nd serve(52%)
serve % by set
21/38: (55%)
28/42: (67%)
17/33: (51.5%)
19/28: (68%)
5 aces, 3 df's

Lendl was 5-11 on break points. McEnroe made first serves on 8 of them.
McEnroe was 3-5 on break points. Lendl made first serves on 4 of them.
There were no break points by either player in the first set. Lendl faced no break points in the 4th set. He won 20 of 21 service points in that set.

McEnroe had 34 non service winners: 5 fh, 2 bh, 14 fhv, 7 bhv, 6 ov
Lendl had 50: 23 fh, 19 bh, 1 fhv, 3 b hv, 4 ov

winners by set
McEnroe: 12, 10, 6, 6
Lendl: 15, 16, 9, 10

McEnroe was 77-132(58%) at net. He was 46-74(62%) on S&V points
Lendl was 11-13(85%) at net. He had no S&V attempts.

more to come

[Looks for unreturned serves, to no avail.]

For the record I've got 28.3% for Mac, with this note that says "(cold and rainy for first 2.5 sets)" so I'm thinking either you or krosero has done this before. But if your total # of service points for Mac (135) is correct I don't see any combo that gives us 28.3% (38 URS = 28.1%, close but not quite). Hopefully you've got the correct #s already.

 

[krosero]

(and assuming he wins the match...

1984 would like to have a word with you ....

For the record I've got 28.3% for Mac, with this note that says "(cold and rainy for first 2.5 sets)" so I'm thinking either you or krosero has done this before.

It's not my number, maybe Voo's?

 

[krosero]

Sports Illustrated:

THE CROWDS AT THE FRENCH Open found one of their own to cheer last week, but it wasn't Henri Leconte, the flaky Frenchman who reached the final. It wasn't even one of the several touristes of distinction, like men's titlist Mats Wilander or women's champion Steffi Graf, both of whom are now halfway to the Grand Slam. Nor was it semifinalist Andre Agassi, the 18-year-old reason that the undertakers of American tennis can temporarily put aside their spades. No, the object of the French crowd's desire was the unlikeliest of princes, one John McEnroe -- excusez-moi: McEnreau -- who when last seen, on CBS's 60 Minutes, was baby-sitting his two boys, verbally wasting Ivan Lendl, serenading interviewer Diane Sawyer with a few bars of Jimi Hendrix's ''Foxy Lady'' and vowing to get it together again.​

​

Imagine the surprise, then, when McEnroe hit the clay courts of Roland Garros, his weakest surface no less, and sailed past Alexander Volkov, Christian Bergstrom and Michael Chang to earn a round-of-16 spot against Lendl, a player he never used to see until a Grand Slam semi. By the time their match was finally completed, a couple of days late thanks to the testy skies over Paris, the city was buzzing about McEnroe's play. So much evoked the old Mac: the precise approach shots, the uncommon confidence, each stroke taken as if he had just drawn his racket from a scabbard.​

​

In his interview with Sawyer, McEnroe had made some harsh assessments of Lendl (''I have more natural ability in my one finger than he has in his whole hand'') and of the lot of tennis as long as Lendl stands at its summit (''I think tennis is boring with me and ridiculous without me''). For his part, Lendl said he had only heard about the interview ''fourth-hand,'' and frankly didn't ''give a -- -- '' what Mac thought.​

​

Lendl's 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory didn't exactly bear out McEnroe's assessment. Lendl hit what Mac conceded was ''an unheard-of number of lines,'' and the affair was anything but boring. With a break point in the second set, McEnroe conjured up a shot that recalled his luminous, prefatherhood form. Lendl had just flung an overhead into the left corner, from where McEnroe sent a desperate forehand -- it was a chop, really -- that snaked around the net and landed for a winner. Mac clasped his hands over his head in a gesture to the standing crowd, as if tennis were nothing but the fight game and he a renewed Sugar Ray.​

​

McEnroe wasn't finished. When Lendl won the set with a return that might have been long, Mac assumed a familiar guise during the changeover, pleading with the umpire to examine the mark in the clay and then imperiously waving away the line sweep to preserve the evidence. The crowd whistled its displeasure. The umpire's pleas for silence just set off more hoots, and only when McEnroe acknowledged his following did a shhhhhh! course its way through the stands. So long as Mac was around, play would proceed at his pleasure. This was curious. At the French Open over the years, between kicking clay into the photographers' pit and calling the tournament referee a '' -- -- French Frog ***,'' McEnroe had been at his petulant worst. A favorite parlor game during this year's tournament involved trying to explain the French crowd's baffling partisanship. Among the theories:​

​

-- The Vin de Grand Cru Theory. McEnroe's favorite. ''It's like wine,'' he says. ''The older you get, the more they appreciate you. The French do know a lot about wine.'' (Burp.)​

​

-- The Jerry Lewis Theory. Americans can't understand France's fascination with the telethon host and putative actor. Cultural historians try to explain it by invoking the auteur principle -- that the French see development in Lewis's work and respect him for his growth. It's a test that McEnroe, given his attempt to remake himself, may be meeting.​

​

-- The Appreciation-Gap Theory. McEnroe's seemingly effortless game isn't so much overrated in Paris as underappreciated in such anglophone precincts as Flushing Meadow, N.Y., and Wimbledon. Both the Yanks and the Brits relish grunting and conspicuous sweat. But the Gauls will take sheer talent anytime. And if a prodigy should happen to engage the chair in a few Socratic exchanges, it's no different from what the French routinely do on TV talk shows and in sidewalk cafes. Says Alan Page, a British journalist based in Paris, ''I saw McEnroe play the closest thing to a perfect match against Joakim Nystrom in 1985 at the U.S. Open, and the crowd hardly rippled. For us, it's content. For the French, it's form.''​

​

Until Paris, Mac's latest comeback had puttered along in fits and starts, though the fits were mild next to his shameful blowup at last year's U.S. Open, the incident that exiled McEnroe to life among hoi polloi. Upon his return in April, he won the Japan Open by beating No. 3 Stefan Edberg. But in May he lost to 136th-ranked Diego Perez of Uruguay. He actually let pass a few very arguable line calls and seemed determined to put behind him what he called ''that whole business.''​

​

Thus comeback No. 3. ''Even if I don't become Number 1 again, I'll get a lot of positive things out of it, not only on the court but off,'' McEnroe said last week. ''I realize deep down that it's a long shot but also that I can do it. If I don't, at least I'll be able to go out on my own terms.''​

​

( In fact, McEnroe has an acute sense of history and what his place in it may be. He doesn't believe Lendl really supplanted him as No. 1 in 1985 or that Lendl has advanced the game, as McEnroe did when he overtook and built upon Bjorn Borg. ''It was as much me losing it myself as it was him taking it away from me,'' says Mac. Worse is the specter of Ilie Nastase, who McEnroe knows is remembered more as a clown than as a great player. ''I hope people will spend more time focusing on the records and what I've accomplished,'' McEnroe says. ''But if I went out the way it was, there'd be more focusing on the other stuff.''​

​

His play at the French suddenly put ''the other stuff'' and ''that whole business'' and ''the way it was'' in the background. With the shorter points on grass more suited to McEnroe's still-suspect stamina, he'll go into his first Wimbledon in two years with confidence.​

​

''He played as well as I've seen him since '85,'' said Wilander of McEnroe's play against Lendl. ''He was taking the ball early, taking chances and looking confident. When the calls went against him, he kept his cool. He would have beaten Lendl on any other surface.'' It was the third and last time they’d meet at Roland Garros, Lendl having beaten McEnroe in straight sets in 1981 and five sets in 1984.​

 

[krosero]

New York Times:

French Open; Darkness Halts a Brilliant Lendl-McEnroe Match​

​

By Robin Herman, Special To the New York Times​

​

June 1, 1988​

​

Cold rain continued to disrupt the French Open today, delaying the schedule and making conditions soggy, dim and difficult for the players in Roland Garros Stadium. After waiting two days, spectators huddled under umbrellas to watch Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe trade tie breakers between rain showers before darkness set in during the third set.​

​

''Why don't you bring out the balls that glow in the dark so we can see?'' McEnroe said to the umpire in the unlighted stadium. Lendl was ahead, 6-7, 7-6, 4-2, when Jacques Dorfmann, the tournament referee, finally decided at 9:25 P.M. that it was too dark to continue. The match will resume Wednesday.​

​

In the day's major upset, Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union, who is seeded 14th, defeated fourth-seeded Pat Cash of Australia, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, and will play Henri Leconte of France in the quarterfinals.​

​

Break of Over an Hour​

​

McEnroe and Lendl began their match in the late afternoon, playing a couple of games in a drenching rain on the slippery clay court, but then McEnroe strode to the chair umpire and said: ''I'm not going to play on a court like this. I don't see any reason to play. Have you ever played before in these conditions?''​

​

Within a few minutes, play was called off.​

​

An hour and a half later, there was a break in the clouds and the match continued. McEnroe was serving and moving terrifically. In the first set, he took Lendl to a tie breaker, which he dominated, winning by 7 points to 3.​

​

Lendl began returning serve better in the second set and was less perturbed by the bad weather. He won the second set in a tie breaker, also by a 4-point margin, pounding McEnroe's backhand until it failed. Lendl won the set with a forehand that hit the baseline. McEnroe protested angrily, and in vain, that the ball had been long, then quickly fell behind in the third set.​

​

​

​

French Open; Lendl Is Perfect, and McEnroe Is Out​

​

By Robin Herman, Special To the New York Times​

​

June 2, 1988​

​

The game of tennis is played not only between the lines, but on the lines as well. And Ivan Lendl, playing picture-perfect tennis at the French Open, used every inch of fair territory today to defeat John McEnroe, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4, in their fourth-round match.​

​

Mats Wilander, seeded third, had a very difficult quarterfinal match against Emilio Sanchez of Spain which, like the Lendl-McEnroe encounter, began with split tie breakers. Wilander won, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4. In a matchup of teen-agers, the American Andre Agassi beat Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Agassi will play Wilander in one semifinal.​

​

McEnroe was exasperated and angered yesterday when two line calls in Lendl's favor gave the world's top player the match's second tie breaker. The rain-spattered match had been halted by darkness Tuesday and resumed today in the third set with Lendl leading, 4-2, and still finding the lines. He held serve to take that set and then, with deep, powerful strokes to the baseline, overwhelmed McEnroe in the fourth set.​

​

''I've never seen a guy hit so many lines, and on a lot of different shots,'' McEnroe said afterward. ''On serve the ball was skidding, and he was hitting approach shots that skidded off the line. He must have hit 12 that I remember in that one set and that's an unheard-of amount.''​

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Lendl More Consistent​

​

The 29-year-old McEnroe is trying to work his way back to the top after a six-month layoff. He was seeded 16th here, which he found ridiculous, because of a computer rating that heavily weights a player's latest matches. He played very well, and his serve was tremendous, but Lendl was stronger, more consistent and placed his shots more precisely.​

​

The crucial game of the final set proved to be the fifth, when Lendl was able to break McEnroe's serve. He took a point on a lob that McEnroe could only swat at. He took another point by lofting a lob to the baseline after McEnroe had served and volleyed twice without being able to put the point away on the soft clay. The final point was a perfect forehand return of service that whooshed right by McEnroe.​

​

Lendl served out the final game of the fourth set at love with the last shot a forehand that, fittingly, kissed the baseline.​

​

In a kind of ritual during the match, McEnroe would insist that a linesman inspect the mark in the red dirt left by Lendl's ball. The chair umpire would direct the linesman to look. The linesman would bend to the line, touch the white tape and motion that Lendl's ball had been good.​

​

''You get into the groove,'' said Lendl. ''You hit deep, you hit some lines. You don't really aim for the lines. I don't know how to explain it. It just happens.''​

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Crowd Backs McEnroe​

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The crowd in Roland Garros Stadium was behind McEnroe all the way and stood to cheer him when he left the court at the end, and then booed Lendl. Although argumentative, McEnroe has ceased being obscene and has become more and more popular here.​

​

''It's like wine,'' McEnroe observed. ''The older you get, the more they appreciate you, and the French do know a lot about wine.''​

 

[NicoMK]

I watched an excellent documentary about that match, made in 2005. It's called "Le crépuscule des Dieux" and it's really, really excellent in every aspect : storyline, interviews, facts etc. Watch it if you can, it's really worth it and even better if you understand French.

Another great match from both players in a stadium that was once a great tournament. Wish Mac could have won but Lendl was a beast, congrats to him -- even if he lost to Svensson the round after. Thanks for sharing

 

[NicoMK]

 

[Moose Malloy]

[Looks for unreturned serves, to no avail.]

For the record I've got 28.3% for Mac, with this note that says "(cold and rainy for first 2.5 sets)" so I'm thinking either you or krosero has done this before. But if your total # of service points for Mac (135) is correct I don't see any combo that gives us 28.3% (38 URS = 28.1%, close but not quite). Hopefully you've got the correct #s already.

28.3% is correct, I had the wrong amount of service points by Mac. Corrected it.

 

[krosero]

This is the only stat I charted.

Lendl made 5 of 10 first serves in the tiebreaks (50%). By tiebreak:

1 of 5
4 of 5 (note, he missed a first serve, then made it, when the pt. was replayed)

McEnroe made 4 of 10 first serves in the tiebreaks (40%). By tiebreak:

1 of 5
3 of 5

In that opening tiebreak each player lost the only point on which he made his first serve; they lived on their second serves entirely. Lendl won only 1 of 4 points on second serve; McEnroe won 3 of 4.

In the next tiebreak each man lost 1 point on first serve so again the difference was in the second serve. Lendl won his only second serve point; McEnroe lost both of his.

 

[krosero]

My family did not have cable TV channels back then, and neither did a friend of mine who was also a tennis nut. So we turned on our radios (!) and listened for updates, which came in every two games or so. This match was huge for us.

 

[BringBackWood]

Mac was doubly unlucky in that TB, since he hit a terrific volley that was certainly a winning shot, but it was called out and they replayed it. I think nowadays where there's more discretion that would be borderline whether it was replayed. Then Lendl's ball was very likely out. Ivan admitted as much in the post match interview. Mac never truely recovered his spark from that point on (he was serving superbly early on). Credit to Lendl though, he was pretty relentless. Had the impression he improved his 2nd serve after the rain delay.

 

[BringBackWood]

I watched an excellent documentary about that match, made in 2005. It's called "Le crépuscule des Dieux" and it's really, really excellent in every aspect : storyline, interviews, facts etc. Watch it if you can, it's really worth it and even better if you understand French.

Another great match from both players in a stadium that was once a great tournament. Wish Mac could have won but Lendl was a beast, congrats to him -- even if he lost to Svensson the round after. Thanks for sharing

Did Lendl have an injury in the Svensson match? In the mac post match interview he joked about the rumours he had a foot injury.

 

[jrepac]

Did Lendl have an injury in the Svensson match? In the mac post match interview he joked about the rumours he had a foot injury.

I had completely forgotten that he lost to Svensson....surely he was injured?

 

[Moose Malloy]

Did Lendl have an injury in the Svensson match? In the mac post match interview he joked about the rumours he had a foot injury.

He injured his chest muscle in the 2nd set vs Svensson. Svensson made the semis twice at RG(88 and 90). Not really a typical claycourter despite those results, his groundstrokes weren't spinny, and he played aggressively.

Lendl had a stress fracture in his foot earlier in 88. He also suffered a thigh injury at Wimbledon, and had shoulder surgery right after the USO(wasn't able to play again until the Masters). Tough year for him.

 

[BringBackWood]

I had completely forgotten that he lost to Svensson....surely he was injured?

We did Jonas an injustice. Watched some of the match yesterday, and he played excellently. He had the tactic of slow heavy topspin to Ivan's BH, who backed off and hit short and high, allowing Svensson to get into the net either straightaway or off the next shot. He played a very smart match overall, was daring getting to net, and made some terrific volleys. Even so, Lendl served for the 1st set. He was possibly distracted by a protest group with a megaphone who could be heard through much of the match. And in the 2nd set he had 2 set points on Svensson's serve.

I'm not sure I agree with Moose, he varied the topspin on both FH & BH and particulary the FH (like a lot of Swedes) did have more topspin than average in those days. Seems like he was best suited for clay.