Becker d. McEnroe 4-6, 15-13, 8-10, 6-2, 6-2
The surprise about this match is how short it was. It contains only 31 more points than the 2008 Wimbledon final -- yet it took up an hour and half more than that match. The official elapsed time ended up as 6 hours 20 minutes.
What really drained so much time (besides some disputes about line calls) was McEnroe's deliberate manner in his service games. He took his time between points and particularly when getting ready to start a service game.
My stats:
Becker won 234 points overall, McEnroe 210.
SERVICE
Becker won 138 of 204 points on serve. He won 103 of 133 on first serve (77%) and 35 of 71 on second (49%).
McEnroe won 144 of 240 points on serve. He won 107 of 151 on first serve (71%) and 37 of 89 on second (42%).
(McEnroe's percentage on second serve rose from 27 to 39 to 57 in the first three sets. It might be interesting to watch how he adjusted to get such a high success by the third set; nothing in particular struck me watching the match once).
Becker served at 65.2%, making 133 of 204 first serves. By set:
17/28 - 61%
49/80 - 61%
33/48 - 69%
20/29 - 69%
14/19 - 74%
McEnroe served at 62.9%, making 151 of 240 first serves. By set:
25/36 - 69%
56/89 - 63%
35/63 - 56%
12/22 - 55%
23/30 - 77%
Becker converted 9 of 27 break chances (4 of 13 in the second set alone). McEnroe converted 6 of 17 break chances (3 of 9 in the second set).
Becker made his first serve on 10 of 17 break points (59%). He was broken twice on first serve and 4 times on second.
McEnroe made his first serve on 17 of 27 break points (63%). He was broken 5 times on first serve and 4 times on second.
McEnroe looked mentally discouraged in the last games of the second set, having failed to convert 5 break points that were also set points. Becker failed to break McEnroe after 5 chances in the third set and lost his concentration in the last game.
It seemed to me that the players had a letdown after the second set and made many poor returns. No one broke in the third set until the last game.
I wonder if McEnroe suffered from simple physical exhaustion after the third set, or whether he was also missing the crowd's support. Later he would complain that much of the crowd left as the match had worn on. What was left of it gave him a standing ovation as the fifth set was about to start and it seemed to help him hold to 2-all (he'd been broken in the fourth set right off the bat, coming back from the break).
Becker had 18 aces, 9 df's.
McEnroe had 16 aces, 12 df's.
(Becker double-faulted twice on break point in the first set. His next service break also came on a double-fault. He also served a double-fault to go down set point in the second set. But he served no df's in the fifth set.)
Becker drew 50 return errors (11 with second serves). McEnroe drew 66 (15 with second serves). Out of all these serves I gave Becker 10 service winners, McEnroe 8.
WINNERS
Becker had 74 clean winners: 27 FH, 27 BH, 9 FHV, 7 BHV, 4 OV.
McEnroe had 50 clean winners: 11 FH, 11 BH, 11 FHV, 8 BHV, 9 OV.
Becker's winners by set: 6, 27, 19, 11, 11
Mac's winners by set: 7, 26, 12, 2, 3
Becker made 21 return winners (12 off 2nd serve): 7 FH’s and 14 BH’s. 19 returns were passing shots. On top of these he made 22 passing shots, 11 from each side. Altogether he passed McEnroe 41 times.
McEnroe made 3 return winners: two BH’s off second serves and a FH pass off first serve. In addition he made 11 passing shots (4 BH’s). Altogether he passed Becker only 12 times.
There were two big differences between the two men: Becker went for winners on the returns and could pull them off; and Becker stayed back more often. In the end a large majority of Becker’s winners were ground strokes.
ERRORS (forced and unforced)
Subtracting the winners and aces from the total points won:
Becker made 144 total errors. Of those I counted 66 return errors and 9 double-faults. That leaves him making 69 errors in points that had at least a successful return, that is, in rallies.
McEnroe made 142 total errors. Of those I counted 50 return errors and 12 double-faults. That leaves him making 80 errors in rallies.
With the two men so close in errors, the difference between them was the (non-service) winners. However in that stat the two men were nearly equal after three sets.
AFTER 3 SETS
Becker served at 63.46% and won 174 points overall. He won 103 of 156 points on serve: 76 of 99 on first (77%) and 27 of 57 on second (47%). He hit 14 aces, 52 other clean winners, plus 9 service winners. He passed McEnroe 30 times. He made 112 total errors (50 returns, 8 df’s, 54 rally errors), and converted 5 of 20 break chances.
McEnroe served at 62% and won 170 points overall. He won 117 of 188 points on serve: 85 of 116 on first (73%) and 32 of 72 on second (44%). He hit 13 aces, 45 other clean winners, plus 4 service winners. He passed Becker 10 times. He made 108 total errors (42 returns, 7 df’s, 59 rally errors), and converted 6 of 16 break chances.
The surprise about this match is how short it was. It contains only 31 more points than the 2008 Wimbledon final -- yet it took up an hour and half more than that match. The official elapsed time ended up as 6 hours 20 minutes.
What really drained so much time (besides some disputes about line calls) was McEnroe's deliberate manner in his service games. He took his time between points and particularly when getting ready to start a service game.
My stats:
Becker won 234 points overall, McEnroe 210.
SERVICE
Becker won 138 of 204 points on serve. He won 103 of 133 on first serve (77%) and 35 of 71 on second (49%).
McEnroe won 144 of 240 points on serve. He won 107 of 151 on first serve (71%) and 37 of 89 on second (42%).
(McEnroe's percentage on second serve rose from 27 to 39 to 57 in the first three sets. It might be interesting to watch how he adjusted to get such a high success by the third set; nothing in particular struck me watching the match once).
Becker served at 65.2%, making 133 of 204 first serves. By set:
17/28 - 61%
49/80 - 61%
33/48 - 69%
20/29 - 69%
14/19 - 74%
McEnroe served at 62.9%, making 151 of 240 first serves. By set:
25/36 - 69%
56/89 - 63%
35/63 - 56%
12/22 - 55%
23/30 - 77%
Becker converted 9 of 27 break chances (4 of 13 in the second set alone). McEnroe converted 6 of 17 break chances (3 of 9 in the second set).
Becker made his first serve on 10 of 17 break points (59%). He was broken twice on first serve and 4 times on second.
McEnroe made his first serve on 17 of 27 break points (63%). He was broken 5 times on first serve and 4 times on second.
McEnroe looked mentally discouraged in the last games of the second set, having failed to convert 5 break points that were also set points. Becker failed to break McEnroe after 5 chances in the third set and lost his concentration in the last game.
It seemed to me that the players had a letdown after the second set and made many poor returns. No one broke in the third set until the last game.
I wonder if McEnroe suffered from simple physical exhaustion after the third set, or whether he was also missing the crowd's support. Later he would complain that much of the crowd left as the match had worn on. What was left of it gave him a standing ovation as the fifth set was about to start and it seemed to help him hold to 2-all (he'd been broken in the fourth set right off the bat, coming back from the break).
Becker had 18 aces, 9 df's.
McEnroe had 16 aces, 12 df's.
(Becker double-faulted twice on break point in the first set. His next service break also came on a double-fault. He also served a double-fault to go down set point in the second set. But he served no df's in the fifth set.)
Becker drew 50 return errors (11 with second serves). McEnroe drew 66 (15 with second serves). Out of all these serves I gave Becker 10 service winners, McEnroe 8.
WINNERS
Becker had 74 clean winners: 27 FH, 27 BH, 9 FHV, 7 BHV, 4 OV.
McEnroe had 50 clean winners: 11 FH, 11 BH, 11 FHV, 8 BHV, 9 OV.
Becker's winners by set: 6, 27, 19, 11, 11
Mac's winners by set: 7, 26, 12, 2, 3
Becker made 21 return winners (12 off 2nd serve): 7 FH’s and 14 BH’s. 19 returns were passing shots. On top of these he made 22 passing shots, 11 from each side. Altogether he passed McEnroe 41 times.
McEnroe made 3 return winners: two BH’s off second serves and a FH pass off first serve. In addition he made 11 passing shots (4 BH’s). Altogether he passed Becker only 12 times.
There were two big differences between the two men: Becker went for winners on the returns and could pull them off; and Becker stayed back more often. In the end a large majority of Becker’s winners were ground strokes.
ERRORS (forced and unforced)
Subtracting the winners and aces from the total points won:
Becker made 144 total errors. Of those I counted 66 return errors and 9 double-faults. That leaves him making 69 errors in points that had at least a successful return, that is, in rallies.
McEnroe made 142 total errors. Of those I counted 50 return errors and 12 double-faults. That leaves him making 80 errors in rallies.
With the two men so close in errors, the difference between them was the (non-service) winners. However in that stat the two men were nearly equal after three sets.
AFTER 3 SETS
Becker served at 63.46% and won 174 points overall. He won 103 of 156 points on serve: 76 of 99 on first (77%) and 27 of 57 on second (47%). He hit 14 aces, 52 other clean winners, plus 9 service winners. He passed McEnroe 30 times. He made 112 total errors (50 returns, 8 df’s, 54 rally errors), and converted 5 of 20 break chances.
McEnroe served at 62% and won 170 points overall. He won 117 of 188 points on serve: 85 of 116 on first (73%) and 32 of 72 on second (44%). He hit 13 aces, 45 other clean winners, plus 4 service winners. He passed Becker 10 times. He made 108 total errors (42 returns, 7 df’s, 59 rally errors), and converted 6 of 16 break chances.
Last edited:
