In this new series on USOpen.org, we examine the tactics that led to the title. In addition to telling you what happened in the championship match, we take a closer look at the "how" and the "why." Up next: How Stefan Edberg attacked Jim Courier's double-handed backhand.
Stefan Edberg said his 1991 US Open finals performance was like a dream. Jim Courier called it a pummeling unlike any he’d ever received.
What can’t be argued is that Edberg was as good as perfect in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 demolition of Courier, then the No. 4 player in the world, to win his first US Open title and the fifth Slam of his career.
Edberg held serve all 12 times he stepped to the line, and he dropped just 15 total points with the ball on his racquet. He hit twice as many winners as errors, and he broke Courier six times. By contrast, Courier dropped serve just seven times in six matches in reaching the championship match.
So what made Edberg so effective? The answer is his serve placement and his performance at the net.
The Serve
Looking at Edberg’s serve placement, he went wide as many times (33) as he attacked the body and down the ’T’ (33). But while he attacked all three zones equally from the deuce court, Edberg went wide to the Courier backhand from the ad court more than 70 percent of the time.
Considering the American employed a double-handed backhand, both the wide serve and the body serve proved particularly effective.
"I couldn't get a reading on where he was going with it," Courier told reporters after the match. "[I was] trying to get out of the way of it sometimes, just to get it back in play."
Edberg won 14 of 16 points when he went into the body, and he won 17 of 22 points when he went to the backhand on the ad side. His first serve averaged 102 mph and never dropped below 92 mph. And while Courier’s winning percentage dropped off dramatically when his first-serve speed dropped, Edberg actually won 91 percent of his points when his first serve was 90-99 mph.
The Swede also found greater success on his second serve. He won 68 percent of points compared to Courier, who won just 37 percent. In addition to the serve placement, Edberg simply hit his second serve harder, with his slowest second serve the same speed as Courier’s average serve.
At the Net
Here are some fast facts about how efficient Edberg was:
- Edberg played 66 points on serve and didn't need to hit a second shot almost one-third of the time.
- Twenty serves were not returned: Edberg hit three aces. He hit 13 other unreturnable serves to the Courier backhand and four more to the forehand side.
- Of the 41 returns Courier put into play, Edberg only stayed back at the baseline twice.
When Edberg hit a second shot, he hit a volley 39 times in 41 points. Of those 39 volleys, 15 were on the forehand side, and he won the point 80 percent of the time. Of the 24 on the backhand wing, he won 17 points.
Edberg only stayed back to play his second shot twice, and he won both of those points after coming forward to the net on his second or third ball.
Edberg's performance is one of the most lopsided wins in US Open finals history. Sure, Rafael Nadal's straight-sets win over Kevin Anderson in 2017 was domination from the beginning, and Roger Federer's 2004 win over Lleyton Hewitt was one-way traffic from the get-go, but there was something about Edberg on that September day almost three decades ago. The six games he dropped were the fewest since Jimmy Connors beat Ken Rosewall, 6-1, 6-0, 6-1, back in 1974.
"It's pretty hard to believe," Edberg said, according to The New York Times. ”It was almost like a dream; I felt like I could do anything out there."
Added Courier: "I've been pummeled before, but this is the worst beating I've taken this year. He was making my shots look like I don't know what.
"I was trying pretty much everything that I could, tried to mix up the pace a little, tried to serve-and-volley a few times, but every time I gave him an opening, he was on top of the net. You just keep plugging and hope that he goes off; unfortunately, he didn't today. I did the best I could, but I was beaten by the better man."
