Lucia Bronzetti vs Mayar Sherif: Contrexeville Final Analysis (WTA 125)
After 3h31min and 10 match points, Bronzetti finally defeated an extremely resilient Sherif to secure her first WTA 125 title.
cover 📸 credit: Grand Est 88 Open website
For 3h31min, Lucia Bronzetti (WTA #81) and Mayar Sherif (WTA #78) put on a thrilling show filled with gruelling rallies, hard-fought games and nail-biting moments.
278 points were played, including 100 medium rallies (5-8 shots) and 60 points lasting 9 or more shots
across 16 games, there were 36 points played with the score at Deuce
match continued for over 1h30min after the first match point was reached
it only ended on Bronzetti’s 10th match point
Breaks didn’t arrive until the last 3 games of the opening set. Bronzetti broke for 5-3 and she won the set 6-4 with another break, after failing to serve it out.
In the second set, Bronzetti faced break points in each of her 6 serve games. Despite that, she managed to build 4-0 and 5-2 leads. Serving for the title at 5-3, Bronzetti was two points away from victory. In the following game, she got even closer, reaching a first match point that Sherif erased with a forehand crosscourt winner to cap a long rally. Eventually, Sherif completed a run of 4 straight games for a 6-5 lead and, even though she also failed to serve out the set, took it on the tie-break.
Sherif served first in the decider and she was the first to reach break point, in the 4th game. Bronzetti saved it and proceeded to break in the following game. It stood as the only break of the set until Sherif levelled at 5-5, after a couple of drama-filled games. With Sherif serving at 3-5, Bronzetti led 0/40 and squandered 4 match points in total; she also led 40/15 and had yet another match point later in the game when serving a second time for the title, at 5-4. From an ace to a couple of winning forehands and a drop shot winner to end a 15-shot rally, Sherif came up with a rich variety of saves.
Amidst a bunch of missed opportunities, Bronzetti reacted extremely well by breaking for 6-5. Yet, her final test had only began. Serving for the title a third time, she had to save a break point (with an unreturned T serve) and then deal with the frustration of wasting her 9th match point with a double fault. Finally, Bronzetti chased down a drop shot and clinched the title with an approach winner, on her 10th try.
The distinctive feature of the Contrexeville final was Bronzetti happily rallying from the baseline while Sherif sought to gain position at the net whenever possible.
Bronzetti finished with a 21-point advantage in baseline duels (89-68). Overall, she won 51% (102/199) of baseline points, 9% more than Sherif (72/171, 42%).
Sherif moved forward 57 times, winning 39 points (68%). That was close to 20 net points per set.
Sherif also tried to disrupt baseline exchanges by playing drop shots, sometimes using them in “drop and charge” plays. Overall, Sherif attempted 23 drop shots, winning 14 points (61%).
As a result of her constant net approaches, Sherif accumulated 18 winners and 4 forcing shots on volleys/overheads with 11 errors (3 unforced).
Forehand return & groundstroke performances were relatively similar: Bronzetti at -6 and Sherif -7.5. However, there was a big gap between backhand return & groundstroke performances, with Bronzetti’s -7 score a lot better than Sherif’s -24. This was mostly due to Sherif making 15 more backhand unforced errors (26 vs 11).
Throughout the match, both players were active in upgrading to run-around forehands in the AD court instead of hitting backhands.
Bronzetti was very efficient on inside-out forehands, generating 9 winning forehands with only 2 unforced errors. Sherif had those exact numbers but on inside-in forehands (marked with black box).
Bronzetti’s overall performance was superior due to her down-the-line groundstrokes. On shots through the same court half, she hit 16 winning forehands with 5 unforced errors and 10 winning backhands with 5 unforced errors (marked with blue box).
Short rallies only accounted for 42% of points and they ended in a tie (59-59).
By contrast, Bronzetti finished with a 12-point advantage (56-44) in medium rallies, the eventual winning margin.
Sherif won 4 more long rallies (32-28) but it was not enough to make up for her dificit in medium rallies.
Already holding a WTA 250 title in her resumé, conquered last year in Rabat, Lucia Bronzetti opened her account at WTA 125 level on her second try (finalist in Vancouver 2022).
In the Contrexeville final, Bronzetti defeated Sherif, the record holder of WTA 125 level titles at 6. Sherif racked up those titles in her first 6 finals, but has finished as runner-up in 4 finals played this year (Lleida, Parma, Makarska and now Contrexeville). Her 2024 season also includes a loss in the WTA 250 Rabat final.
With the postponement of the Bastad final due to bad weather, we ended up missing its stream. Therefore, we won’t be able to post an analysis. Sorry for that!
Martina Trevisan (WTA #89 and 7th seed) scored a 6-2 6-2 win over Ann Li (WTA #143) to capture her first career WTA 125 title.
Coincidentally, similarities between Bronzetti and Trevisan extend well beyond their nationality:
conquered their first career WTA 125 title this week
improved to 1-1 in WTA 125 finals
possess a single WTA 250 title, won in Rabat (Trevisan 2022, Bronzetti 2023)
Lucia Bronzetti (WTA #81, seed 4) vs Mayar Sherif (WTA #78, seed 3)
2024 Contrexeville Final - Match Data
Set by Set Stats
Rally Length
Winners and Errors
Serve and Return
1st Serves
2nd Serves
Return & rallying performance
Points won breakdown
This final section gives a last, broader look at the match by presenting how each player won points. Points are listed according to their frequency (highest to lowest) and are named in relation to the last touch on the ball. For simplicity, groundstrokes hit from the 5th shot onwards are grouped together.
Breakdown by side (FHs or BHs)
Breakdown by error type (UFEs or FEs)
To find out more about the stats published here, please visit the following post.
Even though they follow the same criteria used on all major tennis events, they are not official WTA or ITF stats. They are collected through our own rigorous video analysis.
Thanks for reading!
— Tennis Inside Numbers