Semenistaja vs Hunter: Mumbai Final Analysis (WTA 125)

Darja Semenistaja won her highest-level title after saving match point in the second set

Darja Semenistaja (WTA #120) conquered her biggest career title to date by defeating Storm Hunter (WTA #129) in the final of the WTA 125 L&T Mumbai Open.

The 21-year-old Latvian did it the hard way, recovering from a set and break down -Hunter served for the title at 7-5, 5-4 - and saving a championship point during the second set tie-break.

In a very abbreviated match summary, it all came down to a couple of down-the-line forehands from the alley during the second set tie-break.

Hunter missed hers while championship point up.

Semenistaja did a lot better, connecting on her risky forehand to force a deciding set.

On a broader analysis of the match, Semenistaja was the more consistent player and Hunter was the aggressor.

The Australian finished with 2 more aces and 20 more return/rally winners but she also made 30 more return/rally unforced errors and served 6 double faults.

While each player used a different strategy, then ended up with similar forehand net productions.

Forehand Performances

• Semenistaja: 20 winners / 36 errors = -16

• Hunter: 35 winners / 51 errors = -16

Performances from the backhand wing were inferior and didn’t distance much. Still, they resulted in a 5-point advantage for Semenistaja.

Backhand Performances

• Semenistaja: 2 winners / 26 errors = -24

• Hunter: 7 winners / 36 errors = -29

Semenistaja was comfortable rallying from the back of the court. She finished with a 51% baseline win-rate against 42% from Hunter.

The Latvian enjoyed a massive 83-64 edge in baseline duels.

Hunter, a world-class doubles player, did a lot better at the net. She moved forward 28 times, winning 22 points for a 79% win-rate.

To gain position in the forecourt, Hunter was forced to rally patiently. As a result, she concluded the match with a 30-19 advantage in long rallies.

However, Hunter also accumulated a few errors, in particular on “serve+1” and “return+2” shots. These misses, along with Hunter’s 6 double faults, combined to give Semenistaja the edge in short (+8) and medium (+12) rallies.

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Short match recap

Semenistaja enjoyed a better start to the match, jumping to a 3-0 lead. From the 5th game, a sequence of 4 breaks in a row left the Latvian serving for the opening set at 5-3. However, she hit 3 consecutive forehand errors and was broken once again. That was the beginning of a 4-game run for Hunter as she turned the set around from 3-5 to 7-5, clinching it on her 4th straight break of Semenistaja’s serve.

In the second set, Semenistaja broke to move ahead 4-2 but she immediately lost 3 consecutive games to leave Hunter serving for the title. The Australian saved 2 break points and got the game to Deuce but still lost her serve.

Hunter had 2:0 and 4:2 leads in the tie-break. At 5:5, she hit a forehand winner to reach championship point, missed on the return error shown above. Then Semenistaja converted her first set point with her down-the-line forehand winner.

Full of confidence, Semenistaja ruled the final set. She broke in the 3rd game, taking a definitive lead. The Latvian limited Hunter to just 5 net points and only dropped 5 points on serve, never facing a break point in the set.

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Darja Semenistaja (WTA #120, seed 6) vs Storm Hunter (WTA #129)

2024 Mumbai Final - Match Data

Set by Set Stats

Strokes Breakdown

* Scores calculated according to: Winner +1; Forcing Shot +0.5; Unforced Error -1; Forced Error -0.5

Direction of winning shots and unforced errors (only groundstrokes)

Intended direction of groundstroke winning shots (= winners+forcing shots) and unforced errors. Returns and volleys/overheads are not included. Down-the-line is considered broadly and includes more central shots that land on the same court half.

Serve and Return

1st Serves

2nd Serves

Return & rallying performance

Point-winning (court on the left for each player) and point-losing shots (court on the right for each player). Ball direction is from bottom to top.

Forehand point-winning (court on the left for each player) and point-losing shots (court on the right for each player). Ball direction is from bottom to top.

Backhand point-winning (court on the left for each player) and point-losing shots (court on the right for each player). Ball direction is from bottom to top.

Rally Length

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)

Points won on winners are highlighted in violet. Points won due to opponent’s errors are highlighted in grey

• Breakdown by error type (UFEs or FEs)

Points won on winners are highlighted in violet. Points won due to opponent’s errors are highlighted in grey

Thumbnail photo credit: MSLTA Tennis

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