Iga Swiatek won 56% of the 980 points she played at the 2022 US Open. As a baseliner, we would expect that she won by outlasting her opponents from the backcourt.
In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Swiatek won the shorter rallies (57%), but lost the longer ones (47%).
Interesting is the fact that 75% of all Swiatek’s rallies ended within 6 strokes – that is 3 or less per player. On average, Iga came to the net 16x per match and won 73% of these. Not bad for a baseliner.
Over the fortnight, Iga hit more winners than her opponents (+4%), and doubled this margin on the errors count (-8%), for a combined differential of 12%.
Opponents know what is coming, and have to first prove that they can handle this. Swiatek rarely needs to make any changes. The lesson, “play to your strengths before trying to exploit your opponent’s weaknesses.”
Key though, is to know what you are really good at. That is where match stats come in.
Find the Strengths in your game:
Mike says
Love it!
Warren says
Thanks Mike, glad you liked it! Keep an eye out for the post this week!