Every week, Tennis Analytics dives deep into the data, bringing you a stat of the week to help you understand tennis better and become a little smarter.
Stat of the Week: Minus 13%
Adolfo Daniel Vallejo was crowned Orange Bowl champion last week, joining an illustrious group of players like Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Robin Soderling, Dominic Thiem, and even Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. Sidenote – Bjorn’s son Leo Borg reached the QF round at this year’s event. The Paraguayan defeated USA’s Bruno Kuzuhara 6-2 6-3 in the final.
While Vallejo’s first serve percentage (66%) was 13% lower than Kuzuhara’s, his first serve win percentage (67%) was 20% higher. As referenced in earlier Stat of the Week posts, it is always a balance of these 2 numbers (percent made & percent won) that is important.
Example, based on 100 service points for each player:
- Vallejo makes 66 first serves and wins 67% of those = 44 Points
- Kuzuhara makes 79 first serves and wins 47% of those = 37 points
With a 13% lower first serve percentage balanced by a 20% higher win percentage on first serve, Vallejo dominates.
And speaking of domination, Vallejo won 30% more than his opponent on second serve points.
Net Appearances
Of the 109 points played, Kuzuhara made double the net appearances to Vallejo. But, Vallejo was almost twice as efficient:
Point of the Week
Understanding your “efficiencies” – win percentages compared to your opponent’s – is important.
Simply watching a match does not give you this information. This means that you may be working on the wrong things in practice.
Our Player Packages help you identify your efficiencies (or inefficiencies) to become a better player. Learn more here.
Photo of the Week
Roger Federer won the Orange Bowl on December 20, 1998. Here’s a look at his masterful one-handed backhand.
Leave a Reply