Stat of the Week | February 17, 2021

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.

February is Aussie Open month. We’re into week 2 and featuring some key insights from the tournament.

Stat of the Week: 77%

In every major event, we look for the diamonds hidden in the rough. And this year, on the Men’s side, we have found one – Aslan Karatsev.

At time of this writing, his ATP ranking is #114. That number will head to double digits after his out-of-nowhere Australian Open run.

After his 5 set win against Felix Auger-Aliassime, Aslan is 7-0 at the Aussie Open! This includes his 3 qualifying matches to even get into the main draw.

How has he done it? Predominantly around 1st serves and net appearances.

• Karatsev is winning a remarkable 77% of 1st Serve Points, and 77% of all Net Appearances.

On serve, his aces outnumber Double Faults 3 to 1. And backing up the great serve numbers, he is winning 42% of all return points (to his opponent’s 27%).

Maybe he should change his name to “Carat”-sev… check out his numbers below.

Point of the Week

As we have discussed in previous posts, the 1st serve percentage alone only tells half of the story.

The other half is how many of these are won. Sometimes a high 1st serve percentage is at the expense of win percentage. Take a look at the 3 scenarios below.

In scenario #3, a player has decided to be more aggressive on the 1st Serve.  Even though they are making fewer 1st serves, the win percentage is higher, and also the total number of points won.

Aussie Open Special

Purchase a player package before March 15th and we will include a Key Performance Indicator Comparison Report, comparing your numbers alongside the 2021 AO Champion.

Purchase your player package here.

Photo of the Week

Felix Auger-Aliassime’s serve.