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.
July is return month!
Every Wednesday this month, we’ll be releasing new data on the return of serve.
Stat of the Week: 14%
In the ad court, women college tennis players make an error on 14% of returns against 2nd serves.
A few weeks ago we saw that this number was 16% against 1st serves.
They hit more forehands against the 2nd serve in the ad court, and have a higher error rate on the forehand side.
However, they hit nearly 5% of those forehand returns for winners!
Here is the data for NCAA women 2019-20.
| 2nd Serve Returns Ad Court | % of Total | Rate |
| BH Error | 6% | 12% |
| FH Error | 8% | 16% |
| BH Winner | 0.8% | 1.7% |
| FH Winner | 2.5% | 4.7% |
| BH Made | 42% | 86% |
| FH Made | 41% | 79% |
Note: The rate is calculated by dividing by the total number of forehand or backhand returns. For example, if you hit 3 forehand winners out of 100 forehand returns, your FH winner rate is 3%.
For the men, the numbers tilt towards the server slightly more.
They make an error on 16% of the returns. Most of the returns hit in the ad court against 2nd serves (61%) are backhand returns, unlike the women who hit more forehands.
Men also have a higher forehand error rate, but do hit more winners from that side.
Here is the men’s data.
| 2nd Serve Returns Ad Court | % of Total | Rate |
| BH Error | 9% | 14% |
| FH Error | 7% | 19% |
| BH Winner | 1.1% | 1.8% |
| FH Winner | 1.3% | 3.3% |
| BH Made | 51% | 84% |
| FH Made | 30% | 78% |
Note: The rate is calculated by dividing by the total number of forehand or backhand returns. For example, if you hit 3 forehand winners out of 100 forehand returns, your FH winner rate is 3%.
Point of the Week
The college season is coming soon. Many coaches are using this type of data for their team to help them create quantifiable goals for each player. This helps them tailor practice and develop players more effectively.
If you’re a college coach, you can do this too. Contact us to schedule a free demo for your team, and we’ll show you how schools like Georgia, Texas, and USC are using Tennis Analytics.
Photo of the Week
Madison Keys’ serve with key positions.
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