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: 4%
Match winners make 4% less return errors than their opponents against 1st serves for NCAA men. On 2nd serves, that number is 3%.
Return errors have the largest variance among our return stats below. This illustrates the importance of practicing returns, and simply getting the ball back in the court.
With the difference in a match typically being a 5% swing (or less) either way, this is an area of focus to close that gap if you’re not winning matches.
Find a way to make more returns!
| Return Data – NCAA-M | Winner | Loser | Variance |
| 1st Serve – Return Error % | 20.4% | 24.5% | -4.0% |
| 1st Serve – Return Winner % | 1.1% | 0.8% | 0.3% |
| 1st Serve – Return In Play % | 78.5% | 74.8% | 3.7% |
| 2nd Serve – Return Error % | 14.4% | 17.1% | -2.8% |
| 2nd Serve – Return Winner % | 2.5% | 1.6% | 0.8% |
| 2nd Serve – Return In Play % | 83.2% | 81.2% | 1.9% |
For NCAA women, we see a similar story.
The variance in return errors drops to 3.6% but is still the largest variance among our return of serve stats.
| Return Data – NCAA-W | Winner | Loser | Variance |
| 1st Serve – Return Error % | 14.7% | 18.4% | -3.6% |
| 1st Serve – Return Winner % | 1.1% | 0.8% | 0.3% |
| 1st Serve – Return In Play % | 84.1% | 80.8% | 3.4% |
| 2nd Serve – Return Error % | 13.0% | 16.4% | -3.5% |
| 2nd Serve – Return Winner % | 3.4% | 2.8% | 0.6% |
| 2nd Serve – Return In Play % | 83.7% | 80.8% | 2.9% |
Point of the Week
What percent of points do you win returning 2nd serves?
This is a VERY important statistic, but few players know it. The goal is to win 50% or more of these points.
Right now, top players are spending even more time on the practice court. But, it is important to practice with purpose and measure your performance against players who are better than you.
- Get stats for your own game across 5+ matches.
- Find stats for players at the next level you are trying to reach. Reach out to us for the benchmark numbers at each level.
- Find the areas where you are behind, and PRACTICE!
Use our Player Packages to get your matches analyzed across 25+ statistical categories.
Pro Tip: Since we chart BOTH players, you can split the cost with your practice partner.
Photo of the Week
Bianca Andreescu’s serve with key positions.
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