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.
June is serving month!
Every Wednesday this month, we’ll be releasing new data on the serve.
Stat of the Week: 21%
A few weeks ago in our June 10th Stat of the Week, we showed you the highest win percentage for 2nd serves, by location.
One surprising stat was that men win the highest percentage (59%) serving wide in the deuce court, to the forehand.
How often do they hit it there? Only 21% of the time!
| NCAA-Men 2019-20 | Wide | Body | T |
| 2nd Serve Deuce | 21% | 31% | 35% |
| 2nd Serve Ad | 40% | 30% | 17% |
This shows how often each location is hit on 2nd serves. The rest are double faults.
It’s possible that this wide in the deuce court has a high win percentage because it surprises the opponent.
However, it also may mean you get more S+1 forehands making you more likely to win the point. If you’re a college player or coach, this is worth testing.
Here are the numbers for the women.
| NCAA-Women 2019-20 | Wide | Body | T |
| 2nd Serve Deuce | 24% | 35% | 23% |
| 2nd Serve Ad | 32% | 34% | 17% |
This shows how often each location is hit on 2nd serves. The rest are double faults.
According to our June 10th Stat, the women had the best chance to win the point on a 2nd serve by hitting to the forehand locations.
The lowest win percentage was the body, which is where most 2nd serves are hit!
Again, it’s worth testing the wide serve on the deuce side for 2nd serves. The T serve in the ad court may be more difficult to make consistently.
Point of the Week
When we’re analyzing this data, it’s important to remember to be careful.
For example, you might conclude that we should hit every 2nd serve wide on the deuce side. However, as the opponent starts to notice this trend, their comfort with that serve may increase and the win percentage may go down.
Use these stats as insights into what areas of the court to target, but keep measuring the data so you can adjust accordingly. Variety and balance are still important.
Photo of the Week
Coco Gauff’s backhand.
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