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.
For the next few weeks, we will look at the WTA Top 4 – Barty, Halep, Osaka, and Kenin. What are the key match stats that separate them from the rest of the pack?
Findings are based on matches tagged by Tennis Analytics from 2018 to 2020.
Stat of the Week: 59%
A fact of the sport is that most rallies are done within the first 4 shots.
For the top 4 WTA players, 59% of all points played end within 4 shots. 87% of points end within 8 shots. That means only 13% of all points last 9 shots or more.
This certainly does not mean that the longer points are not important. Each and every point is important.
The WTA top 4 win at every rally length.
You can see that Halep and Osaka are best in the shorter rallies with Barty close behind. Kenin is an anomaly here, losing more points than she wins.
Kenin makes up for it after the 5th shot winning the highest percentage among the top 4.
Point of the Week
Players who are good at long rallies, are usually also great at the shorter ones.
Longer points require that players learn sound patterns of play and develop confidence, technique, strategy, consistency, and endurance.
Your 1st 2 touches (Serve and Serve+1, or Return and Return+1) are gateways to success of all rally lengths. Make sure to invest a proportionate amount of time on these shots.
How good are you at the different rally lengths?
Find out with a Tennis Analytics Player Package. Simply film your match, upload it to Tennis Analytics, and we’ll send you all your most important match data.
Get your player package here.
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Photo of the Week
Dayana Yastremska’s serve motion.
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