#NextGenATP Jared Donaldson breaks the American mould. The 20-year-old Donaldson, 20, who lives in Irvine, California, is racing up the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2017, enjoying a career-high position at No. 51 this week. He started 2017 at No. 105, playing a mix of ATP Challenger and ATP World Tour events for the first four months of the season. Now he is doing damage only in the big leagues, and he is doing it in an unconventional way for an American prodigy. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis reveals that, in general, American players are more proficient on the serving side of the game than returning. For example, there are currently four American players in the Top 26 of...
Since 2008, the best returner in the game has either been Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal. Those two players have finished atop the Infosys ATP Return Games Won LEADERBOARD every year for the past nine seasons, but neither of them are currently first in 2017. The surprise package who is dominating on the return side of the equation so far this year is Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman. Schwartzman, 24, boasts his career best Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 33 this week, primarily driven by winning a tour-leading 36 per cent (192/532) of his return games. Nadal is in second place winning 34 per cent (212/626), while Djokovic is in fourth place, winning 31 per cent (141/461). At 5’7”, 141 lbs, Schwartzman...
Four more points is all you need. You have put yourself into position to win the match, and now you need to serve it out. The Top 10 players in the world are clutch in situations just like this but none of them are perfect on serve with the match on the line. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the Top 10 (on 31 July) reveals that, since the start of the 2015 season, they have combined to hold serve just under 90 per cent of the time when serving out a match. They are performing slightly better in the 2017 season, but nobody has held every single time they have had the opportunity to seal the match....
Flashback to 20 July 2015, and you find 18-year-old Alexander Zverev No. 123 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. His potential was obvious but yet to be fully realised. Fast forward two years to 31 July 2017, and you discover that the now 20-year-old German has skyrocketed to No. 8 in the world. He is now the real deal, and what’s scary is that his potential is still largely unearthed. He is still adding muscle to his 6’6” frame, still putting the subtleties of strategy together, and still discovering what really matters when push comes to shove under the bright lights. Look out world when this jigsaw comes together. The discussion about Zverev rising to No. 1 in the world is...
Novak Djokovic owned 2015. Andy Murray surged to World No. 1 in 2016, and it’s been the Roger and Rafa show so far in 2017. The Big Four have all had their time in the sun during the past two-and-a-half years, and all are ranked in the Top Four of the Emirates ATP Rankings this week. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers breakdown of their first-serve percentage when serving down break point in both the deuce and ad courts from the 2015 season to the present time provides deeper insight into the metrics that define their greatness. 1. Overall Record Novak Djokovic has the highest match-win percentage of the Big Four since the start of the 2015 season, at 88.6...
