Nothing moves the dial more with the transition from hard courts to clay courts than points won returning first serves. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the four semi-finalists from the 2017 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters against their own 2017 hard-court averages identifies the biggest improvement in any serve or return category was points won returning first serves. [ALSO LIKE] The four semi-finalists in Monaco last year were David Goffin, Lucas Pouille, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and the champion, Rafael Nadal. The quartet combined to put up positive numbers in all three return categories on the clay, but their combined performance against first serves was the most noteworthy. 2017 Monte-Carlo Semi-Finalists: Combined Monte-Carlo v Hard-Court Averages Return Statistics 2017 Hard Court...
The first quarter of the year is in the books. Here are five fresh faces who are enjoying a fast start to the 2018 season that you need to keep an eye on in the coming months. This Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis focuses on players ranked in the Top 10 in specific serve and return categories whom you might not expect to be ranked that high. 1. Pierre-Hugues Herbert No. 1 - Break Points Saved No. 1 - Break Points Converted The Frenchman, currently No. 80 in the ATP Rankings, is 10-8 on the season, including a solid run to the Round of 16 at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Interestingly, he is 4-2 on the...
Rafael Nadal is essentially the same server on clay courts and hard courts. It’s the returning side of the game on clay where beast mode kicks in for the Spaniard. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Nadal identifies that his serve metrics remarkably stay similar when he switches surfaces, from hard to clay. Our impression is that everything dramatically improves on clay, but that’s simply not the case. Nadal Serving The following serve metrics show just how close his career serve numbers are between hard and clay. Nadal's Career Serve Metrics: Hard Court vs Clay Court Serving Career Hard-Court Win Percentage & Ranking Career Clay-Court Win Percentage & Ranking Service Games Won 85.48% (18th) 84.53% (6th) 1st Serve...
Directing first serves out wide in the Ad court will bring significantly more shorter returns than hitting them wide in the Deuce court. The primary reason is that right-handed returners must hit a backhand return in the Ad court, and we now know that depth is a real issue with this specific shot from out wide. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of more than 17,000 wide returns against first serves in both the Deuce and Ad courts hit by current players in the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings uncovers this hidden strategic anomaly. The data set of 17,705 wide first serve returns comes from ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events and Nitto ATP Finals from 2011-2018. Return...