When it comes to statistics on tennis players, the ATPTour.com site has plenty of it. There are the stats that most tennis aficionados know. These would include things such as player rankings, and the number of Grand Slam tournaments won by top players. Then, there are the tennis stats that will surprise you.
Numbers don’t lie.
However, it is up to you to derive insights from them and adjust your tennis strategy, if needed. Most of the tennis stats used in this post have been captured using the various filters available on the ATP Tour site, which I believe is the best resource for such data. The stats pertain to a 52-week period and cover all players and include all playing surfaces.
So here are some insights gleaned from these publicly available tennis stats.
Note: The stats used in this post are subject to change based on the ATP Tour site’s update frequency.
Power is good, but power with accuracy is better
That sounds like a no-brainer.
You probably know that John Isner holds the official record for the fastest serve in tennis. With twenty-one aces per match, Isner is the leader in the “aces” category.
That adds up to a lot of free games.
The surprise
John Isner also tops the list for the first-serve percentage!
With serve speeds touching 253 km/h (157.2 mph), Isner manages to get 72% of his first serves into play.
You can’t beat that!
The lesson
Power with accuracy is the winning formula.
If that does not sound like a viable option for you, you still have hope. Check out the next tennis stat.
Your power serve will only get you so far
Of all the players currently on tour, John Isner, Milos Raonic, Reilly Opelka, and Nick Kyrgios top the list for the “highest serve rankings.” All four are known for their killer serves and powerful ground-strokes.
The same four players also fare very well in the “first serve points won” category. Out of a field of eighty-two, the four players listed above appear within the top six positions.
The surprise
The four power-players of tennis have not won a single grand slam tournament among them.
The lesson
There is more to tennis than power.
Your second serve could make or break your game
Second-serve issues plague professional players and club-level players alike. All you have to do is look at the tennis stats for double faults. There is a reason that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal continue to win major tennis tournaments. They top the list in “second serve points won.”
The surprise
With 44% second service points won, Alexander Zverev, currently ranked 7th in the world, comes in last on that list.
The lesson
A good second serve is critical to your tennis game.
Return of serve is what wins matches
The three top-ranked ATP professionals — Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer — don’t make the top-twenty for “aces per match.” However, for “first-serve return points won,” they are at the top.
Returning a crushing serve and putting the ball back in to play takes away from power-players who look for quick points.
The surprise
Diego Schwartzman, the shortest player on the ATP Tour, tops the list for second serve returns. With an ATP rank of fourteen, Schwartzman also comes in at the number three position for first serves returned.
Size doesn’t matter!
The lesson
Return of serves is what wins matches.
Champions keep their cool under pressure
This one is perhaps the most telling tennis stat of all the ones that I cover in this post. In a category named “Under pressure leaders,” the ATP site has compiled numbers that cover break-points, tie breaks, and deciding sets.
The data tells the story.
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal come in at the number one, two, and three positions.
The surprise
The big servers, John Isner, Reilly Opelka, and Milos Raonic are unable to convert break-points. When it comes to break-point conversion, they sit at the bottom of the pile at 79, 78, and 75th positions, respectively.
That indeed is a surprise!
The lesson
Your big serve may desert you when you really need it.
Double Faults are part of the game
The spread in the number of double faults between players who make the least and the ones who make the most is rather large. While 67th ranked Mikhail Kukushkin makes just over one double fault per match, 56th ranked Alexander Bublik makes nearly nine double faults per match.
That’s more than two games worth of points.
The surprise
Canadians push the envelope when it comes to aggressive serving.
Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, and Milos Raonic make more double faults than the sixty-five players who fare better than them in that category.
The lesson
If you don’t make any double faults in a match, you are being too careful. If you are giving your opponent a lot of free points, you are stretching your limits beyond your capabilities.
Do these insights make you rethink your tennis strategy?
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