Tennis News

Conventional wisdom says that the serve is the most important shot in tennis. The more astute tennis fan knows that quite the opposite is true.

After crunching the numbers from more than 60 tournaments on the ATP World Tour in 2015, Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers shows that the return of serve is what really counts.

In 2015, none of the Top 3 players in the Service Games Won category made it to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Yet the Top 4 players on the list of Return Games won – David Ferrer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray – all made it to The O2.

Ferrer, who won five titles in 2015, topped the list by winning 35 percent of services games in 2015, followed by Djokovic with 34 and Nadal and Murray, both at 31 percent. Two others players in the Top 10 of this category also made it to The O2: Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori, who won 27 percent of their return games in 2015.

Looking at the Service Games won leaders of 2015, ace king Ivo Karlovic stood as tall as his 6’ 11’ frame by holding 96 out of every 100 services games in a season in which he also fired 1,447 aces. That put him tantalisingly close to Goran Ivanisevic’s season-record of 1477 in 1996.

Second was Canada’s Milos Raonic, who won 94 percent of his service games, while American John Isner, who fired 1,260 aces this year, held 93 percent of service games. But only Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (who were among the best returners of the year), were the only members of the Top 5 list of service games won to make it to London.              

On a more granular level, the percentage of points won on serve and against serve also supports the argument that good returning trumps great serving.

Six of the Top 7 players on the list of Points Won Returning Second Serve qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals: Novak Djokovic topped the list, winning 57 percent of all second-serve return points, followed by Andy Murray and David Ferrer on 56 percent, Tomas Berdych on 55 percent. Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori were tied for sixth with 53 percent.

Ferrer, Djokovic, Nadal, Murray and Federer also occupied the top five places on the list of Points Won Returning 1^st Serves. In contrast, Federer and Berdych were the only London qualifiers among the year’s Top 10 list for Most Points Won On First Serve.  

The importance of winning points on second serves was a slightly different story. Novak Djokovic led that list with a 60% success rate. Roger Federer finished 3^rd with 58 percent. Further back was Stan Wawrinka in eighth, Rafael Nadal in ninth and Tomas Berdych in 10th spot.

But success winning points returning second serves still proved to be even more important, with six of the top seven places on the list all being occupied by London qualifiers, led by Djokovic, who won 57 percent of points when returning second serves.

Power thumped precision. Stan Wawrinka defeated Andy Murray 7-6(4), 6-4 at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Friday night, primarily by pulverizing the ball with every single shot in the book.

Wawrinka punched his place into Saturday’s semi-final against Roger Federer with a stunning display of power tennis, especially sending a message at the start of the match with his ferocious groundstrokes.

After the first three games, Wawrinka’s average forehand speed was a high-octane 80 miles per hour (mph), 11 mph faster than Murray’s average of 69 mph. Wawrinka pole-axed everything he could lay his hands on, setting the evening’s terms of engagement without saying a word.

Wawrinka was also getting after his backhand as well, averaging a substantial 75 mph, to Murray’s 68 mph. Wawrinka’s power tennis created sensational winners, and the atmosphere of a heavy-weight fight at the packed O2 arena.

The crowd were instantly engaged with Wawrinka’s angry groundstrokes, and the place buzzed with electricity and massive applause for both players as they stared each other down with raw power.

Murray responded to the early onslaught by upping his speed, effectively matching Wawrinka blow-for-blow. After seven games, Murray had increased his average forehand speed from 69 mph to 74 mph, taking the sting out Wawrinka’s forehand, which dropped from an average of 80 mph to 75 mph.

Wawrinka broke for a 5-3 lead in the first set, but was broken right back, and skipped his racquet from around the baseline to his chair in disgust at not putting Murray away.

There are several key elements to Wawrinka’s stunning power, including coiling his upper body so well against his lower body, pure racket-head acceleration, exceptional balance, and a conviction to make the ball feel like it’s made out of lead when the opponent tries to hit it back.

Half way through the second set, Wawrinka increased the power level again to race to the finish line. His forehand speed had risen to 77 mph, while Murray’s had slightly dropped back to 71 mph.

Wawrinka found the most separation in speed going backhand-to-backhand, averaging 73 mph to Murray’s 65 mph at the half-way point of the second set.

Wawrinka hit 73 per cent of his backhands cross court for the match, landing 14 per cent in the service box, 28 per cent closer to the back half of the court between the service line and the baseline, and 58 per cent around mid-court, closer to the service line than the baseline.

With Wawrinka serving for the match at 5-4, he quickly fell behind 0/30, but a raking 95 mph cross court forehand was simply too big for Murray to handle, dumping it in net on full defence.

Wawrinka would escape a 15/40 hole at 5-4, and with the score at deuce, Murray destroyed his racket after Wawrinka put away an overhead to move to match point.

The pressure cooker that the power created simply boiled over, and Wawrinka would win the match a few points later when Murray a missed a cross court backhand wide. Overall, Wawrinka hit 27 winners to Murray’s 22, with raw power being the primary weapon of choice.

Wawrinka Serving

It was not a good day serving for the Swiss, only making a lowly 45 per cent of his first serves, but when they did go in, his accuracy close to the lines was impeccable.

Infosys Match Insights showed that Wawrinka hit 87 per cent of his first serves within two feet of the edge of the service box.

Serving in the deuce court, Wawrinka landed 10/10 in the two-foot target close to the center line, and 3/5 sliding out wide. In the Ad court, Wawrinka pin-pointed 9/10 down the middle close to the line, and 5/9 kicking out wide to Murray’s backhand.

Wawrinka has always been a player that does not necessarily make the most first serves, but wins a substantial amount (75 per cent against Murray) when they do go in.

Wawrinka won a very healthy 59 per cent of his second serves (Murray 48 per cent), again using pace as a key weapon. Wawrinka’s fastest second serve for the match was 111 mph, 14 mph faster than Murray’s 97 mph.

On the slow end of the scale on second serves, Wawrinka only dipped down to 90 mph, while Murray clocked a very pedestrian 77 mph.

Wawrinka’s power game will be on display this evening against Federer, and the same bruising tactics will surely be employed.

Craig O’Shannessy uses extensive tagging, metrics and formulas to uncover the patterns and percentages behind the game. Read more at www.braingametennis.com.

The ATP and Le Sports have announced a new partnership which sees China’s revolutionary digital sports broadcasting company become Official Online Video Partner and Platinum Partner of the ATP World Tour, as well as the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, for a five-year period beginning in 2016.

In addition, through ATP Media, broadcast arm of the ATP, Le Sports has acquired the exclusive digital media rights to the ATP World Tour Masters 1000s and 500 tournaments in China over the same period.

Le Sports will bring live action of more than 20 of the biggest tournaments on the ATP World Tour, as well as the ATP’s weekly magazine TV show, ATP World Tour Uncovered, offering fans unique behind-the-scenes access of the ATP World Tour to a rapidly growing audience on its digital platforms.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “As we continue to focus our efforts on expansion in the digital media sphere, the ATP is delighted to have reached this agreement with Le Sports that will help us to reach and connect with new audiences in one of our most important markets. We look forward to a successful partnership over the next five years.”

Mr. Lei Zhenjian, CEO of Le Sports, said: “As the world’s premier tennis organization, ATP World Tour and its events are extremely popular in China. Connectivity is the key function of the Internet, we hope our cooperation can help more people connect with sports, and generate more exchange between China and the world’s sports industry. We hope that with Le Sports’ unique internet eco-system and by joining forces with ATP World Tour, we can help further promote the sport of tennis in China, provide enhanced watching experience to Chinese fans, and encourage more people to play and enjoy this amazing sport.”

Mark Webster, CEO, ATP Media, said: “We are delighted that Le Sports have acquired the digital rights in China to the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and 500 events along with our season finale, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. We have no doubt that Le Sports will provide the passion and superb production values required to showcase the finest male tennis players competing in the world’s most exciting venues.” As with all our broadcasters, we look forward to a collaborative relationship where ATP Media can offer the extra service which serves as the benchmark in the sports broadcast industry.”

As part of the partnership, Le Sports will receive on-court branding at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and will also become the presenting sponsor of the video section on the Tour’s flagship website, ATPWorldTour.com, the No.1 tennis digital portal which recorded 325 million visits in 2014.

Le Sports recently have acquired a number of media rights deals in 2015, including the rights to Wimbledon from 2016-2018, in addition to exclusive rights to English soccer’s Premier League in Hong Kong from 2016-2019.