Australian Open: Novak Djokovic not bigger than Grand Slam – Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal says the Australian Open will be “great” with or without Novak Djokovic as the world number one’s visa drama remains unresolved.
Rafael Nadal says the Australian Open will be “great” with or without Novak Djokovic as the world number one’s visa drama remains unresolved.
What is the most abundant rally length in tennis?
For example, do players play more four-shot rallies, eight-shot rallies, or 13-shot rallies in their matches? The mathematical term is the mode, and it sheds light on the most misunderstood element of our sport.
Case in point: Daniil Medvedev at the 2021 Australian Open.
An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Medvedev’s 2021 Australian Open campaign, during which he reached the final, shows exactly where the Russian played the vast majority of his points. The eye test finds Medvedev deep in the court to return serve and hitting backhands cross court ad nauseam to wear down opponents. It feels like he is part man, part machine as he patrols the baseline with his ungainly and unbreakable groundstrokes. Visually, you could easily form an opinion that Medvedev is a glorified grinder and plays more six, seven or eight-shot rallies than anything else. The eye test is wrong. Dead wrong.
Medvedev plays more one-shot rallies than any other, and it’s not even close.
Rally length in tennis is predicated on the ball hitting the court, not the strings. A serve lands in and the return is missed long. That’s a rally length of one (one ball in the court) even though the ball was struck twice.
Medvedev played 28.5 per cent (349/1226) of total points as a one-shot rally in Melbourne in 2021 through seven matches. That includes all the points where he served the ball in and it was either an ace or a return error, and likewise for his opponent. The next highest total was a three-shot rally, at 14.4 per cent (176). What’s eye-opening is that a one-shot rally occurs twice as much as a three-shot rally (28.5% to 14.4%). The curve is steep at the start of the point.
A three-shot rally occurs more than a two-shot rally due to the halo effect of the serve. It’s important to note that odd-numbered rallies can only be won by the server and even-numbered rallies can only be won by the returner. The graph below shows how our sport is incredibly front-end loaded when it comes to rally length.
Medvedev played considerably more one-shot rallies in Melbourne last year than any other. He also thrives on them. Medvedev won 62.8 per cent (219/349) of points where only one ball landed in the court. He also won 56.3 per cent (72/128) of two-shot rallies as well. He lost the three-shot rally length (43.2%) but dominated the four-shot rally length (66.7%).
The longest rally Medvedev played at the 2021 Australian Open was 43 shots against Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals. Rublev won it when Medvedev missed a forehand with both players standing at the back of the court. Medvedev played 26 points where the rally went 20 shots or longer last year. He only won 11 of them (42%). On the other end of the spectrum, he played 743 points when the rally was one, two, three or four shots. He won 57 per cent (427) of this huge slice of the competitive pie.
Long rallies are typically more spectacular and stick in our mind, even though there are very few of them. Short rallies tend to be directed to our short-term memory, and are somehow quickly forgotten. It takes a stats sheet to uncover how our sport is truly organised.
2021 Australian Open: Daniil Medvedev Rally Length Played
| Rally Length | Total Points | % Of Total Points |
| 0 (double fault) | 40 | 3.3% |
| 1 | 349 | 28.5% |
| 2 | 128 | 10.4% |
| 3 | 176 | 14.4% |
| 4 | 90 | 7.3% |
| 5 | 91 | 7.4% |
| 6 | 73 | 6.0% |
| 7 | 55 | 4.5% |
| 8 | 41 | 3.3% |
| 9 | 31 | 2.5% |
| 10 | 29 | 2.4% |
| 11 | 18 | 1.5% |
| 12 | 16 | 1.3% |
| 13 | 12 | 1.0% |
| 14 | 13 | 1.1% |
| 15 | 10 | 0.8% |
| 16 | 6 | 0.5% |
| 17 | 9 | 0.7% |
| 18 | 8 | 0.7% |
| 19 | 5 | 0.4% |
| 20 | 6 | 0.5% |
| 21 | 4 | 0.3% |
| 22 | 2 | 0.2% |
| 23 | 3 | 0.2% |
| 24 | 2 | 0.2% |
| 25 | 4 | 0.3% |
| 27 | 2 | 0.2% |
| 28 | 2 | 0.2% |
| 43 | 1 | 0.1% |
The tennis star will hear on Sunday whether he can stay in the country and compete unvaccinated.
Dutchman Wesley Koolhof and Briton Neal Skupski reached their second ATP Tour final in as many weeks by defeating second seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 6-1 on Friday in the semi-finals of the Adelaide International 2.
Third seeds Koolhof and Skupski triumphed at the Melbourne Summer Set tournament last week (d. Nedovyesov/Qureshi), but their opponents also came into the match in good form. The second-seeded Croatian-Brazilian pairing of Dodig and Melo had reached the final in Adelaide last week (l. to Bopanna/Ramanathan), but they were unable to replicate that performance this week at the same venue.
Koolhof and Skupski will meet Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar in the final. The Uruguayan-Ecuadorian pairing both finished 2021 with career high ATP Doubles Rankings, and the sixth seeds have started 2022 brightly, too. They beat the eighth seeds Tomislav Brkic and Nikola Cacic 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-6 in the second semi-final.
Bolelli/Fognini Recreate Top 10 Days to Reach Sydney Final
Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, the 2015 Australian Open champions, reached the Sydney Tennis Classic final on Friday, defeating sixth-seeded Germans Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies 6-4, 6-2.
All four players have been Top 10 in the world in doubles, but the constant pressure Bolelli and Fognini were able to put on their opponents’ serves was key. The Italians converted four of 10 break points on their way to victory.
In the other semi-final, Australian John Peers and Slovakia’s Filip Polasek defeated all-Australian duo Alexei Popyrin and Matt Reid 7-6(2), 6-3.
Third seeds Peers and Polasek, saved the only break point of the first set before winning the tie-break. They had too much for the unseeded Aussie pair in the second set, however, and Peers and Polasek can now look forward to the support of the home crowd when they take on Bolelli and Fognini on Saturday.
Get ready for access to professional tennis like you’ve never seen before.
For the first time, fans will be able to share in a year in the life of some of the world’s best tennis players as they journey around the world, seeking to win on the sport’s biggest stages.
Netflix has teamed up with the ATP Tour, ATP Media, WTA Tour and four Grand Slam Tournaments beginning with the 2022 season at the Australian Open to bring this unique immersive documentary series to the screen.
The series will offer an unfiltered look at life inside the competitive sport of professional tennis through the perspective of the players and their teams, in the same spirit as Formula 1: Drive to Survive and the recently announced project featuring golf’s PGA Tour.
Through a historic collaboration that will take cameras behind the scenes of the two tours, the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open, the series will also be the first sports programme of its kind to provide an equal platform to the men’s and women’s competitors of the sport, in keeping with the equal stage they share throughout the year.
“We are excited to continue bolstering our lineup of sports programming with this behind-the-scenes documentary series,” said Brandon Riegg, Netflix Vice President of Unscripted and Documentary Series. “Tennis is beloved all over the world, with high-stakes tournaments hopping across continents and athletes hailing from countless countries. Through this historic partnership with the four Grand Slam tournaments, the ATP Tour, WTA Tour, and ATP Media, the series will be packed with rare access and rich personal stories that are sure to draw in longtime fans and new audiences alike.”
The series is produced by Box to Box Films (Formula 1: Drive to Survive) with James Gay Rees and Paul Martin as serving as Executive Producers. Filming is underway now at the Australian Open.
The BBC will show Andy Murray’s first ATP final in three years on Saturday as he faces Aslan Karatsev.
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has produced moments of on-court brilliance throughout his career that have brought fans to their feet across the world. From eye-catching tweeners to underarm serves, the 26-year-old produces an entertaining brand of tennis that has earned him wins against Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Luckily, having joined TopCourt, Kyrgios is on hand to share his tips on how to execute his stunning shots, while also discussing the triumphs and struggles he has faced playing the sport.
Technique: Kyrgios focuses on moving away from looking at the foundation shots such as the forehand and backhand, but rather shows you how to master a few of the trick shots he uses such as the tweener and a variety of drop shots. The six-time tour-level titlist demonstrates the need to have good touch and feel for the ball when out on court.
Drills: The Australian demonstrates the ‘3 Spot Run Around Forehand’ drill, where he shares his tips on how to be aggressive on the stroke and the importance of implementing good footwork if you want success on the shot. Kyrgios explains the difference between all three forehands regarding the trajectory and spin of the ball and how you can use the shot to control the point.
Follow Kyrgios’ Tutorials at TopCourt.com
The BBC will show daily highlights of the Australian Open on BBC One and BBC Two from 22 January.
Britain’s Andy Murray fights back to beat Reilly Opelka at the Sydney Tennis Classic and reach his first ATP Tour level final since 2019.
Novak Djokovic is set to be deported from Australia following the row over a vaccine exemption to play in the Australian Open. What happens next for the Serb?
