Mirra Andreeva’s Many Happy Returns
The TennisAbstract Blog
by jsackmann
2d ago
Mirra Andreeva is the best teenager on the WTA tour, and it isn’t close. She’ll finish 2024 ranked 16th on the official points table, more than one hundred places ahead of her closest teenage competitor, Maya Joint. Andreeva is a year younger than Joint, and she’s two years younger than Ella Seidel, third on the ..read more
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How Does Jannik Sinner’s Season Stack Up?
The TennisAbstract Blog
by jsackmann
1w ago
Jannik Sinner just wrapped up a season for the ages. He won both hard-court majors, three Masters 1000s, and the Tour Finals. He led Team Italy to a Davis Cup championship and ended his campaign on a 26-set winning streak. By November, the Italian was no longer competing against the field: He was gunning for ..read more
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Jasmine Paolini’s High-Wire Act
The TennisAbstract Blog
by jsackmann
2w ago
There are unorthodox aging curves, and then there’s whatever the hell Jasmine Paolini is doing right now. The best women tennis players tend to make their presence known in their late teens. I wrote earlier this year about the “improbable rise” of 22-year-old Emma Navarro. Paolini is 28. When Paolini was the age that Coco ..read more
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The Riddle of the Ruud-Rublev Reversal
The TennisAbstract Blog
by jsackmann
2w ago
The story of the the 2024 ATP Tour Finals was the dominance of Jannik Sinner. I’ll refer you to what I wrote after the Australian Open: Yes, Jannik Sinner Really Is This Good. He just passed the 2,300 Elo threshold, becoming only the 12th man since Rod Laver to do so. When I update the ..read more
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The Newly Opportunistic Taylor Fritz
The TennisAbstract Blog
by jsackmann
3w ago
Taylor Fritz has been remarkably consistent over the last three seasons. He ended the 2022 campaign ranked 9th, finished last year 10th, and enters this week’s Tour Finals in 5th place, with a chance to overtake Daniil Medvedev for a spot in the top four. Take a look at his top-line statistics for 2022, 2023 ..read more
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Qinwen Zheng’s Rising Tide
The TennisAbstract Blog
by jsackmann
1M ago
Since a first-round exit to Lulu Sun at Wimbledon this year, Qinwen Zheng has transformed herself from a rising prospect to a force at the top of the women’s game. The 22-year-old has won 30 of 35 matches, picking up three titles including an Olympic gold. In her first appearance at the tour finals this ..read more
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Aryna Sabalenka, Drop Shot Queen
The TennisAbstract Blog
by jsackmann
1M ago
In May this year, Aryna Sabalenka unleashed a new weapon: a drop shot she was willing to use far more than ever. After winning six of six drop-shot points in a Rome first-rounder against Katie Volynets, Sabalenka inflicted 28 droppers on Elina Svitolina. That match went to a third-set tiebreak, and her 15 outright drop-shot ..read more
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Does Mpetshi Perricard’s Backhand Even Matter?
The TennisAbstract Blog
by jsackmann
1M ago
The story of last week’s tournament in Basel was the blistering service performance of Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The six-foot, eight-inch Frenchman racked up 109 aces in five matches, including more than one-third of his service points in Sunday’s final against Ben Shelton. Mpetshi Perricard is a big server straight out of central casting. He can ..read more
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With Tommy Paul, Get Ready To Backhand
The TennisAbstract Blog
by jsackmann
1M ago
On Sunday, Tommy Paul won the Stockholm final with one well-executed tactic. He hammered the Grigor Dimitrov backhand, shot after shot, point after point. Paul hit 71% of his backhands cross-court, far above the tour average of 50%. He also aimed his forehands at Dimitrov’s weaker side, going inside-out with 38% of his forehands, compared ..read more
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Matteo Berrettini and the Pursuit of Expected Value
The TennisAbstract Blog
by jsackmann
1M ago
A few weeks ago, Agustin Lebron made a broad claim: Most strategic improvements in sports have been in the direction of increasing variance and living with the (better EV) results:Baseball: more extra base hits, no more bunting.Football: more passing game, going for it on 4th.Golf: driver ball speed increases.Bball: 3 pointerTennis: bigger serves/groundstrokes.Snooker: cannoning the ..read more
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