ORIGINAL PAPER
Serve efficiency development indicates an extended women’s tennis world class cohort: Analysing 14 years of Ladies Wimbledon Championships – implications for coaching
1
Institute of Professional Sport Education and Sport Qualifications, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne,
Germany
2
Brain Game Tennis, Austin, USA
3
Waseda University, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Tokorozawa, Japan
Submission date: 2020-04-23
Acceptance date: 2020-08-06
Publication date: 2020-11-15
Hum Mov. 2021;22(2):43-52
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Purpose:
How crucial is good serving to succeed in modern days women’s world class tennis? The study aimed to systematically analyse serve efficiency and serving behaviour in elite women’s tennis over a course of 14 years to identify possible trainings patterns.
Methods:
Analyses included historical data collected from all matches at the Ladies Wimbledon Championships between 2002 and 2015 (matches: n = 1771; service games: n = 37,717; serves: n = 248,135). The study focused on two main comparisons, serve efficiency development between 2002 and 2015 and possible differences inside the women’s tennis world class, i.e. by comparing 1st tournament week results (matches: n = 1562; service games: n = 33,150; serves: n = 218,028) and 2nd tournament week results (matches: n = 209; service games: n = 4567; serves: n = 30,107).
Results:
An increase over time has been observed for the percentages of service games won (p < 0.001), 1st service points won (p < 0.05), and aces served (p < 0.01), whereas double faults served (p < 0.05) and serve and volley points played (p < 0.001) decreased significantly. Direct comparisons of the 1st and 2nd tournament week results favour players competing in the 2nd tournament week, showing significant advantages in the percentages of service games won (p < 0.01), 1st service points won (p < 0.05) and aces served (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
An increased serve efficiency over time was observed, particularly for 1st tournament week results, indicating a more extended women’s world class cohort. However, direct comparisons favour players competing in the 2nd tournament week.
How crucial is good serving to succeed in modern days women’s world class tennis? The study aimed to systematically analyse serve efficiency and serving behaviour in elite women’s tennis over a course of 14 years to identify possible trainings patterns.
Methods:
Analyses included historical data collected from all matches at the Ladies Wimbledon Championships between 2002 and 2015 (matches: n = 1771; service games: n = 37,717; serves: n = 248,135). The study focused on two main comparisons, serve efficiency development between 2002 and 2015 and possible differences inside the women’s tennis world class, i.e. by comparing 1st tournament week results (matches: n = 1562; service games: n = 33,150; serves: n = 218,028) and 2nd tournament week results (matches: n = 209; service games: n = 4567; serves: n = 30,107).
Results:
An increase over time has been observed for the percentages of service games won (p < 0.001), 1st service points won (p < 0.05), and aces served (p < 0.01), whereas double faults served (p < 0.05) and serve and volley points played (p < 0.001) decreased significantly. Direct comparisons of the 1st and 2nd tournament week results favour players competing in the 2nd tournament week, showing significant advantages in the percentages of service games won (p < 0.01), 1st service points won (p < 0.05) and aces served (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
An increased serve efficiency over time was observed, particularly for 1st tournament week results, indicating a more extended women’s world class cohort. However, direct comparisons favour players competing in the 2nd tournament week.
REFERENCES (30)
1.
Ma S-M, Liu C-C, Tan Y, Ma S-C. Winning matches in Grand Slam men’s singles: an analysis of player performance-related variables from 1991 to 2008. J Sports Sci. 2013;31(11):1147–1155; doi: 10.1080/02640414.2013.775472.
2.
Maquirriain J, Baglione R, Cardey M. Male professional tennis players maintain constant serve speed and accuracy over long matches on grass courts. Eur J Sport Sci. 2016;16(7):845–849; doi: 10.1080/17461391.2016.1156163.
3.
Grambow R, O’Shannessy C, Born P, Meffert D, Vogt T. Serve efficiency development at Wimbledon between 2002 and 2015: a longitudinal approach to impact tomorrow’s tennis practice. Hum Mov. 2020;21(1):65–72; doi: 10.5114/hm.2020.88155.
4.
Crespo M, Reid M, Miley D. The role of sport science in tennis coaching. In: Crespo M, Reid M, Miley D (eds.), Applied sport science for high performance tennis – Proceedings of the 13th ITF Worldwide Coaches Workshop. Vilamoura: International Tennis Federation; 2003; 21–25.
5.
Takahashi H, Wada T, Maeda A, Kodama M, Nishizono H, Kurata H. Time analysis of three decades of men’s singles at Wimbledon. In: Lees A, Cabello D, Torres G (eds.), Science and racket sports IV. London: Routledge; 2008; 239–246.
6.
Meffert D, O’Shannessy C, Born P, Grambow R, Vogt T. Tennis serve performances at break points: approaching practice patterns for coaching. Eur J Sport Sci. 2018;18(8):1151–1157; doi: 10.1080/17461391.2018.1490821.
7.
Knight G, O’Donoghue P. The probability of winning break points in Grand Slam men’s singles tennis. Eur J Sport Sci. 2012;12(6):462–468; doi: 10.1080/17461391.2011.577239.
8.
Meffert D, O’Shannessy C, Born P, Grambow R, Vogt T. Tennis at tiebreaks: addressing elite players’ performance for tomorrows’ coaching. Ger J Exerc Sport Res. 2019;49(3):339–344; doi: 10.1007/s12662-019-00611-3.
9.
Pollard G, Cross R, Meyer D. An analysis of ten years of the four Grand Slam men’s singles data for lack of independence of set outcomes. J Sports Sci Med. 2006; 5(4):561–566.
10.
Carboch J. Comparison of game characteristics of male and female tennis players at grand-slam tournaments in 2016. Trends Sport Sci. 2017;24(4):151–155; doi: 10.23829/TSS.2017.24.4-2.
11.
Reid M, Morgan S, Whiteside D. Matchplay characteristics of Grand Slam tennis: implications for training and conditioning. J Sports Sci. 2016;34(19):1791–1798; doi: 10.1080/02640414.2016.1139161.
12.
O’Donoghue GP, Brown E. The importance of service in Grand Slam singles tennis. Int J Perform Anal Sport. 2008;8(3):70–78; doi: 10.1080/24748668.2008.11868449.
13.
Barnett T, Meyer D, Pollard G. Applying match statistics to increase serving performance. Med Sci Tennis. 2008;13(2):24–27.
14.
O’Donoghue P, Ingram B. A notational analysis of elite tennis strategy. J Sports Sci. 2001;19(2):107–115; doi: 10.1080/026404101300036299.
15.
O’Donoghue PG. The most important points in Grand Slam singles tennis. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2001;72(2):125–131; doi: 10.1080/02701367.2001.10608942.
16.
Cui Y, Gómez M-Á, Gonçalves B, Sampaio J. Performance profiles of professional female tennis players in Grand Slams. PLoS One. 2018;13(7):e0200591; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200591.
17.
O’Donoghue P, Liddle D. A match analysis of elite tennis strategy for ladies’ singles on clay and grass surfaces. In: Hughes M, Maynard I, Lees A, Reilly T (eds.), Science and racket sports II. London: Taylor & Francis; 2002; 247–253.
18.
Kovalchik SA, Bane MK, Reid M. Getting to the top: an analysis of 25 years of career rankings trajectories for professional women’s tennis. J Sports Sci. 2017;35(19): 1904–1910; doi: 10.1080/02640414.2016.1241419.
19.
Del Corral J, Prieto-Rodríguez J. Are differences in ranks good predictors for Grand Slam tennis matches? Int J Forecast. 2010;26(3):551–563; doi: 10.1016/j.ijforecast.2009.12.006.
20.
Weber K, Born P. The special significance of the expanded game opening in competitive tennis. Justification, guidelines, and implication in practical training [in German]. Leistungssport. 2012;42(6):26–32.
21.
Weber K, Exler T, Marx A, Pley C, Röbbel S, Schäffkes C. Faster serves, shorter rallies and higher time pressure for groundstrokes in world-class tennis [in German]. Leistungssport. 2010;40(5):36–42.
22.
Dindar MD, Toksöz İ, Taşkın C, Uluçam E. Analysis of the serves in the men’s semi-final and final competitions of Wimbledon tennis tournament. Sport Sci. 2011;6(3):185–192.
23.
Nowak M, Panfil R. Scoring abilities in the game of tennis – a pragmatic study of unique cases. Hum Mov. 2012;13(4):313–322; doi: 10.2478/v10038-012-0036-z.
24.
Ferrauti A, Bastiaens K. Short-term effects of light and heavy load interventions on service velocity and precision in elite young tennis players. Br J Sports Med. 2007;41(11):750–753; doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2007.036855.
25.
Hernández-Davo H, Urbán T, Sarabia JM, Juan-Recio C, Moreno FJ. Variable training: effects on velocity and accuracy in the tennis serve. J Sports Sci. 2014;32(14):1383–1388; doi: 10.1080/02640414.2014.891290.
26.
Barnett T, Games S. How the court surface is affecting the serve-and-volley. J Med Sci Tennis. 2010;15(3):26–28.
27.
Cohen J. A power primer. Psychol Bull. 1992;112(1):155–159; doi: 10.1037//0033-2909.112.1.155.
28.
Hopkins WG, Marshall SW, Batterham AM, Hanin J. Progressive statistics for studies in sports medicine and exercise science. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(1):3–13; doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e31818cb278.
29.
Filipcic A, Zecic M, Reid M, Crespo M, Panjan A, Nejc S. Differences in performance indicators of elite tennis players in the period 1991–2010. JPES. 2015;15(4):671–677; doi: 10.7752/jpes.2015.04102.
30.
Schönborn R. Optimal tennis training: the path to successful tennis from novices to world class [in German]. Balingen: Spitta; 2010.
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
| eISSN: | 1899-1955 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
