Category Archives: By the Numbers
Hardcourt Retrospective (Part 2)
Welcome to my continuing look back at the hardcourt season just ended. The first part, which goes into slightly more detail about why I’m even bothering, can be found here. Part One looked at the top players. This part examines … Continue reading
Filed under ATP Tour, By the Numbers
Hardcourt Retrospective (Part 1)
As the tour descends with wrathful inevitability upon the dirt of southern Europe, and thence the grass, the time seems apposite to look back at the prolonged hardcourt season just ended, the one that began in Atlanta last July, and … Continue reading
Filed under ATP Tour, By the Numbers
Infinite Monkeys
In 2010 Roger Federer was defeated four times after holding matchpoint, an unhappy series of results that strikes many as another sure indicator of his accelerating decline. How accurate is this? The first thing to do is recall the matches … Continue reading
Filed under By the Numbers
Why Compare?
Following his defeat by Novak Djokovic in this year’s Australian Open, Roger Federer was invited to compare the loss to the ostensibly similar one three years earlier. Baffled, Federer considered the request for a few seconds, then blurted ‘Why compare?’, … Continue reading
Filed under By the Numbers, Players
With a Bullet
More statistical shenanigans today. Here are the players who have gained the most points in the last twelve months. The usual caveat applies: tennis stats and socialising don’t mix. Rafael Nadal   -3245 pts Tomas Berdych   -2300 pts Robin … Continue reading
Filed under By the Numbers, Players
A Tale of Two Wrists
Tennis matches are elegant affairs of graceful geometry, but tennis rankings are blunt things of low arithmetic. A guy wins more stuff, he get more points, his ranking goes up. The concept isn’t taxing, although the ramifications and the subtleties … Continue reading
Filed under ATP Tour, By the Numbers, Players