There are many ways to win a tennis match. During this year’s US Open, USOpen.org will be playing a numbers game, digging deeper into the statistical analysis of select matches to provide highlights, further insights and data points on player performance.
Fresh from making her first WTA final appearance in Chicago last week, Emma Raducanu, who made a name for herself at this year's Wimbledon, showed that she is here to stay by qualifying without dropping a set.
Raducanu in control
One of the reasons Raducanu has sustained the form she showed at Wimbledon is in the way she's controlled her matches.
To understand who is dominating, we analyse the percentage of the match a player spends in offensive, neutral and defensive position. Below we can see precisely how dominant Raducanu has been throughout her qualifying campaign.
R3 vs. Sherif: Attacking - 27% / Neutral - 59% / Defensive - 14%
R2 vs. Bolkvadze: Attacking - 22% / Neutral - 62% / Defensive - 16%
R3 vs. Schoofs: Attacking - 27% / Neutral - 58% / Defensive - 15%
Why is this important?
A deeper look into the trends highlights two key points:
1. On average, players win 67% of points when they are in attack.
2. Players who spend between 10-15% more of the match in attack than their opponent win the match 83% of the time.
The analysis highlights that players that dominate matches like Raducanu tend to win more often. It will be fascinating to see if the young Briton can have the same effect on her opponents in the main draw.
