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.
Daniel Evans won his first-round match at the US Open against Thiago Monteiro on Court 10 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Evans will be looking to build on this performance as he bids to make it to the second week of a major for the first time.
The Evans forehand caught the eye, particularly his ability to attack from the center of the court. On 45 occasions, Evans directed his forehand from the middle, forcing Monteiro into defense on 19 occasions.
The slice backhand:
We have analysed the role Evans' slice backhand plays in his strategy. Evans favors slice, on average using it for 71% of backhands compared to the tour average of 20%.
US Open backhand slice leaderboard (2017-now)
- Ivo Karlovic: 91%
- Steve Johnson: 80%
- Dan Evans: 71%
- Bradley Klahn: 62%
- Feliciano Lopez: 60%
What impact does the slice have?
- The average groundstroke is contacted 1.01m from the ground. However, Evans' slice forces his opponents to contact the ball 0.69m from the ground.
- The average speed of Evans' slice backhand is 55mph which gives the opponent less pace to work with compared to the average groundstroke speed of 66 mph.
The lower and slower slice backhand creates a problem for his opponents and gives Evans additional time to move around and use his forehand.
The Evans game plan
Evans used a slice backhand in 41 points:
- In 21/41 (51%) points, Evans used a slice backhand followed by a forehand.
- In 11/41 (27%) points, Monteiro made an error following an Evans slice.
While the slice backhand of Evans may not grab the headlines, it would be foolish to underestimate how effective it is.
