The confounding effects of serve speed and ball placement on success of male and female tennis players at The Championships, Wimbledon

Abstract

The direction and speed of the serve are two crucial factors when determining the outcome of a serve and subsequently the point. Gaining maximum advantage from the serve is a priority for tennis players, particularly when competing at The Championships, Wimbledon due to the nature of the grass court surface.  Analysis of data from 2004 to 2019 was used to investigate the combined effect of serve speed and direction because these factors are beneficial for players and their teams. 

The server in male singles will more likely win the point regardless of other serve characteristics but serve placement into the centre and wide areas increase the probability of winning the point.  In female singles, the likelihood of the server winning the point was lower for some serve combinations, largely due to serve placement and service number.  The relationship between serve placement and serve speed suggested that certain speeds were favoured for both male and female matches for all directions of the serve, with two distinct peaks and serves around 190 km.h^-1 being disfavoured. No significant relationships between factors such as court side, sex, handedness of the server and receiver and serve speed could be found.