RallyIQ

Wimbledon · SF · Grass · 4 Jul 1991

Jennifer Capriati v Gabriela Sabatini

69–82 in points · Gabriela Sabatini won

Why it went the way it did

Gabriela Sabatini won 5.7 more points than Jennifer Capriati relative to what the serve alone predicted. Jennifer Capriati's biggest leaks: forehand execution −2.7, serve 1st shot selection −1.5, backhand direction choices −0.9.

Each shot moves its hitter's chance of winning the point. Those moves are split into direction choice, shot selection and execution, and summed here. Read both columns together: one player's gain is the other's loss.

ShotJennifer CapriatiGabriela Sabatini
DirSelExecTotalDirSelExecTotal
Serve 1st +0.1 −1.5 +0.3 −1.1 −1.1 −1.7 +2.9 +0.2
Serve 2nd ±0.0 −0.5 +1.3 +0.7 +0.1 −0.3 −1.3 −1.5
Return ±0.0 +0.7 +1.3 +2.0 ±0.0 −1.1 +0.1 −1.1
Forehand −0.4 +0.8 −2.7 −2.4 −0.1 +1.9 +2.3 +4.0
Backhand −0.9 +1.1 −0.5 −0.3 −0.3 +0.5 +0.4 +0.6
Slice ±0.0 −0.8 +0.3 −0.5 +0.1 −3.2 +1.4 −1.7
Net −0.2 +0.5 −0.5 −0.2 −0.3 +0.6 +2.4 +2.6
Touch ±0.0 −0.2 ±0.0 −0.3 +0.1 −0.3 +0.6 +0.5
All shots −1.5±0.0 −0.6−2.1 −1.6−3.6 +8.7+3.5

Set by set

SetJennifer CapriatiGabriela SabatiniNet, Jennifer
1−1.0+1.9 −2.8
2−1.2+1.7 −2.8

Adaptation

First-serve direction mix set by set, with the share of points each direction won. The scores measure whether the server moved toward the directions that had been winning earlier in this match, set to set and every two to three service games, in points per 100 first serves. Read them as a habit, not a gain: across the tour, a direction's edge in early sets barely predicts the later ones. Whether the returner responded can't be told apart from noise within one match.

Jennifer Capriati serving

SetWideBodyT
1 37% 38% 14% 40% 49% 53%
2 50% 68% 18% 14% 32% 50%

Set to set −1.25 per 100 first serves in sets 2+

Within sets −0.77 per 100 first serves, every two to three service games

Gabriela Sabatini serving

SetWideBodyT
1 24% 56% 54% 55% 22% 50%
2 35% 64% 38% 73% 28% 36%

Set to set +2.63 per 100 first serves in sets 2+

Within sets +0.79 per 100 first serves, every two to three service games

Counterfactual: the best direction every time

If each shot had gone in the direction that is usually worth most for that stroke and position, this is how many more points each player would expect to win. It's an upper bound: the best direction isn't always on, and the chart can't see the ball's pace or position.

Jennifer Capriati

10.7 points left on the table across 326 shots 3.28 per 100 shots

  1. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your forehand side hit FH through the middle ×9; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.49 pts
  2. Return of a 1st serve, body, ad court hit BH down the line ×6; BH through the middle rates higher · 0.45 pts
  3. Rally, shots 5–8: slice to your backhand side hit BH through the middle ×4; BH down the line rates higher · 0.43 pts
  4. Rally, shots 5–8: slice to your forehand side, you at net hit FH volley through the middle ×1; FH volley crosscourt rates higher · 0.34 pts

Gabriela Sabatini

9.7 points left on the table across 315 shots 3.08 per 100 shots

  1. Serve +1: mid-depth return to your middle hit FH through the middle ×6; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.51 pts
  2. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side, you at net hit BH volley through the middle ×2; BH volley crosscourt rates higher · 0.42 pts
  3. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side hit BH slice through the middle ×6; BH slice crosscourt rates higher · 0.36 pts
  4. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side hit BH slice down the line ×4; BH slice crosscourt rates higher · 0.35 pts