RallyIQ

Olympics · F · Hard · 3 Aug 1996

Lindsay Davenport v Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

71–66 in points · Lindsay Davenport won

Why it went the way it did

Lindsay Davenport won 1.9 more points than Arantxa Sanchez Vicario relative to what the serve alone predicted. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario's biggest leaks: slice shot selection −1.5, touch shot selection −1.3, net execution −0.5.

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.

ShotLindsay DavenportArantxa Sanchez Vicario
DirSelExecTotalDirSelExecTotal
Serve 1st ±0.0 −0.1 −1.9 −2.0 −0.4 −0.1 ±0.0 −0.5
Serve 2nd ±0.0 −0.1 +0.4 +0.3 ±0.0 −0.1 +0.6 +0.5
Return +0.5 +1.3 −1.2 +0.6 +0.5 ±0.0 +0.5 +1.0
Forehand +1.4 +1.6 −0.8 +2.2 +0.3 +1.1 +0.4 +1.8
Backhand +0.8 +1.1 +0.7 +2.6 +0.6 +1.8 −0.1 +2.3
Slice ±0.0 −0.1 +0.2 +0.2 −0.2 −1.5 +0.4 −1.3
Net −0.2 +0.8 +1.4 +1.9 +0.4 +0.4 −0.5 +0.3
Touch +0.1 −0.1 −0.7 −0.7 −0.1 −1.3 +0.4 −1.0
All shots +2.5+4.4 −1.9+5.1 +1.2+0.3 +1.7+3.2

Set by set

SetLindsay DavenportArantxa Sanchez VicarioNet, Lindsay
1+3.3+4.6 −1.2
2+1.8−1.3 +3.1

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.

Lindsay Davenport serving

SetWideBodyT
1 45% 61% 22% 45% 33% 76%
2 41% 44% 14% 67% 45% 60%

Set to set +1.51 per 100 first serves in sets 2+

Within sets +0.70 per 100 first serves, every two to three service games

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario serving

SetWideBodyT
1 38% 73% 35% 64% 28% 64%
2 38% 22% 29% 43% 33% 63%

Set to set −2.57 per 100 first serves in sets 2+

Within sets −1.02 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.

Lindsay Davenport

5.1 points left on the table across 271 shots 1.87 per 100 shots

  1. Rally, shots 5–8: slice to your backhand side, you at net hit BH volley through the middle ×1; BH volley down the line rates higher · 0.30 pts
  2. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your forehand side, you at net hit FH volley through the middle ×1; FH volley crosscourt rates higher · 0.25 pts
  3. Serve +1: short return to your backhand side, you at net hit BH volley through the middle ×1; BH volley crosscourt rates higher · 0.20 pts
  4. Long rally, 9+: lob to your forehand side hit FH through the middle ×1; FH down the line rates higher · 0.20 pts

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

6.2 points left on the table across 275 shots 2.24 per 100 shots

  1. Return +1: drive to your forehand side hit FH through the middle ×6; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.38 pts
  2. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your forehand side hit FH through the middle ×6; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.33 pts
  3. Return +1: drive to your backhand side hit BH through the middle ×5; BH crosscourt rates higher · 0.24 pts
  4. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side hit BH through the middle ×5; BH crosscourt rates higher · 0.21 pts