Grand Slam Cup · SF · Hard · 3 Oct 1998

Andre Agassi v Karol Kucera

190–167 in points · Andre Agassi won

Why it went the way it did

Andre Agassi won 12.9 more points than Karol Kucera relative to what the serve alone predicted. Karol Kucera's biggest leaks: serve 1st shot selection −3.7, slice shot selection −3.3, serve 2nd execution −2.4.

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.

Shot	Andre Agassi				Karol Kucera
Shot	Dir	Sel	Exec	Total	Dir	Sel	Exec	Total
Serve 1st	−0.2	−3.3	−1.1	−4.5	+0.1	−3.7	+0.4	−3.3
Serve 2nd	±0.0	−1.6	+2.8	+1.2	±0.0	−2.0	−2.4	−4.4
Return	+1.1	+0.2	+1.2	+2.4	+0.2	+1.0	+5.5	+6.7
Forehand	+0.2	+1.6	+1.9	+3.7	+0.3	+1.1	−2.2	−0.8
Backhand	+1.2	−0.3	+2.4	+3.3	+0.2	−1.4	−0.1	−1.3
Slice	+0.2	−2.4	−0.7	−2.9	−0.4	−3.3	−0.5	−4.2
Net	−0.2	+0.7	+1.0	+1.6	+0.2	+0.6	−1.8	−1.0
Touch	−0.1	−0.7	−0.4	−1.2	+0.1	−0.8	−0.3	−1.0
All shots	+2.3	−5.6	+7.0	+3.7	+0.6	−8.5	−1.3	−9.2

Set by set

Set	Andre Agassi	Karol Kucera	Net, Andre
1	−0.6	−7.3	+6.7
2	+3.0	+2.5	+0.5
3	−4.4	−0.6	−3.7
4	+2.8	±0.0	+2.8
5	+2.7	−3.8	+6.5

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.

Andre Agassi serving

Set	Wide	Body	T
1	55% 82%	10% 50%	35% 64%
2	40% 71%	17% 50%	43% 47%
3	42% 73%	4% 100%	54% 36%
4	56% 58%	7% 0%	37% 63%
5	56% 60%	11% 67%	33% 67%

Set to set +0.04 per 100 first serves in sets 2+

Within sets +0.04 per 100 first serves, every two to three service games

Karol Kucera serving

Set	Wide	Body	T
1	33% 63%	12% 50%	55% 56%
2	38% 53%	3% 100%	59% 57%
3	29% 75%	11% 33%	61% 71%
4	37% 56%	4% 50%	59% 48%
5	35% 29%	15% 67%	50% 20%

Set to set +0.43 per 100 first serves in sets 2+

Within sets +0.26 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.

Andre Agassi

10.7 points left on the table across 561 shots 1.90 per 100 shots

Return +1: drive to your forehand side hit FH through the middle ×8; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.47 pts
Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your middle, you at net hit BH volley through the middle ×2; BH volley crosscourt rates higher · 0.44 pts
Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your forehand side hit FH through the middle ×8; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.41 pts
Long rally, 9+: drive to your forehand side hit FH through the middle ×7; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.38 pts

Karol Kucera

13.2 points left on the table across 582 shots 2.26 per 100 shots

Return of a 1st serve, wide, ad court hit BH slice down the line ×4; BH slice crosscourt rates higher · 0.69 pts
Serve +1: mid-depth return to your backhand side hit BH through the middle ×10; BH down the line rates higher · 0.49 pts
Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side hit BH through the middle ×12; BH crosscourt rates higher · 0.46 pts
Return of a 2nd serve, T, ad court hit FH through the middle ×5; FH inside-out rates higher · 0.46 pts