RallyIQ

Paris Masters · SF · Hard · 6 Nov 1999

Nicolas Lapentti v Andre Agassi

70–87 in points · Andre Agassi won

Why it went the way it did

Andre Agassi won 11.4 more points than Nicolas Lapentti relative to what the serve alone predicted. Nicolas Lapentti's biggest leaks: slice shot selection −5.6, serve 1st shot selection −1.8, touch execution −1.7.

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.

ShotNicolas LapenttiAndre Agassi
DirSelExecTotalDirSelExecTotal
Serve 1st −0.4 −1.8 +1.7 −0.5 +0.1 −1.1 +0.2 −0.8
Serve 2nd ±0.0 −0.7 +1.3 +0.6 ±0.0 −0.5 +0.6 +0.1
Return −0.1 −1.2 ±0.0 −1.2 ±0.0 −0.1 +3.9 +3.8
Forehand −1.1 +2.1 +3.1 +4.1 +0.2 +1.4 +1.5 +3.1
Backhand −0.3 ±0.0 +0.2 −0.1 +1.1 −0.5 +2.4 +3.1
Slice +0.6 −5.6 +0.7 −4.3 −0.1 −0.5 −1.1 −1.7
Net −0.1 ±0.0 −0.5 −0.6 ±0.0 +0.1 −0.9 −0.8
Touch −0.2 −0.6 −1.7 −2.4 ±0.0 ±0.0 +0.2 +0.1
All shots −1.5−7.7 +4.8−4.5 +1.3−1.2 +6.8+6.9

Set by set

SetNicolas LapenttiAndre AgassiNet, Nicolas
1+1.8−0.1 +1.9
2−5.8+1.0 −6.8
3−0.5+5.9 −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.

Nicolas Lapentti serving

SetWideBodyT
1 14% 75% 21% 67% 66% 58%
2 34% 80% 24% 57% 41% 42%
3 39% 33% 13% 25% 48% 53%

Set to set +0.30 per 100 first serves in sets 2+

Within sets +0.15 per 100 first serves, every two to three service games

Andre Agassi serving

SetWideBodyT
1 57% 58% – 43% 44%
2 35% 88% 4% 100% 61% 86%
3 58% 71% 17% 75% 25% 33%

Set to set +0.30 per 100 first serves in sets 2+

Within sets −0.89 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.

Nicolas Lapentti

11.1 points left on the table across 399 shots 2.77 per 100 shots

  1. Long rally, 9+: drive to your forehand side hit FH through the middle ×13; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.71 pts
  2. Long rally, 9+: drive to your backhand side hit BH slice through the middle ×9; BH slice crosscourt rates higher · 0.63 pts
  3. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side hit BH slice through the middle ×7; BH slice crosscourt rates higher · 0.51 pts
  4. Return +1: drive to your backhand side hit BH slice through the middle ×5; BH slice crosscourt rates higher · 0.42 pts

Andre Agassi

6.2 points left on the table across 394 shots 1.58 per 100 shots

  1. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your forehand side hit FH through the middle ×6; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.30 pts
  2. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side, you at net hit BH volley through the middle ×1; BH volley crosscourt rates higher · 0.26 pts
  3. Serve +1: mid-depth return to your middle hit FH through the middle ×3; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.26 pts
  4. Long rally, 9+: drive to your forehand side hit FH through the middle ×4; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.22 pts