RallyIQ

US Open · R16 · Hard · 7 Sep 2026

Coco Gauff v Iva Jovic

65–44 in points · Coco Gauff won

Why it went the way it did

Coco Gauff won 11.2 more points than Iva Jovic relative to what the serve alone predicted. Iva Jovic's biggest leaks: forehand execution −3.1, return execution −1.4, backhand execution −1.0.

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.

ShotCoco GauffIva Jovic
DirSelExecTotalDirSelExecTotal
Serve 1st −0.1 +0.1 −0.1 −0.2 +0.1 ±0.0 −0.8 −0.7
Serve 2nd ±0.0 ±0.0 +0.1 +0.1 ±0.0 ±0.0 +0.9 +0.9
Return −0.3 +0.4 +2.1 +2.2 −0.1 +0.1 −1.4 −1.4
Forehand −0.2 +2.0 +1.9 +3.7 −0.1 +2.5 −3.1 −0.8
Backhand −0.2 +2.3 +3.4 +5.6 +0.2 +1.5 −1.0 +0.7
Slice ±0.0 −3.1 ±0.0 −3.1 −0.2 −0.8 ±0.0 −1.0
Net +0.1 +0.8 −0.5 +0.4 +0.5 +0.2 ±0.0 +0.8
Touch +0.1 −0.1 ±0.0 ±0.0 +0.1 −0.9 −0.3 −1.1
All shots −0.6+2.3 +7.0+8.7 +0.6+2.6 −5.7−2.5

Set by set

SetCoco GauffIva JovicNet, Coco
1+5.4−1.5 +6.9
2+3.3−1.0 +4.3

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.

Coco Gauff serving

SetWideBodyT
1 48% 82% 26% 17% 26% 83%
2 56% 67% 26% 43% 19% 80%

Within sets +0.84 per 100 first serves, every two to three service games

Iva Jovic serving

SetWideBodyT
1 43% 33% 19% 25% 38% 38%
2 53% 45% 16% 67% 32% 50%

Within sets +0.45 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.

Coco Gauff

8.2 points left on the table across 277 shots 2.97 per 100 shots

  1. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your forehand side hit FH through the middle ×8; FH crosscourt rates higher · 0.43 pts
  2. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side hit BH through the middle ×9; BH crosscourt rates higher · 0.39 pts
  3. Return +1: drive to your middle hit FH through the middle ×5; FH down the line rates higher · 0.32 pts
  4. Long rally, 9+: drive to your middle hit FH through the middle ×4; FH down the line rates higher · 0.28 pts

Iva Jovic

6.8 points left on the table across 276 shots 2.46 per 100 shots

  1. Long rally, 9+: drive to your middle hit FH through the middle ×7; FH down the line rates higher · 0.49 pts
  2. Serve +1: mid-depth return to your backhand side hit BH through the middle ×5; BH down the line rates higher · 0.35 pts
  3. Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side hit BH through the middle ×7; BH crosscourt rates higher · 0.30 pts
  4. Serve +1: short return to your middle hit FH through the middle ×3; FH down the line rates higher · 0.28 pts