Game plan

Dayana Yastremska v Leylah Fernandez

Every number combines what Dayana Yastremska does well with what Leylah Fernandez allows, each measured against the tour average and shrunk toward it when the sample is thin. Flip perspective

Forecast

Dayana Yastremska wins, best of 3 44%90%: 18%–73% · best of 5: 43%

Serve points won 56.6% / 57.7% Dayana / Leylah · tour 56.3%

Strengths only, no similarity priors 42%serve 56.5% / 58.1%

Each player's serve and return strength is fitted against every opponent they were charted against, so a record built on weak opponents counts for less. At least one of them is no longer active or has too little charted in the last three seasons, so both are compared on their careers. The result is then nudged by Dayana Yastremska's record against Leylah Fernandez's tactical lookalikes and in their charted head-to-heads (lookalikes: +0.7 on serve, +2.7 on return vs expectation (547 points)). A game-by-game Markov chain turns point odds into match odds; the 90% range covers the uncertainty in the two strengths, not the nudges. Charted matches lean toward big events, so treat this as a scouting estimate, not a betting line.

Head to head, per 100 shots

Career	Dayana	Leylah
Direction choice	−0.06 ±0.08 better than 43%	−0.17 ±0.06 better than 23%
Shot selection	+0.11 ±0.22 better than 56%	+0.22 ±0.11 better than 69%
Execution	−1.81 ±0.55 better than 6%	+0.34 ±0.42 better than 74%
Points left on the table	2.66 ±0.15 lower than 40%	3.33 ±0.10 lower than 3%

Each player's career against an average tour player in the same position, adjusted for opponent strength, with a 90% margin (shots clustered by match). Points left on the table is the gap to the best-value direction for the same stroke, so lower is better. Percentiles are within each player's own tour. A side is highlighted only when the gap is larger than the margin on the difference.

Structural compatibility

Expected edge per 100 rally shots from style alone: Dayana Yastremska −1.61, Leylah Fernandez −0.31. Each player's shot mix weighted by their own skill with each shot and by how much the other gives up against it. This is why some rankings gaps don't hold in a given matchup.

Serve plan

The share of points the server wins when a first serve lands in that direction (hover a rate for its 90% interval; ± is the 90% margin). "Matchup" combines the server's rate with how this returner handles that serve. "Optimal" is the mix that wins most against this returner once they start reading a habit, at the response measured across the tour, and only within the range servers' habits actually vary. The gain over the current mix is how exploitable that mix is.

Dayana Yastremska serving

Deuce court

1st serve	Now	Dayana wins	v Leylah	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	46%	63%	67%	64.6%±5.3	61% ▲
Body	16%	62%	58%	63.1%±7.5	2% ▼
T	38%	69%	69%	69.9%±6.1	37% ▼

Optimal v Leylah Fernandez: +0.2±0.9 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving T every time would read +3.6 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Ad court

1st serve	Now	Dayana wins	v Leylah	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	42%	68%	69%	71.6%±5.5	57% ▲
Body	17%	56%	53%	52.8%±8.7	2% ▼
T	41%	61%	66%	62.7%±6.1	41%

Optimal v Leylah Fernandez: +1.2±1.0 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix. Serving wide every time would read +6.9 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Leylah Fernandez serving

Deuce court

1st serve	Now	Leylah wins	v Dayana	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	35%	69%	65%	68.6%±5.9	35%
Body	19%	57%	56%	55.3%±7.4	4% ▼
T	45%	64%	68%	64.6%±5.7	61% ▲

Optimal v Dayana Yastremska: +0.7±0.9 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving wide every time would read +4.4 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Ad court

1st serve	Now	Leylah wins	v Dayana	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	54%	69%	68%	71.1%±5.2	69% ▲
Body	16%	55%	56%	55.2%±8.3	1% ▼
T	30%	71%	66%	72.9%±5.9	30%

Optimal v Dayana Yastremska: +1.2±0.9 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix. Serving T every time would read +3.8 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Return plan

Value of each return, in points per 100 returns against an average return of the same serve (direction, court, surface): the tour's result with that return, the returner's own edge with it, and what this server gives up when it comes back to that side. Returns with no charted direction are left out, so values compare with each other rather than with zero. Depth isn't a choice here: missed returns have no depth. Serve quality isn't charted, so a block through the middle partly reflects the serve that forced it.

Dayana Yastremska returning

1st serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Leylah	Value
FH through the middle	44%	+4.2	−2.2	±0.0	+2.0±2.3
FH down the line	37%	+1.5	−7.3	−1.5	−7.3±4.0
FH crosscourt	17%	+5.3	−1.6	+0.9	+4.6±4.0
FH slice through the middle	1%	−6.7	−0.7	−0.5	−8.0±2.2

Lean FH crosscourt: +5.8±3.8 per 100 returns v the current mix (475 returns charted)

1st serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Leylah	Value
BH through the middle	48%	+6.0	−0.6	+1.2	+6.6±2.0
BH down the line	27%	+2.2	−1.4	−3.0	−2.2±4.1
BH crosscourt	15%	+7.7	−0.9	+2.6	+9.5±3.2
BH slice through the middle	4%	−6.2	−2.2	−1.7	−10.2±2.4
BH slice crosscourt	3%	−4.2	−3.1	−1.9	−9.2±2.8

Lean BH crosscourt: +6.5±3.1 per 100 returns v the current mix (446 returns charted)

2nd serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Leylah	Value
FH through the middle	35%	−3.2	−1.6	+0.2	−4.6±2.8
FH down the line	34%	−0.6	+2.6	−4.7	−2.6±5.1
FH crosscourt	26%	+0.5	−2.3	−0.3	−2.0±4.4
BH through the middle	4%	−1.0	−0.2	+1.7	+0.5±1.6

Lean FH crosscourt: +1.0±3.8 per 100 returns v the current mix (137 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

2nd serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Leylah	Value
BH through the middle	49%	−2.6	−2.3	+1.7	−3.2±2.3
BH crosscourt	27%	+1.5	−0.3	−2.1	−0.9±3.5
BH down the line	24%	−0.5	−3.3	−2.0	−5.9±5.1

Lean BH crosscourt: +2.3±3.0 per 100 returns v the current mix (246 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

Leylah Fernandez returning

1st serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Dayana	Value
FH through the middle	48%	+4.2	+2.6	+0.5	+7.3±2.3
FH crosscourt	29%	+5.3	+1.3	+0.9	+7.5±3.9
FH down the line	20%	+1.5	−3.0	−4.6	−6.1±4.2
FH slice through the middle	2%	−6.7	−0.4	+1.3	−5.9±2.3
FH slice down the line	1%	−10.5	−1.0	+1.0	−10.4±2.8

Lean FH crosscourt: +3.2±3.1 per 100 returns v the current mix (626 returns charted)

1st serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Dayana	Value
BH through the middle	45%	+6.0	−1.6	+0.4	+4.8±2.0
BH crosscourt	24%	+7.7	+0.7	−3.9	+4.6±3.3
BH down the line	11%	+2.2	−1.0	+0.3	+1.4±4.3
BH slice through the middle	10%	−6.2	−0.3	−0.9	−7.4±2.5
BH slice crosscourt	6%	−4.2	−1.9	−1.2	−7.3±2.8

Lean BH through the middle: +3.5±1.5 per 100 returns v the current mix (845 returns charted)

2nd serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Dayana	Value
FH crosscourt	44%	+0.5	±0.0	−3.0	−2.4±4.4
FH through the middle	39%	−3.2	+3.1	+1.4	+1.3±2.9
FH down the line	17%	−0.6	+0.6	−3.7	−3.6±5.1

Lean FH through the middle: +2.5±2.8 per 100 returns v the current mix (186 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

2nd serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Dayana	Value
BH through the middle	45%	−2.6	+1.0	−1.0	−2.6±2.3
BH crosscourt	34%	+1.5	±0.0	−4.0	−2.5±3.4
BH down the line	15%	−0.5	+1.5	−2.1	−1.2±4.9
FH through the middle	3%	−2.7	+0.1	+1.4	−1.1±2.2
BH slice through the middle	1%	−11.7	−0.9	−0.6	−13.2±1.6

Lean BH down the line: +1.3±4.5 per 100 returns v the current mix (406 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

Rally plan

Edge, in points per 100 shots: the hitter's skill with the shot (own) plus how much the receiver usually gives up against it (theirs), both measured against the tour average.

Dayana Yastremska

Favour

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
FH to their forehand · serve +1	+2.5±2.9	+0.6	+1.9
BH to their backhand · return +1	+0.6±3.1	+1.0	−0.4
FH to the middle · rally	+0.5±1.7	−2.4	+2.9
BH to their forehand · serve +1	±0.0±3.7	−1.8	+1.8
BH to the middle · return +1	−0.1±2.2	−1.3	+1.1
BH to their forehand · rally	−0.5±2.7	−2.7	+2.2

Avoid

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
FH to their backhand · return +1	−5.6±3.4	−5.0	−0.7
FH to their backhand · return	−4.7±3.3	−5.3	+0.6
FH to their forehand · return	−4.5±3.6	−1.1	−3.4
BH to their backhand · return	−4.2±2.9	−1.6	−2.6
FH to their backhand · serve +1	−3.8±2.8	−4.0	+0.2

Leylah Fernandez

Favour

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
BH to their forehand · serve +1	+4.4±4.1	+3.0	+1.4
FH to the middle · return	+3.4±1.8	+2.7	+0.7
BH to their forehand · return +1	+2.8±4.2	+3.2	−0.5
BH to the middle · serve +1	+2.5±2.0	+1.3	+1.3
FH to the middle · serve +1	+1.7±2.0	+2.1	−0.3
BH to their forehand · rally	+1.5±3.1	+1.5	−0.1

Avoid

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
FH to their forehand · return	−7.5±3.3	−2.8	−4.8
BH slice to their backhand · rally	−5.8±2.8	−5.1	−0.7
BH to their backhand · return +1	−4.5±3.2	−5.0	+0.6
BH to their forehand · return	−3.3±3.5	+1.6	−4.9
FH to their backhand · return +1	−2.0±3.5	+0.4	−2.5

Against Leylah Fernandez-like opponents

Dayana Yastremska v	Matches	Serve pts won	Return pts won
All charted opponents	–	56.0%	42.3%
Players most similar to Leylah Fernandez	3	55.4%	46.2%

Similar by tactical fingerprint: Cristina Bucsa, Alexandra Eala, Diana Shnaider, Karolina Muchova, Marta Kostyuk, Sorana Cirstea, Olga Danilovic, Kaja Juvan, Victoria Azarenka, Irina Camelia Begu. When two players have rarely met, their records against these lookalikes fill the gap.