Game plan

Dinara Safina v Magda Linette

Every number combines what Dinara Safina does well with what Magda Linette allows, each measured against the tour average and shrunk toward it when the sample is thin. Flip perspective

Forecast

Dinara Safina wins, best of 3 33%90%: 14%–59% · best of 5: 29%

Serve points won 55.8% / 59.1% Dinara / Magda · tour 56.4%

Strengths only, no similarity priors 33%serve 55.8% / 59.1%

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 At least one of them is no longer active or has too little charted in the last three seasons, so both are compared on their careers.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 Dinara Safina's record against Magda Linette's tactical lookalikes and in their charted head-to-heads. 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	Dinara	Magda
Direction choice	+0.32 ±0.09 better than 96%	+0.27 ±0.05 better than 93%
Shot selection	−0.04 ±0.13 better than 42%	+0.36 ±0.07 better than 84%
Execution	+0.16 ±0.57 better than 68%	−0.20 ±0.32 better than 48%
Points left on the table	1.99 ±0.13 lower than 99%	2.20 ±0.07 lower than 94%

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.

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.

Dinara Safina serving

Deuce court

1st serve	Now	Dinara wins	v Magda	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	35%	68%	67%	69.2%±6.5	39% ▲
Body	15%	59%	64%	64.9%±8.7	26% ▲
T	51%	61%	72%	66.0%±6.2	35% ▼

Optimal v Magda Linette: +0.3±0.9 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving wide every time would read +2.3 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Ad court

1st serve	Now	Dinara wins	v Magda	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	48%	62%	68%	64.4%±6.4	46% ▼
Body	13%	53%	64%	60.9%±9.8	0% ▼
T	39%	69%	67%	72.2%±6.4	54% ▲

Optimal v Magda Linette: +0.5±0.9 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving T every time would read +5.2 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Magda Linette serving

Deuce court

1st serve	Now	Magda wins	v Dinara	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	43%	67%	58%	59.1%±6.3	58% ▲
Body	19%	56%	60%	58.8%±9.2	4% ▼
T	38%	68%	68%	68.9%±7.6	38%

Optimal v Dinara Safina: +0.3±1.0 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving T every time would read +6.1 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Ad court

1st serve	Now	Magda wins	v Dinara	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	59%	66%	66%	66.2%±6.4	52% ▼
Body	9%	53%	60%	56.6%±9.9	0% ▼
T	32%	63%	64%	62.4%±7.3	48% ▲

Optimal v Dinara Safina: +0.3±0.9 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving wide every time would read +2.1 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.

Dinara Safina returning

1st serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Magda	Value
FH through the middle	49%	+4.2	+1.0	+0.5	+5.7±2.4
FH crosscourt	28%	+5.3	+1.4	−1.0	+5.7±3.7
FH down the line	18%	+1.5	+0.8	+1.3	+3.7±4.4
FH slice through the middle	5%	−6.7	+0.5	+1.1	−5.1±2.2

Lean FH crosscourt: +0.9±3.0 per 100 returns v the current mix (281 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

1st serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Magda	Value
BH through the middle	43%	+6.0	−0.4	+0.6	+6.2±2.3
BH crosscourt	36%	+7.7	+0.4	+2.5	+10.6±3.0
BH down the line	13%	+2.2	+0.3	−1.4	+1.1±4.0
BH slice through the middle	8%	−6.2	+0.8	−0.8	−6.2±2.3

Lean BH crosscourt: +4.5±2.3 per 100 returns v the current mix (205 returns charted)

2nd serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Magda	Value
FH crosscourt	45%	+0.5	+0.7	−1.4	−0.2±3.9
FH through the middle	35%	−3.2	+1.0	−1.2	−3.4±2.7
FH down the line	20%	−0.6	−2.0	+1.9	−0.6±4.7

Lean FH crosscourt: +1.2±2.6 per 100 returns v the current mix (103 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

2nd serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Magda	Value
BH through the middle	48%	−2.6	−2.2	±0.0	−4.8±2.3
BH crosscourt	40%	+1.5	+1.6	+1.7	+4.8±3.0
BH down the line	12%	−0.5	+2.2	+1.0	+2.7±3.9

Lean BH crosscourt: +4.9±2.2 per 100 returns v the current mix (83 returns charted)

Magda Linette returning

1st serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Dinara	Value
FH through the middle	44%	+4.2	−0.4	−1.7	+2.0±2.4
FH crosscourt	35%	+5.3	−1.2	−1.6	+2.5±3.6
FH down the line	15%	+1.5	−1.3	−2.7	−2.4±4.4
FH slice through the middle	4%	−6.7	−2.7	+1.0	−8.4±2.3
FH slice crosscourt	2%	−6.6	−3.3	±0.0	−9.9±1.8

Lean FH crosscourt: +1.7±2.7 per 100 returns v the current mix (1150 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

1st serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Dinara	Value
BH through the middle	47%	+6.0	+0.2	+0.7	+6.9±2.1
BH crosscourt	32%	+7.7	+0.1	+0.2	+8.1±3.0
BH down the line	11%	+2.2	−1.7	−0.5	±0.0±4.5
BH slice through the middle	4%	−6.2	−1.8	−0.6	−8.6±2.2
BH slice crosscourt	3%	−4.2	−2.5	±0.0	−6.7±2.1

Lean BH crosscourt: +3.1±2.3 per 100 returns v the current mix (980 returns charted)

2nd serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Dinara	Value
FH crosscourt	48%	+0.5	+0.6	+0.6	+1.8±4.2
FH through the middle	36%	−3.2	+2.2	−0.8	−1.8±3.0
FH down the line	14%	−0.6	−1.2	−0.6	−2.4±5.1
FH slice crosscourt	2%	−14.9	−1.4	±0.0	−16.3±1.2

Lean FH crosscourt: +2.2±2.5 per 100 returns v the current mix (284 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

2nd serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Dinara	Value
BH crosscourt	47%	+1.5	−1.4	+2.7	+2.7±3.2
BH through the middle	40%	−2.6	+0.4	−2.2	−4.4±2.5
BH down the line	13%	−0.5	−3.3	−2.7	−6.5±5.2

Lean BH crosscourt: +4.0±2.1 per 100 returns v the current mix (510 returns charted)

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 on hard. Each player's hard record is shrunk toward their all-surface one, so a thin sample on it moves the numbers only a little.

Dinara Safina

Favour

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
FH to their forehand · rally	+4.1±2.8	+2.4	+1.8
BH to their backhand · return	+3.3±3.8	+0.9	+2.4
FH to the middle · return +1	+2.7±3.4	+2.1	+0.6
FH to their forehand · serve +1	+2.7±4.4	+1.0	+1.7
BH to their backhand · rally	+2.2±2.6	+0.7	+1.5
BH to the middle · rally	+2.2±2.4	+0.3	+1.9

Avoid

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
BH to their forehand · rally	−3.8±4.9	−5.5	+1.7
BH to the middle · serve +1	−2.5±3.1	−3.4	+0.9
BH to the middle · return	−1.8±2.6	−1.7	−0.1
FH to the middle · rally	−0.9±2.7	−2.8	+1.9
FH to their backhand · rally	−0.7±3.5	−2.8	+2.1

Magda Linette

Favour

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
FH to their backhand · serve +1	+4.7±4.6	−0.2	+4.9
BH to the middle · return +1	+4.3±3.0	+1.6	+2.7
BH to their forehand · serve +1	+4.2±6.0	+0.7	+3.6
BH to their backhand · return +1	+4.2±4.0	±0.0	+4.2
BH to their backhand · return	+3.0±3.5	−0.8	+3.8
BH to their backhand · serve +1	+2.9±4.0	+0.8	+2.1

Avoid

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
BH to their forehand · return	−7.8±5.3	−5.2	−2.6
BH to their forehand · rally	−6.0±4.7	−3.2	−2.8
FH to their backhand · return	−5.3±5.5	−1.0	−4.3
FH to their backhand · return +1	−3.6±5.4	−3.1	−0.5
FH to the middle · return	−3.4±3.0	+0.5	−3.9

Against Magda Linette-like opponents

Dinara Safina v	Matches	Serve pts won	Return pts won
All charted opponents	–	54.2%	42.8%

Similar by tactical fingerprint: Anastasia Potapova, Karolina Pliskova, Anna Blinkova, Linda Klimovicova, Sorana Cirstea, Yue Yuan, Anhelina Kalinina, Anett Kontaveit, Elena Vesnina, Flavia Pennetta. When two players have rarely met, their records against these lookalikes fill the gap.