Game plan

James Blake v Roger Federer

Every number combines what James Blake does well with what Roger Federer allows, each measured against the tour average and shrunk toward it when the sample is thin. Flip perspective

Forecast

James Blake wins, best of 3 16%90%: 4%–41% · best of 5: 11%

Serve points won 58.0% / 65.8% James / Roger · tour 61.3%

Strengths only, no similarity priors 26%serve 59.9% / 65.0%

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 At least one of them is no longer active or has too little charted in the last three seasons, so both are compared on their careers.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 James Blake's record against Roger Federer's tactical lookalikes and in their charted head-to-heads (lookalikes: −5.2 on serve, −2.3 on return vs expectation (419 points); head-to-head: −3.5 on serve, −1.4 on return vs expectation (1592 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	James	Roger
Direction choice	+0.08 ±0.07 better than 78%	+0.04 ±0.02 better than 68%
Shot selection	+0.03 ±0.12 better than 56%	+0.18 ±0.03 better than 72%
Execution	−0.86 ±0.36 better than 30%	+0.08 ±0.09 better than 72%
Points left on the table	2.49 ±0.14 lower than 62%	2.74 ±0.04 lower than 35%

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.

James Blake serving

Deuce court

1st serve	Now	James wins	v Roger	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	39%	68%	69%	64.3%±3.9	26% ▼
Body	13%	64%	63%	63.5%±5.9	26% ▲
T	49%	75%	70%	70.2%±3.8	48%

Optimal v Roger Federer: +0.1±0.6 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving T every time would read +3.1 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Ad court

1st serve	Now	James wins	v Roger	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	51%	71%	68%	66.5%±3.9	64% ▲
Body	8%	58%	61%	55.5%±8.1	0% ▼
T	41%	70%	67%	64.7%±4.2	36% ▼

Optimal v Roger Federer: +0.3±0.5 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving wide every time would read +1.7 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Roger Federer serving

Deuce court

1st serve	Now	Roger wins	v James	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	46%	76%	76%	79.0%±3.1	41% ▼
Body	8%	68%	58%	63.3%±6.2	0% ▼
T	46%	81%	76%	82.5%±2.4	59% ▲

Optimal v James Blake: +0.6±0.4 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix. Serving T every time would read +3.1 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Ad court

1st serve	Now	Roger wins	v James	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	56%	78%	69%	74.9%±2.9	49% ▼
Body	6%	64%	59%	60.1%±7.5	0% ▼
T	38%	76%	72%	75.2%±3.6	51% ▲

Optimal v James Blake: +0.5±0.4 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix. Serving T every time would read +1.1 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.

James Blake returning

1st serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Roger	Value
FH crosscourt	38%	+5.5	+0.1	−0.8	+4.9±2.6
FH through the middle	34%	+4.3	−2.7	−0.9	+0.7±1.8
FH down the line	22%	+1.7	−0.6	−2.0	−0.9±3.0
FH slice through the middle	4%	−4.2	−0.6	−0.4	−5.2±1.7
FH slice crosscourt	1%	−4.3	+0.1	−1.0	−5.2±2.0

Lean FH crosscourt: +3.3±1.8 per 100 returns v the current mix (587 returns charted)

1st serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Roger	Value
BH slice through the middle	25%	−4.2	+3.0	−0.8	−2.0±1.5
BH through the middle	25%	+6.4	−2.0	−1.4	+3.0±1.6
BH slice crosscourt	17%	+0.5	+4.2	±0.0	+4.7±2.0
BH crosscourt	16%	+8.8	−1.4	−0.8	+6.6±2.3
BH down the line	11%	+4.2	−0.1	−3.0	+1.2±3.3

Lean BH crosscourt: +5.0±2.1 per 100 returns v the current mix (875 returns charted)

2nd serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Roger	Value
FH through the middle	33%	−3.5	+0.9	−1.3	−3.8±2.1
FH crosscourt	31%	−0.2	+1.6	−1.5	−0.2±3.3
FH down the line	26%	−1.8	−0.5	−1.4	−3.7±3.5
FH slice through the middle	6%	−12.7	+1.1	−0.1	−11.7±1.9
FH slice down the line	3%	−9.4	−2.1	−1.3	−12.8±2.5

Lean FH crosscourt: +3.2±2.6 per 100 returns v the current mix (159 returns charted)

2nd serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Roger	Value
BH crosscourt	35%	+1.0	−3.3	−0.9	−3.2±2.0
BH through the middle	31%	−2.9	−0.2	−0.7	−3.8±1.6
BH down the line	17%	−0.2	+0.5	−1.0	−0.7±3.6
BH slice crosscourt	6%	−4.0	+0.4	−2.5	−6.1±2.1
BH slice through the middle	4%	−11.3	+0.4	−1.9	−12.9±1.8
FH inside-in	3%	+0.6	+0.5	−1.5	−0.5±3.0

Lean FH inside-in: +2.8±3.1 per 100 returns v the current mix (545 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

Roger Federer returning

1st serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v James	Value
FH through the middle	49%	+4.3	+0.3	±0.0	+4.5±1.6
FH down the line	25%	+1.7	−0.4	+0.8	+2.1±2.7
FH crosscourt	17%	+5.5	−0.6	−3.0	+1.9±3.0
FH slice through the middle	5%	−4.2	+2.8	+1.0	−0.4±1.9
FH slice down the line	2%	−4.3	+1.9	+0.1	−2.2±2.8
BH through the middle	0%	+6.6	+0.6	+0.6	+7.8±2.5

Lean BH through the middle: +4.7±2.8 per 100 returns v the current mix (11918 returns charted)

1st serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v James	Value
BH slice through the middle	26%	−4.2	+2.2	+0.3	−1.6±1.5
BH through the middle	25%	+6.4	−0.8	+0.6	+6.3±1.6
BH slice crosscourt	23%	+0.5	+3.3	+2.9	+6.7±2.0
BH crosscourt	14%	+8.8	−2.0	−1.2	+5.7±2.3
BH down the line	8%	+4.2	+1.0	+0.1	+5.3±3.4
FH inside-out	0%	+8.6	+0.5	+0.8	+9.9±3.4

Lean FH inside-out: +6.3±3.5 per 100 returns v the current mix (16185 returns charted)

2nd serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v James	Value
FH through the middle	45%	−3.5	+0.5	+0.2	−2.7±1.9
FH down the line	28%	−1.8	+1.2	+3.0	+2.5±3.2
FH crosscourt	20%	−0.2	−1.5	+6.0	+4.3±3.4
BH slice through the middle	2%	−6.9	+1.5	+1.3	−4.1±2.2
BH through the middle	1%	+0.1	+0.3	−0.8	−0.3±1.9

Lean FH crosscourt: +4.2±3.0 per 100 returns v the current mix (3030 returns charted)

2nd serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v James	Value
BH slice crosscourt	25%	−4.0	+1.4	+1.3	−1.3±1.7
BH through the middle	22%	−2.9	−1.4	−0.8	−5.0±1.5
BH slice through the middle	16%	−11.3	+1.0	+1.3	−9.0±1.8
BH crosscourt	14%	+1.0	−2.3	−0.6	−1.9±1.9
BH down the line	8%	−0.2	−0.3	−1.6	−2.1±3.6
FH inside-in	4%	+0.6	+0.6	+6.0	+7.1±3.5

Lean FH inside-in: +10.4±3.5 per 100 returns v the current mix (11907 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 clay. Each player's clay record is shrunk toward their all-surface one, so a thin sample on it moves the numbers only a little.

James Blake

Favour

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
BH slice to their backhand · return	+6.2±2.7	+5.3	+0.9
FH to their forehand · return	+5.3±3.8	+8.4	−3.1
BH slice to the middle · return	+2.9±1.6	+3.4	−0.5
BH to their backhand · return +1	+1.4±2.9	+1.4	±0.0
BH to their forehand · rally	+0.3±3.6	+1.8	−1.5
BH volley to their forehand · rally	±0.0±5.6	+2.4	−2.4

Avoid

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
FH volley to their forehand · serve +1	−7.4±6.0	−5.2	−2.3
BH volley to their backhand · rally	−6.8±5.5	−0.1	−6.7
FH to their forehand · serve +1	−5.7±3.2	−3.2	−2.5
BH to their forehand · serve +1	−5.7±3.7	−0.9	−4.7
FH to the middle · return +1	−5.1±2.1	−3.2	−1.9

Roger Federer

Favour

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
BH slice to their backhand · return	+3.3±1.7	+1.5	+1.8
FH to their backhand · return +1	+1.4±2.5	+0.3	+1.1
BH to their forehand · return +1	+1.0±3.5	−0.6	+1.7
BH slice to their backhand · serve +1	+1.0±2.7	+0.2	+0.8
FH slice to the middle · return	+1.0±2.4	−0.6	+1.6
FH to their backhand · serve +1	+0.8±3.1	+1.8	−1.0

Avoid

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
FH volley to their forehand · rally	−4.8±5.3	+0.8	−5.6
FH to the middle · return +1	−4.6±2.1	−2.6	−2.0
FH to their forehand · return	−4.2±3.9	−1.6	−2.7
BH to the middle · return	−3.4±2.2	−0.4	−3.0
FH to their backhand · rally	−3.3±2.9	−0.4	−3.0

Against Roger Federer-like opponents

James Blake v	Matches	Serve pts won	Return pts won
All charted opponents	–	60.9%	35.9%
Players most similar to Roger Federer	2	58.7%	35.2%
Roger Federer (charted head-to-head)	9	56.1%	31.2%

Similar by tactical fingerprint: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Grigor Dimitrov, Stan Wawrinka, Alexei Popyrin, Dominic Thiem, Tim Van Rijthoven, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Tommy Haas, Ivan Ljubicic. When two players have rarely met, their records against these lookalikes fill the gap.

James Blake v Roger Federer

Forecast

Head to head, per 100 shots

Serve plan

James Blake serving

Deuce court

Ad court

Roger Federer serving

Deuce court

Ad court

Return plan

James Blake returning

1st serve to the forehand

1st serve to the backhand

2nd serve to the forehand

2nd serve to the backhand

Roger Federer returning

1st serve to the forehand

1st serve to the backhand

2nd serve to the forehand

2nd serve to the backhand

Rally plan

James Blake

Favour

Avoid

Roger Federer

Favour

Avoid

Against Roger Federer-like opponents

Charted head-to-head