RallyIQ

Game plan

Matteo Berrettini v Stefanos Tsitsipas

Every number combines what Matteo Berrettini does well with what Stefanos Tsitsipas allows, each measured against the tour average and shrunk toward it when the sample is thin. Flip perspective

Forecast

Matteo Berrettini wins, best of 3 63%90%: 39%–82% · best of 5: 66%
Serve points won 70.5% / 67.7% Matteo / Stefanos · tour 63.5%
Strengths only, no similarity priors 59%serve 69.1% / 67.1%

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. Both were charted enough in the last three seasons, so those carry the most weight. The result is then nudged by Matteo Berrettini's record against Stefanos Tsitsipas's tactical lookalikes and in their charted head-to-heads (lookalikes: +3.3 on serve, −0.2 on return vs expectation (2232 points); head-to-head: +1.2 on serve, −7.0 on return vs expectation (261 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

CareerMatteoStefanos
Direction choice−0.02 ±0.06
better than 51%
+0.10 ±0.03
better than 81%
Shot selection−0.61 ±0.09
better than 8%
+0.35 ±0.07
better than 83%
Execution+0.03 ±0.36
better than 70%
+0.20 ±0.17
better than 75%
Points left on the table2.71 ±0.09
lower than 39%
2.52 ±0.06
lower than 58%

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: Matteo Berrettini −1.13, Stefanos Tsitsipas −0.76. 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.

Matteo Berrettini serving

Deuce court

1st serveNowMatteo winsv StefanosMatchupOptimal
Wide46%79%75%80.6%±2.159% ▲
Body6%68%68%72.4%±5.70% ▼
T48%80%75%80.7%±2.241% ▼

Optimal v Stefanos Tsitsipas: +0.5±0.4 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix. Serving T every time would read +0.6 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Ad court

1st serveNowMatteo winsv StefanosMatchupOptimal
Wide50%79%74%79.7%±2.363% ▲
Body7%68%64%68.8%±6.00% ▼
T43%76%74%77.1%±2.637% ▼

Optimal v Stefanos Tsitsipas: +0.5±0.4 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix. Serving wide every time would read +1.9 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Stefanos Tsitsipas serving

Deuce court

1st serveNowStefanos winsv MatteoMatchupOptimal
Wide47%75%76%78.2%±2.360% ▲
Body6%64%65%65.7%±5.90% ▼
T47%79%75%79.2%±2.240% ▼

Optimal v Matteo Berrettini: +0.5±0.4 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix. Serving T every time would read +1.3 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Ad court

1st serveNowStefanos winsv MatteoMatchupOptimal
Wide50%78%74%79.2%±2.263% ▲
Body7%67%65%69.1%±5.70% ▼
T43%74%71%72.8%±2.937% ▼

Optimal v Matteo Berrettini: +0.6±0.4 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix. Serving wide every time would read +3.5 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.

Matteo Berrettini returning

1st serve to the forehand

ReturnNowTourOwnv StefanosValue
FH through the middle43%+4.3−0.5−1.2+2.5±1.3
FH slice through the middle22%−4.2+1.2−0.6−3.6±1.6
FH down the line14%+1.7−4.0−2.6−4.9±2.9
FH crosscourt11%+5.5−1.3+1.0+5.2±3.1
FH slice crosscourt6%−4.3+2.1+1.4−0.8±2.8

Lean FH crosscourt: +5.3±2.9 per 100 returns v the current mix (1460 returns charted)

1st serve to the backhand

ReturnNowTourOwnv StefanosValue
BH through the middle31%+6.4+0.7−0.1+7.0±1.3
BH slice through the middle29%−4.2−0.5−2.5−7.3±1.4
BH crosscourt15%+8.8+0.1−1.1+7.8±2.1
BH slice crosscourt11%+0.5−1.5−3.5−4.5±2.3
BH down the line7%+4.2+1.7−0.8+5.2±3.6

Lean BH crosscourt: +7.2±1.9 per 100 returns v the current mix (1842 returns charted)

2nd serve to the forehand

ReturnNowTourOwnv StefanosValue
FH through the middle51%−3.5−1.8−0.2−5.5±1.9
FH down the line24%−1.8−1.3−1.7−4.8±3.6
FH crosscourt16%−0.2−3.0+0.8−2.5±3.5
FH slice through the middle6%−12.7+1.1−1.0−12.6±2.3
FH slice down the line2%−9.4±0.0−1.2−10.6±2.3

Lean FH crosscourt: +3.0±3.2 per 100 returns v the current mix (389 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

2nd serve to the backhand

ReturnNowTourOwnv StefanosValue
BH through the middle47%−2.9+0.2−0.4−3.1±1.2
BH crosscourt26%+1.0−1.2−1.3−1.5±1.8
BH down the line12%−0.2±0.0−0.4−0.6±3.9
FH through the middle8%−2.9+0.2−0.2−2.9±1.8
FH inside-in3%+0.6−3.7+0.8−2.3±3.5

Lean BH down the line: +1.8±3.5 per 100 returns v the current mix (1173 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

Stefanos Tsitsipas returning

1st serve to the forehand

ReturnNowTourOwnv MatteoValue
FH through the middle52%+4.3−0.6−0.2+3.5±1.4
FH down the line21%+1.7+1.5−1.2+2.0±2.9
FH crosscourt17%+5.5−4.3+1.0+2.2±2.9
FH slice through the middle5%−4.2−1.6+0.7−5.1±1.8
FH slice crosscourt3%−4.3+0.7±0.0−3.6±2.8

Lean FH through the middle: +1.3±1.0 per 100 returns v the current mix (3059 returns charted)

1st serve to the backhand

ReturnNowTourOwnv MatteoValue
BH through the middle35%+6.4−1.2+1.0+6.3±1.4
BH slice through the middle20%−4.2+0.3−1.3−5.3±1.5
BH crosscourt18%+8.8−2.3+1.5+8.0±2.0
BH down the line11%+4.2−2.2−4.0−2.0±3.5
BH slice crosscourt10%+0.5−3.5−2.8−5.8±2.2

Lean BH crosscourt: +6.7±1.8 per 100 returns v the current mix (4350 returns charted)

2nd serve to the forehand

ReturnNowTourOwnv MatteoValue
FH through the middle49%−3.5±0.0−0.8−4.3±1.8
FH crosscourt27%−0.2+0.4−0.5−0.3±3.7
FH down the line23%−1.8+2.2±0.0+0.4±3.8
FH slice through the middle2%−12.7−0.6−1.3−14.6±1.9

Lean FH down the line: +2.7±3.2 per 100 returns v the current mix (711 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

2nd serve to the backhand

ReturnNowTourOwnv MatteoValue
BH through the middle36%−2.9+0.7−0.1−2.3±1.2
BH crosscourt25%+1.0−1.6−1.6−2.2±1.7
FH inside-out12%+1.0+0.2±0.0+1.1±2.6
FH through the middle11%−2.9+1.5−0.8−2.2±1.5
BH down the line7%−0.2−4.7+0.1−4.8±4.1

Lean FH inside-out: +3.5±2.4 per 100 returns v the current mix (3046 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.

Matteo Berrettini

Favour

ShotEdgeOwnTheirs
FH volley to their forehand · rally+8.6±4.9+7.0+1.6
FH drop shot to their backhand · serve +1+8.0±4.9+2.2+5.8
FH drop shot to their backhand · rally+4.2±4.8−0.5+4.7
FH slice to their forehand · return+3.6±2.8+1.7+1.9
BH to their forehand · serve +1+3.6±3.8+3.3+0.3
FH slice to their backhand · rally+2.5±3.1+2.3+0.2

Avoid

ShotEdgeOwnTheirs
BH slice to their forehand · rally−5.4±2.3−0.8−4.6
FH slice to the middle · rally−5.4±2.2−3.3−2.1
BH slice to the middle · rally−4.9±1.5−0.5−4.3
FH to their backhand · return−4.7±2.1−2.4−2.3
FH to their backhand · return +1−4.4±2.1−3.0−1.4

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Favour

ShotEdgeOwnTheirs
FH volley to their forehand · rally+4.4±4.6+6.9−2.5
BH volley to the middle · rally+3.8±5.3+2.5+1.3
Smash to their forehand · rally+2.4±3.8+3.4−1.0
FH to their backhand · serve +1+1.4±1.2+3.4−1.9
BH to the middle · return +1+1.4±1.4+1.9−0.5
BH to the middle · rally+0.7±0.9+1.1−0.4

Avoid

ShotEdgeOwnTheirs
FH to their backhand · return +1−5.4±2.2−0.8−4.6
BH slice to their backhand · return−5.3±2.0−3.1−2.2
BH to their forehand · return−4.9±2.8−2.6−2.3
FH slice to the middle · rally−3.7±2.4−1.8−1.9
BH slice to the middle · rally−3.4±1.5−0.9−2.5

Against Stefanos Tsitsipas-like opponents

Matteo Berrettini vMatchesServe pts wonReturn pts won
All charted opponents–68.7%33.6%
Players most similar to Stefanos Tsitsipas15 72.1%34.1%
Stefanos Tsitsipas (charted head-to-head)1 70.7%25.0%

Similar by tactical fingerprint: Casper Ruud, Tallon Griekspoor, Tommy Paul, Felix Auger Aliassime, Alexei Popyrin, Zizou Bergs, Aleksandar Vukic, Dominic Thiem, Lloyd Harris, Philipp Kohlschreiber. When two players have rarely met, their records against these lookalikes fill the gap.

Charted head-to-head