Game plan

Sabine Lisicki v Tereza Valentova

Every number combines what Sabine Lisicki does well with what Tereza Valentova allows, each measured against the tour average and shrunk toward it when the sample is thin. Flip perspective

Forecast

Sabine Lisicki wins, best of 3 45%90%: 17%–76% · best of 5: 44%

Serve points won 57.0% / 58.0% Sabine / Tereza · tour 58.1%

Strengths only, no similarity priors 43%serve 56.8% / 58.3%

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 At least one of them is no longer active or has too little charted in the last three seasons, so both are compared on their careers.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 Sabine Lisicki's record against Tereza Valentova's tactical lookalikes and in their charted head-to-heads (lookalikes: +5.0 on serve, +6.3 on return vs expectation (121 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	Sabine	Tereza
Direction choice	+0.02 ±0.12 better than 56%	−0.19 ±0.10 better than 19%
Shot selection	+0.35 ±0.13 better than 83%	−0.15 ±0.18 better than 33%
Execution	−1.31 ±0.65 better than 13%	−0.48 ±0.63 better than 34%
Points left on the table	2.61 ±0.18 lower than 50%	2.94 ±0.16 lower than 14%

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.

Sabine Lisicki serving

Deuce court

1st serve	Now	Sabine wins	v Tereza	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	46%	69%	62%	65.3%±7.9	61% ▲
Body	18%	60%	59%	62.2%±10.0	3% ▼
T	36%	75%	61%	69.0%±8.5	36%

Optimal v Tereza Valentova: +0.8±1.1 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving T every time would read +2.9 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Ad court

1st serve	Now	Sabine wins	v Tereza	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	40%	73%	63%	70.1%±7.8	55% ▲
Body	18%	50%	58%	52.2%±11.9	3% ▼
T	42%	65%	66%	65.6%±8.1	42%

Optimal v Tereza Valentova: +0.9±1.2 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving wide every time would read +5.1 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Tereza Valentova serving

Deuce court

1st serve	Now	Tereza wins	v Sabine	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	58%	67%	69%	70.2%±6.6	56% ▼
Body	13%	58%	62%	62.9%±10.8	0% ▼
T	29%	74%	65%	70.7%±9.0	44% ▲

Optimal v Sabine Lisicki: +0.6±1.1 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving T every time would read +1.3 per 100 first serves in before the returner adjusts.

Ad court

1st serve	Now	Tereza wins	v Sabine	Matchup	Optimal
Wide	32%	70%	67%	71.2%±8.1	47% ▲
Body	13%	51%	59%	54.0%±11.3	0% ▼
T	55%	62%	63%	60.7%±8.2	53% ▼

Optimal v Sabine Lisicki: +0.5±1.0 per 100 first serves (faults included) over the current mix, inside the 90% margin. Serving wide every time would read +8.0 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.

Sabine Lisicki returning

1st serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Tereza	Value
FH through the middle	44%	+4.2	−0.6	+1.0	+4.5±2.8
FH crosscourt	24%	+5.3	−0.6	−2.4	+2.3±4.3
FH down the line	21%	+1.5	+4.0	−2.4	+3.1±4.7
FH slice through the middle	6%	−6.7	+1.6	±0.0	−5.1±2.1
FH slice crosscourt	3%	−6.6	−0.1	−1.1	−7.8±2.0

Lean FH through the middle: +2.0±2.1 per 100 returns v the current mix (340 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

1st serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Tereza	Value
BH through the middle	46%	+6.0	+0.9	−0.8	+6.2±2.7
BH crosscourt	25%	+7.7	−0.8	−0.5	+6.5±3.6
BH down the line	22%	+2.2	+2.4	−0.4	+4.2±4.7
BH slice through the middle	4%	−6.2	−0.1	−0.7	−7.0±2.2
BH slice crosscourt	3%	−4.2	−0.5	−0.7	−5.3±2.0

Lean BH crosscourt: +1.6±3.2 per 100 returns v the current mix (296 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

2nd serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Tereza	Value
FH through the middle	42%	−3.2	−0.9	−1.6	−5.6±3.0
FH down the line	31%	−0.6	+2.0	+0.2	+1.7±5.0
FH crosscourt	27%	+0.5	+2.3	+0.1	+2.9±4.2

Lean FH crosscourt: +4.0±3.7 per 100 returns v the current mix (64 returns charted)

2nd serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Tereza	Value
BH through the middle	44%	−2.6	−1.5	+1.6	−2.6±2.7
BH crosscourt	30%	+1.5	−3.0	+1.0	−0.6±3.7
BH down the line	21%	−0.5	−3.3	−0.1	−4.0±5.2
FH through the middle	4%	−2.7	+0.8	−1.6	−3.5±2.2

Lean BH crosscourt: +1.7±3.0 per 100 returns v the current mix (135 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

Tereza Valentova returning

1st serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Sabine	Value
FH through the middle	48%	+4.2	−0.1	−0.1	+4.0±2.8
FH crosscourt	18%	+5.3	±0.0	+0.4	+5.6±4.3
FH down the line	15%	+1.5	+2.2	+1.2	+5.0±4.6
FH slice through the middle	10%	−6.7	−1.0	+1.9	−5.8±2.5
FH slice crosscourt	7%	−6.6	+0.9	+0.8	−4.9±2.4

Lean FH crosscourt: +3.2±3.8 per 100 returns v the current mix (210 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

1st serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Sabine	Value
BH through the middle	46%	+6.0	+0.6	−2.6	+4.1±2.7
BH crosscourt	21%	+7.7	+0.8	+0.3	+8.9±3.5
BH down the line	21%	+2.2	+0.5	−2.4	+0.3±4.7
BH slice through the middle	7%	−6.2	−0.3	+0.6	−5.9±2.2
BH slice crosscourt	3%	−4.2	−1.5	−0.4	−6.0±2.4

Lean BH crosscourt: +6.1±3.2 per 100 returns v the current mix (239 returns charted)

2nd serve to the forehand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Sabine	Value
FH through the middle	63%	−3.2	+0.1	+0.8	−2.2±3.0
FH crosscourt	23%	+0.5	−1.5	−0.7	−1.6±3.9
FH down the line	14%	−0.6	+1.6	−0.7	+0.3±4.4

Lean FH through the middle: −0.5±1.6 per 100 returns v the current mix (43 returns charted, inside the 90% margin)

2nd serve to the backhand

Return	Now	Tour	Own	v Sabine	Value
BH through the middle	40%	−2.6	+1.1	+0.5	−1.0±2.7
BH crosscourt	30%	+1.5	−1.3	+1.0	+1.2±3.5
BH down the line	29%	−0.5	−3.0	+1.0	−2.5±5.3

Lean BH crosscourt: +2.0±3.1 per 100 returns v the current mix (139 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 on grass. Each player's grass record is shrunk toward their all-surface one, so a thin sample on it moves the numbers only a little.

Sabine Lisicki

Favour

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
FH to their backhand · rally	+4.1±4.6	+4.7	−0.7
FH to their backhand · return +1	+2.4±5.4	+2.0	+0.4
FH to their backhand · return	+2.0±5.0	+3.6	−1.6
FH to their forehand · serve +1	+1.2±4.8	+0.5	+0.7
BH to their backhand · rally	+1.2±3.9	+0.8	+0.4
FH to the middle · rally	+0.8±3.1	+1.7	−0.9

Avoid

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
BH to their forehand · rally	−11.4±5.5	−9.3	−2.1
BH to their backhand · serve +1	−9.3±4.6	−6.0	−3.3
BH to their forehand · serve +1	−7.5±6.1	−4.4	−3.1
FH to their forehand · rally	−6.7±3.7	−3.7	−3.1
FH to the middle · serve +1	−6.4±3.4	−3.4	−3.0

Tereza Valentova

Favour

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
BH to their backhand · return	+4.0±4.0	+0.3	+3.7
BH to their forehand · serve +1	+2.5±5.8	+1.0	+1.5
FH to their forehand · serve +1	+1.8±4.9	+2.0	−0.1
BH to the middle · serve +1	+1.6±3.1	+0.1	+1.5
BH to their forehand · rally	+1.5±5.7	+2.5	−1.0
FH to their forehand · return +1	+0.6±5.2	+1.7	−1.2

Avoid

Shot	Edge	Own	Theirs
BH to the middle · return	−3.8±2.8	+0.3	−4.1
BH to the middle · return +1	−3.2±3.4	−3.6	+0.4
FH to the middle · rally	−3.2±3.1	−1.4	−1.8
BH to the middle · rally	−2.8±2.8	−1.9	−0.9
BH to their forehand · return	−2.3±5.5	−1.9	−0.4

Against Tereza Valentova-like opponents

Sabine Lisicki v	Matches	Serve pts won	Return pts won
All charted opponents	–	57.7%	42.5%
Players most similar to Tereza Valentova	1	64.3%	48.5%

Similar by tactical fingerprint: Iva Jovic, Karolina Pliskova, Madison Keys, Solana Sierra, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Shelby Rogers, Irina Camelia Begu, Kaia Kanepi, Alison Van Uytvanck. When two players have rarely met, their records against these lookalikes fill the gap.