RallyIQ

WTA · Right-handed · 14 charted matches · 2014–2023

Barbora Strycova

Archetype: Ad-court T server · Rallies through the middle

Against an average opponent

Serve points won 56.9% ±3.2 raw 55.5% · tour 56.3% · 958 points
Return points won 45.1% ±3.3 raw 42.3% · tour 43.7% · 881 points

Serve and return points won, refitted against every opponent at once so a record built on weak or strong opposition is put on the same scale. Career, all surfaces, with a 90% margin. Raw is the plain share of points won.

Value per 100 shots

Direction choice ±0.00 ±0.10 better than 53% of WTA · raw ±0.00
Shot selection −0.31 ±0.25 better than 21% of WTA · raw −0.31
Execution −0.18 ±0.48 better than 52% of WTA · raw −0.18
Tactical adaptability ±0.00 first serves toward what's working, set to set · 13 matches
Adaptation speed +0.07 same, every two to three service games · per 100 first serves
Points left on the table 2.69 per 100 shots vs best direction · lower than 35% of WTA

Points gained per 100 shots compared with an average tour player in the same position, adjusted for the strength of the opponents faced, with a 90% margin (shots clustered by match). Raw is before the opponent adjustment. Built on 4,947 shots.

Shot expected value

The share of points Barbora Strycova goes on to win after each option in the positions they face most often, shrunk toward tour average when the sample is small. Showing the 8 most-used options; teal marks the best one with at least 30 shots.

Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your forehand side

position worth 43% to the average player · 339 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 42% 46.1%±6.5 46.7%
FH down the line 19% 49.4%±9.0 44.9%
FH through the middle 15% 48.3%±9.8 41.3%
FH slice through the middle 12% 43.1%±10.5 29.2%
FH slice down the line 5% 33.0%±12.9 24.3%
FH slice crosscourt 3% 36.7%±14.2 31.9%

Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side

position worth 45% to the average player · 279 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH crosscourt 38% 50.4%±7.3 47.6%
BH through the middle 24% 36.0%±8.4 43.3%
BH slice through the middle 11% 45.9%±11.4 34.4%
BH slice crosscourt 11% 47.2%±11.5 40.4%
BH down the line 9% 39.9%±11.9 46.8%
BH drop shot crosscourt 4% 51.7%±15.0 47.5%

Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your middle

position worth 50% to the average player · 232 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 38% 43.1%±7.8 52.7%
BH through the middle 17% 39.4%±10.5 46.2%
BH crosscourt 15% 54.0%±11.2 50.9%
FH through the middle 14% 38.8%±11.1 45.8%
FH down the line 8% 40.6%±13.1 52.2%
BH down the line 5% 48.4%±14.8 50.0%

Return +1: drive to your forehand side

position worth 43% to the average player · 176 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 49% 50.0%±8.0 47.6%
FH through the middle 20% 39.7%±10.8 41.3%
FH slice through the middle 11% 30.4%±12.1 29.2%
FH down the line 11% 45.7%±13.1 44.1%

Serve under pressure

Pressure predictability index +4 How much less varied Barbora Strycova's first-serve direction gets on break points. Positive means easier to read. Based on 106 break-point first serves.

Deuce court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 35% 37% 67% / 66%
Body 26% 11% ▼ 59% / 57%
T 40% 53% ▲ 70% / 68%

478 normal · 19 break-point 1st serves

Ad court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 30% 47% ▲ 69% / 66%
Body 23% 18% 52% / 56%
T 47% 34% ▼ 57% / 64%

374 normal · 87 break-point 1st serves

Is the serve mix in equilibrium?

Game theory says a well-mixed server wins equally often with every direction they use. If one direction wins more, it's underused and points are being left behind. This is the minimax test Walker and Wooders ran on Wimbledon finals, applied to every charted first serve. Win rates include faults. "Optimal" allows for returners reading a habit. A direction loses 0.19 points per 100 serves for every 10 points of habitual usage, measured from WTA servers whose mix drifted between matches. Shifts stay within the range servers' habits actually vary, the only range that response was measured over.

Deuce court

1st serveUsagePoints wonOptimal
Wide35% 56.1%±5.7 n=173 50% ▲
Body25% 56.3%±6.6 n=125 10% ▼
T40% 57.6%±5.4 n=199 40%

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.93).
Optimal mix: +0.5 per 100 first serves.

Ad court

1st serveUsagePoints wonOptimal
Wide33% 59.3%±6.0 n=152 48% ▲
Body22% 53.5%±7.1 n=102 7% ▼
T45% 50.7%±5.3 n=207 45%

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.13).
Optimal mix: +0.9 per 100 first serves.

Exploitability 0.69 points per 100 first serves What the optimal mix would win over the current one, both courts. More exploitable than 100% of WTA servers. Tested on matches they weren't fitted on, WTA mixes picked this way win 0.42 per 100 first serves on average.

Repeating the previous direction to the same court: +1.3±6.6 points per 100 against switching. Negative means returners read repeats. Tour-wide, repeating costs women about 0.4 points per 100 and costs men nothing, so men's returners don't measurably anticipate direction. (306 repeats, 624 switches.)

Return by serve direction

Return points won against each serve direction, compared with the tour average.

ServeCourtDirectionPointsWonvs tour
1stAd courtBody 54 39% −4.4±8.8
1stAd courtT 108 39% +3.4±6.8
1stAd courtWide 95 35% +0.2±7.0
1stDeuce courtBody 65 39% −3.9±8.2
1stDeuce courtT 112 35% +2.8±6.6
1stDeuce courtWide 109 31% −2.9±6.5
2ndAd courtBody 79 55% −0.4±7.8
2ndAd courtT 46 55% −0.4±9.4
2ndAd courtWide 39 60% +6.0±9.7
2ndDeuce courtBody 99 42% −12.3±7.2
2ndDeuce courtT 32 58% +1.7±10.3
2ndDeuce courtWide 40 64% +10.7±9.4

Signature patterns

Recurring sequences that win more than Barbora Strycova's own baseline, ranked by edge weighted by how often they're used.

Serve → +1

  1. T serve (ad court) → FH crosscourt used 3.2% · won 61% · +2.3±11.4 vs own baseline
  2. Body serve (ad court) → FH crosscourt used 3.6% · won 55% · −3.9±11.4 vs own baseline
  3. Body serve (ad court) → FH through the middle used 3.6% · won 53% · −5.8±11.4 vs own baseline
  4. Body serve (deuce court) → FH down the line used 4.0% · won 52% · −6.9±11.1 vs own baseline
  5. Body serve (deuce court) → FH through the middle used 5.5% · won 53% · −6.4±10.2 vs own baseline

Return

  1. vs T serve (ad court) → FH through the middle, mid used 6.9% · won 52% · +3.7±11.6 vs own baseline

Rally, consecutive own shots

  1. BH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 5.3% · won 53% · +8.1±10.3 vs own baseline
  2. FH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 4.7% · won 52% · +6.7±10.7 vs own baseline
  3. FH crosscourt → BH through the middle used 3.2% · won 47% · +2.0±11.7 vs own baseline
  4. FH crosscourt → FH through the middle used 3.6% · won 45% · +0.2±11.4 vs own baseline
  5. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 5.0% · won 45% · +0.1±10.5 vs own baseline

Discovered sequences

Mined from every me → opponent → me run of three shots, with no templates. Ranked by how much more often Barbora Strycova wins the point once the sequence happens, weighted by how often it happens. Think of them as chess openings.

  1. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt → FH down the line used 2.4% · won 49% · +5.5±9.2 vs own baseline · +4.2 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Garbine Muguruza (4/12), Amanda Anisimova (2/6)
  2. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt → BH through the middle used 0.9% · won 50% · +6.1±12.4 vs own baseline · +14.0 vs tour on the same sequence
  3. FH through the middle → FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 0.8% · won 49% · +4.9±12.6 vs own baseline · +8.9 vs tour on the same sequence
  4. FH down the line → BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 0.9% · won 48% · +3.8±12.4 vs own baseline · +4.2 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Garbine Muguruza (3/6)
  5. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 2.5% · won 46% · +1.8±9.0 vs own baseline · −1.8 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Garbine Muguruza (2/9), Mona Barthel (2/6)
  6. FH crosscourt → FH down the line → BH crosscourt used 1.1% · won 46% · +2.1±11.6 vs own baseline · −1.8 vs tour on the same sequence

Strengths and vulnerabilities

Value per 100 shots compared with the average player hitting (strengths) or facing (vulnerabilities) the same shot. Only shot types seen at least 120 times.

Hurts opponents most with

BH to the middle · return+1.9147
FH to their forehand · serve +1+1.6122
Body 1st serve · deuce court+1.1125
FH to the middle · return+0.6155
BH to their backhand · rally+0.6216

Most exposed to

FH to the middle · return−3.8194
BH to their forehand · rally−3.7168
FH to the middle · rally−1.5133
BH to their backhand · rally−0.5275
FH to their forehand · serve +1+0.2173

Active players who are best at the shot in the top weakness: Elina Avanesyan, Caroline Wozniacki, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Lin Zhu, Qiang Wang

Tactical fingerprint

Each bar shows how far a style trait is from the WTA average, in standard deviations.

Serve & volley12%
Chipped returns29%
Points at net14%
Forehand share58%
Deep returns37%
T serves · ad45%
Drop shots / shot2.3%
T serves · deuce40%
Backhand slice20%
Avg rally length4.3
Through the middle30%
Unforced errors / shot9.8%
Run-around forehands4%
1st serve in60%
Wide serves · deuce35%
Wide serves · ad33%
Point-ending shots19.5%
FH down the line23%
BH down the line13%

Plays most like

  1. Alison Van Uytvanck 2015–2022 plan v
  2. Jessica Pegula 2015–2026 plan v
  3. R – plan v
  4. Caty Mcnally 2019–2026 plan v
  5. Elina Svitolina 2013–2026 plan v
  6. Ana Bogdan 2019–2024 plan v
  7. Maria Sakkari 2015–2026 plan v
  8. Karolina Muchova 2019–2026 plan v

Closest from another era

  1. Lindsay Davenport 1995–2006
  2. Monica Seles 1990–2003
  3. Jennifer Capriati 1990–2002

Charted matches