RallyIQ

ATP · Right-handed · 22 charted matches · 1974–1991

Bjorn Borg

Archetype: Grinder · Ad-court T server

Against an average opponent

Serve points won 65.5% ±2.6 raw 64.2% · tour 63.4% · 2,137 points
Return points won 42.5% ±2.8 raw 43.9% · tour 36.6% · 2,154 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 −0.13 ±0.11 better than 23% of ATP · raw −0.13
Shot selection −0.06 ±0.27 better than 45% of ATP · raw −0.04
Execution +1.07 ±0.51 better than 96% of ATP · raw +1.40
Tactical adaptability −0.06 first serves toward what's working, set to set · 22 matches
Adaptation speed −0.04 same, every two to three service games · per 100 first serves
Long-rally execution −0.15 ±0.57 shot 9 on v own earlier rally shots · 2,655 shots · better than 56% of ATP
Points left on the table 3.05 per 100 shots vs best direction · lower than 18% of ATP

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 12,698 shots.

Shot expected value

The share of points Bjorn Borg 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.

Long rally, 9+: drive to your backhand side

position worth 46% to the average player · 778 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH crosscourt 48% 56.8%±4.1 48.0%
BH through the middle 20% 53.8%±6.1 43.8%
BH down the line 9% 62.7%±8.3 46.5%
FH inside-out 7% 60.2%±9.4 52.6%
FH through the middle 4% 58.8%±11.7 46.1%
FH inside-in 3% 55.0%±11.9 54.3%
BH slice crosscourt 3% 36.5%±11.8 42.1%
BH slice through the middle 3% 41.0%±12.2 35.1%

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

position worth 46% to the average player · 698 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH crosscourt 50% 51.8%±4.3 47.6%
BH through the middle 20% 52.0%±6.4 43.7%
BH down the line 10% 64.4%±8.4 46.4%
FH inside-out 5% 48.9%±11.0 51.8%
FH through the middle 3% 47.7%±12.7 45.2%
FH inside-in 3% 57.0%±12.6 54.7%
BH slice crosscourt 2% 47.3%±13.5 42.5%
BH slice through the middle 2% 39.5%±14.0 35.1%

Long rally, 9+: drive to your forehand side

position worth 44% to the average player · 372 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 55% 61.1%±5.3 46.9%
FH through the middle 27% 48.2%±7.5 41.4%
FH down the line 16% 45.5%±9.2 44.8%

Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your middle

position worth 51% to the average player · 366 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 23% 57.3%±8.0 52.7%
BH crosscourt 18% 58.6%±8.8 49.1%
BH through the middle 17% 55.3%±9.0 46.8%
FH through the middle 16% 60.8%±9.1 47.0%
FH down the line 9% 66.0%±10.8 51.5%
BH down the line 7% 56.0%±12.3 48.3%
FH crosscourt + approach 3% 67.7%±13.8 69.9%

Serve under pressure

Pressure predictability index −3 How much less varied Bjorn Borg's first-serve direction gets on break points. Positive means easier to read. Based on 182 break-point first serves.

Deuce court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 60% 51% ▼ 72% / 73%
Body 8% 5% 65% / 63%
T 32% 44% ▲ 73% / 75%

1,016 normal · 41 break-point 1st serves

Ad court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 37% 45% 70% / 73%
Body 8% 11% 58% / 63%
T 54% 45% ▼ 67% / 72%

826 normal · 141 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. No measurable response (−0.05 ± 0.15 points per 100 serves for every 10 points of habitual usage), measured from ATP 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
Wide59% 62.9%±3.1 n=626 54% ▼
Body8% 63.6%±7.3 n=87 0% ▼
T33% 64.2%±4.1 n=344 46% ▲

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.90).
Optimal mix: +0.3 per 100 first serves.

Ad court

1st serveUsagePoints wonOptimal
Wide38% 64.5%±3.9 n=372 52% ▲
Body9% 58.2%±7.6 n=85 0% ▼
T53% 61.3%±3.4 n=510 48% ▼

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.29).
Optimal mix: +0.6 per 100 first serves.

Exploitability 0.45 points per 100 first serves What the optimal mix would win over the current one, both courts. More exploitable than 100% of ATP servers. Tested on matches they weren't fitted on, ATP mixes picked this way win 0.33 per 100 first serves on average.

Repeating the previous direction to the same court: +6.0±4.1 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. (909 repeats, 1,071 switches.)

Return by serve direction

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

ServeCourtDirectionPointsWonvs tour
1stAd courtBody 50 45% +8.1±9.2
1stAd courtT 170 33% +5.2±5.5
1stAd courtWide 407 37% +9.9±3.8
1stDeuce courtBody 107 38% +1.3±6.8
1stDeuce courtT 314 40% +14.6±4.3
1stDeuce courtWide 214 34% +6.9±5.0
2ndAd courtBody 90 57% +7.1±7.4
2ndAd courtT 29 54% +4.6±10.7
2ndAd courtWide 233 55% +6.2±5.1
2ndDeuce courtBody 133 55% +6.0±6.4
2ndDeuce courtT 186 56% +6.3±5.6
2ndDeuce courtWide 103 51% +2.6±7.1

Signature patterns

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

Serve → +1

  1. Body serve (ad court) → FH crosscourt used 2.3% · won 67% · +0.2±9.4 vs own baseline
  2. Wide serve (deuce court) → FH crosscourt used 5.5% · won 65% · −2.2±7.1 vs own baseline
  3. T serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt used 3.4% · won 64% · −3.5±8.5 vs own baseline
  4. Wide serve (deuce court) → BH crosscourt used 3.3% · won 64% · −3.6±8.7 vs own baseline
  5. T serve (ad court) → FH crosscourt used 2.9% · won 62% · −5.2±9.1 vs own baseline

Return

  1. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt, short used 5.6% · won 56% · +10.7±7.4 vs own baseline
  2. vs body serve (ad court) → FH through the middle, mid used 2.1% · won 62% · +17.2±10.1 vs own baseline
  3. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt, mid used 7.4% · won 52% · +7.5±6.6 vs own baseline
  4. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH through the middle, mid used 4.9% · won 50% · +5.1±7.9 vs own baseline
  5. vs T serve (ad court) → FH through the middle, mid used 2.0% · won 52% · +6.7±10.5 vs own baseline

Rally, consecutive own shots

  1. BH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 5.3% · won 63% · +5.6±5.7 vs own baseline
  2. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 4.4% · won 64% · +5.9±6.1 vs own baseline
  3. BH down the line → BH crosscourt used 1.6% · won 67% · +9.4±8.7 vs own baseline
  4. BH through the middle → FH crosscourt used 4.0% · won 63% · +4.9±6.4 vs own baseline
  5. FH down the line → BH crosscourt used 2.0% · won 64% · +6.7±8.3 vs own baseline

Discovered sequences

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

  1. FH crosscourt → BH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 0.7% · won 67% · +9.4±9.4 vs own baseline · +23.7 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Jimmy Connors (11/17), Guillermo Vilas (5/7)
  2. FH crosscourt → FH through the middle → BH crosscourt used 0.8% · won 64% · +6.7±9.2 vs own baseline · +17.2 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Victor Pecci (5/8), Ivan Lendl (13/20)
  3. FH crosscourt → FH through the middle → BH through the middle used 0.4% · won 66% · +8.7±11.1 vs own baseline · +27.6 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Vitas Gerulaitis (6/8)
  4. Wide serve → FH crosscourt return, mid → FH crosscourt used 0.3% · won 67% · +10.2±11.9 vs own baseline · +28.4 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Ivan Lendl (4/6)
  5. FH crosscourt → BH slice down the line → BH through the middle used 0.3% · won 67% · +9.4±12.1 vs own baseline · +30.2 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Guillermo Vilas (5/7)
  6. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt → BH down the line used 0.4% · won 64% · +6.9±10.9 vs own baseline · +22.7 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 their forehand · return+6.0244
BH to their backhand · return+3.3260
BH to their forehand · rally+3.3617
FH to their backhand · return+3.2178
FH to their backhand · return +1+3.1157

Most exposed to

BH slice to the middle · rally−3.6361
FH to their forehand · return +1−3.4148
FH to their backhand · return−3.0199
BH slice to their forehand · rally−2.8272
FH to the middle · return +1−2.6125

Active players who are best at the shot in the top weakness: Rafael Nadal, Christopher Oconnell, Maxime Cressy, Andy Murray, Corentin Moutet

Tactical fingerprint

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

Wide serves · deuce59%
Avg rally length5.2
T serves · ad53%
Points at net19%
Serve & volley19%
Through the middle25%
Run-around forehands17%
BH down the line19%
Backhand slice11%
Chipped returns5%
1st serve in57%
Drop shots / shot0.1%
Forehand share47%
Point-ending shots17.0%
Wide serves · ad38%
FH down the line23%
T serves · deuce33%
Unforced errors / shot5.5%
Deep returns8%

Plays most like

  1. Aaron Krickstein 1989–1995 plan v
  2. Gilles Simon 2008–2022 plan v
  3. Diego Schwartzman 2015–2025 plan v
  4. Michael Chang 1989–1998 plan v
  5. Jiri Novak 1996–2004 plan v
  6. Karue Sell 2024–2025 plan v
  7. John Millman 2014–2024 plan v
  8. Tomas Martin Etcheverry 2022–2026 plan v

Closest from another era

  1. Gilles Simon 2008–2022
  2. Diego Schwartzman 2015–2025
  3. Jiri Novak 1996–2004

Charted matches