RallyIQ

WTA · Right-handed · 12 charted matches · 2006–2017

Francesca Schiavone

Archetype: Chip returner · Slice-heavy

Against an average opponent

Serve points won 58.6% ±3.1 raw 56.1% · tour 56.3% · 947 points
Return points won 43.5% ±3.2 raw 40.9% · tour 43.7% · 952 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 +0.21 ±0.11 better than 86% of WTA · raw +0.20
Shot selection −0.36 ±0.28 better than 18% of WTA · raw −0.37
Execution +0.31 ±0.80 better than 72% of WTA · raw +0.26
Tactical adaptability −0.08 first serves toward what's working, set to set · 11 matches
Adaptation speed −0.09 same, every two to three service games · per 100 first serves
Points left on the table 2.64 per 100 shots vs best direction · lower than 46% 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 5,346 shots.

Shot expected value

The share of points Francesca Schiavone 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 backhand side

position worth 45% to the average player · 411 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH crosscourt 24% 54.2%±7.5 47.6%
BH through the middle 19% 43.1%±8.2 43.3%
BH slice crosscourt 19% 43.5%±8.2 40.4%
BH slice through the middle 13% 21.8%±7.9 34.4%
BH down the line 10% 46.5%±10.5 46.8%
BH slice down the line 6% 37.7%±11.8 31.7%
FH inside-out 2% 55.0%±14.9 52.5%

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

position worth 43% to the average player · 299 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 36% 45.6%±7.2 46.7%
FH down the line 30% 42.7%±7.8 44.9%
FH through the middle 21% 40.8%±8.8 41.3%
FH slice through the middle 4% 35.9%±13.7 29.2%
FH slice down the line 4% 22.2%±12.3 24.3%

Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your middle

position worth 50% to the average player · 234 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 29% 55.2%±8.7 52.7%
FH down the line 22% 44.3%±9.7 52.2%
FH through the middle 14% 41.8%±11.1 45.8%
BH through the middle 11% 52.7%±12.1 46.2%
BH crosscourt 7% 42.2%±13.5 50.9%
BH down the line 6% 50.0%±14.1 50.0%
FH down the line + approach 5% 70.1%±13.5 68.6%

Return +1: drive to your backhand side

position worth 44% to the average player · 206 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH crosscourt 24% 41.4%±9.8 47.8%
BH through the middle 21% 42.2%±10.2 43.0%
BH slice through the middle 18% 39.0%±10.5 33.2%
BH slice crosscourt 18% 45.5%±10.8 39.6%
BH slice down the line 8% 35.4%±13.1 28.7%
BH down the line 7% 50.7%±14.1 46.2%

Serve under pressure

Pressure predictability index +1 How much less varied Francesca Schiavone's first-serve direction gets on break points. Positive means easier to read. Based on 121 break-point first serves.

Deuce court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 41% 41% 73% / 66%
Body 12% 21% ▲ 59% / 57%
T 47% 38% ▼ 60% / 68%

460 normal · 34 break-point 1st serves

Ad court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 54% 54% 61% / 66%
Body 10% 7% 57% / 56%
T 36% 39% 66% / 64%

364 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
Wide41% 62.3%±5.2 n=202 56% ▲
Body13% 51.9%±8.5 n=64 0% ▼
T46% 53.8%±5.1 n=228 44% ▼

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.05).
Optimal mix: +0.9 per 100 first serves.

Ad court

1st serveUsagePoints wonOptimal
Wide54% 51.5%±5.0 n=244 48% ▼
Body9% 52.2%±9.8 n=41 0% ▼
T37% 60.9%±5.7 n=166 52% ▲

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.06).
Optimal mix: +0.7 per 100 first serves.

Exploitability 0.83 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: +1.1±4.2 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. (318 repeats, 603 switches.)

Return by serve direction

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

ServeCourtDirectionPointsWonvs tour
1stAd courtBody 41 40% −4.2±9.6
1stAd courtT 114 31% −4.5±6.3
1stAd courtWide 153 33% −1.5±5.7
1stDeuce courtBody 56 37% −5.7±8.6
1stDeuce courtT 117 32% −0.4±6.3
1stDeuce courtWide 141 40% +5.9±6.2
2ndAd courtBody 44 53% −1.6±9.5
2ndAd courtT 34 57% +2.0±10.2
2ndAd courtWide 71 54% ±0.0±8.2
2ndDeuce courtBody 67 49% −5.7±8.3
2ndDeuce courtT 60 58% +1.5±8.6
2ndDeuce courtWide 52 55% +1.3±9.0

Signature patterns

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

Serve → +1

  1. Body serve (deuce court) → FH down the line used 3.8% · won 62% · −2.4±11.1 vs own baseline
  2. T serve (deuce court) → FH down the line used 5.1% · won 61% · −4.1±10.3 vs own baseline
  3. Wide serve (ad court) → FH inside-in used 3.4% · won 57% · −7.9±11.6 vs own baseline
  4. Wide serve (ad court) → FH through the middle used 3.4% · won 55% · −9.9±11.6 vs own baseline
  5. Wide serve (deuce court) → FH down the line used 3.8% · won 53% · −12.0±11.4 vs own baseline

Return

  1. vs wide serve (deuce court) → FH through the middle, mid used 9.1% · won 57% · +10.6±10.0 vs own baseline
  2. vs wide serve (deuce court) → FH through the middle, deep used 6.0% · won 47% · +0.8±11.3 vs own baseline
  3. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt, mid used 7.0% · won 45% · −0.8±10.9 vs own baseline
  4. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH through the middle, deep used 6.8% · won 44% · −1.8±11.0 vs own baseline
  5. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH through the middle, mid used 6.3% · won 40% · −5.7±11.1 vs own baseline

Rally, consecutive own shots

  1. FH crosscourt → BH slice crosscourt used 3.6% · won 55% · +10.1±10.5 vs own baseline
  2. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 3.1% · won 55% · +10.4±10.8 vs own baseline
  3. FH down the line → FH crosscourt used 2.5% · won 51% · +6.1±11.4 vs own baseline
  4. BH slice crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 2.5% · won 51% · +6.1±11.4 vs own baseline
  5. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 3.1% · won 48% · +3.4±10.9 vs own baseline

Discovered sequences

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

  1. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 0.9% · won 60% · +15.0±11.8 vs own baseline · +28.7 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Svetlana Kuznetsova (6/9), Caroline Wozniacki (5/6)
  2. FH crosscourt → FH down the line → BH slice crosscourt used 1.3% · won 53% · +7.8±10.7 vs own baseline · +19.0 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Svetlana Kuznetsova (9/17), Virginie Razzano (5/7)
  3. FH down the line → BH through the middle → FH crosscourt used 1.0% · won 52% · +6.3±11.5 vs own baseline · +0.7 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Svetlana Kuznetsova (7/11)
  4. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 1.4% · won 50% · +4.4±10.5 vs own baseline · +4.5 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Caroline Wozniacki (6/10), Svetlana Kuznetsova (7/11)
  5. FH crosscourt → FH down the line → BH crosscourt used 0.7% · won 51% · +5.5±12.7 vs own baseline · +9.0 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Svetlana Kuznetsova (6/9)
  6. BH down the line → FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 0.7% · won 51% · +5.5±12.7 vs own baseline · +10.9 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 slice to their backhand · rally+4.0170
FH to the middle · return+2.3159
FH to their forehand · serve +1+2.2170
FH to their backhand · serve +1+2.2177
FH to their forehand · rally+1.7288

Most exposed to

FH to their forehand · return +1−2.9131
BH to the middle · rally−1.8147
FH to the middle · rally−1.5170
T 1st serve · ad court−1.5176
FH to their forehand · serve +1−1.4151

Active players who are best at the shot in the top weakness: Sara Errani, Paula Badosa, Victoria Azarenka, Linda Noskova, Sara Sorribes Tormo

Tactical fingerprint

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

FH down the line38%
Points at net15%
Chipped returns28%
Backhand slice41%
Wide serves · ad54%
T serves · deuce46%
Run-around forehands16%
Avg rally length4.5
BH down the line23%
Drop shots / shot2.0%
Serve & volley2%
Wide serves · deuce41%
Deep returns32%
T serves · ad37%
Forehand share52%
Point-ending shots21.3%
Unforced errors / shot8.4%
1st serve in58%
Through the middle24%

Plays most like

  1. Svetlana Kuznetsova 2004–2021 plan v
  2. Karolina Muchova 2019–2026 plan v
  3. Petra Martic 2010–2024 plan v
  4. Ashleigh Barty 2013–2022 plan v
  5. Kiki Bertens 2012–2021 plan v
  6. Saisai Zheng 2014–2020 plan v
  7. Amelie Mauresmo 1999–2009 plan v
  8. Leylah Fernandez 2020–2026 plan v

Closest from another era

  1. Gabriela Sabatini 1988–1995
  2. Monica Seles 1990–2003
  3. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 1988–2001

Charted matches