RallyIQ

WTA · Right-handed · 12 charted matches · 2015–2024

Irina Camelia Begu

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

Against an average opponent

Serve points won 53.7% ±3.2 raw 50.2% · tour 56.3% · 855 points
Return points won 42.6% ±3.3 raw 39.1% · tour 43.7% · 765 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 −0.31 ±0.08 better than 6% of WTA · raw −0.32
Shot selection −0.15 ±0.15 better than 31% of WTA · raw −0.16
Execution −1.73 ±0.43 better than 7% of WTA · raw −1.81
Tactical adaptability ±0.00 first serves toward what's working, set to set · 12 matches
Adaptation speed −0.05 same, every two to three service games · per 100 first serves
Points left on the table 2.91 per 100 shots vs best direction · lower than 15% 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 4,319 shots.

Shot expected value

The share of points Irina Camelia Begu 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 middle

position worth 50% to the average player · 331 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 20% 43.0%±8.8 52.7%
BH through the middle 20% 35.6%±8.5 46.2%
FH down the line 19% 51.7%±9.0 52.2%
FH through the middle 19% 38.0%±8.8 45.8%
BH crosscourt 15% 51.0%±9.8 50.9%
BH down the line 7% 40.9%±12.2 50.0%

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

position worth 43% to the average player · 224 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 38% 35.2%±7.6 46.7%
FH through the middle 33% 33.3%±8.0 41.3%
FH down the line 23% 42.2%±9.6 44.9%
FH slice through the middle 6% 23.8%±12.2 29.2%

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

position worth 45% to the average player · 214 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH crosscourt 36% 44.9%±8.3 47.6%
BH through the middle 32% 31.1%±8.1 43.3%
BH down the line 16% 35.2%±10.6 46.8%
BH slice through the middle 6% 34.0%±13.8 34.4%

Serve +1: mid-depth return to your middle

position worth 51% to the average player · 156 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH through the middle 22% 38.4%±10.8 45.5%
BH through the middle 19% 48.5%±11.6 46.3%
FH down the line 19% 40.1%±11.5 53.3%
FH crosscourt 17% 45.2%±12.1 54.0%
BH crosscourt 13% 56.2%±12.9 52.5%
BH down the line 10% 56.1%±13.6 51.0%

Serve under pressure

Pressure predictability index +2 How much less varied Irina Camelia Begu's first-serve direction gets on break points. Positive means easier to read. Based on 123 break-point first serves.

Deuce court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 43% 33% ▼ 66% / 66%
Body 17% 17% 56% / 57%
T 40% 50% ▲ 54% / 68%

418 normal · 24 break-point 1st serves

Ad court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 42% 44% 52% / 66%
Body 22% 19% 56% / 56%
T 35% 36% 64% / 64%

314 normal · 99 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
Wide42% 55.4%±5.6 n=186 57% ▲
Body17% 51.0%±7.9 n=77 18%
T41% 48.0%±5.7 n=179 25% ▼

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.22).
Optimal mix: +0.6 per 100 first serves.

Ad court

1st serveUsagePoints wonOptimal
Wide43% 47.4%±5.7 n=177 43%
Body22% 49.2%±7.5 n=89 6% ▼
T36% 49.9%±6.2 n=147 51% ▲

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.85).
Optimal mix: +0.4 per 100 first serves.

Exploitability 0.47 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: −0.1±5.7 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. (269 repeats, 562 switches.)

Return by serve direction

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

ServeCourtDirectionPointsWonvs tour
1stAd courtBody 51 43% −0.5±9.1
1stAd courtT 96 36% +0.7±7.0
1stAd courtWide 65 24% −10.9±7.2
1stDeuce courtBody 74 39% −3.4±7.9
1stDeuce courtT 90 26% −6.6±6.5
1stDeuce courtWide 82 29% −5.3±7.0
2ndAd courtBody 67 52% −3.0±8.3
2ndAd courtT 25 52% −3.2±11.1
2ndAd courtWide 53 54% +0.8±9.0
2ndDeuce courtBody 82 54% −0.6±7.7
2ndDeuce courtT 63 54% −2.5±8.5
2ndDeuce courtWide 16 50% −3.5±12.1

Signature patterns

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

Serve → +1

  1. Wide serve (deuce court) → BH crosscourt used 3.1% · won 55% · +1.6±11.5 vs own baseline
  2. T serve (deuce court) → FH crosscourt used 2.9% · won 52% · −1.3±11.7 vs own baseline
  3. Body serve (deuce court) → FH crosscourt used 2.9% · won 52% · −1.3±11.7 vs own baseline
  4. Body serve (deuce court) → FH through the middle used 3.1% · won 47% · −6.2±11.6 vs own baseline
  5. Body serve (ad court) → BH through the middle used 3.6% · won 47% · −6.0±11.1 vs own baseline

Return

  1. vs body serve (deuce court) → FH through the middle, mid used 5.4% · won 37% · +1.9±11.4 vs own baseline

Rally, consecutive own shots

  1. FH down the line → FH crosscourt used 3.6% · won 50% · +8.7±11.1 vs own baseline
  2. FH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 4.2% · won 48% · +7.0±10.7 vs own baseline
  3. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 4.2% · won 48% · +7.0±10.7 vs own baseline
  4. FH down the line → BH crosscourt used 3.0% · won 48% · +6.7±11.6 vs own baseline
  5. BH crosscourt → FH down the line used 3.4% · won 47% · +5.9±11.2 vs own baseline

Discovered sequences

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

  1. FH down the line → BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 0.9% · won 46% · +6.9±12.2 vs own baseline · +6.6 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Iga Swiatek (4/9)
  2. FH crosscourt → FH through the middle → BH crosscourt used 0.9% · won 46% · +6.9±12.2 vs own baseline · +2.6 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Bianca Andreescu (7/13)
  3. BH crosscourt → BH through the middle → FH through the middle used 1.0% · won 43% · +4.0±11.8 vs own baseline · +2.2 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Bianca Andreescu (3/6)
  4. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt → FH down the line used 1.9% · won 41% · +1.5±9.8 vs own baseline · −5.8 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Caroline Garcia (2/7), Kiki Bertens (4/12)
  5. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 1.4% · won 41% · +1.4±10.8 vs own baseline · −6.3 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Bianca Andreescu (3/10), Aliaksandra Sasnovich (4/6)
  6. Body serve → FH through the middle return, mid → FH through the middle used 0.7% · won 41% · +1.7±12.7 vs own baseline · +0.4 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 backhand · rally+1.2196
Wide 1st serve · ad court+0.8177
FH to the middle · rally−0.6222
T 1st serve · ad court−0.7147
Wide 1st serve · deuce court−1.1186

Most exposed to

BH to the middle · return−2.7185
FH to their forehand · rally−2.5294
FH to the middle · rally−0.9184
FH to their backhand · rally−0.7214
BH to the middle · rally−0.6184

Active players who are best at the shot in the top weakness: Sara Sorribes Tormo, Maja Chwalinska, Daria Saville, Daria Kasatkina, Caroline Wozniacki

Tactical fingerprint

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

Through the middle35%
Unforced errors / shot12.4%
BH down the line24%
T serves · deuce40%
Forehand share55%
Wide serves · ad43%
Wide serves · deuce42%
1st serve in63%
Drop shots / shot1.6%
Avg rally length4.1
Deep returns32%
Serve & volley0%
T serves · ad36%
Backhand slice11%
Run-around forehands5%
FH down the line28%
Point-ending shots22.5%
Chipped returns7%
Points at net5%

Plays most like

  1. Maya Joint 2024–2026 plan v
  2. Victoria Mboko 2022–2026 plan v
  3. Cristina Bucsa 2016–2026 plan v
  4. Jaqueline Cristian 2021–2026 plan v
  5. Nao Hibino 2016–2025 plan v
  6. Karolina Pliskova 2013–2026 plan v
  7. Alison Riske Amritraj 2014–2022 plan v
  8. Shelby Rogers 2014–2024 plan v

Closest from another era

  1. Elena Dementieva 1999–2010
  2. Anastasia Myskina 2002–2006
  3. Jelena Dokic 2000–2009

Charted matches