RallyIQ

ATP · Right-handed · 131 charted matches · 1998–2015

Lleyton Hewitt

Archetype: Blocks returns short · Works the corners

Against an average opponent

Serve points won 66.0% ±2.2 raw 63.8% · tour 63.4% · 12,349 points
Return points won 42.0% ±2.4 raw 38.1% · tour 36.6% · 12,717 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 +0.49 ±0.04 better than 100% of ATP · raw +0.49
Shot selection −0.09 ±0.09 better than 41% of ATP · raw −0.10
Execution +0.77 ±0.16 better than 91% of ATP · raw +0.67
Tactical adaptability ±0.00 first serves toward what's working, set to set · 131 matches
Adaptation speed +0.02 same, every two to three service games · per 100 first serves
Long-rally execution −0.06 ±0.31 shot 9 on v own earlier rally shots · 11,466 shots · better than 64% of ATP
Points left on the table 1.79 per 100 shots vs best direction · lower than 100% 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 69,260 shots.

Shot expected value

The share of points Lleyton Hewitt 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 46% to the average player · 5,036 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH crosscourt 57% 49.3%±1.5 47.6%
BH through the middle 13% 51.3%±3.2 43.7%
FH inside-out 8% 53.5%±3.9 51.8%
BH slice crosscourt 8% 46.6%±4.1 42.5%
BH down the line 5% 45.2%±5.0 46.4%
FH inside-in 3% 57.1%±6.2 54.7%
BH slice through the middle 2% 39.3%±6.9 35.1%
BH slice down the line 1% 27.0%±7.5 37.1%

Long rally, 9+: drive to your backhand side

position worth 46% to the average player · 3,960 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH crosscourt 56% 51.5%±1.7 48.0%
BH through the middle 12% 49.7%±3.8 43.8%
BH slice crosscourt 11% 40.4%±3.8 42.1%
BH down the line 7% 52.6%±4.9 46.5%
FH inside-out 5% 52.7%±5.7 52.6%
BH slice through the middle 3% 36.2%±6.9 35.1%
FH inside-in 2% 56.7%±7.5 54.3%
BH slice down the line 2% 27.3%±6.9 35.8%

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

position worth 44% to the average player · 3,618 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 53% 47.8%±1.9 46.6%
FH down the line 25% 45.4%±2.7 44.7%
FH through the middle 17% 46.1%±3.3 41.5%
FH down the line + approach 2% 73.2%±7.7 69.3%
FH slice down the line 1% 29.6%±9.1 25.6%
FH slice through the middle 1% 25.3%±9.3 24.5%
FH slice crosscourt 1% 40.0%±10.6 30.9%

Long rally, 9+: drive to your forehand side

position worth 44% to the average player · 2,947 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 54% 47.9%±2.1 46.9%
FH down the line 26% 47.2%±2.9 44.8%
FH through the middle 13% 42.5%±4.0 41.4%
FH down the line + approach 3% 67.5%±7.9 68.9%
FH slice down the line 2% 20.5%±7.9 27.8%
FH slice through the middle 1% 28.7%±9.4 25.4%
FH slice crosscourt 1% 23.7%±9.3 31.2%

Serve under pressure

Pressure predictability index +1 How much less varied Lleyton Hewitt's first-serve direction gets on break points. Positive means easier to read. Based on 994 break-point first serves.

Deuce court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 50% 46% 73% / 73%
Body 3% 4% 68% / 63%
T 47% 50% 80% / 75%

6,111 normal · 224 break-point 1st serves

Ad court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 51% 57% 74% / 73%
Body 4% 3% 60% / 63%
T 46% 40% 70% / 72%

5,044 normal · 770 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
Wide50% 64.7%±1.4 n=3,149 48% ▼
Body3% 62.0%±5.1 n=211 0% ▼
T47% 64.8%±1.4 n=2,975 52% ▲

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.91).
Optimal mix: +0.2 per 100 first serves.

Ad court

1st serveUsagePoints wonOptimal
Wide51% 61.8%±1.5 n=2,989 42% ▼
Body4% 56.5%±5.3 n=211 0% ▼
T45% 63.1%±1.5 n=2,614 58% ▲

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.56).
Optimal mix: +0.4 per 100 first serves.

Exploitability 0.27 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: +0.8±1.6 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. (5,280 repeats, 6,607 switches.)

Return by serve direction

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

ServeCourtDirectionPointsWonvs tour
1stAd courtBody 206 37% −0.1±5.2
1stAd courtT 1,400 30% +1.6±2.0
1stAd courtWide 1,907 32% +4.4±1.7
1stDeuce courtBody 281 44% +7.7±4.6
1stDeuce courtT 1,776 25% ±0.0±1.7
1stDeuce courtWide 1,940 31% +3.5±1.7
2ndAd courtBody 400 52% +2.7±4.0
2ndAd courtT 441 49% −0.7±3.8
2ndAd courtWide 1,645 51% +2.9±2.0
2ndDeuce courtBody 792 52% +3.1±2.9
2ndDeuce courtT 1,114 50% +0.1±2.4
2ndDeuce courtWide 616 49% +0.8±3.2

Signature patterns

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

Serve → +1

  1. T serve (ad court) → FH crosscourt used 2.9% · won 61% · −5.5±4.2 vs own baseline
  2. T serve (deuce court) → FH crosscourt used 2.3% · won 60% · −7.0±4.7 vs own baseline
  3. Wide serve (ad court) → FH crosscourt used 3.7% · won 59% · −7.6±3.7 vs own baseline
  4. Wide serve (deuce court) → FH crosscourt used 3.4% · won 59% · −8.1±3.9 vs own baseline
  5. Wide serve (ad court) → FH down the line used 2.0% · won 54% · −13.1±5.0 vs own baseline

Return

  1. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt, mid used 7.6% · won 53% · +11.8±2.8 vs own baseline
  2. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt, deep used 2.5% · won 57% · +16.0±4.8 vs own baseline
  3. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt, short used 4.8% · won 51% · +9.5±3.5 vs own baseline
  4. vs wide serve (deuce court) → FH crosscourt, mid used 2.7% · won 51% · +10.2±4.6 vs own baseline
  5. vs T serve (deuce court) → BH through the middle, mid used 3.4% · won 48% · +6.5±4.1 vs own baseline

Rally, consecutive own shots

  1. BH crosscourt → BH down the line used 2.5% · won 55% · +5.8±3.7 vs own baseline
  2. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 8.2% · won 52% · +2.8±2.0 vs own baseline
  3. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 4.6% · won 51% · +1.9±2.7 vs own baseline
  4. FH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 4.8% · won 51% · +1.6±2.7 vs own baseline
  5. FH crosscourt → FH down the line used 5.6% · won 51% · +1.3±2.5 vs own baseline

Discovered sequences

Mined from every me → opponent → me run of three shots, with no templates. Ranked by how much more often Lleyton Hewitt 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 + approach used 0.3% · won 66% · +15.2±7.0 vs own baseline · −1.4 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Carlos Moya (3/6), Andy Roddick (4/6)
  2. FH crosscourt → FH through the middle → FH down the line + approach used 0.1% · won 69% · +18.4±8.6 vs own baseline · +4.5 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Andy Roddick (5/6), Roger Federer (10/11)
  3. BH crosscourt → BH through the middle → FH crosscourt used 1.0% · won 57% · +7.0±4.2 vs own baseline · +4.6 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Magnus Norman (2/7), Andre Agassi (6/17)
  4. T serve → FH through the middle return, mid → FH crosscourt used 0.3% · won 61% · +10.8±7.0 vs own baseline · +8.5 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Nikolay Davydenko (4/8), Andre Agassi (4/7)
  5. FH down the line + approach → BH lob through the middle → Smash crosscourt used 0.1% · won 71% · +20.6±10.3 vs own baseline · −0.1 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Roger Federer (5/6)
  6. BH crosscourt → BH slice crosscourt → BH down the line used 0.3% · won 61% · +10.8±7.1 vs own baseline · +11.1 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 volley to their forehand · rally+3.0160
FH volley to their backhand · rally+3.0146
BH lob to their backhand · rally+2.9124
FH slice to their forehand · return+2.9259
BH to their forehand · return+2.4757

Most exposed to

FH slice to the middle · return−4.8356
BH slice to their forehand · return +1−3.3143
BH slice to the middle · return−3.0892
BH slice to their backhand · return−2.6844
BH slice to the middle · return +1−2.6208

Active players who are best at the shot in the top weakness: Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Sonego

Tactical fingerprint

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

Wide serves · deuce50%
Avg rally length4.6
T serves · ad45%
T serves · deuce47%
Wide serves · ad51%
FH down the line31%
Run-around forehands18%
Chipped returns14%
Forehand share53%
Backhand slice17%
Points at net10%
Serve & volley1%
Deep returns22%
Drop shots / shot0.4%
BH down the line14%
Point-ending shots17.9%
Unforced errors / shot6.8%
1st serve in53%
Through the middle15%

Plays most like

  1. Arnaud Clement 1999–2006 plan v
  2. Andy Murray 2005–2024 plan v
  3. David Goffin 2013–2025 plan v
  4. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1994–2002 plan v
  5. Michael Chang 1989–1998 plan v
  6. Magnus Norman 2000–2001 plan v
  7. Marcos Baghdatis 2004–2019 plan v
  8. Sebastien Grosjean 1999–2005 plan v

Closest from another era

  1. Nishesh Basavareddy 2024–2025
  2. Karue Sell 2024–2025
  3. Sebastian Ofner 2022–2025

Charted matches