RallyIQ

WTA · Right-handed · 14 charted matches · 2021–2025

Mayar Sherif

Archetype: Ad-court slider · Avoids the wide serve

Against an average opponent

Serve points won 56.8% ±3.3 raw 54.8% · tour 56.3% · 877 points
Return points won 40.4% ±3.3 raw 38.5% · tour 43.7% · 865 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 +0.12 ±0.14 better than 76% of WTA · raw +0.13
Shot selection +0.77 ±0.25 better than 99% of WTA · raw +0.79
Execution −0.22 ±0.71 better than 47% of WTA · raw −0.07
Tactical adaptability +0.07 first serves toward what's working, set to set · 14 matches
Adaptation speed +0.05 same, every two to three service games · per 100 first serves
Points left on the table 2.53 per 100 shots vs best direction · lower than 63% 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 4,375 shots.

Shot expected value

The share of points Mayar Sherif 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 · 368 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH crosscourt 32% 46.0%±7.0 47.6%
BH through the middle 25% 35.7%±7.5 43.3%
BH down the line 14% 45.6%±9.7 46.8%
FH inside-out 8% 45.0%±11.6 52.5%
FH inside-in 8% 48.2%±11.9 55.6%
BH slice down the line 4% 28.3%±12.9 31.7%
BH slice through the middle 3% 46.5%±14.5 34.4%
BH slice crosscourt 3% 35.8%±14.2 40.4%

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

position worth 43% to the average player · 263 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 45% 42.0%±6.9 46.7%
FH through the middle 25% 33.3%±8.4 41.3%
FH down the line 21% 47.3%±9.4 44.9%
FH slice through the middle 5% 23.1%±11.9 29.2%

Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your middle

position worth 50% to the average player · 239 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 28% 56.4%±8.8 52.7%
FH down the line 23% 51.9%±9.4 52.2%
BH through the middle 13% 42.8%±11.3 46.2%
FH through the middle 12% 41.1%±11.6 45.8%
BH crosscourt 7% 43.7%±13.4 50.9%
BH down the line 7% 37.8%±13.1 50.0%

Return +1: drive to your backhand side

position worth 44% to the average player · 160 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH through the middle 40% 31.7%±8.3 43.0%
BH crosscourt 29% 48.6%±10.0 47.8%
BH down the line 13% 44.5%±12.8 46.2%

Serve under pressure

Pressure predictability index +9 How much less varied Mayar Sherif's first-serve direction gets on break points. Positive means easier to read. Based on 114 break-point first serves.

Deuce court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 46% 56% ▲ 65% / 66%
Body 22% 19% 54% / 57%
T 33% 25% 63% / 68%

423 normal · 32 break-point 1st serves

Ad court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 54% 61% 57% / 66%
Body 15% 9% 50% / 56%
T 32% 30% 66% / 64%

336 normal · 82 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
Wide46% 58.7%±5.2 n=211 62% ▲
Body22% 52.2%±7.3 n=98 6% ▼
T32% 52.6%±6.2 n=146 32%

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.25).
Optimal mix: +0.7 per 100 first serves.

Ad court

1st serveUsagePoints wonOptimal
Wide55% 54.4%±5.1 n=231 54% ▼
Body13% 47.2%±8.9 n=56 0% ▼
T31% 57.9%±6.4 n=131 46% ▲

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.15).
Optimal mix: +0.8 per 100 first serves.

Exploitability 0.74 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: −7.6±6.3 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. (328 repeats, 517 switches.)

Return by serve direction

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

ServeCourtDirectionPointsWonvs tour
1stAd courtBody 55 45% +1.0±8.9
1stAd courtT 64 34% −1.9±8.0
1stAd courtWide 145 36% +1.7±6.0
1stDeuce courtBody 89 37% −5.8±7.3
1stDeuce courtT 84 33% +0.9±7.2
1stDeuce courtWide 130 33% −1.4±6.1
2ndAd courtBody 53 46% −8.6±9.0
2ndAd courtT 26 51% −4.1±11.0
2ndAd courtWide 70 46% −7.5±8.2
2ndDeuce courtBody 51 45% −9.6±9.1
2ndDeuce courtT 42 55% −0.7±9.6
2ndDeuce courtWide 54 50% −3.6±9.0

Signature patterns

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

Serve → +1

  1. T serve (ad court) → FH crosscourt used 3.6% · won 70% · +12.1±10.6 vs own baseline
  2. Wide serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt used 3.6% · won 60% · +2.5±11.2 vs own baseline
  3. Wide serve (deuce court) → FH down the line used 4.0% · won 60% · +2.2±11.0 vs own baseline
  4. T serve (deuce court) → FH down the line used 4.4% · won 55% · −2.8±10.8 vs own baseline
  5. Wide serve (ad court) → FH down the line used 3.6% · won 54% · −3.2±11.4 vs own baseline

Return

  1. vs wide serve (deuce court) → FH crosscourt, deep used 5.5% · won 53% · +13.1±11.3 vs own baseline
  2. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH through the middle, deep used 5.8% · won 48% · +8.4±11.2 vs own baseline
  3. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH through the middle, mid used 7.9% · won 43% · +3.2±10.2 vs own baseline
  4. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt, mid used 6.5% · won 40% · +0.6±10.7 vs own baseline
  5. vs wide serve (deuce court) → FH through the middle, deep used 5.0% · won 39% · −0.5±11.3 vs own baseline

Rally, consecutive own shots

  1. FH crosscourt → FH down the line used 5.2% · won 51% · +7.5±10.0 vs own baseline
  2. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 8.2% · won 48% · +4.4±8.6 vs own baseline
  3. BH through the middle → FH crosscourt used 8.2% · won 47% · +3.3±8.5 vs own baseline
  4. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 3.3% · won 47% · +3.9±11.3 vs own baseline
  5. FH crosscourt → FH through the middle used 2.8% · won 46% · +2.7±11.7 vs own baseline

Discovered sequences

Mined from every me → opponent → me run of three shots, with no templates. Ranked by how much more often Mayar Sherif 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 1.4% · won 55% · +10.6±11.0 vs own baseline · +15.6 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Chloe Paquet (3/7), Caroline Wozniacki (6/10)
  2. FH down the line → BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 1.0% · won 51% · +7.1±12.0 vs own baseline · +10.7 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Julia Riera (4/7)
  3. FH crosscourt → FH down the line → BH crosscourt used 0.9% · won 50% · +6.0±12.4 vs own baseline · +8.1 vs tour on the same sequence
  4. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 1.9% · won 48% · +3.8±10.0 vs own baseline · +1.7 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Caroline Wozniacki (5/11), Julia Riera (8/13)
  5. FH down the line → BH crosscourt → FH inside-in used 0.7% · won 47% · +3.5±13.0 vs own baseline · −4.0 vs tour on the same sequence
  6. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 0.7% · won 47% · +3.5±13.0 vs own baseline · +4.7 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

FH to their backhand · serve +1+2.1169
BH to the middle · return+2.0184
FH to their backhand · rally+2.0274
T 1st serve · ad court+1.8123
FH to the middle · rally+1.7132

Most exposed to

BH to their backhand · return−4.5136
FH to their forehand · rally−2.4309
FH to their backhand · serve +1−2.2144
FH to their backhand · rally−1.6278
FH to the middle · return−1.4146

Active players who are best at the shot in the top weakness: Sara Sorribes Tormo, Paula Badosa, Daria Kasatkina, Caroline Wozniacki, Elina Avanesyan

Tactical fingerprint

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

Drop shots / shot4.1%
1st serve in72%
Run-around forehands22%
Wide serves · ad55%
Forehand share58%
Points at net12%
Avg rally length4.6
Wide serves · deuce46%
Deep returns35%
Serve & volley2%
Unforced errors / shot10.8%
BH down the line20%
Point-ending shots24.0%
FH down the line28%
Through the middle28%
Backhand slice11%
Chipped returns7%
T serves · deuce32%
T serves · ad31%

Plays most like

  1. Tamara Zidansek 2019–2026 plan v
  2. Daria Saville 2015–2024 plan v
  3. Petra Martic 2010–2024 plan v
  4. Bianca Andreescu 2017–2026 plan v
  5. Karolina Muchova 2019–2026 plan v
  6. Kiki Bertens 2012–2021 plan v
  7. Cristina Bucsa 2016–2026 plan v
  8. Xin Yu Wang 2019–2026 plan v

Closest from another era

  1. Elena Dementieva 1999–2010
  2. Jelena Dokic 2000–2009
  3. Martina Hingis 1996–2007

Charted matches