WTA · Right-handed · 9 charted matches · 2012–2021
Mona Barthel
Archetype: Forehand line-changer · Backhand line-changer
Against an average opponent
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
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 2,819 shots.
Shot expected value
The share of points Mona Barthel 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 forehand side
position worth 43% to the average player · 144 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| FH crosscourt | 39% | 51.8%±9.4 | 46.7% |
| FH down the line | 35% | 41.4%±9.7 | 44.9% |
| FH through the middle | 26% | 43.6%±10.7 | 41.3% |
Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your backhand side
position worth 45% to the average player · 123 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| BH down the line | 33% | 42.3%±10.5 | 46.8% |
| BH through the middle | 32% | 38.4%±10.4 | 43.3% |
| BH crosscourt | 31% | 47.5%±10.8 | 47.6% |
Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your middle
position worth 50% to the average player · 114 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| FH down the line | 25% | 53.0%±11.9 | 52.2% |
| FH crosscourt | 20% | 54.8%±12.5 | 52.7% |
| BH crosscourt | 19% | 50.4%±12.7 | 50.9% |
| BH down the line | 18% | 55.0%±12.9 | 50.0% |
| FH through the middle | 11% | 48.9%±14.3 | 45.8% |
Return +1: drive to your middle
position worth 50% to the average player · 86 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| BH down the line | 19% | 61.5%±13.3 | 50.6% |
| BH crosscourt | 19% | 53.2%±13.7 | 50.8% |
| FH crosscourt | 17% | 55.6%±13.8 | 52.3% |
| FH through the middle | 14% | 54.1%±14.5 | 46.5% |
| BH through the middle | 13% | 42.7%±14.6 | 46.2% |
| FH down the line | 12% | 48.7%±15.0 | 53.0% |
Serve under pressure
Pressure predictability index −7 How much less varied Mona Barthel's first-serve direction gets on break points. Positive means easier to read. Based on 73 break-point first serves.
Deuce court
| 1st serve | Usage | Break pt | Won when in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 38% | 38% | 71% / 66% |
| Body | 17% | 19% | 53% / 57% |
| T | 46% | 44% | 67% / 68% |
279 normal · 16 break-point 1st serves
Ad court
| 1st serve | Usage | Break pt | Won when in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 47% | 51% | 57% / 66% |
| Body | 10% | 21% ▲ | 51% / 56% |
| T | 43% | 28% ▼ | 65% / 64% |
217 normal · 57 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 serve | Usage | Points won | Optimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 38% | 58.6%±6.8 n=111 | 53% ▲ |
| Body | 17% | 57.2%±9.1 n=50 | 2% ▼ |
| T | 45% | 57.8%±6.3 n=134 | 45% |
Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.97).
Optimal mix: +0.6 per 100 first serves.
Ad court
| 1st serve | Usage | Points won | Optimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 47% | 50.3%±6.5 n=130 | 45% ▼ |
| Body | 12% | 49.6%±10.3 n=34 | 0% ▼ |
| T | 40% | 55.5%±6.9 n=110 | 55% ▲ |
Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.46).
Optimal mix: +0.7 per 100 first serves.
Exploitability 0.66 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: +2.3±4.4 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. (225 repeats, 326 switches.)
Return by serve direction
Return points won against each serve direction, compared with the tour average.
| Serve | Court | Direction | Points | Won | vs tour | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ad court | Body | 30 | 49% | +4.7±10.6 | |
| 1st | Ad court | T | 75 | 41% | +5.1±7.9 | |
| 1st | Ad court | Wide | 77 | 34% | −0.5±7.5 | |
| 1st | Deuce court | Body | 48 | 45% | +2.0±9.3 | |
| 1st | Deuce court | T | 70 | 27% | −5.5±7.3 | |
| 1st | Deuce court | Wide | 70 | 38% | +4.2±8.0 | |
| 2nd | Ad court | Body | 31 | 50% | −5.0±10.5 | |
| 2nd | Ad court | T | 15 | 50% | −5.0±12.3 | |
| 2nd | Ad court | Wide | 41 | 45% | −8.4±9.7 | |
| 2nd | Deuce court | Body | 46 | 54% | −0.1±9.4 | |
| 2nd | Deuce court | T | 38 | 54% | −1.9±9.9 | |
| 2nd | Deuce court | Wide | 25 | 51% | −2.6±11.1 |
Signature patterns
Recurring sequences that win more than Mona Barthel's own baseline, ranked by edge weighted by how often they're used.
Serve → +1
- Wide serve (deuce court) → FH down the line used 10.3% · won 57% · −5.7±10.1 vs own baseline
Return
- vs wide serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt, mid used 22.7% · won 45% · +2.8±10.9 vs own baseline
- vs T serve (deuce court) → BH through the middle, mid used 19.1% · won 42% · +0.4±11.5 vs own baseline
Rally, consecutive own shots
- FH down the line → BH crosscourt used 8.0% · won 57% · +7.6±11.2 vs own baseline
- BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 7.7% · won 55% · +4.9±11.3 vs own baseline
- FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 7.7% · won 53% · +3.0±11.4 vs own baseline
- FH through the middle → FH crosscourt used 7.0% · won 47% · −2.8±11.6 vs own baseline
- FH crosscourt → FH down the line used 11.7% · won 46% · −3.7±10.0 vs own baseline
Discovered sequences
Mined from every me → opponent → me run of three shots, with no templates. Ranked by how much more often Mona Barthel wins the point once the sequence happens, weighted by how often it happens. Think of them as chess openings.
- FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 1.5% · won 55% · +6.0±12.4 vs own baseline · +14.9 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Barbora Strycova (4/7)
- FH down the line → BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 1.3% · won 53% · +3.9±12.7 vs own baseline · +10.4 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Barbora Strycova (5/8)
- Wide serve → FH crosscourt return, mid → FH down the line used 1.2% · won 53% · +4.0±13.0 vs own baseline · +9.9 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Ashleigh Barty (5/7)
- FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt → FH down the line used 2.0% · won 46% · −3.5±11.5 vs own baseline · −5.4 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Barbora Strycova (3/8), Johanna Larsson (3/7)
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 forehand · rally | +2.4 | 150 |
| BH to the middle · return | −0.1 | 127 |
| Wide 1st serve · ad court | −0.8 | 130 |
| T 1st serve · deuce court | −1.9 | 134 |
| FH to their backhand · rally | −2.7 | 126 |
Most exposed to
| Wide 1st serve · ad court | −0.1 | 123 |
| FH to their forehand · rally | +0.1 | 207 |
Active players who are best at the shot in the top weakness: Taylor Townsend, Rebecca Marino, Caroline Dolehide, Petra Kvitova, Serena Williams
Tactical fingerprint
Each bar shows how far a style trait is from the WTA average, in standard deviations.
| BH down the line | 31% | |
| FH down the line | 36% | |
| T serves · deuce | 45% | |
| Wide serves · ad | 47% | |
| Points at net | 9% | |
| T serves · ad | 40% | |
| Point-ending shots | 25.0% | |
| Serve & volley | 1% | |
| Deep returns | 32% | |
| Forehand share | 52% | |
| Chipped returns | 7% | |
| Wide serves · deuce | 38% | |
| Drop shots / shot | 1.1% | |
| Unforced errors / shot | 9.5% | |
| Backhand slice | 7% | |
| Avg rally length | 3.8 | |
| 1st serve in | 60% | |
| Through the middle | 24% | |
| Run-around forehands | 0% |
Plays most like
- Sorana Cirstea 2014–2026 plan v
- Victoria Azarenka 2009–2025 plan v
- Ekaterina Alexandrova 2017–2026 plan v
- Nadia Petrova 2005–2013 plan v
- Leylah Fernandez 2020–2026 plan v
- Karolina Pliskova 2013–2026 plan v
- Vera Zvonareva 2003–2020 plan v
- Daniela Hantuchova 2002–2015 plan v
Closest from another era
- Lindsay Davenport 1995–2006
- Monica Seles 1990–2003
- Mary Pierce 1994–2005
Charted matches
- Mona Barthel v Emma Raducanu L ITF Landisville Q2 · Hard · 10 Aug 2021
- Iga Swiatek v Mona Barthel L ITF Prague QF · Clay · 27 Jul 2018
- Ashleigh Barty v Mona Barthel W Australian Open R32 · Hard · 20 Jan 2017
- Mona Barthel v Johanna Larsson L Bastad F · Clay · 19 Jul 2015
- Mona Barthel v Barbora Strycova L Antwerp QF · Hard · 13 Feb 2015
- Mona Barthel v Petra Kvitova L Wimbledon R64 · Grass · 25 Jun 2014
- Mona Barthel v Ashleigh Barty W Hobart R32 · Hard · 7 Jan 2013
- Mona Barthel v Yanina Wickmayer W Hobart F · Hard · 14 Jan 2012
- Angelique Kerber v Mona Barthel W Hobart SF · Hard · 13 Jan 2012