ATP · Right-handed · 16 charted matches · 1984–1992
Pat Cash
Archetype: Serve-and-volleyer · Net rusher
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 7,141 shots.
Shot expected value
The share of points Pat Cash 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.
Return +1: volley to your backhand side, opponent at net
position worth 33% to the average player · 194 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| BH crosscourt | 28% | 34.7%±9.1 | 43.4% |
| BH down the line | 24% | 33.1%±9.5 | 39.2% |
| BH lob down the line | 11% | 31.6%±11.8 | 21.4% |
| BH lob through the middle | 11% | 15.8%±9.4 | 17.4% |
| BH lob crosscourt | 10% | 31.0%±12.0 | 26.9% |
| BH through the middle | 9% | 24.6%±11.7 | 25.6% |
Serve +1: short return to your middle, you at net
position worth 54% to the average player · 191 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| BH volley through the middle | 17% | 40.2%±11.1 | 36.6% |
| FH volley down the line | 17% | 54.0%±11.4 | 55.4% |
| FH volley through the middle | 17% | 39.0%±11.1 | 36.5% |
| FH volley crosscourt | 16% | 53.5%±11.5 | 61.3% |
| BH volley down the line | 16% | 45.4%±11.5 | 50.8% |
| BH volley crosscourt | 14% | 58.1%±11.8 | 56.5% |
Serve +1: mid-depth return to your middle, you at net
position worth 57% to the average player · 158 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| BH volley crosscourt | 22% | 66.5%±10.6 | 64.6% |
| FH volley crosscourt | 20% | 62.3%±11.2 | 63.8% |
| FH volley down the line | 16% | 67.6%±11.3 | 60.6% |
| BH volley through the middle | 16% | 49.8%±12.1 | 39.5% |
| BH volley down the line | 16% | 68.0%±11.4 | 58.0% |
| FH volley through the middle | 10% | 41.4%±13.5 | 39.5% |
Return +1: volley to your forehand side, opponent at net
position worth 33% to the average player · 117 shots
| Option | Used | Win % | Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| FH down the line | 40% | 33.2%±9.5 | 36.3% |
| FH crosscourt | 24% | 31.7%±11.1 | 41.2% |
| FH lob down the line | 15% | 26.1%±11.9 | 23.3% |
| FH through the middle | 12% | 16.6%±10.5 | 18.2% |
| FH lob through the middle | 9% | 29.8%±13.5 | 21.1% |
Serve under pressure
Pressure predictability index +4 How much less varied Pat Cash's first-serve direction gets on break points. Positive means easier to read. Based on 135 break-point first serves.
Deuce court
| 1st serve | Usage | Break pt | Won when in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 43% | 43% | 76% / 73% |
| Body | 18% | 27% ▲ | 59% / 63% |
| T | 39% | 30% ▼ | 77% / 75% |
882 normal · 37 break-point 1st serves
Ad court
| 1st serve | Usage | Break pt | Won when in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 49% | 56% | 76% / 73% |
| Body | 21% | 14% | 61% / 63% |
| T | 30% | 30% | 77% / 72% |
744 normal · 98 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 serve | Usage | Points won | Optimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 43% | 69.0%±3.7 n=391 | 56% ▲ |
| Body | 19% | 58.3%±5.7 n=171 | 6% ▼ |
| T | 39% | 62.3%±4.1 n=357 | 38% |
Off equilibrium (p = 0.008): serve wide more. Gap 4.6 points per 100 first serves.
Optimal mix: +1.1 per 100 first serves.
Ad court
| 1st serve | Usage | Points won | Optimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide | 50% | 63.7%±3.7 n=419 | 50% |
| Body | 20% | 60.9%±5.7 n=170 | 7% ▼ |
| T | 30% | 68.7%±4.5 n=253 | 43% ▲ |
Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.13).
Optimal mix: +1.0 per 100 first serves.
Exploitability 1.05 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: −1.0±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. (648 repeats, 1,081 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 | 76 | 27% | −10.5±7.1 | |
| 1st | Ad court | T | 155 | 25% | −2.9±5.2 | |
| 1st | Ad court | Wide | 313 | 31% | +4.0±4.1 | |
| 1st | Deuce court | Body | 91 | 43% | +6.3±7.4 | |
| 1st | Deuce court | T | 233 | 25% | −0.2±4.4 | |
| 1st | Deuce court | Wide | 276 | 28% | +0.6±4.2 | |
| 2nd | Ad court | Body | 113 | 51% | +1.5±6.9 | |
| 2nd | Ad court | T | 32 | 56% | +6.8±10.4 | |
| 2nd | Ad court | Wide | 187 | 51% | +2.6±5.6 | |
| 2nd | Deuce court | Body | 145 | 46% | −3.5±6.2 | |
| 2nd | Deuce court | T | 129 | 50% | +0.6±6.5 | |
| 2nd | Deuce court | Wide | 79 | 48% | ±0.0±7.9 |
Signature patterns
Recurring sequences that win more than Pat Cash's own baseline, ranked by edge weighted by how often they're used.
Serve → +1
- Wide serve (ad court) → FH volley crosscourt used 2.2% · won 68% · −0.4±9.6 vs own baseline
- Wide serve (deuce court) → FH volley down the line used 2.1% · won 67% · −1.4±9.8 vs own baseline
- Wide serve (deuce court) → BH volley crosscourt used 2.8% · won 67% · −1.5±9.0 vs own baseline
- Wide serve (ad court) → BH volley down the line used 3.1% · won 65% · −3.2±8.7 vs own baseline
- T serve (deuce court) → BH volley crosscourt used 2.4% · won 63% · −5.9±9.6 vs own baseline
Return
- vs wide serve (ad court) → BH down the line, mid used 2.8% · won 52% · +18.1±10.1 vs own baseline
- vs body serve (deuce court) → BH through the middle, short used 3.3% · won 44% · +11.1±9.6 vs own baseline
- vs wide serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt, short used 2.1% · won 42% · +8.7±10.7 vs own baseline
- vs wide serve (ad court) → BH through the middle, mid used 2.7% · won 40% · +6.6±10.0 vs own baseline
- vs wide serve (ad court) → BH through the middle, short used 5.1% · won 38% · +4.5±8.1 vs own baseline
Rally, consecutive own shots
- Not enough data
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 · return | +3.9 | 231 |
| BH volley to their backhand · serve +1 | +3.4 | 176 |
| BH to their forehand · return | +3.0 | 150 |
| T 2nd serve · deuce court | +2.1 | 122 |
| FH volley to their backhand · serve +1 | +2.0 | 177 |
Most exposed to
| FH to their backhand · rally | −3.2 | 151 |
| BH volley to their backhand · serve +1 | −2.2 | 172 |
| Body 2nd serve · deuce court | −2.1 | 145 |
| FH volley to their backhand · serve +1 | −1.9 | 148 |
| BH to their backhand · rally | −1.7 | 143 |
Active players who are best at the shot in the top weakness: Adrian Andreev, Alex Molcan, Rafael Nadal, Hugo Gaston, Daniel Evans
Tactical fingerprint
Each bar shows how far a style trait is from the ATP average, in standard deviations.
| Serve & volley | 86% | |
| Points at net | 34% | |
| Point-ending shots | 36.7% | |
| BH down the line | 32% | |
| FH down the line | 39% | |
| Backhand slice | 35% | |
| 1st serve in | 61% | |
| Unforced errors / shot | 10.1% | |
| Wide serves · ad | 50% | |
| Through the middle | 24% | |
| Wide serves · deuce | 43% | |
| Chipped returns | 12% | |
| Run-around forehands | 10% | |
| T serves · deuce | 39% | |
| Drop shots / shot | 0.2% | |
| Forehand share | 47% | |
| T serves · ad | 30% | |
| Avg rally length | 3.0 | |
| Deep returns | 9% |
Plays most like
- John Mcenroe 1978–1992 plan v
- Stefan Edberg 1985–2012 plan v
- David Wheaton 1990–1994 plan v
- Boris Becker 1985–1999 plan v
- Michael Stich 1990–1997 plan v
- Todd Martin 1992–2001 plan v
- Max Mirnyi 2001–2006 plan v
- Jonas Bjorkman 1997–2006 plan v
Closest from another era
- Max Mirnyi 2001–2006
- Mischa Zverev 2013–2020
- Radek Stepanek 2004–2014
Charted matches
- John Mcenroe v Pat Cash L Wimbledon R64 · Grass · 25 Jun 1992
- Stefan Edberg v Pat Cash L Queens Club QF · Grass · 12 Jun 1992
- Pat Cash v Stefan Edberg L Australian Open R32 · Hard · 19 Jan 1991
- Pat Cash v Boris Becker Wimbledon R16 · Grass · 2 Jul 1990
- Boris Becker v Pat Cash L Wimbledon QF · Grass · 29 Jun 1988
- Pat Cash v Mats Wilander L Australian Open F · Hard · 24 Jan 1988
- Pat Cash v Ivan Lendl W Australian Open SF · Hard · 22 Jan 1988
- Pat Cash v Ivan Lendl W Wimbledon F · Grass · 5 Jul 1987
- Pat Cash v Jimmy Connors W Wimbledon SF · Grass · 4 Jul 1987
- Pat Cash v Mats Wilander W Wimbledon QF · Grass · 1 Jul 1987
- Pat Cash v Marcel Freeman W Wimbledon R128 · Grass · 23 Jun 1987
- Stefan Edberg v Pat Cash L Australian Open F · Grass · 25 Jan 1987