RallyIQ

ATP · Right-handed · 15 charted matches · 2014–2025

Pierre Hugues Herbert

Archetype: High-risk · Runs around the backhand

Against an average opponent

Serve points won 66.6% ±2.8 raw 65.1% · tour 63.4% · 1,274 points
Return points won 35.1% ±2.9 raw 30.5% · tour 36.6% · 1,243 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 +0.23 ±0.09 better than 96% of ATP · raw +0.23
Shot selection +0.64 ±0.24 better than 97% of ATP · raw +0.63
Execution −1.76 ±0.85 better than 6% of ATP · raw −1.86
Tactical adaptability +0.31 first serves toward what's working, set to set · 13 matches
Adaptation speed +0.28 same, every two to three service games · per 100 first serves
Points left on the table 2.66 per 100 shots vs best direction · lower than 42% 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 5,333 shots.

Shot expected value

The share of points Pierre Hugues Herbert 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 · 237 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH crosscourt 36% 42.0%±7.9 47.6%
BH slice crosscourt 22% 28.9%±8.8 42.5%
BH through the middle 21% 38.8%±9.6 43.7%
BH down the line 9% 34.0%±12.0 46.4%
BH slice through the middle 7% 30.6%±12.6 35.1%

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

position worth 44% to the average player · 189 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 57% 44.8%±7.2 46.6%
FH through the middle 22% 37.6%±10.1 41.5%
FH down the line 13% 34.0%±11.7 44.7%

Return +1: drive to your backhand side

position worth 44% to the average player · 153 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH through the middle 24% 40.4%±10.8 43.0%
BH crosscourt 24% 36.4%±10.6 46.9%
BH slice crosscourt 22% 43.7%±11.2 40.9%
BH slice through the middle 14% 25.6%±11.2 32.6%
BH down the line 9% 46.6%±14.1 44.2%

Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your middle

position worth 51% to the average player · 125 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 24% 47.1%±11.6 52.7%
FH down the line 22% 43.2%±11.9 51.5%
BH through the middle 14% 48.3%±13.3 46.8%
BH crosscourt 14% 39.0%±13.0 49.1%
FH through the middle 13% 42.8%±13.6 47.0%

Serve under pressure

Pressure predictability index +3 How much less varied Pierre Hugues Herbert's first-serve direction gets on break points. Positive means easier to read. Based on 87 break-point first serves.

Deuce court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 45% 35% ▼ 71% / 73%
Body 5% 19% ▲ 55% / 63%
T 50% 46% 79% / 75%

643 normal · 26 break-point 1st serves

Ad court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 56% 59% 77% / 73%
Body 6% 2% 69% / 63%
T 38% 39% 71% / 72%

542 normal · 61 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
Wide45% 63.4%±4.4 n=301 37% ▼
Body5% 50.9%±10.3 n=34 0% ▼
T50% 72.1%±3.9 n=334 63% ▲

Off equilibrium (p < 0.001): serve T more. Gap 5.0 points per 100 first serves.
Optimal mix: +1.0 per 100 first serves.

Ad court

1st serveUsagePoints wonOptimal
Wide56% 65.9%±4.1 n=339 69% ▲
Body6% 66.1%±9.7 n=34 0% ▼
T38% 59.9%±5.0 n=230 31% ▼

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.21).
Optimal mix: +0.5 per 100 first serves.

Exploitability 0.71 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: +0.3±3.0 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. (582 repeats, 660 switches.)

Return by serve direction

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

ServeCourtDirectionPointsWonvs tour
1stAd courtBody 37 27% −10.0±8.9
1stAd courtT 148 27% −1.4±5.5
1stAd courtWide 186 27% −0.3±5.0
1stDeuce courtBody 52 34% −2.6±8.6
1stDeuce courtT 176 25% −0.5±4.9
1stDeuce courtWide 192 26% −1.0±4.9
2ndAd courtBody 60 44% −5.1±8.6
2ndAd courtT 43 44% −5.7±9.5
2ndAd courtWide 109 40% −8.4±6.8
2ndDeuce courtBody 92 46% −3.4±7.4
2ndDeuce courtT 85 38% −11.5±7.5
2ndDeuce courtWide 58 39% −9.0±8.6

Signature patterns

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

Serve → +1

  1. Wide serve (deuce court) → FH down the line + approach used 2.8% · won 79% · +3.4±9.2 vs own baseline
  2. T serve (deuce court) → FH crosscourt used 2.3% · won 71% · −4.3±10.5 vs own baseline
  3. T serve (deuce court) → FH volley down the line used 2.3% · won 69% · −6.3±10.7 vs own baseline
  4. Wide serve (ad court) → BH through the middle used 2.3% · won 63% · −12.3±11.2 vs own baseline
  5. Wide serve (ad court) → FH crosscourt used 2.8% · won 61% · −15.1±10.9 vs own baseline

Return

  1. vs T serve (deuce court) → BH through the middle, deep used 4.1% · won 39% · +6.6±11.0 vs own baseline
  2. vs wide serve (deuce court) → FH through the middle, mid used 3.9% · won 38% · +5.5±11.1 vs own baseline
  3. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH crosscourt, deep used 5.2% · won 35% · +2.6±10.2 vs own baseline
  4. vs wide serve (ad court) → BH through the middle, mid used 3.6% · won 34% · +1.0±11.1 vs own baseline
  5. vs T serve (deuce court) → BH through the middle, mid used 4.3% · won 33% · +0.3±10.6 vs own baseline

Rally, consecutive own shots

  1. BH through the middle → BH crosscourt used 5.9% · won 46% · +10.0±10.7 vs own baseline
  2. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 5.7% · won 42% · +5.6±10.7 vs own baseline
  3. FH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 4.2% · won 42% · +5.5±11.6 vs own baseline
  4. BH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 5.7% · won 40% · +3.8±10.7 vs own baseline
  5. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 5.7% · won 38% · +2.1±10.6 vs own baseline

Discovered sequences

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

  1. FH crosscourt → FH down the line → BH crosscourt used 0.9% · won 47% · +2.4±12.3 vs own baseline · +1.2 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Carlos Alcaraz (2/7)
  2. BH through the middle → FH down the line → BH crosscourt used 0.7% · won 47% · +2.1±12.8 vs own baseline · +3.3 vs tour on the same sequence
  3. BH through the middle → FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 0.8% · won 46% · +1.0±12.7 vs own baseline · +2.1 vs tour on the same sequence
  4. FH through the middle → FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 1.0% · won 44% · −0.8±12.0 vs own baseline · −3.0 vs tour on the same sequence
  5. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 1.2% · won 43% · −2.0±11.3 vs own baseline · −7.6 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Felix Auger Aliassime (3/7)
  6. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt → FH down the line used 0.7% · won 42% · −2.8±12.7 vs own baseline · −9.3 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 forehand · serve +1+3.0124
FH to their backhand · serve +1+1.5130
Wide 1st serve · ad court+0.8339
T 1st serve · deuce court+0.1334
T 1st serve · ad court−0.4230

Most exposed to

FH to their backhand · serve +1−2.4175
Wide 1st serve · ad court−1.2292
T 1st serve · ad court−0.8238
FH to their forehand · rally−0.6242
BH to their backhand · rally−0.5176

Best-equipped opponents

Active players whose shot mix lines up best against these weaknesses, by structural compatibility per 100 rally shots: Rafael Nadal +1.47, Miomir Kecmanovic +1.22, Nishesh Basavareddy +1.04, Daniel Evans +1.04, Pedro Martinez +1.02

Favourable matchups

Fabian Marozsan +0.54, Pedro Martinez +0.24, Miomir Kecmanovic +0.24, Roberto Bautista Agut +0.19, Roberto Carballes Baena +0.14

Active players who are best at the shot in the top weakness: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Brandon Nakashima, Rinky Hijikata, Thiago Seyboth Wild, Jannik Sinner

Tactical fingerprint

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

Deep returns39%
Point-ending shots30.6%
Points at net18%
Serve & volley25%
Wide serves · ad56%
T serves · deuce50%
Unforced errors / shot11.3%
Drop shots / shot2.2%
Backhand slice29%
Forehand share55%
Wide serves · deuce45%
Through the middle25%
Chipped returns17%
BH down the line20%
T serves · ad38%
Run-around forehands17%
FH down the line29%
1st serve in59%
Avg rally length3.1

Plays most like

  1. James Duckworth 2014–2026 plan v
  2. Jan Lennard Struff 2014–2025 plan v
  3. Alexei Popyrin 2019–2026 plan v
  4. Sebastian Korda 2021–2026 plan v
  5. Denis Shapovalov 2016–2026 plan v
  6. Sam Querrey 2010–2022 plan v
  7. Lucas Pouille 2015–2024 plan v
  8. Zizou Bergs 2021–2026 plan v

Closest from another era

  1. Marat Safin 1998–2009
  2. Andrei Pavel 1999–2006
  3. Mark Philippoussis 1995–2003

Charted matches