RallyIQ

WTA · Right-handed · 8 charted matches · 2007–2021

Tsvetana Pironkova

Archetype: Ad-court T server · Rallies through the middle

Against an average opponent

Serve points won 55.7% ±3.8 raw 52.7% · tour 56.3% · 573 points
Return points won 44.3% ±3.8 raw 43.6% · tour 43.7% · 606 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 −0.05 ±0.17 better than 45% of WTA · raw −0.05
Shot selection −0.20 ±0.23 better than 28% of WTA · raw −0.18
Execution +1.10 ±0.57 better than 94% of WTA · raw +1.18
Points left on the table 2.57 per 100 shots vs best direction · lower than 57% 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 3,434 shots.

Shot expected value

The share of points Tsvetana Pironkova 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 · 246 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 38% 41.9%±7.6 46.7%
FH through the middle 28% 40.3%±8.5 41.3%
FH down the line 21% 43.0%±9.6 44.9%
FH slice through the middle 8% 27.8%±11.8 29.2%

Rally, shots 5–8: drive to your middle

position worth 50% to the average player · 195 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH through the middle 21% 43.6%±10.5 45.8%
FH crosscourt 20% 46.7%±10.7 52.7%
BH down the line 16% 45.1%±11.5 50.0%
FH down the line 14% 57.2%±11.7 52.2%
BH crosscourt 14% 53.6%±12.0 50.9%
BH through the middle 12% 46.0%±12.4 46.2%

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

position worth 45% to the average player · 179 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
BH crosscourt 44% 46.5%±8.3 47.6%
BH down the line 29% 47.7%±9.7 46.8%
BH through the middle 27% 40.1%±9.7 43.3%

Long rally, 9+: drive to your forehand side

position worth 44% to the average player · 141 shots

OptionUsedWin %Tour
FH crosscourt 48% 44.8%±8.7 47.0%
FH down the line 23% 42.9%±11.3 46.4%
FH through the middle 14% 43.2%±12.9 41.5%
FH slice through the middle 8% 28.6%±13.3 29.3%
FH slice down the line 7% 30.2%±13.8 25.3%

Serve under pressure

Pressure predictability index +4 How much less varied Tsvetana Pironkova's first-serve direction gets on break points. Positive means easier to read. Based on 71 break-point first serves.

Deuce court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 46% 38% 69% / 66%
Body 17% 24% 59% / 57%
T 37% 38% 68% / 68%

279 normal · 21 break-point 1st serves

Ad court

1st serveUsageBreak ptWon when in
Wide 34% 34% 62% / 66%
Body 15% 10% 60% / 56%
T 51% 56% 60% / 64%

221 normal · 50 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
Wide45% 59.9%±6.3 n=135 60% ▲
Body18% 52.4%±9.0 n=53 3% ▼
T37% 58.2%±6.8 n=112 37%

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.37).
Optimal mix: +0.7 per 100 first serves.

Ad court

1st serveUsagePoints wonOptimal
Wide34% 49.0%±7.4 n=92 49% ▲
Body14% 52.0%±9.9 n=39 14%
T52% 43.3%±6.3 n=140 37% ▼

Consistent with an optimal mix (p = 0.25).
Optimal mix: +0.5 per 100 first serves.

Exploitability 0.59 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: −0.8±9.0 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. (229 repeats, 326 switches.)

Return by serve direction

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

ServeCourtDirectionPointsWonvs tour
1stAd courtBody 46 44% −0.3±9.4
1stAd courtT 83 28% −7.5±6.9
1stAd courtWide 57 35% +0.4±8.4
1stDeuce courtBody 53 47% +4.1±9.0
1stDeuce courtT 46 39% +6.9±9.2
1stDeuce courtWide 109 33% −1.5±6.5
2ndAd courtBody 53 57% +2.2±8.9
2ndAd courtT 26 53% −2.3±11.0
2ndAd courtWide 27 54% +1.0±10.9
2ndDeuce courtBody 57 57% +2.3±8.7
2ndDeuce courtT 16 60% +4.4±11.9
2ndDeuce courtWide 31 56% +2.2±10.5

Signature patterns

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

Serve → +1

  1. Wide serve (deuce court) → BH crosscourt used 5.8% · won 61% · +4.2±11.4 vs own baseline
  2. Wide serve (ad court) → BH through the middle used 7.2% · won 52% · −4.8±11.0 vs own baseline

Return

  1. vs wide serve (deuce court) → FH through the middle, mid used 10.0% · won 49% · +4.2±11.2 vs own baseline
  2. vs wide serve (deuce court) → FH through the middle, deep used 12.4% · won 39% · −5.7±10.3 vs own baseline

Rally, consecutive own shots

  1. BH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 5.3% · won 55% · +6.4±10.1 vs own baseline
  2. FH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 4.4% · won 53% · +5.1±10.7 vs own baseline
  3. FH crosscourt → FH crosscourt used 5.7% · won 52% · +3.9±9.9 vs own baseline
  4. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 3.6% · won 53% · +4.5±11.2 vs own baseline
  5. BH down the line → FH down the line used 3.3% · won 53% · +4.6±11.4 vs own baseline

Discovered sequences

Mined from every me → opponent → me run of three shots, with no templates. Ranked by how much more often Tsvetana Pironkova 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 crosscourt used 1.5% · won 53% · +8.6±11.5 vs own baseline · +13.3 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Caroline Wozniacki (3/7), Klara Koukalova (5/7)
  2. FH down the line → BH crosscourt → BH through the middle used 0.8% · won 53% · +8.3±13.0 vs own baseline · +22.8 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Klara Koukalova (4/6)
  3. BH crosscourt → BH through the middle → FH crosscourt used 1.1% · won 50% · +5.7±12.4 vs own baseline · +4.0 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Alize Cornet (6/10)
  4. FH down the line → BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 1.4% · won 48% · +3.7±11.6 vs own baseline · +3.6 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Klara Koukalova (5/10)
  5. FH crosscourt → FH down the line → BH crosscourt used 0.9% · won 49% · +4.5±12.9 vs own baseline · +6.5 vs tour on the same sequence Disrupted by Caroline Wozniacki (3/6)
  6. BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt → BH crosscourt used 1.1% · won 48% · +3.4±12.4 vs own baseline · +4.0 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 · rally+1.9184
FH to their forehand · rally+1.2247
BH to their backhand · rally+0.8219
Wide 1st serve · deuce court+0.8135
FH to the middle · rally−0.4165

Most exposed to

BH to their backhand · rally−2.3185
BH to their forehand · rally−2.3158
FH to their backhand · rally−1.9144
BH to the middle · rally−0.9154
FH to their forehand · rally−0.8273

Active players who are best at the shot in the top weakness: Maja Chwalinska, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Yulia Putintseva, Elsa Jacquemot, Caroline Wozniacki

Tactical fingerprint

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

BH down the line29%
Deep returns41%
T serves · ad52%
Avg rally length4.8
Wide serves · deuce45%
FH down the line30%
Through the middle29%
T serves · deuce37%
Forehand share54%
Drop shots / shot1.5%
Serve & volley0%
Points at net6%
Chipped returns7%
Unforced errors / shot9.3%
Backhand slice4%
1st serve in59%
Point-ending shots20.2%
Wide serves · ad34%
Run-around forehands1%

Plays most like

  1. Rebecca Sramkova 2016–2026 plan v
  2. Katerina Siniakova 2015–2026 plan v
  3. Linda Fruhvirtova 2022–2025 plan v
  4. Belinda Bencic 2014–2026 plan v
  5. Eva Lys 2022–2026 plan v
  6. Jaqueline Cristian 2021–2026 plan v
  7. R – plan v
  8. Anastasia Potapova 2017–2026 plan v

Closest from another era

  1. Jennifer Capriati 1990–2002
  2. Monica Seles 1990–2003
  3. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 1988–2001

Charted matches