Tennis technically
In this post we are going to establish the formula for winning a set given the ability to score a point. We have already derived the formula for winning a game in another post: We will build on that. In fact, winning a set in tennis means winning 6 or 7 games (either 6-any or 7-5)…
Given your ability to win a single point in tennis, how likely is it you will win the set? If you want to win 9 out of 10 sets, by what margin do you need to dominate your opponent? It turns out that the answer is 4 out of 7 points. That’s right! You only need…
Did you ever ask what it takes to win 6-0 6-0? You clearly need to dominate your opponent. But by what margin? Out of ten points, how many points do you need to win on average for that result? In an earlier post we established a relationship between the likelihood of winning a point and the…
The last post made several claims about topspin production. In this post, we will explore the physics behind them. Recall the illustrative picture of a tennis great from the last post: We can draw the same arrows in a more abstract manner like this: In order to make things easy, we will always draw that picture…
One of the keys to the modern tennis game is topspin production. In order to hit a heavy ball with consistency, topspin helps to keep the ball in. During its travel through the air, topspin pushes the ball towards the ground due to the Magnus effect. That is why ambitious tennis players seek to increase their topspin…
In an earlier post we discussed the probability of winning a game if you know the probability of winning a point. This is the math behind the formula. The complicated part of the calculation is that a game of tennis can go over deuce many times, even indefinitely (in theory, at least). We will therefore treat…
Would you like to know how you can hold serve more often? Then, this post is for you. In tennis, with the advantage of the serve you should usually win the point. Not only can you hit the serve without interference from your opponent, you have even got two shots at it! With that much of an advantage, to win the point when…