The intermittent rain and late nights at the 2018 French Open have resulted in multiple interrupted matches, including the bottom half of the men’s quarterfinals. We often have the impression that reversals and big swings are more likely with an interrupted match. Does the data back up this impression of the impact of suspended play?
In reaching the quarterfinal at the 2018 French Open, Alexander Zverev not only has earned the best Grand Slam result of his career, he also joins a short list of 4 men in the Open Era who have played 3 or more five-set matches on their way to the Roland Garros quarterfinals. Is Zverev’s gruelling journey to the second week most likely to hurt or help his chances for the title?
Today, as part of the final R16 lineup at the French Open, Serena Williams will have the opportunity to bring her near-perfect record over Maria Sharapova to a staggering 20 to 2. Many have wondered how much Williams’ dominance over the ‘Unstoppable’ author is fuelled by more than pure ability. In this post, we attempt to understand the inexplicable part of their head-to-head.
The red dirt of Roland Garros, which has held the attention of the tennis world this week, is the most defining feature of the only clay-court Grand Slam. But, when it comes to performance, is clay losing its distinctiveness? In this guest post, Graeme Spence, delves into the closing gap in surface specialisation.
The main draw of the 2018 French Open is just hours away and Rafael Nadal is the frontrunner by far for the title. What patterns of play have contributed to the 10-time champion’s clay dominance in 2018?
We are a day away from the first round of the 2018 French Open. Who are tennis fans most likely to see in the final stages of the event? And who among the top contenders were favoured by this year’s draw?
As tennis prepares for the second slam of the season, we look at the players who have raised their game the most in the past year.
Alexander Zverev has a chance to bag a second clay-court Masters title for the year having already reached the quarterfinals in Rome. Whether he defends his Rome title or not, 2018 is shaping up to be Zverev’s best career performance on clay so far. How has he managed to raise his game on the red dirt?
Last week we looked at some of the biggest mismatches in the men’s game. What does the same analysis tell us about the most baffling women’s head-to-heads?
Why is it that some players seem to consistently underperform against certain opponents? And how could we measure the all-time most surprising head-to-heads in the game?
