Through a detailed analysis of all 200 odd variables which define a player winning a point, two of the most significant are the player's average position on the point and the ball's average bounce position on the opponent's court. That is the hit and bounce position on the tennis court.
If we chart the tennis court on an XY plane, we find that these average positions can be defined as points on the plane. To define these points in tennis language, we have to look at them in reference to tennis lines, i.e. width from the centerline of the court to the depth from the baseline.
These positions are possible via the on-court Electronic Line call system in the US Open, which tracks the ball positions and player positions 20+ times every second. So, we ended up creating new telling tennis stats named Shot Width, Shot Depth, Player Width and Player Depth, which could help describe a player's game.
A big challenge was how to display these numbers, which could make sense to the audience at one glance.
That's where I created this visual to explain better.
On hindsight, there is a lot of things happening on the chart, but if you focus your attention to the tennis courts on the sheet, it can describe many stories based on your interaction with it.
If we chart the tennis court on an XY plane, we find that these average positions can be defined as points on the plane. To define these points in tennis language, we have to look at them in reference to tennis lines, i.e. width from the centerline of the court to the depth from the baseline.
These positions are possible via the on-court Electronic Line call system in the US Open, which tracks the ball positions and player positions 20+ times every second. So, we ended up creating new telling tennis stats named Shot Width, Shot Depth, Player Width and Player Depth, which could help describe a player's game.
A big challenge was how to display these numbers, which could make sense to the audience at one glance.
That's where I created this visual to explain better.
- You can choose the player to see the stat for.
- Look at his tournament journey across years (credits to Tiffany L. Spaulding for this technique) & select the match/es you are interested in comparing
- Different behaviors cause different outcomes for the player, for example, Roger Federer, scores most of his winning points from close to the net, being a legendary serve-&-volley player. There is an option to select how the stat changes based on different situations.
- This further allows the viewer to overlay the opponents behavior in terms of the stat for the match selected.
- Outcomes are displayed here in a terms of depth & width charted on tennis court.
If you have any comments on how this visual could be further improved, would love to hear!
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