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SInce a graphic on shot topsin rates in a post on Tsitsipas drew some attention, I thought it might be of broader interest. This is a data pull for all top 100 ranked players at the Miami Open. I dug up the older, 2018 graphic to include the Big 3 for perspective and also to show some trends. Since 2018 was the last "regular" year it has more data to smooth out weekly variances. And got a graphic on groundstroke speed for the same group. And, no, I'm not ignoring the women, it's simply that the WTA sadly doesn't share this kind of data {or at least I can't find it} even though Hawkeye collects it. So, there are three graphics here.
This is data from Tennis TV and/or theATP website, pulled by a Physics PhD and tennis fan, that goes by nom-du-web of Vestige du Jour posting largely in kanji.
Key: The plot is of average forehand topspin in RPMs on the bottom, vs average backhand topspin in RPMs on the left. Color of dots corresponds to ranking groups listed at the top of the chart. Names shaded in yellow have one-hander backhands
filedata/fetch?id=93284&d=1617817029&type=thumb
Stefanos Tsitsipas arguably hits some of the heaviest balls, combined, off both sides -- despite having controversial, retro, neutral grips.
Felix Auger-Aliassime has significantly increased his spin off both sides from 2018 data. Not surprising since he's grown to 6 ft 4, I believe {P.S. Rafa's uncle and former coach Toni Nadal announced today he is joining FAA's team as uber-coach}. And, as is usually the case, one-handed backhands dominate the high RPM end. So, we see Tsitsi, Shap, Grigor and Musetti high up. Medvedev (lower right red dot) in a very successful outlier.
Sinner is slightly to the right of middle 3100/2050 about in red. Korda 2800/1900 ish middle yellow.
For perspective, 2018 averages for the year had Rafa and Thiem almost identical at 3,200 / 2,450. Fed at 2,850/ 2,250, Novak 2,675 / 1,800 (all done by eyeballing this and the chart, not looking up precise numbers). Fabio Fognini at sub 6 feet with a forehand takeback of about 1 inch (exaggerating) averaged the same topspin as Raga. His countryman Matteo Berrettini has a monster forehand since he and Ruud have the most spin, but the Italian has a lot more velocity. {What we need is a data cube with speed on the third axis.}
While we tend to be obsessed with more-is-better, flat strokes can be an advantage as the likes of Medvedev, Roberto Bautista-Agut and the Miami Open men's winner Hubert Hurkacz are showing.
filedata/fetch?id=93285&d=1617904136&type=thumb
And here is speed. That's not enlarged right. Let me try it in a second comment.
filedata/fetch?id=93286&d=1617904145&type=thumb
This is data from Tennis TV and/or theATP website, pulled by a Physics PhD and tennis fan, that goes by nom-du-web of Vestige du Jour posting largely in kanji.
Key: The plot is of average forehand topspin in RPMs on the bottom, vs average backhand topspin in RPMs on the left. Color of dots corresponds to ranking groups listed at the top of the chart. Names shaded in yellow have one-hander backhands
filedata/fetch?id=93284&d=1617817029&type=thumb
Stefanos Tsitsipas arguably hits some of the heaviest balls, combined, off both sides -- despite having controversial, retro, neutral grips.
Felix Auger-Aliassime has significantly increased his spin off both sides from 2018 data. Not surprising since he's grown to 6 ft 4, I believe {P.S. Rafa's uncle and former coach Toni Nadal announced today he is joining FAA's team as uber-coach}. And, as is usually the case, one-handed backhands dominate the high RPM end. So, we see Tsitsi, Shap, Grigor and Musetti high up. Medvedev (lower right red dot) in a very successful outlier.
Sinner is slightly to the right of middle 3100/2050 about in red. Korda 2800/1900 ish middle yellow.
For perspective, 2018 averages for the year had Rafa and Thiem almost identical at 3,200 / 2,450. Fed at 2,850/ 2,250, Novak 2,675 / 1,800 (all done by eyeballing this and the chart, not looking up precise numbers). Fabio Fognini at sub 6 feet with a forehand takeback of about 1 inch (exaggerating) averaged the same topspin as Raga. His countryman Matteo Berrettini has a monster forehand since he and Ruud have the most spin, but the Italian has a lot more velocity. {What we need is a data cube with speed on the third axis.}
While we tend to be obsessed with more-is-better, flat strokes can be an advantage as the likes of Medvedev, Roberto Bautista-Agut and the Miami Open men's winner Hubert Hurkacz are showing.
filedata/fetch?id=93285&d=1617904136&type=thumb
And here is speed. That's not enlarged right. Let me try it in a second comment.
filedata/fetch?id=93286&d=1617904145&type=thumb
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