Earlier today Agnieszka Radwanska avoided getting in the way of Daniela Hantuchova’s erratic execution, and she collected a straightforward 6-3, 6-3 win at the Premier event in Carlsbad. I tracked the return of serve for both women, and as I have done in previous Return of Serve Analysis posts, labeled each return of serve as either short or deep, and kept track of aces, service winners, and second serve return unforced errors. What’s a deep return and what isn’t? Here’s a visual guide:
If Radwanska placed this return inside the red box, then the return is labeled as a “short” return. If her shot lands in the yellow box, the return is labeled “deep.” There’s one exception: aggressive returns that have a nice angle and thus are “short” are labeled as “deep,” since I follow the simple concept that “deep” returns are desirable and “short” ones aren’t.
Now, here’s all the data for you to peruse. I’ll jot down some observations below each screencap:
Agnieszka Radwanska’s Return of Serve Performance
Totals and Double Faults
– If you are a professional tennis player who puts 83% of returns in play, good things will happen to you. Like, you can be ranked No. 4 in the world! Seriously, this kind of number is phenomenal, particularly when you look at first serve returns.
First Serve Return of Serve
– Again, if you manage to put 80% of 1st serve returns in play, good things will happen to you (for example, you will be able to break serve five times in 2 sets!), even if only 43% of those returns are deep. Why? Because of Radwanska’s return position: she stands barely inches behind the baseline for 1st serve returns, and inside the baseline for second serve returns. So even when the returns are short, they leave the server very little time to react to the return.
– Notice that Hantuchova only managed 7 free points off her 1st serve (either Aces or Service Winners). Less than one per game.
Second Serve Return of Serve
– This is where I was surprised. Not so much by the fact that Radwanska only missed 3 2nd serve returns, but by the percentage of those successful returns that land deep. Just 48%, which seems quite low, and could be an indicator as to why Radwanska struggles against the elite of women’s tennis: the better players will always make her pay for those short second serve returns. Something that Hantuchova struggled mightily with today.
Daniela Hantuchova Return of Serve Performance
Totals and Double Faults
– 69% of returns put in play is not a terrible number. But when your opponent is doing significantly better in this department, you’ve got a problem. Sadly for Daniela Hantuchova, this was only one of the many issues she had today: her ground game oscillated between brilliant and incompetent even when she did manage to put good returns in play.
First Serve Return of Serve
– Here’s the key difference in terms of return of serve between the two women: Radwanska put 80% 0f 1st serve returns in play. Hantuchova? Just 63%. Giving away 13 free points on the World No. 4’s 1st serve (by no means a fear-inducing weapon) won’t get it done.
– It should be said, however, that Hantuchova did a pretty great job of placing 1st serve returns deep. That is, when they landed inside the lines.
– Hantuchova’s sixth return game was obviously a great return of serve performance. Radwanska hit 11 of 15 1st serves, and Daniela placed 9 of them deep. She ended up breaking serve, but I will always remember this game for a horrific 2nd serve return she missed on BP. It was a tame kicker serve, and Hantuchova kind of floated the return significantly long. It was a sorry thing to witness.
Second Serve Return of Serve
– You could argue that Hantuchova outperformed Radwanska in the 2nd serve return department. They missed the same number of returns, and Hantuchova got way more returns deep. But why did she lose 3 and 3, then? Well, this analysis doesn’t take into account the endless UFEs that Hantuchova donated once rallies started.
*****
Is there anything I missed? What aspects of all this information do you find to be the most interesting? Do let me know in the comments below.