Welcome back to Net Talk. This is our section for tennis comment and analysis. As well as commenting on the latest issues in the game, I'll include links to things such as our regular betting tips. But I also want you to contribute. I'm happy to publish some of your comments and answer, if I can, any questions you may have about all things tennis. The email address is: tennisfeedback@sportinglife.com.
Suggestions are also welcome. The page will be regularly updated, so don't forget to check back soon.
Andy Schooler
WHO'S GOT THEIR EYE IN? - posted August 17
There's little doubt that electronic line calling in tennis has been well received by fans and, in the main, the players.
But how good are the competitors at using the challenge system that the Hawk-eye technology now provides?
Roger Federer was an early critic of Hawk-eye and soon became well known for his erroneous challenges. But is that reputation fair? And is Dinara Safina's position as world number one reflected in her ability to challenge calls?
Given the US Open is just around the corner and that controversy at the 2004 tournament was largely responsible for the system being introduced, I decided to find out, using the available statistics during the first half of the season (that's up to and including Wimbledon).
The WTA Tour were most helpful and provided stats for all their tournaments which used the system in 2009. The ATP Tour could not do the same but I was still able to gain a similar-sized sample by using the stats from the Grand Slams - Australian Open and Wimbledon - where the men play best-of-five sets to the women's three.
Starting with the men and it seems Federer's reputation isn't particularly valid these days.
Looking at the world's top 10, he's easily punching his weight with a success rate of 36 per cent - which compares favourably with the tour average of 31.
With Nikolay Davydenko ignored for statistical purposes (he made just two challenges, an unreliable sample), Federer's accuracy puts him fourth of the nine remaining top-10ers.
But it's Novak Djokovic who has his eye in most when it comes to challenging - 13 out of his 28 challenges were correct - a success rate of 46 per cent.
And for those of you wondering where Andy Murray's game can improve, his percentage of 25 gives you an answer.
Outside the top 10, of those players who had at least 10 challenges, Robin Soderling led the way with the Swede correctly calling exactly half of his 10.
And the worst? That dubious honour falls to Michael Llodra. Not once in seven challenges did the decision go his way.
The table below shows how well the world's top 10 performed on the Hawk-eye system:
|
Men's Top 10
|
| Player |
Success Rate % |
Challenges Won |
Challenges Made |
| Novak Djokovic |
46 |
13 |
28 |
| Jo-Wilfried Tsonga |
44 |
11 |
25 |
| Rafael Nadal |
39 |
7 |
18 |
| Roger Federer |
36 |
24 |
67 |
| Andy Roddick |
32 |
9 |
28 |
| Juan Martin Del Potro |
32 |
6 |
19 |
| Andy Murray |
25 |
11 |
44 |
| Gilles Simon |
23 |
5 |
22 |
| Fernando Gonzalez |
21 |
3 |
14 |
| Tour Average |
31 |
197 |
634 |
At least 10 challenges were needed to qualify so Nikolay Davydenko is not included.
Moving on to the women's top 10 and I can reveal Serena Williams rules the roost, pretty much as she does on the tour as a whole.
Serena successfully challenged 44 per cent of the time, winning eight of her 18 contests with the officials.
However, it doesn't appear to be a skill that runs in the family - sister Venus was down at a lowly 21 per cent and managed to reach the Wimbledon final without making a single correct challenge in SW19.
World number one Dinara Safina - easily the most prolific challenger of the tour, making a total of 73 in our study period - comes in with a 36 per cent success rate.
Away from the top 10, China's Shuai Peng just topped Serena's efforts, winning five of 11 challenges - 45 per cent.
The booby prize goes to Agnieszka Radwanska, all eight of her challenges being wrong.
The table below shows how well the world's top 10 performed on the Hawk-eye system:
|
Women's Top 10
|
| Player |
Success Rate |
Challenges Won |
Challenges Made |
| Serena Williams |
44 |
8 |
18 |
| Jelena Jankovic |
39 |
12 |
31 |
| Dinara Safina |
36 |
26 |
73 |
| Caroline Wozniacki |
24 |
5 |
21 |
| Elena Dementieva |
23 |
7 |
31 |
| Svetlana Kuznetsova |
22 |
4 |
18 |
| Venus Williams |
21 |
3 |
14 |
| Victoria Azarenka |
20 |
5 |
25 |
| Vera Zvonareva |
16 |
5 |
31 |
| Tour Average |
32 |
176 |
546 |
At least 10 challenges were needed to qualify so Nadia Petrova is not included.
A check of the tour averages shows the women slightly better than their male counterparts when it comes to challenging, although the majority of the WTA's top 10 were well below the tour's average as a whole.
Finally a good note to end on, as far as British fans are concerned.
The Brits can justifiably - well, sort of - crown themselves champions of Hawk-eye.
Alex Bogdanovic is one of just three players on the ATP to win every call he contested (we'll conveniently forget it was just one), while Mel South was the best on the WTA Tour - no-one else could match her two-out-of-two record.
If you have any comments to make on Hawk-eye, you can email your feedback to: tennisfeedback@sportinglife.com.
IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK - posted August 11
As returns go, things don't go a lot better than Kim Clijsters' in Cincinnati.
Last night the popular Belgian delighted the fans in Ohio with her victory over Marion Bartoli.
Playing on the WTA Tour for the first time in more than two years, during which time she has given birth, Clijsters posted a straight-sets victory over the world number 13.
Just eight days before, Bartoli had beaten Wimbledon runner-up Venus Williams and so if Clijsters is producing such results now, what is she capable of once she gets into her stride?
While critics will doubtless say the result shows up the WTA Tour for its lack of depth - surely the world number 13 should not be losing to a player who hasn't played in two years whatever her past achievements - it also proves the professionalism of Clijsters who has clearly put in the work required in the months since she announced her comeback, or as she puts it, 'second career'.
Perhaps Bartoli's comments should be read with the proviso that she may have been slightly embarrassed at being on the wrong end of the Clijsters story, but she said afterwards: "She (Clijsters) scored some excellent points and her movements and hits were simply outstanding."
The bookies have spent much of the day slashing their prices on Clijsters winning the US Open nextmonth, a tournament she won in 2005.
Whether she can keep the ball rolling until then remains to be seen, but what is known is that she will be cheered along all the way.
Always one of the tour's most popular players in her 'first career', the 26-year-old was adored in Australia when she was Lleyton Hewitt's 'other half'.
These days she's married to American basketballer Brian Lynch, who interestingly hails from New Jersey, which is just a few miles from Flushing Meadows, home of the US Open.
The American fans don't like to be outdone, so expect them to follow in their Aussie counterparts' shoes.
No non-American player will receive the support Clijsters does in New York in a few weeks' time.
Meanwhile, today is comeback day on the ATP Tour.
Rafael Nadal returns to competitive action for the first time since the French Open - he plays doubles in Montreal - while Andy Murray and Roger Federer both play their first matches since Wimbledon.
With the start of the US Open now less than three weeks away, all eyes will be on their progress in the coming days.
Do you have any comments to make on Kim's comeback? If so, email them to: tennisfeedback@sportinglife.com.
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