Tennis Data Visualization
If you have not noticed by now, those three words describe my three favorite things. As I come across other people’s efforts, I will post them here as an archive not just for myself but for other fellow tennis enthusiasts! If you have done some fantastic work in tennis data visualization, respond and send me a link! Enjoy!
FiveThirtyEight
The hub of visual storytelling with some of my favorite stories and my original inspirations. I will just continue a list of my favorite articles but feel free to just search “tennis” on their website.
LONDON - It wasn't until 2007 that Wimbledon became the last of the four tennis Grand Slams to award equal prize money…fivethirtyeight.com
Nine-time French Open champ Rafael Nadal is one of the slowest players of the last 25 years. Roger Federer is faster…fivethirtyeight.com
Stan Wawrinka is two wins from accomplishing what few have before in modern tennis history: capturing a second Grand…fivethirtyeight.com
Tennis is played and followed in most nations worldwide. But professional players aren't making much money. Fewer than…fivethirtyeight.com
Patrick McEnroe announced his resignation Wednesday as general manager of player development for the U.S. Tennis…fivethirtyeight.com
If you've ever watched a tennis player dominate with the first serve but saw the second serve obliterated by the…fivethirtyeight.com
American men's tennis is at a nadir. No Grand Slam singles champion in 11 years. No Grand Slam singles semifinalist in…fivethirtyeight.com
Financial Times
- The Greatest Men’s Players Ever: Great interactive visualization allows you to compare male tennis players by cumulative win percentage vs. age
- Nadal and Federer: Two Paths to Greatness: The beginning explains the chart and applies it to Top 10, 50, 100, and 500. Then it dives into Nadal and Federer’s distribution. It also gives you perspective on where Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray lie in comparison. The very last page is interactive and allows you to see the top 50 if you hover over each data point. It gives perspective on player’s dominance and nature under pressure. Extremely comprehensive analysis and somewhat of a time sink if you are a data nerd like me!
- Surface Tension in Tennis: Serve v Return for Top 100 on different surfaces.
Other
Stephanie Kovalchik’s blog
After a 21-minute opening match at the US Open that ended with her opponent's retirement, Serena Williams is now 6…on-the-t.github.io
“Are Women Professional Tennis Players Really Less Consistent Than Male Players?” — No. It has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with match format. The actual paper is not out yet but I will be certain to look for it. This is not Dr. Stephanie Kovalchik’s only work in tennis. She has also looked at Trends in Singles Play Intensity on the ATP Tour and you can listen to her discoveries about age trends.
Jeff Sackmann’s blog
Andrew Moss’s blog
The final grand slam of the year, the US Open, starts in the New York borough of Queens on Monday. As ever, a good time…cleaningthelines.wordpress.com
Tennis Visuals
Charles Allen’s progress on what could be a very powerful tool to visualize tennis data. I featured one aspect on A Visual History of Serena Williams at the very end.
Other
Roger Federer won his first Grand Slam tournament 11 years ago at Wimbledon, beating Mark Philippoussis in straight…widgets.scmp.com
Damien Saunder has done some fantastic work with Hawk-Eye data visualization. One of my favorite visuals is something I mentioned in Tennis Note 8 — Game Trees!
RacketLogger allows you to explore different tennis string brands in an interactive graphic.
This is not a data visual but the interactive takes you through top player’s origin courts:
