Exploring match performance of elite tennis players : the multifactorial game-related effects in Grand Slams

Abstract

Tennis is a complex and dynamic sport where coaches are required to prescribe accurate training programming and match planning, and players are expected to execute the strategy by constantly adjusting their tactics, in order to increase the winning probability. Match performance analysis provides them with accurate, valid and less subjective information that is beneficial for the improvement of player behaviors. Currently, the research of performance analysis in tennis is a well-established realm that addresses the technical-tactical, physical and physiological performance of players. However, there still exist some limitations that need to be further solved, such as the lack of consideration of contextual constraints, the exclusive focus on general performance instead of accounting for within-player variation in personal attributes and performance, and the failure to assess the non-linear relationships among different influencing components from macro-, meso-, micro-and nano-level and match performance. Therefore, in order to address these issues, five independent and correlated studies were undertaken in the thesis.The first study analyzed the set-to-set variation in performance using match statistics of 146 completed main-draw matches in Australian Open and US Open 2016-2017 men's singles.Comparisons of technical-tactical and physical performance variables were done among different sets; and the coefficients of variation (CV) of these variables were contrasted between match winning and losing players. All comparisons were realized via standardized (Cohen's d) mean differences and uncertainty in the true differences were assessed using nonclinical magnitude-based inferences. Results showed that there was possibly to very likely decreases in serve, net and running related variables and an increase in return and winner related variables in the last sets when compared to the initial sets, indicating the influence of match fatigue and the player's adaption of match tactics and pacing strategy. Besides, winning players were revealed to have lower CV values in most of performance variables except for second serve, winner, and physical performance variables, which indicated that they would sacrifice the consistency to gain more aggressiveness and to dominate the match.The second study was aimed to (i) analyze the match performance of professional female tennis players in different Grand Slams; (ii) model the relationships between match performance variables and ranking-based relative quality; and (iii) build typical performance profiles for female players in Grand Slams using regression-based approach. Data of a total of X 1369 matches were collected within 2014-2017 four Grand Slams. Correlations between 37 performance variables and relative quality were determined and automatically classified into two groups of magnitudes via two-step cluster analysis. Higher-correlated variables were used to build players' typical performance profiles via regression-based technique to give percentage evaluation scores (%ES). Player...