Dec 13, 2021The Lucky DrawThere are both tangible and intangible elements that go into running a successful tournament. Two of the most significant considerations when planning an event are the format of the draws and the convenience of the scheduling for the participants (players, parents, coaches). The format is influenced by the number of…5 min read
Jun 22, 2021The Tennis DraftImagine picking or influencing your position in a draw. Would you want the easiest first round match, just to get a win? A “winnable” first round match with a potentially easier second round? Do you just want to NOT face an opponent you’ve played too many times? Or maybe there…4 min read
Jun 14, 2018Eyes on CourtAnd the Hunger for Tennis Data — Perspectives matter. Where you’re positioned and the language(s) you speak affect both what you perceive and how you perceive. This is as true of tennis as any other endeavor you pursue. In tennis the perspectives you take may include player/opponent, parent, friend, coach, psychologist, massage therapist, club, academy, federation, sponsor…Tennis10 min read
Jun 8, 2018TD;LR: Tennis Data; Loving RatingsA brief response to TL;DR responses — A number of people have requested a condensed version of the concerns I raised about Universal Tennis in my article “The Universal Appeal of Tennis Ratings”. Here it is… Though I would still prefer that these concerns be understood in the larger context presented in the original article. Data Sharing: One-way The Universal…8 min read
May 7, 2018The Universal Appeal of Tennis RatingsAnd the ITF’s decision to chart a new course — The appeal of ratings for tennis seems nearly universal. That is, once people understand how tennis ratings can be used to enable “Level-Based Play” and how tournaments organized around such ratings might positively impact players, they are almost universally inspired to learn more. At the March 2018 meeting in Lausanne…Tennis20 min read
Apr 29, 2018TOSS: Tennis Open Software StandardsAn ecosystem to support transparency and promote innovation — Tennis is an old sport. It predates many other sports, and yet it lags far behind in terms of data gathering, data management and data analytics. At the 2015 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference it was noted that tennis is a “fragmented, decentralized landscape” and that as an individual sport…Tennis8 min read
Published in The Tennis Notebook·Feb 22, 2016Tennis Note #30Set Scores: The Rally Reality — Sometimes the Shots Just Don’t Add Up In Tennis Note #29, I presented a number of visualizations to demonstrate that Set Scores in tennis often fail to give an accurate view of how close a match may have been. …Tennis7 min read
Published in The Tennis Notebook·Feb 12, 2016Tennis Note #29Set Scores: Stories Untold — Some sets might be closer than you think… In “How to Chart a Match…” I made the claim that “A 6-0 set can actually last longer than a 6-4 set, with more points played and longer rallies.” …Tennis5 min read
Published in The Tennis Notebook·Feb 7, 2016How to Chart a Match……and why it is important. — What does it mean to chart a tennis match? How much data can an individual possibly capture? What can be done with the data once it’s captured? And, how does one go about analyzing the data? There are dozens of apps for charting [tracking] tennis matches. Most of these apps…Tennis6 min read
Feb 7, 2016CourtHiveFan Participation Platform — NOTE: This article pertains to Version 1 of CourtHive. Version 2 differs substantially. If you attempt to access CourtHive Desktop from a mobile device you will be redirected to the new CourtHive Mobile (supports Chrome on Android and Safari on iOS > 9). CourtHive is a web application for charting…Tennis5 min read
