The amount of statistical information that should be released to fans (and, by extension, punters) is vigorously debated in the boardrooms of the major sports. Tennis had lagged behind many of those who’d embraced the concept of empowering their followers with a taste of ‘big data’.
However, the trickle of information from past Australian Opens has turned into a drought-breaking flood thanks to Tennis Australia’s creation of the Game Insight Group (GIG). Among GIG’s findings, based on data collected from the seven primary courts at the past three Australian Opens, Andy Murray had the highest work rate per shot in the men’s game and Gilles Simon the highest work rate per point.
But the stat that shone above all others was that young American star Madison Keys’ average forehand speed ranked first among the women, and ahead of all men except Tomas Berdych. Keys’ average backhand speed was also higher than any of the men. The collection and availability of such data is a huge step in the right direction for the game.
Big guns loaded for second round
The top seeds Angelique Kerber and Andy Murray, as well as Australia’s leading men, return to play on day three of the Australian Open in Melbourne. Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios will close play with late second-round matches on Margaret Court Arena and Hisense Arena respectively. Tomic looks too strong for clay courter Victor Estrella Burgos, likewise Kyrgios in his match-up with Italian Andreas Seppi (a straight-sets win for Kyrgios is worth taking at $1.80 on William Hill).
Stan Wawrinka looked dead and buried down a break in the fifth set before prevailing over Martin Klizan and could face a similar grind against Steve Johnson today (take the +37.5-game total at $1.83 on Sportsbet). For our best of the day, American Ryan Harrison represents terrific value in his second-round showdown against Tomas Berdych. Berdych’s hold/break statistics have slumped dramatically over the past 12 months – today he faces a player who held serve more than 80 per cent in 2016. Harrison can keep this well inside the +5.5 game-line on offer ($1.83 with Luxbet).
Genie’s out of the bottle
The tour’s most experienced woman, Venus Williams, has been given the honour of opening play on centre court today. Williams, playing in her 73rd grand slam (an all-time record) will take on Swiss world no.112 Stefanie Voegele at Rod Laver Arena. This could turn into a real grind – Voegele has now played four successive three-set matches dating back to the qualifiers, winning all of them (take three sets at $2.75 on Ladbrokes). World no.1 Angelique Kerber’s meeting with Carina Witthoeft follows that match. Garbine Muguruza plays US hope Samantha Crawford in the night session on Melbourne Park’s main stadium court. It’s been a low-key start to the Australian Open for glamour girl Eugenie Bouchard. She made an ominous start to her tournament on Monday night with a crushing win over Louisa Chirico. Her opponent today, veteran Shuai Peng, has played little tennis on the main tour over the past two years. The Canadian should get this done fairly comfortably (a straight sets win is $2.10 with Crownbet).
