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Wednesday, 08 July 2026 / Published in Backhands, Forehands, Wimbledon

2026 Wimbledon. Let’s Talk Groundstroke Speed

G’day from Wimbledon.

Let’s talk groundstroke speed for men and women at The Championships this year up to the quarter-finals.

Surely this is an easy one to understand. Surely the harder you hit it, the more successful you will be. Isn’t groundstroke power omnipotent?

Let’s start with the men’s draw and get a feel for those that can crank the ball – and those that don’t. Here are the leading five players.

MEN: Average Forehand Speed (Tournament Average = 115 km/h)

Yibing Wu – 131 km/h (lost Rd 1)
Tallon Griekspoor – 125 km/h (lost Rd 1)
Ugo Humbert – 124 km/h (lost Rd 1)
Denis Shapovalov – 124 km/h (lost Rd 1)
Dino Prizmic – 124 km/h (lost Rd 1)

All five players who blasted forehands the fastest lost in round one at SW19 this year. Evidently, smashing forehands does not directly equate to tennis immortality. In fact, there was only one player (Felix Auger-Aliassime) who was in the top 10 in this category that made it into week two.

Here’s the lesson.

Just because you have a big hammer does not mean you have to use it. Sometimes, the mere threat of crushing forehands is all you need to make your opponent adjust their shot selection. Hitting big should not happen all the time. Use the “little hammer” to rally with, and only look to pull the trigger one time in the point. That’s all you really need.

Remember, if you blast a spectacular winner, or your opponent misses a short forehand, both shots are worth just one point on the scoreboard.

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard hit his forehand the slowest at The Championships this year, averaging just 97 km/h.

WOMEN: Average Forehand Speed (Tournament Average = 108 km/h)

Dayana Yastremska – 120 km/h (lost Rd 2)
Beatriz Haddad Maia – 119 km/h lost Rd 1)
Alycia Parks – 118 km/h (lost Rd 2)
Madison Keys – 117 km/h (lost Rd 4)
Liudmila Samsonova – 117 km/h (Lost Rd 3)

The women’s tournament average (108 km/h) is just 7 km/h slower than the men’s average at 115 k/h.

Yastremska owns the fastest average at 120 km/h. Where does that slot in on the men’s side? She would be tied for 20th fastest, along with Jannik Sinner, Jakub Mensik and Grigor Dimitrov. That’s pretty impressive!

MEN: Average Backhand Speed (Tournament Average = 107 km/h)

The average men’s backhand speed is just one km/h slower than the women’s forehand speed. Interesting. Now we have a number for it. Here are the biggest backhands in the men’s draw.

Yibing Wu – 120km/h (lost Rd 1)
Mariano Navone – 117 km/h (lost Rd 1)
Marin Cilic – 116 km/h (lost Rd 1)
Valentin Royer – 116 km/h (lost Rd 2)
Jacok Fearnley – 115 km/h (lost Rd 2)

Only two players won a match that also possessed the biggest, strongest, fastest backhands in the men’s draw. The message is clear. Power isn’t everything!

WOMEN: Average Backhand Speed (Tournament Average = 103 km/h)

WHOA! The average backhand speed for women is just four km/h slower than the men? That’s impressive from the ladies. I had no idea it was that close. Here are the five fastest backhands.

Elena Rybakina – 119 km/h (lost 3rd Rd)
Naomi Osaka – 115 km/h (lost Qtr Final)
Qinwen Zheng – 115 km/h (lost Rd 1)
Solara Sierra = 114 km/h (lost Rd 2)
Amanda Anisimova 113 km/h (Lost Rd 3)

Rybakina’s average backhand speed is only one km/h slower than the average of the first-placed male player, Yibing Wu, who averaged 120 km/h. The women’s forehand average is seven km/h slower than the men’s, but only four k/h on the backhand wing.

SUMMARY

Yes, the place where power is most evident in our sport is at the professional level. Especially at tournaments like Wimbledon. But using power recklessly is not what it’s all about. Variety is the spice of life, and the ability to hit harder or slower, higher or lower, deeper or shorter all matter just as much.

You should definitely work on hitting the ball hard to finish points. But power is generally not what is needed to set up points. The bottom line is that power is required to compete at this level, but not every shot needs to leave a vapor trail.

Choose your poison wisely.

The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.