Craig O'Shannessy, Author at Brain Game Tennis

The Best Last Resort Tactic In Tennis Is?

Thursday, 22 August 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

Want to win the 2019 US Open final? You better serve and volley. Rafael Nadal defeated Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 in four hours and fifty minutes, with a combined 49 serve and volley points naturally occurring from both players to counter each other’s ruthless baseline patterns of play. When push came to

Published in Daniil Medvedev, Rafael Nadal, Serve And Volley, US Open

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How To Overcome Being “Super Super Tight” And Win.

Wednesday, 21 August 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

2020 US Open Final Analysis Dominic Thiem was tight. In fact, he was “super, super tight.” “The problem was my nerves,” Thiem said post-match. In much the same way that Stan Wawrinka was shaking and crying in the locker room before defeating Novak Djokovic in four sets in the 2016 US Open final, Thiem said

Published in Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, US Open

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2023 US Open Final Breakdown: 97 Backhands Turned Into Forehands

Monday, 19 August 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

Carlos Alcaraz’s unsung hero was his run-around forehand. Alcaraz defeated Casper Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-3 in the US Open final in major part to hitting a slew of run-around forehands standing in the Ad court to counter the Norwegian’s full-court press towards his backhand. Ruud played a tactically savvy final by flattening out his

Published in 0-4 Shots, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Forehands, Run-Around Forehands, US Open

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Wimbledon Men’s Final Preview: 18 Stats That Matter

Sunday, 14 July 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon! 🍓 Two weeks have flown by, and the men’s final is today at 2.00 pm. It’s the biggest day of the year on the tennis calendar and I can’t wait to see Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic light it up for the second year in a row. I was onsite at 7.00

Published in Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon

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Wimbledon 2024 Men’s Semis Preview. The One Thing To Look For.

Friday, 12 July 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day From Wimbledon. 🍓 It’s men’s semi-finals day at The Championships. Here’s what’s on tap today. Daniil Medvedev vs. Carlos Alcaraz Lorenzo Musetti vs. Novak Djokovic I have gone through all the analytics (hundreds of data points) that IBM produces here at The Championships and also some new/different data from TennisViz, which does a lot

Published in Novak Djokovic, Serving, Wimbledon

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2024 Wimbledon Women’s Semi Final Preview

Thursday, 11 July 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, 🍓 It’s ladies’ semi-final day today. Looking forward to two great matches! Here’s the line-up: Semi-Final 1: Barbora Krejcikova vs. Elena Rybakina Semi-Final 2: Donna Vekic vs. Jasmine Paolini Let’s breakdown who is doing best in the following categories. SERVICE GAMES WON Rybakina 86% (38/44) Vekic 86% (55/64) Krejcikova 75% Paolini 70%

Published in Uncategorized

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2024 Wimbledon: Djokovic v De Minaur Preview

Wednesday, 10 July 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, 🍓 Novak Djokovic starts this quarter-final match against Alex De Minaur as the favorite. History dictates that. There is no doubt that Novak is protecting his right knee in his four matches to the quarters. And rightly so. And, we don’t know if De Minaur is fully fit after injuring his hip

Published in Alex De Minaur, Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon

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The Two Best Women’s Players In The World Have The Exact Same Hole In Their Game

Monday, 08 July 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, 🍓 The world’s top two ranked women’s players have the same holes in their game. It’s called the defensive forehand. World number one, Iga Swiatek, was bundled out of Wimbledon a couple of days ago by Yulia Putintseva after committing 46 forehand errors in a three-set loss. Read that report HERE. In

Published in Coco Gauff, Iga Świątek, Iga Swiatek, Wimbledon

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Swiatek’s Forehand Implodes Two Years In A Row At Wimbledon

Sunday, 07 July 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day From Wimbledon. 🍓 World No. 1, Iga Swiatek, is out of Wimbledon in week one. She lost 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Court No. 1 to Yulia Putintseva yesterday. You could also make a strong argument that the person who beat her was primarily herself. HERE is the analysis story I wrote 12 months ago

Published in Iga Swiatek, Iga Świątek, Wimbledon

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The Secrets Hidden In Wimbledon Rally Length

Friday, 05 July 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, 🍓 Let’s talk rally length and what it really tells us about how players are doing as they progress through the draw at Wimbledon this year. The data set is the bottom half of the men’s draw in the round of 32, so that includes 16 players. The three rally lengths we

Published in Uncategorized

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Giovanni’s Serve Is From The Andromeda Galaxy

Wednesday, 03 July 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day From Wimbledon 🍓 The week before Wimbledon, I went to Roehampton to watch the qualifying tournament. I stumbled upon a match in which the No. 1 seed in qualifying, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, played Ugo Blanchet. Both players are from France. Ugo looked like a solid player. At 5’9″ (175 cm) and 149 lbs (68

Published in Serving, Wimbledon

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Wimbledon 2024: It’s Okay To Miss Returns

Tuesday, 02 July 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon! 🍓 It’s okay to miss returns. On the surface, the sentence above seems a little out of the ordinary. Wouldn’t we want to put every return of serve back in play? When evaluating your game, it’s best to deal with reality – not expectations. We would LIKE to put all returns back

Published in Return Of Serve, Wimbledon

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Wimbledon 2024: 7 Things To Copy From Struff vs Marozsan

Monday, 01 July 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon! 🍓 It’s amazing to be back at The Championships! Typically I am busy at my desk researching tournament data and patterns of play. Not this morning. I wanted to start Day 1 by consuming a lot of tennis, so I went to Court 8 to watch Jan Lennard Struff (GER) play Fabian

Published in Wimbledon

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Rafa’s Recipe For Clay Court Carnage

Thursday, 16 May 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

2022 ROLAND GARROS FINAL ANALYSIS What happened when Rafael Nadal hit three – and only three – balls in the court against Casper Ruud? Calculated clay-court carnage. Nadal defeated Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the Roland Garros final on Sunday on the back of dominating points where he hit exactly three balls in the court

Published in Rafael Nadal, Rally Length, Roland Garros

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Let’s Take Rafa’s Pulse In Rome

Sunday, 12 May 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day From Rome, I was courtside for Rafa’s 6-1, 6-3 loss yesterday against Hubert Hurkacz. As all eyes look forward to Paris and Roland Garros, let’s discuss what he did well at the Foro Italico and what needs to improve by the time he clocks in for work again on Court Philippe Chatrier. THE OPENING

Published in Rafael Nadal, Rally Length, Roland Garros, Rome, The First 4 Shots

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Rafa Rides The Rollercoaster In Rome

Saturday, 11 May 2024 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Rome! It was like old times sitting courtside watching Rafael Nadal play on Centre Court in the Italian capital on Thursday. Rafa defeated Zizou Bergs 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a match that saw some big swings in momentum for the 10-time champion. Let’s dive into what I noticed from the stands and what

Published in Rafael Nadal, Rome

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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.

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