0-4 Shots Archives - Brain Game Tennis

It’s Two Shots Then Daylight Down Under

Wednesday, 04 February 2026 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, I want you to read this slowly, as it’s completely counterintuitive. Elena Rybakina hit a maximum of two shots in the court in 77% of all points she played at the 2026 Australian Open. Two touches. That’s it for almost eight points out of every ten. Mind-boggling. She won the title, only dropping one

Published in 0-4 Shots, Australian Open, Elena Rybakina

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Five Stats That Pinpoint Novak’s Decline

Saturday, 06 September 2025 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, Novak Djokovic is currently the third-best player on the planet. Father time has caught up with him, and by his own admission, the brutal physicality of battling Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner over five sets has become an overwhelming obstacle. Here are five key stats that Djokovic used to dominate his opponents. Now, they

Published in 0-4 Shots, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, US Open

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Novak’s Bullseye = 2nd Serve Returns

Wednesday, 16 April 2025 by Craig O'Shannessy

The bullseye was second serve returns. ???? If you seek to understand the myriad of possibilities in a tennis match just like a dartboard, it will quickly become clear that second serve returns live dead in the middle. Novak Djokovic defeated Milos Raonic 7-6(6), 7-6(5) at the 2016 ATP Finals by playing even in almost

Published in 0-4 Shots, ATP Finals, Milos Raonic, Novak Djokovic

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10 Things To Learn From Daniil Medvedev

Thursday, 20 February 2025 by Craig O'Shannessy

Daniil Medvedev’s mastery of a tennis match is mesmerizing. Medvedev defeated Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the 2019 Rolex Shanghai Masters, with Zverev saying post-match that “Daniil is somebody that plays a way that we have never seen before.” You can’t beat what you can’t understand. Learn #1 – Answer this question.

Published in 0-4 Shots, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Shanghai Masters 1000

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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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Ben Shelton’s Super Power Is?

Tuesday, 05 September 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

Gday from New York. UPDATE: BOTTOM OF THE PAGE QUARTER-FINAL – SHELTON DEF. TIAFOE 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 Ben Shelton has blasted his way to the quarter-finals of the 2023 US Open and plays Frances Tiafoe tonight on Arthur Ashe. The 20-year-old is the youngest American player to reach the quarters since Andy Roddick in

Published in 0-4 Shots, Ben Shelton, US Open

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2023 Wimbledon: Men’s Semi-Finalists Rally Length

Thursday, 13 July 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon. ???????????????????????????????????? On Friday, we have two outstanding matches in the men’s semi-finals at The Championships. Carlos Alcaraz v Daniil Medvedev Jannik Sinner v Novak Djokovic Below is an analysis of rally length for all four players to the semi-finals. It is not meant to be a head-to-head comparison. Instead, it is about

Published in 0-4 Shots, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon

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Preview 2: Djokovic v Alcaraz. New Predictive Analytics

Thursday, 08 June 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Paris, What a treat the tennis world is in for Friday afternoon in Paris! Novak Djokovic against Carlos Alcaraz. This match is going to stop all of us in our tracks. The new generation is ready to take a big step forward against the old generation. I look forward to writing an analysis

Published in 0-4 Shots, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic

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Iga Świątek Hits You First

Sunday, 04 June 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Paris. ???????????? How dominant is Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros through the first week this year? Iga Swiatek has served 22 service games. She has won 18 of them. ???????????????? She has also returned 22 service games. She has won 18 of them. ???????? It’s an absurd match metric that has powered the

Published in 0-4 Shots, Iga Swiatek, Roland Garros

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Taking Novak Djokovic’s Pulse In Paris

Wednesday, 31 May 2023 by Craig O'Shannessy

Novak Djokovic is building his game on the fly to again be crowned the King of Paris. Djokovic had an average clay court campaign by his own lofty standards coming into Roland Garros, going 5-3 in Monte Carlo, Banja Luka, and Rome. The three losses were to Lorenzo Musetti, Dusan Lajovic, and Holger Rune. Not

Published in 0-4 Shots, Novak Djokovic, Return Of Serve, Roland Garros, Serve And Volley, The First 4 Shots

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Roger Federer: The 2018 Australian Open Final = His 2022 Blueprint.

Thursday, 23 December 2021 by Craig O'Shannessy

The First 4 Shots Video – Learn More HERE The last major Roger Federer won was the 2018 Australian Open. When Roger finally returns to the tour in 2022 he needs to look no further than how he won the 2018 Aussie Open final against Marin Cilic for the blueprint to once again be successful

Published in 0-4 Shots, ATP Tour, Australian Open, Roger Federer

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Long Rallies = 3.8% of points. Who cares?

Wednesday, 05 June 2019 by Craig O'Shannessy

Johanna Konta is burning through the 2019 Roland Garros women’s draw like a runaway bushfire. Have a look at these scorelines. Rd 1 def. A. Lottner 6-4, 6-4 Rd 2 def. L. Davis 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 Rd 3 def. V. Kuzmova 6-2, 6-1 Rd 4 def. D. Vekic 6-2, 6-4 Qtrs def. S. Stephens 6-1,

Published in 0-4 Shots, Johanna Konta, Rally Length, Roland Garros

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10 Clever Wimbledon Takeaways From Roger Federer

Monday, 02 July 2018 by Craig O'Shannessy

I highly recommend THE FIRST 4 SHOTS for a deep analysis of rally length. Click HERE for more information. The First 4 Shots – Video WIMBLEDON 2018 Roger Federer def. Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 Well, that didn’t take long! Roger dusted Dusan in just an hour and 19 minutes to move through to

Published in 0-4 Shots, Dusan Lajovic, Roger Federer, Serve And Volley, Wimbledon

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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.