Wimbledon Archives - Brain Game Tennis

2026 Wimbledon. All The Return Data You Need To Know

Tuesday, 14 July 2026 by Craig O'Shannessy

TENNIS , AUSTRALIAN OPEN, MELBOURNE PARK, MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, GRAND SLAM, HARD COURT, OUTDOOR, ITF, ATP, WTA, 2023, © TENNIS PHOTO NETWORK

G’day, The focus is typically on serving and getting to the net when we analyze Wimbledon data. After all, it is a grass court tournament! To wrap up another amazing Championships, let’s do something different this time and dive into return-of-serve averages to uncover what matters most for winning. You will also find tournament averages

Published in Return Of Serve, Wimbledon

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2026 Wimbledon Final. Zverev Wins Just 35% Baseline Points. Game Over.

Monday, 13 July 2026 by Craig O'Shannessy

Gday from Wimbledon, Winners minus errors is by far the best way to evaluate baseline performance. And to be crystal clear, it’s winners minus all errors, which is forced and unforced errors combined. When you analyze a match this way (which I always do), you quickly zero in on the real reason Jannick Sinner won

Published in Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon

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2026 Wimbledon. Let’s Talk Groundstroke Speed

Wednesday, 08 July 2026 by Craig O'Shannessy

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

Published in Backhands, Forehands, Wimbledon

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2026 Wimbledon: Players hold 91% doing just this ONE thing.

Tuesday, 07 July 2026 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, Imagine doing just one thing that bolsters your chance of holding serve all the way to 91%. That’s exactly what is happening in the men’s draw at Wimbledon this year. What’s the one thing that has this much influence in the game? The very first point of the service game. Let’s dig

Published in Alexander Zverev, Coco Gauff, Jannik Sinner, Naomi Osaka, Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, Wimbledon

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Wimbledon 2026 – A Simply Shocking Statistic Has Emerged

Monday, 06 July 2026 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, It’s been a lot of fun this year to take traditional static match data – such as 1st & 2nd serve points won – and do something more with it this year at Wimbledon. Traditional match data relies on basic PDF reports where match data sits in isolation from other matches. The

Published in Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon

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2026 Wimbledon: How Players Manipulate Time.

Sunday, 05 July 2026 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, Time is the enemy. It’s also your best friend. Funny how that works. Time is a key component of our great sport. How much time does our opponent allow us to prepare for the next shot? How much time do we have to get our hands and feet organized? How much time

Published in Wimbledon

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Wimbledon 2026 – Serve And Volley Is Crushing

Saturday, 04 July 2026 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, Serve and volley is baaaaack. 🎾🔨 Serve and volley stats were first recorded at The Championships in 1997. There have been only two years since then when the average win percentage in the men’s draw was north of 70%. 2014 – 71% 2015 – 71% That’s about to change. There have been

Published in Novak Djokovic, Serve And Volley, Wimbledon

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2026 Wimbledon – One Bad Service Game

Tuesday, 30 June 2026 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon! You know it’s coming. Your opponent knows it’s coming. It’s just a matter of when. One of the most common, yet under-the-radar, ways players lose matches at all levels of our sport is simply dropping one bad service game. One bad service game can undo a dozen good ones. It may be

Published in Jannik Sinner, Miomir Kecmanovic, Wimbledon

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Serena’s Secret SW19 Sauce = 2nd Serve Return Carnage

Sunday, 28 June 2026 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, Forty-four-year-old Serena Williams is baaaaack. The seven-time champion will be back playing on Center Court on Tuesday against 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint. They are third match on Center after 1.30 pm. First, a little info about Joint. She is having a rough year on tour. She lost first round at the Australian

Published in Serena Williams, Wimbledon

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Improve Your 1st Serve With This Smart Drill

Monday, 11 August 2025 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day, I have been back on court a lot lately, working with players at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and also the US national junior hardcourts in Kalamazoo. I want to share with you a first serve drill that I have done at all events that helps players get more first serves in and win more service

Published in Australian Open, Roland Garros, Serving, US Open, Wimbledon

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2025 Wimbledon Men’s Final. Five Keys To The Final

Sunday, 13 July 2025 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day From Wimbledon Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jannik Sinner. This feels like a Djokovic/Federer/Nadal heavyweight fight all over again. Here are five things to consider when watching the final. 1) HEAD-TO-HEAD Alcaraz leads the head-to-head 8-4 and has won five straight in 2024 and 2025. Sinner has not beaten Alcaraz since September 2023. This is the

Published in Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon

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Wimbledon Preview. Swiatek v Anisimova. The Only 3 Things That Matter.

Saturday, 12 July 2025 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, Iga Swiatek has had a dream run to the Wimbledon women’s final, dropping only one set along the way. Of the 12 sets she has won, seven of them have been 6-2 or better. She soundly defeated Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-0 in the semi-final, putting 90% of returns in play, winning all

Published in Amanda Anisimova, Iga Świątek, Wimbledon

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The Wimbledon Baseline Hides A Dark Secret

Friday, 11 July 2025 by Craig O'Shannessy

G’day from Wimbledon, When you step onto any tennis court, you automatically walk to the baseline and start trading shots back and forth with the person on the other side of the net. The baseline is your happy place. It’s where you feel comfortable on the court, having more preparation time than at the net

Published in Carlos Alcaraz, Court Position, Jannik Sinner, Jenson Brooksby, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon

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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: 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 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.