Sunday, 01 June 2025 / Published in Roland Garros

Roland Garros 2025. What You Have Wrong About Net Play

G’day, From Roland Garros

It’s time to take the pulse of the tournament after the first three rounds. Specifically, how are things going for players at the baseline and at the net? Here are the tournament averages.

Baseline Win Percentages (1st 3 Rds)

Men = 47%
Women = 48%

Net Win Percentages (1st 3 Rds)

Men = 65%
Women = 63%

The baseline is a statistical nightmare. Any average below 50% represents a significant challenge for players to manufacture strong win percentages.

But the net is doing just fine, with win percentages of 63% for women and 65% for men.

Which brings me to my point…

Universally, people have it in their heads that going to the net is not really a great idea…

AND…

The more you go in, the more you are likely to lose – not win. The perception is that if you really get serious about coming forward to finish points at the net, the opponent will figure you out and your win percentages will DROP. The consensus is that it’s better to dabble in net play rather than add it as a legitimate tool in your toolbox.

So I just put the theory to the test.

I created a dataset for men that only included players who have come to the net 75 times or more through the first three rounds. The data set yielded 22 players. These players are serious about coming forward. 75 times at the net is a lot through three matches.

So, according to the current school of thought, the win percentage for these 22 players should be LESS than the tournament average because they are somewhat overdosing on this illegitimate strategy.

Here’s the facts…

Net Points Won

Men Tournament Average = 65% won
Men Coming In 75x or more = 69% won

The 22 players who came to the net 75 times or more (the highest was 139) performed better than the rest of the tournament by four percentage points. So there goes another myth about our sport blown to smithereens.

2025 Roland Garros: Men Net Points 75+ Net Appearances

On the women’s side, the tournament average was 63% points won. I looked at women who had come to the net 40x or more through the first three rounds, and they stayed exactly the same at 63%. But that’s still a win for the net, because if they were not at the net, they would have been at the baseline, where the average win percentage plummets down to 48%.

2025 Roland Garros: Women Net Points 40+ Net Appearances

SUMMARY

The more you do something, the better you tend to get at it. Practice, practice, practice…

That is a common-sense theory, but for whatever reason, we apply the opposite logic for net play in our sport.

I can assure you, going to the net and winning two out of every three points beats the pants off staying back at the baseline and hopefully winning one out of every two points.

Cheers from the RG.

Craig

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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Roland Garros 2025. What You Have Wrong About Net Play