The First 4 Shots

Craig O’Shannessy of Brain Game Tennis​ , who is the lead analyst for the Australian Open​, Wimbledon​, the ATP World Tour Finals​, the ATP Tour and WTA Tennis has seen his statistics challenge the paradigms of tennis we’ve held for many years. If I were to ask you whether you thought the majority of points contained more of less than 4 shots at the Australian Open earlier this year, I’m sure the majority of you would guess more. In actual fact, 70% of rallies the men’s side and 66% on the ladies side were 0-4 shots. With 20% on the men’s and 23% on the ladies 5-8 shots and only 10% and 11% 9 shots or more. In an era where it appears that Novak Djokovic​ and Andy Murray​ get every ball back and the points are going on longer and longer, in actual fact, most points are over before the 5th shot. Short points are dominating the game. In every point, your serve and following shot or your return and following shot are absolutely vital. Interestingly, you may think that ‘The First 4 Shots’ wouldn’t apply on the slower clay courts. Particularly when Rafa Nadal​ is involved as you think of him as a player who loves to grind out the points, plays metres behind the baseline and is in his element the longer each rally goes on for. In actual fact, even Nadal on the slow courts at Monte Carlo finished his match where he …

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