Men's doubles professional tennis on hard courts: Game structure and point ending characteristics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14198/jhse.2020.153.13Keywords:
Doubles, Tactics, Professional players, Performance analysisAbstract
Despite the great tradition and importance of the doubles game in professional tennis, no literature has analysed to date the performance of professional players. Therefore, the information on the characteristics of the game, or the tactics related to how the points are won in doubles play is scarce. The objective of this study has been to describe the basic characteristics of the structure of the doubles game, and to establish how the points finish in doubles professional tennis played on hard courts. Thirty-four ATP doubles matches played in 2018 were analysed, which included a total of 40 professional players. As per the game structure, the results showed that, in comparison to the singles matches, the number of points per match, the number of sets per match, the number of points per game, and the number of strokes per point, are lower in the doubles matches. However, the number of games per set is higher in doubles than in singles. Winning shots and winning serves are the most frequent patterns to finish the point in doubles. These data show the great importance of the serve in doubles, as well as the relevance of using offensive tactics.Downloads
References
Altman, D. G. (1990). Practical statistics for medical research. New York: CRC Press.
Anderson, L. R. (1982). Sex Differences on a Conjunctive Task: Mixed-Doubles Tennis Teams. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 8(2), 330-335. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167282082022
Association of Tennis Professionals. (2019). ATP Tour and Challenger Calendar 2019. Retrieved from https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments
Black, W. (2012). Strategy and tactics in preparation for a doubles Grand Slam, ITF Coaching and Sport Science review, 56(20), 18-19.
Black, W., & Van de Braam, M. (2012). The modern game of doubles: a tactical perspective. ITF Coaching and Sport Science Review, 56(20), 13-15.
Blickensderfer, E. L., Reynolds, R., Salas, E., and Cannon-Bowers, J. A. (2010) 'Shared Expectations and Implicit Coordination in Tennis Doubles Teams', Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 22: 4, 486 - 499. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2010.507497
Brabenec, J. (1997). Double your fun by playing smart doubles. Tennisall. Inc.: Vancouver.
Braden, V. & Burns, B. (1996). Laugh and win at doubles. Little, Brown & C.: Boston.
Breznik, K. (2015). Revealing the best doubles teams and players in tennis history. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 15(3), 1213–1226. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2015.11868863
Brody, H. (2006). Unforced errors and error reduction in tennis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 40(5), 397–400. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2005.023432
Carboch, J. (2017). Comparison of game characteristics of male and female tennis players at grand-slam tournaments in 2016. TRENDS in Sport Sciences, (4), 151–155. https://doi.org/10.23829/TSS.2017.24.4-2
Carboch, J., & Kočíb, T. (2016). A comparison of service efficiency between players of male and female doubles at professional tennis tournaments. Auc Kinanthropologica, 51(2), 56–62. https://doi.org/10.14712/23366052.2015.32
Cayer, L. (2004). Doubles Tennis Tactics. Human Kinetics: Champaign, Ill.
Clarke, S. R. (2011). Rating non-elite tennis players using team doubles competition results. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 62(7), 1385-1390. https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2010.75
Crespo, M., & Miley, D. (1998). Advanced coaches manual. London: International Tennis Federation.
Cross, R., & Pollard, G. (2009). Grand Slam men’s singles tennis 1991- 2009. Coaching and Sport Science Review, (49), 8–10.
Fernández, J., Méndez-Villanueva, A., & Pluim, B. . (2006). Intensity of tennis match play. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 40(5), 387–391. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2005.023168
Gillet, E., Leroy, D., Thouvarecq, R., & Stein, J.-F. (2009). A Notational Analysis of Elite Tennis Serve and Serve-Return Strategies on Slow Surface. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23(2), 532–539. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e31818efe29
Hughes, M., & Barlett, R. (2007). What is performance analysis? In M. Hughes (Ed.), Basics of Performance Analysis. Cardiff: UWIC.
Hughes, M., & Meyers, R. (2005). Movement patterns in elite men’s singles tennis. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 5(2), 110–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2005.11868331
International tennis federation. (2019). 2019 ITF World Tennis Tour Men's Calendar. Retrieved from https://www.itftennis.com/media/189962/189962.pdf
Johnson, C. . (2006). Performance demands of professional male tennis players. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 40(8), 696–699. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2005.021253
Kovacs, M. (2004). A comparison of work/rest intervals in men’s professional tennis. Medicine and Science in Tennis, 9(3), 10–11.
Kovalchik, S. A., & Reid, M. (2017). Comparing Matchplay Characteristics and Physical Demands of Junior and Professional Tennis Athletes in the Era of Big Data. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 16(4), 489–497.
Martínez-Gallego, R., Guzmán, J. F., Crespo, M., Ramón-Llin, J., & Vučković, G. (2018). Technical, tactical and movement analysis of men’s professional tennis on hard courts. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 59(1). https://doi.org/10.23736/S0022-4707.17.07916-6
Martínez-Gallego, R., Guzmán, J. F., James, N., Ramón-Llin, J., Crespo, M., & Vuckovic, G. (2013). The relationship between the incidence of winners/errors and the time spent in different areas of the court in elite tennis. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 8(Proc3), S601–S607. https://doi.org/10.4100/jhse.2013.8.Proc3.05
Martin-Lorente, E., Campos, J., & Crespo, M. (2017). The inside out forehand as a tactical pattern in men’s professional tennis. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 17(4), 429–441. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2017.1349528
O’Donoghue, P., & Ingram, B. (2001). A notational analysis of elite tennis strategy. Journal of Sports Sciences, 19(2), 107–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/026404101300036299
Perlstein, S. (1995). Winning doubles. The Lyons Press. NY.
Pollard, G., Barnett, T., Brown, A., and Pollard, G. (2007). Some alternative men’s doubles scoring systems, S. Miller & J. Capel-Davies (eds.), Tennis Science & Technology 3, (pp. 301 – 309), London: ITF Ltd.
Reid, M., Morgan, S., & Whiteside, D. (2016). Matchplay characteristics of Grand Slam tennis: implications for training and conditioning. Journal of Sports Sciences, 34(19), 1791–1798. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1139161
Singleton, S. (1989). Intelligent doubles. Betterway Publ. Crozet, VA.
Takahashi, H., Wada, T., Maeda, A., Kodama, M., Nishizono, H., & Kurata, H. (2006). The relationship between court surface and tactics in tennis using a computerized scorebook. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 6(2), 15–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2006.11868369
Talbert, W.F., & Old, B.S. (1957). The game of doubles in tennis. Gollancz. London.
Torres-Luque, D. G. T., Sánchez-Pay, A., Fernández-García, Á., & Palao, J. . (2014). Características de la estructura temporal en tenis. Journal of Sport and Health Research, 6(2), 117–128.
Tudor, P. B., Zečić, M., & Matković, B. (2014). Differences between 2010 and 2011 performance indicators of tennis play at the Grand Slam tournaments. Kinesiology: International Journal of Fundamental and Applied Kinesiology, (46), 102–107.
Downloads
Statistics
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Each author warrants that his or her submission to the Work is original and that he or she has full power to enter into this agreement. Neither this Work nor a similar work has been published elsewhere in any language nor shall be submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration by JHSE. Each author also accepts that the JHSE will not be held legally responsible for any claims of compensation.
Authors wishing to include figures or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.
Please include at the end of the acknowledgements a declaration that the experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed. The editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the abovementioned requirements. The author(s) will be held responsible for false statements or failure to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements.
This title is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms under the following terms:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
Transfer of Copyright
In consideration of JHSE’s publication of the Work, the authors hereby transfer, assign, and otherwise convey all copyright ownership worldwide, in all languages, and in all forms of media now or hereafter known, including electronic media such as CD-ROM, Internet, and Intranet, to JHSE. If JHSE should decide for any reason not to publish an author’s submission to the Work, JHSE shall give prompt notice of its decision to the corresponding author, this agreement shall terminate, and neither the author nor JHSE shall be under any further liability or obligation.
Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (e.g., consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article, except as disclosed on a separate attachment. All funding sources supporting the Work and all institutional or corporate affiliations of the authors are acknowledged in a footnote in the Work.
Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the protocol for any investigation involving humans or animals and that all experimentation was conducted in conformity with ethical and humane principles of research.
Competing Interests
Biomedical journals typically require authors and reviewers to declare if they have any competing interests with regard to their research.
JHSE require authors to agree to Copyright Notice as part of the submission process.
