Analysis: How Tsitsipas’s forehand propelled him to Monte-Carlo glory
The Greek’s forehand stats, tracked by TennisViz and Tennis Data Innovations, were significantly up on his efforts in the past year
Chryslene Caillaud / Panoramic
When you are struggling for top form and people are beginning to doubt you, sometimes it pays to return to a place where you’ve done well in the past.
That certainly worked for Stefanos Tsitsipas as he won the Monte-Carlo Masters for the third time in four years, his first title on the ATP Tour since Los Cabos last summer.
But how did he do it? TennisViz and Tennis Data Innovations have been cranking the stats and it’s clear that Tsitsipas elevated his game above his level not only from the past few months but also from most of the past year.
The Tsitsipas forehand on fire again
Just take a look at the stats for Tsitsipas’s forehand, the bedrock of his game, especially on clay, where he uses it to drag his opponents off court. In Monte-Carlo, his “forehand quality” rating was 8.8, which is well above not only his 52-week average, but also more than a point above the Tour average. Forehand quality is calculated by analysing the speed, spin, depth and width of every shot.
When that forehand’s working, on clay, Tsitsipas takes some beating. As the table below shows, his average forehand speed was up, but he was also hitting it with margin for error, at 89cm, way above his 52-week average. Now that’s doubtless influenced by his return to clay, but his confidence shone through in his reps per second. He was also more consistent than usual.
Tom put that forehand quality rating into context, at 8.8, it’s only topped by Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz over the past 12 months.
Not only that, he hit 12 forehand winners, on average, per match, which is up from 8 in the past year.
Direction also vital
It’s not just speed, though. The accuracy of the Tsitsipas forehand was something to behold all week and the stats back up the eye, as the chart below shows.
DEFENSIVE GAME BEST OF THE LOT
But you can’t win big tournaments just by having a good attacking game; at this level, against the world’s best players, you need to have all elements of your game, including defence.
So it’s no surprise that Tsitsipas was top of the stats for the week when it comes to “steal score”, which refers to points won when a player is in defence at some stage in a rally. Tsitsipas topped the list with 43.3 percent.
All in all, that adds up to Tsitsipas being back on top of his game, with his forehand leading the way. More of this and the chances are he won’t have to wait so long for another title this time.
All stats courtesy of TennisViz and Tennis Data Innovations
