The Stat Fueling Pella's Rise Up The ATP Rankings
The Stat Fueling Pella’s Rise Up The ATP Rankings
Get your first serve in.
It’s an age-old tennis adage that forms the engine room for career-best performances from several players on Tour so far in 2019. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of first-serve percentage and career-best ATP Rankings uncovers a striking correlation between the two.
Dusan Lajovic leads the Tour in first-serve percentage in 2019, coming into Wimbledon, making 68.01 per cent of his first serves in 26 matches. The 29-year-old Serbian achieved a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 23 in April on the back of reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
Guido Pella is second on the list for first serves made in 2019, making 67.16 per cent. The Argentine reached a career-high ranking of No. 21 in May. Pella won the Brasil Open that month, making an impressive 69 per cent (166/241) of first serves to take the title. He also reached the final of the inaugural Cordoba Open in February.
Aussie Jordan Thompson is ranked fifth in first-serve percentage so far in 2019, making 67.01 per cent of first serves through 34 matches. He reached a career-high of No. 43 this month after reaching the final of the Libema Open on grass in June.
Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 18-year-old Canadian sensation, is 10th on the list of first serves made at 65.66 per cent from 38 matches. He boasts a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 21.
In May and June, the #NextGenATP star reached the final in Lyon on clay, the final in Stuttgart on grass and the semi-finals of the Fever Tree Championships in London leading into Wimbledon.
Auger-Aliassime: First Serves Made
Lyon = 69% (201/306)
Stuttgart = 65% (203/310)
Fever-Tree Championships = 64% (208/327)
The Top 10 list of first serves made also features other in-form and highly-ranked players:
Top 10: First Serves Made (January to Wimbledon)
Dusan Lajovic = 68.01%
Guido Pella = 67.16%
Dominic Thiem = 67.16%
Rafael Nadal = 67.13%
Jordan Thompson = 67.01%
Novak Djokovic = 66.42%
Alexander Zverev = 66.04%
Roberto Bautista Agut = 65.95%
Diego Schwartzman = 65.88%
Felix Auger-Aliassime = 65.66%
Four players from the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings appear in the Top 10 list of first serves made in 2019, including No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 4 Dominic Thiem and No. 5 Alexander Zverev.
The Top 10 list for first serves made is heavily populated with players from the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings and others enjoying the best seasons of their careers. It remains a statistical category that directly correlates to success in our sport.