The one-handed backhand and the three surfaces

[Rovesciarete]

I have a big Fedal bias and feel that the oney was especially vulnerable on clay. Did a quick glance at the respective total point won percentage:

Federer: Grass>Hard>Clay
Dimitrov: Grass>Hard>Clay
Eubanks: Grass>Hard>Clay
Karlovic: Grass>Hard>Clay
Copil: Grass>Hard>Clay
Lopez: Grass>Hard>Clay
Gasquets: Grass>Hard=Clay

GMP: Grass>Clay>Hard
Kohlschreiber: Grass=Clay>Hard

Wawrinka: Clay>Hard>Grass
Thiem: Clay>Hard>Grass
Lajovic: Clay>Hard>Grass
Cecchinato: Clay>Hard>Grass
Cuevas: Clay>Hard>Grass

Tsitsipas: Clay>Grass>Hard
Musetti: Clay>Grass>Hard
Altmair: Clay>Grass>Hard
Mayer: Clay>Grass>Hard

Blake: Hard>Grass>Clay
Evans: Hard>Grass>Clay
Shapovalov: Hard>Grass>Clay
Oconnell: Hard>Grass>Clay

Kovacevic: Hard>Clay>Grass



Usually hard is the middle ground, with Stefanos and Lorenzo having it as their worst surface. Obviously serve quality plays a big role, with Federer and Dimitrov doing best on grass. Stefanos surprises again, maybe driven by the forehand power.

Backhand slice strength varies a lot, from fantastic to terrible. Overall one-hander are either better on clay or on grass with hard being mostly in between.

P.S: Should I maybe open a poll?

 

[Aabye5]

I have a big Fedal bias and feel that the oney was especially vulnerable on clay. Did a quick glance at the respective total point won percentage:

Federer: Grass>Hard>Clay
Wawrinka: Clay>Hard>Grass
Thiem: Clay>Hard>Grass
Gasquets: Grass>Hard=Clay
Tsitsipas: Clay>Grass>Hard
Shapovalov: Hard>Grass>Clay
Musetti: Clay>Grass>Hard
Dimitrov: Grass>Hard>Clay
Evans: Hard>Grass>Clay
Lajovic: Clay>Hard>Grass

Usually hard is the middle ground, with Stefanos and Lorenzo having it as their worst surface. Obviously serve quality plays a big role, with Federer and Dimitrov doing best on grass. Stefanos surprises again, maybe driven by the forehand power.

Backhand slice strength varies a lot, from fantastic to terrible. Overall one-hander are either better on clay or on grass with hard being mostly in between.

P.S: Should I maybe open a poll?

James Blake stands out in my mind as a sharp contrast to this. Pretty great on hard, ok on grass, nothing much on clay.

Which leads me to believe this might be more of a...where did a player grow up? Europeans tend to play more on clay (typically). Yanks no longer seem to teach the one-hander. Then, Mr Kovacevic comes around to squash that theory.

 

[Rosstour]

James Blake stands out in my mind as a sharp contrast to this. Pretty great on hard, ok on grass, nothing much on clay.

Which leads me to believe this might be more of a...where did a player grow up? Europeans tend to play more on clay (typically). Yanks no longer seem to teach the one-hander. Then, Mr Kovacevic comes around to squash that theory.

Roberto Bautista Agut's best surface is hard. I think it's more complex than just where you grew up, there is a biomechanics angle too. Different body types excel at different motions and submotions.

 

[Rovesciarete]

James Blake stands out in my mind as a sharp contrast to this. Pretty great on hard, ok on grass, nothing much on clay.

Which leads me to believe this might be more of a...where did a player grow up? Europeans tend to play more on clay (typically). Yanks no longer seem to teach the one-hander. Then, Mr Kovacevic comes around to squash that theory.

Yeah was thinking about the NA/EU bias as well as I was researching. Ordered it now, you can see some clustering.

 

[Aabye5]

Roberto Bautista Agut's best surface is hard. I think it's more complex than just where you grew up, there is a biomechanics angle too. Different body types excel at different motions and submotions.

Yes, why is he so good on hard? [Not a one-hander obviously, but Sinner also breaks the mold]. Where are the journalists asking these types of questions?

 

[Rosstour]

Yes, why is he so good on hard? [Not a one-hander obviously, but Sinner also breaks the mold]. Where are the journalists asking these types of questions?

I'm not sure. But I think a lot of it has to do with movement style which goes back to biomechanics

 

[Rovesciarete]

Yes, why is he so good on hard? [Not a one-hander obviously, but Sinner also breaks the mold]. Where are the journalists asking these types of questions?

Among five one-handers having hard as their best surface four are from NA, one from Britain. Eubanks is the only NAmerican doing best on another surface - grass, due to his serve.

There is a clear big serve gradient as well...

 

[optic yellow]

I have a big Fedal bias and feel that the oney was especially vulnerable on clay. Did a quick glance at the respective total point won percentage:

Federer: Grass>Hard>Clay
Dimitrov: Grass>Hard>Clay
Eubanks: Grass>Hard>Clay
Gasquets: Grass>Hard=Clay

GMP: Grass>Clay>Hard

Wawrinka: Clay>Hard>Grass
Thiem: Clay>Hard>Grass
Lajovic: Clay>Hard>Grass

Tsitsipas: Clay>Grass>Hard
Musetti: Clay>Grass>Hard
Altmair: Clay>Grass>Hard
Cecchinato: Clay>Grass>Hard
Mayer: Clay>Grass>Hard

Blake: Hard>Grass>Clay
Evans: Hard>Grass>Clay
Shapovalov: Hard>Grass>Clay
Oconnell: Hard>Grass>Clay

Kovacevic: Hard>Clay>Grass
Kohlschreiber: Hard>Clay>Grass


Usually hard is the middle ground, with Stefanos and Lorenzo having it as their worst surface. Obviously serve quality plays a big role, with Federer and Dimitrov doing best on grass. Stefanos surprises again, maybe driven by the forehand power.

Backhand slice strength varies a lot, from fantastic to terrible. Overall one-hander are either better on clay or on grass with hard being mostly in between.

P.S: Should I maybe open a poll?

I mean I would say my understanding of good statistical practices says we probably omit Stefanos as a data point from the analysis.

 

[Aabye5]

I mean I would say my understanding of good statistical practices says we probably omit Stefanos as a data point from the analysis.

This is more a question of philosophy...

 

[Dane_is_Finnish_OJ]

I have a big Fedal bias and feel that the oney was especially vulnerable on clay. Did a quick glance at the respective total point won percentage:

Federer: Grass>Hard>Clay
Dimitrov: Grass>Hard>Clay
Eubanks: Grass>Hard>Clay
Karlovic: Grass>Hard>Clay
Copil: Grass>Hard>Clay
Lopez: Grass>Hard>Clay
Gasquets: Grass>Hard=Clay

GMP: Grass>Clay>Hard
Kohlschreiber: Grass=Clay>Hard

Wawrinka: Clay>Hard>Grass
Thiem: Clay>Hard>Grass
Lajovic: Clay>Hard>Grass
Cecchinato: Clay>Hard>Grass
Cuevas: Clay>Hard>Grass

Tsitsipas: Clay>Grass>Hard
Musetti: Clay>Grass>Hard
Altmair: Clay>Grass>Hard
Mayer: Clay>Grass>Hard

Blake: Hard>Grass>Clay
Evans: Hard>Grass>Clay
Shapovalov: Hard>Grass>Clay
Oconnell: Hard>Grass>Clay

Kovacevic: Hard>Clay>Grass



Usually hard is the middle ground, with Stefanos and Lorenzo having it as their worst surface. Obviously serve quality plays a big role, with Federer and Dimitrov doing best on grass. Stefanos surprises again, maybe driven by the forehand power.

Backhand slice strength varies a lot, from fantastic to terrible. Overall one-hander are either better on clay or on grass with hard being mostly in between.

P.S: Should I maybe open a poll?

Tsitsipas' backhand is useless on grass, has better results on hard.

 

[optic yellow]

This is more a question of philosophy...

 

[Rovesciarete]

Tsitsipas' backhand is useless on grass, has better results on hard.

He lacks mostly a great grass bh slice...

To be have a better grass record as a one-hander you need to have a big serve, a fine slice or both.

Strength on clay is less reliant on both, at the cost for guys like Federer.

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NAmericans are now a breed apart, so conditioned to play on hardcourt that they have neither the slice for grass nor the game for clay.