Federer's ridiculous first serve stat

[saevel25]

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/when-federer-wins-the-first-point-on-serve-its-usually-game-over/

Anything done at a high percentage is impressive at the highest level of any sport. The best hitters in baseball fail more times then they succeed.

When Federer gets 15-0 in a game, he is nearly unbeatable for that game.

Quote

"When Federer wins the opening point of his service game, that pretty much means it’s already over. In his matches this year up to the start of Wimbledon, Federer won the first point in 278 games while serving, according to data from ATP. And in those matches where he served and scored first, he went on to win the game an overwhelming 270 times. That’s a success rate of 97.1 percent. Through the first three rounds of this year’s Wimbledon, the 36-year-old Federer did even better, winning 100 percent of the 33 games in which he served and won the first point."

When you consider the next best two on this list are tennis players known for having high end power. Federer uses precision versus power, making this stat more impressive. In this years Wimbledon, Federer is ranked 39th in serve speed.

Maybe some other absurd stats,

Quote

"But if an ambitious opponent looking to break Federer does lose the first point, that opponent better make sure he wins the next point or he’ll be left with only the barest sliver of hope. When Federer has won the first two points on his serve this year, up to Wimbledon, he went on to win the game 99.5 percent of the time.

So what happened when he won the first three points? Federer went up 40-0 while serving 151 times, and he won every one of those games."

 

Edited July 10, 2018 by saevel25

[lungbuster]

The fact that 10 years ago, Nadal and Federer were 1/2 and this year the rankings are just reversed, is what the craziest stat is to me.  The level of success from those two for such a long career is incredible.

[nevets88]

I love watching Federer play. He doesn't have the most pace, but it's up there, especially for the grace with which he goes about the court, it's artistry, beautiful to watch, doesn't look like he's working that hard, kind of like Ernie Els' swing.

[rehmwa]

Frankly, earlier today we were looking at the FIFA cup to be England vs France.  And then Feds is out of Wimbleton and Rafa was a set down.

What's wrong with the world of sports?

[Golfingdad]

I dunno, I'm not terribly impressed with that particular stat and I'm not actually even sure why they thought it warranted an article.  Even when you factor in the games where he doesn't win the first point of the game on his serve, he's still winning north of 9 out of 10 games.  And considering a game is only to 4 points ...