Okay, so I’ve been wanting to really dig into some tennis match data, and I finally got around to it today. I picked the Coco Gauff vs. Ajla Tomljanovic match because, well, I’m a big Coco fan, and I wanted to see how she stacked up against Tomljanovic.
First, I needed to find a place to actually watch the match. Spent a good chunk of time just searching around for a reliable stream or replay. Finally found one, which was a relief!
Then I started watching, and man, it was a battle. I grabbed my notebook and started jotting down notes. I wasn’t about to do any super complicated analysis, just wanted to track some basic stuff.
My Simple Tracking System
- First Serve Percentage: I just made a little tally mark for every first serve that landed in. Old school, pen and paper.
- Winners: Whenever one of them hit a clean winner, I’d mark it down. Wanted to see who was being more aggressive.
- Unforced Errors: Basically, the opposite of winners. I marked down every time someone made a mistake that wasn’t forced by their opponent.
- Key Points: Whenever I felt like there was a REALLY important point (like break point or game point), I’d circle it in my notes.
So I watched the whole match, meticulously making my little marks. It took a while, and I definitely had to rewind a few times to make sure I didn’t miss anything. My handwriting is a mess, but hey, it’s my system!
After the match was over, I went back through my notes. I counted up all the tallies and started to get a feel for the flow of the match. It wasn’t just about the final score; I could see how many unforced errors Coco made in the second set, or how Ajla really upped her first serve percentage in the third.
It’s not like I’m some pro analyst now, but it was cool to see the match in a different way. Just by tracking a few simple things, I felt way more engaged and understood the ups and downs a lot better. Definitely doing this again for the next big match!
