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I am looking to keep stats for upcoming tennis tournament and I am wondering what would I have to track play by play to get good match statistics.

For example should I track every shot in the rally or maybe note down just where serve landed and where it was returned and at the end of the play note if it was winner, forced error or unforced error.

For example http://tennisabstract.com/ tracks every shot with additional modifiers like slice, drop-shot etc, along with other data. This is too much data for one person to track during a live match...so I am looking for most important metrics that would yield good match stats but would be feasible for a single person to manage during a match.

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The most important stats to track are serves, returns, break points and double faults. Depending on how far you want to go you can go into more or less details:

Serves:

  • Aces
  • 1st serve (succeeded + points won / percentage)
  • 2nd serve (dito)
  • service points won in total / percentage

Same for Returns:

  • 1st serve returns won
  • 2nd serve returns won
  • return points won in total

Break points:

  • break points won
  • break points saved

Double Faults are easy to track as well:

  • total
  • percentage
  • per set

Other stats that might be handy:

  • total games played / won (percentage)
  • total points won

Those stats should be easy to track by one person.. Watch the service, wait for the outcome, write it down, repeat. After the match you can do the math (e.g. calculate the serve and return ratings) and go on with the next one.

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    This seems pretty comprehensive, and easy. If we look at this site: atpworldtour.com/en/scores/2018/717/MS004/match-stats , we can see an example of which statistics are important to keep for a match. You covered all of them, except for Serve and Return rating. However, those can be calculated after the fact. Serve Rating is (1st Serve %)+(1st Serve Pts Won %)+(2nd Serve Pts Won %)+(% Service Games Won)+(Aces)-(Double Faults). Return Rating is the same but for returns, and doesn't include aces or double faults.
    – Pawr
    Apr 23, 2018 at 19:47
  • @Pawr yes, the ratings should be calculated after the match or between the sets. When collecting live stats doing the math during the match is too much work for one person and you could miss something important.
    – dly
    Apr 23, 2018 at 20:43
  • There's of course the development of an app or spreadsheet that does the calculation live, with varying degrees of protection from user error.
    – Nij ♦
    Apr 23, 2018 at 20:59
  • For a detailed statistics is it important for instance to track where each server landed (down the middle, wide or T) and where subsequent return(s) landed - are they closer to the line, middle or closer to the net...
    – Ladislav
    Apr 24, 2018 at 7:20

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