Vera Zvonareva has confirmed her top #5 position in the WTA by beating Sania Mirza in the finals of the WTA PTT Pattaya Open 2009.

Vera Zvonareva beats Sania Mirza in the final of the PTT Pattaya 2009 Picture by CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP/Getty Images

I’ve analyzed the match in the same way as I did the Federer – Nadal final of Australian Open 2009.

The stats in the table below start at 2-1 in the first set because I saw the match on TV and didn’t catch the first three games. But the main story of the match can be clearly seen from the stats which are explained below the table. (more…)

I’ve attended the WTA Pattaya Open tennis tournament for the first time and watched quite a few matches during the week.

Checking the draw for the WTA PTT Pattaya Open 2009

Here’s a short analysis of each player that I watched so you can compare it with what you see when you watch a match and perhaps expand your knowledge of tennis and ways to analyze a player.

Let’s start with the Thailand #1, Tamarine Tanasugarn… (WTA rankings are from 9. February 2009) (more…)

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer played another epic final in the Australian Open 2009 and Nadal once again proved too tough for Federer.

Rafa won 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 and denied Roger’s 14th Grand Slam title which would tie Roger with Pete Sampras’s record.

Picture courtesy of Getty Images

While the official stats of the match do explain what happened in the match, they lack a few important stats. The first and the most important are the shots that force a mistake.

The official statistics shows only winners (shots where the opponent did not touch the ball or barely touched it) and unforced errors. (shots where the player was in a comfortable position and still made a mistake)

A shot that forces an error is a very good shot from the opponent that’s not really an outright winner but still forces the opponent into a mistake. (more…)