Like to know what Serena Williams’ go-to serve is when she’s facing a break point? Or perhaps Maria Sharapova’s serve percentage when she’s leading 40-0?
If SAP and the WTA have their way, then soon players, coaches fans and the media will be able to access more-detailed statistical analysis of tennis matches than ever before.
Now working with the WTA, SAP is one of the world’s largest software vendors, providing businesses from all sectors with CRMs, database software and Cloud solutions.
But what SAP hopes to bring to the WTA is information – statistics that can be used by everyone from players to fans at home to develop a greater understanding of what is happening on court.
Using information gleaned from the umpires’ scoring PDAs to HawkEye technology on Stadium Courts around the world, SAP is able to provide players and coaches with a rich vein of information via its SAP HANA platform.
“We’re working with the WTA to get as much information as we can,” explained SAP Solution Architect Jenni Lewis.
This means it won’t just be the game’s top players who benefit from this data but also players just transitioning to the WTA Tour.
SAP will be recording statistics from all 54 tournaments held throughout the 2014 season – including at the Brisbane International where players have had access to this data all week – just as they did in 2013.
“[Using the umpires PDAs] we’re able to track every scoring point.
“The difference there is the pattern of play, what do they do on the 30-all point? How many times are they having to go with their second point on that serve?
“And that for the younger players, that’s what the coaches want to be able to prove to their younger players, it’s so important for you to win the first point and when you do your conversion rate [is higher].”
The information that can be provided on courts that have Hawkeye technology is even greater. Everything from where the ball was hit, the player’s position on court to the speed of the shot can be provided to either the coach or player.
“The ability to access tailored SAP data means I can now provide my player with a more scientific level of information on her game and that of her opponents. I see this new technology as a big step forward for the sport,” said Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ coach.
SAP currently provides similar data to golfers including Ernie Els, Gary Player and more. They also work with other sports including NBA, NFL and sailing.
“We’re delivering similar solutions but for very different reasons for tennis and the NBA,” said Lewis.
But the big question surrounding the development of this technology and the availability of the data is can it be used by coaches during matches?
For 2014 at least, the answer is “no”.
At present coaches can come on court during WTA events when requested by their players but they are not allowed to refer to the data that SAP is currently producing.
This may, however, change in the future, with discussions currently being held by the WTA regarding the use of this data during matches.
An app that SAP will release later this year for coaches means they will be armed with information that has never previously been available in real time.
And when players talk about making slight adjustments to their game to improve by one or two percent, an advantage such as this could mean the difference between winning or losing at the highest level.