US Open 2013: Whipping up some numbers with the women

Serena Williams in action vs Victoria Azarenka during the US Open Women’s Final

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted, said the sagely Albert Einstein. He surely did not have sport in mind when he said that, but the great man’s thought is just as insightful an observation on sport as it might be for science.

In the second set of the final between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka, the 32 year old American was two games away from victory leading 4-1. Surprisingly the woman with the biggest serve in tennis failed to serve out for the championship, not once but two times – at 5-4 and 6-5.

The Belarusian gave expression to her intense desire for the title by mounting a stirring fight back to win five of seven games before snatching the tie-break to force the match into the third set. It is difficult to explain the resurgence of Azarenka just in numbers, but it is educating to note the statistics related to her returns and the plays at the net.

During that phase Azarenka won 7 of 8 forays to the net and also managed to win nine points off the Serena first serve and an equal number off the second serve. It was some of the best results Azarenka had during a valiant two hour 45 minute effort.

And while it was her spirit that helped her raise her level of play, the numbers do tell you a story – Azarenka managed to play a more attacking game – stepping inside to take the ball early, improving her returns well enough to give her an opportunity to plant her feet at the net and finish points.

But Serena soon found her range again to push her opponent back and wipe the court with her opponent to take the title. In this feature, we examine some key statistics from the US Open and narrate the story of the tournament through the medium of numbers.

Sometimes, especially with women, aces do take you places – Three of the four semi-finalists figure in the top 5 in terms of number of aces delivered during the fortnight. Of course the numbers are far lighter, compared to the men, but those 34 aces from Serena did weigh heavy on her vanquished opponents. So too with the Chinese star Li Na, who powered her way into the last four with 29 aces. Flavia Pennetta served only 16 aces in six matches, but that was enough to help the Italian round off the top five in the table.

Bring in the first serve and make it count – You are right to think that the women break serve with monotonous regularity. More than a third of all games played result in a broken serve, making it immensely important for players to ensure a point when they make the first serve. On average, the women bring 60% of their first serves into play.

Once again, Serena stands out with an impressive level of consistency on this count. The world No.1 won 44 of her 58 first serve points in the finals against Azarenka. In fact, the American was steady through the fortnight translating 79% of first serve points in her favour. Once again, underlining their skill with the serve, it was Pennetta (72%) and Li Na (70%) who were the only other women among the last eight to have kept it above 70.

Roberta Vinci and Ekaterina Makarova were nearly there managing 69% and 68% respectively, but Azarenka had to content herself with a 63% winning rate off her first serve points.