INSIGHTS: Playing Styles Explained

Peter Staples/ATP Tour

There are six commonly agreed-on playing styles:

The Big Server: A player with a fast first serve, who will often win points within their first two shots (e.g. aces, unreturned serves, serve + one winners).
Serve and Volleyer: A player who uses serve and volley as their primary tactic.
All-Court Player: A player who is comfortable in all areas of the court, and often utilises their ability at the net to their advantage.
Attacking Baseliner: A player who looks to dictate play from the baseline.
Solid Baseliner: A player who balances attacking and defending from the baseline.
Counter Puncher: A player who is comfortable playing in defence. They use this ability to frustrate their opponent or choose their moment to turn defence into attack.

Artificial intelligence analyses multiple data points to identify when a player uses a combination of styles. When a player has two dominant playing styles, they will be assigned a hybrid playing style. E.g. Daniil Medvedev: Big Server/Solid Baseliner.

To assign a playing style, artificial intelligence analyses multiple data points, including:

- The type of point the player is most commonly involved in (point profile). For example: how often do they come to net as opposed to staying at the baseline? How often do they win the point inside the first three shots?
- How the player typically finishes their points (point-ending profile). For example: percentage of winners, forcing errors, unforced errors.
- The percentage of shots the player hits in offence and defence.
- Speed of Serve.