Male and female players have a different quality of service. For example, men can reach a higher service speed, or use more ball spin. Tennis service has also a different efficiency on different surfaces. Every surface has specific characteristics and has different effects on ball impact and ball bounce. The aim of our study was to compare the amount of service points won between male and female players in men's and women's doubles at ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and WTA (Women Tennis Association) tournaments on three different surfaces. We observed a total of 303 matches. Matches were played on clay, hard and grass courts. With the help of match records, we found that men won around 10% service points more than women. Results indicate that women's doubles matches show greater differences in performance between opponents. Men also need to win more service points than women, to win a match. Fast surfaces provide a greater advantage for serving teams, both for men and women. The lowest serve efficiency was reached on clay (slow surface) both in the men's and women's doubles.

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Kinematic and contextual information is important for players as they can use these for anticipation and facilitating motor responses. The interaction of the use of this information with an understanding of how the mind works in elite players is crucial but difficult to obtain by empirical research methods. The aim was to: (i) explore and identify anticipatory information sources among professional tennis players, (ii) verify findings of Vernon et al. 1 and elaborate on these findings based upon the perspective of European players and coaches. We interviewed 9 active or former professional players (current coaches) for 30–60 min each, replicating the same methodology and questions as Vernon. 1 An open-coding analysis approach was used, with codes to identify common themes extracted from the transcribed interviews. Our findings were generally in support of Vernon's findings, verifying the importance of ball toss kinematics, contextual information sources such as the score or weather, as well as the importance of constantly updating the available kinematic and contextual information sources throughout the match. We elaborate on these findings by providing more detail regarding Vernon's findings, and add new sources of information mentioned by the interviewed players such as server's rear foot position and server's gaze. Participants shared information about their returning strategies, how they build pressure on the server, and their own service return practice, noting that this is not practiced as much as they would like it to be. Overall, focus on developing and improving visual anticipation skill is limited, even at this level of expertise.

There are several tactical variants that can be used by the serving and receiving teams before the serve is struck in tennis doubles. The goal is to analyse the frequency and efficiency of the tactical variants of the serving and receiving teams in doubles at the elite level. We analysed 1067 points in 18 doubles matches in professional men's top-level tennis tournaments. Next to the Classical formation, the I-formation was used in 46 % of points when players hit the first serve and in 41 % of cases when the point started with the second serve. Both formations had very equal efficiency, both after the first and second serve. The receiving team preferred a formation where both players were positioned at the baseline (53 %) when returning the first serve, but only in 18 % of points when they faced the second serve. The results summarize strategies and specific tactical variants in current game performance of male doubles at the top tennis level and the results can help to set a default set-up of training volumes of these game situations. The coaches can use the information and adjust the practice sessions according to the tactical demands of professional tennis.

Tennis players hit the ball very fast and the incoming ball from the opponent travels very quickly. The player has only a limited time to reach the ball, to take the position and to execute the stoke. The aim is to compare the rally pace and selected match characteristics at the US Open between the early stage (1 st -4 th round) and the final stage (quarterfinal -final). We observed the rally length, point duration, but mainly the rally pace i.e. the ball travel time between the players in the rally. We analysed 220 points in 11 matches. The results showed that the rally pace in women's matches ranged between 1,37 -1,57 s. No significant difference was found between the early stage 1,48 ± 0,07 s and the final stage 1,50 ± 0,06. However, the results contributed to the understanding of the rally pace. The study introduced a new approach of measuring the rally pace and provided data for coaching practice.