The relative age effect in top 100 elite female tennis players in 2007–2016

Abstract

The Relative Age Effect (RAE) has been the subject of many studies, but few have focused on professional athletes in individual sports. The aim of this study was to verify the existence of the RAE among elite senior female tennis players (top 100 players) in the WTA Rankings (n = 1000) in the years 2007–2016. The analysis was performed among top 100, resp. top 10 female tennis players, among players in 4 age subgroups and among left-handed (LH) and right-handed (RH) players. The existence of the RAE was assessed with the use of chi-square test (goodness of fit). More than half of top 100 players were born in first semester: both in individual years (53.0–63.0%) and in the whole observed period (58.4%). Significant RAE (ES medium) was observed in top 100 female players only in 2012 and 2016; significant RAE (ES small) was detected in the period of 2007–2016. Among the top 10 players, significant RAE (ES medium) was demonstrated during the whole period. No significant RAE (ES medium) was detected in the 17–18y subgroups, significant in 19–24y and 25–30y (ES small) as well as in 31–36y (ES medium). Although significant RAE was observed in the subgroups of LH and RH female players, ES was large only in the LH. The results contribute to the expansion of the knowledge about the reduction of the RAE existence in adulthood among coaches, athletes and tennis officials.

The relative age effect and its influence on athletic performance in Chinese junior female’ tennis players

“…We compared and analyzed the birth dates of athletes with various levels of achievement within the same age categories and investigated the impact of birth dates on athletic performance. The RAE was found to be present in all groups of Chinese junior female tennis players, and the observations were consistent with those found in some other female sports [50,51] and in tennis [11,[35][36][37][38]. Our study identified the presence of the RAE for the first time in Chinese junior female tennis, providing a foundation for further research on RAE mitigation programs and other studies in Chinese youth sports.…”

“…The earliest research report on the RAE was in the field of education [ 3 ], while in the field of sports, Grondin et al [ 4 ] first observed the RAE in hockey, and Barnsley et al [ 2 ] discovered an RAE in sports during the same period. The RAE has been repeatedly discovered in sports over the past 10 years of research, including in basketball [ 5 , 6 ], soccer [ 1 , 7 , 8 ], volleyball [ 9 , 10 ], and tennis [ 11 ]. Moreover, reports on the impact of the RAE have been published with regard to sports [ 2 , 12 , 13 ], education systems [ 14 – 16 ], specific medical diagnoses [ 17 , 18 ], and cognitive tasks [ 19 ].…”

“…Players in the same age group may range in actual age by up to 24 months because junior tennis divisions are divided into two-year age groups, which exacerbates the degree to which the RAE occurs in tennis. In a study of top tennis players, it was found that more than half of the top 100 players were born in the first semester, both in terms of individual years (53.0–63.0%) and the entire observed period (58.4%) [ 11 ]. In several other studies in tennis, the RAE was found to be present in adolescent male tennis players (U14 and U16) [ 35 ], adolescent female tennis players (15–18 years old) [ 36 ], and athletes born in 1995–2000 [ 37 ].…”

The relative age effect among Chinese junior men’s tennis players and its impact on sports performance

“…Agricola et al [ 44 ] found a clear predominance of athletes born in the first half of the year among athletes at the 2007–2011 World Junior Tennis Championships. This dominance extended from junior tennis players to high-level professional athletes, and the presence of the RAE was also still found in both the top 10 WTA ranked athletes [ 54 ] and the top ATP ranked athletes [ 42 ]. The above results suggest that younger players with tremendous potential are consequently less likely to be selected for elite teams [ 47 ] and more likely to withdraw [ 16 ].…”

Relative age effect in young competitive tennis players

“…Then, the ranked players (N = 3.463) were classified based on their 2021 year-end ranking according to each age group from 10-to 17-years-old. After allocation, the subjects were divided into two groups, boys and girls, and each gender group was assigned to one of the four quartiles according to the month of birth: a) Quartile (Zháněl, Válek, Bozděch, & Agricola, 2022). The birth data of the general population was collected from the General Directorate of Civil Registration and Citizenship Affairs.…”