Important factors when looking at tennis

[beng986]

Looking at tennis what are important factors to consider?

I've always looked at ability on the surface over form, also taking into consideration head to head. What does everyone else use?

[betking]

In no particular order -

Recent form
Head to head record
Performance on surface
Past performaces at the event
Past performaces at event stage (IE - Grand Slam Final)
Has the player recently returned from injury/illness
Both player's mental strength (IE - Strong & confident vs choker)
Which player "wants it more"
How the particular court is playing - can be be variation between hard courts for example

Possibly a couple more Im missing off the top of my head

[whit]

Where are those stats available bet king?

[betking]

Recent form, H2H, Surface, injury/illness return can be found here - http://tennis.matchstat.com/player_stats.phtml

Past performaces at the event can be found on the event's website

Past performances at event stage - Mostly use wiki for this actually

Mental strength - Is really a case of experience remembering situations.

Which player wants it more - Again is "experience/opinion" really

[whit]

Cheers mate

[the nameless one]

The match-up is usually one of the most important factors if both players are in their normal form.
How each player's style of play matches with the other's, certain styles are more favourable for another style to play against, while other types of players can be very tricky for a particular style etc. In a close match that will usually be the difference, as tennis matches usually aren't decided by much. Of course the past H2H record can sometimes be an indication of whether or not a player struggles with another player's game, but if you're looking at a match where two players have never played, thinking about each player's game matches up to one another is important.
It's also a good idea to make notes when you watch tennis about what style of player whoever you are watching is, very useful for future reference.

[johno]

Always good to make notes on the players who are typical slow starters and can be taken up with confidence for in-running selections. A number of the wta players are more prone to this.

GL
_________________
OLBG Member: 189

[welshie1]

any chance of making this a sticky?

I need help with Tennis always seem to do rubbish with it, this guide might help me out

[betking]

Added another one to my list above, which is How the particular court is playing - can be be big variation between hard courts for example, which can make a big difference to outcomes.

[penypicker]

Also who it is, i.e. Davydenko=Be wary ...