Economist: Novak Djokovic wins the most thrilling men’s tennis match ever

My latest article at The Economist’s Game Theory blog delves into one way in which the Wimbledon men’s championship match was the most exciting major final of the last four decades:

Sunday’s final registered an [Excitement Index] of 7.5%. Not only was that the highest of the tournament, but it tops every men’s grand-slam final of the last four decades (see chart). (A handful of women’s finals, which are best of three sets, score higher, because the high-leverage deciding set accounts for a larger fraction of the match.) The Wimbledon decider in 1980 between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg—thrilling enough to spawn films and re-enactments—is next, at 7%. Another clash often dubbed the most thrilling of all time, the Wimbledon final in 2008 between Mr Federer and Mr Nadal, ranks third, at 6.9%.

Read the whole thing.

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