{"id":947,"date":"2012-10-23T11:31:02","date_gmt":"2012-10-23T15:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heavytopspin.com\/?p=947"},"modified":"2012-10-23T11:31:02","modified_gmt":"2012-10-23T15:31:02","slug":"daniel-brands-and-ace-records-in-context","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/23\/daniel-brands-and-ace-records-in-context\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Brands and Ace Records in Context"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Vienna round of 16<\/a> last week, Juan Martin Del Potro<\/a> beat Daniel Brands<\/a> in a three-set, three-tiebreak match. \u00a0The courts are fast, Delpo serves big, and apparently Brands has quite the weapon of his own, as both players hit at least 30 aces. \u00a0Brands hit 32.<\/p>\n

We can’t help but be impressed at the sheer numbers. \u00a0As it turns out, it’s an ATP first, at least since 1991, when the ATP started keeping such stats. \u00a0Never before had both players hit at least 30 aces in a three-set match.<\/p>\n

Here are the top nine matches in the ATP record books, in which both servers reached a certain ace milestone:<\/p>\n

minAces  Winner                 Loser              Year  Event               Surface  Score                 wAces  lAces  \n30       Juan Martin Del Potro  Daniel Brands      2012  Vienna              Hard     6-7(5) 7-6(4) 7-6(6)     30     32  \n29       John Isner             Gilles Muller      2010  Atlanta             Hard     4-6 7-6(6) 7-6(7)        33     29  \n28       Andrei Pavel           Gregory Carraz     2005  Milan               Carpet   7-6(0) 6-7(5) 7-6(3)     28     33  \n25       Greg Rusedski          Joachim Johansson  2004  Moscow              Carpet   7-6(5) 6-7(1) 7-6(7)     25     26  \n25       Arnaud Clement         Thomas Johansson   2008  Cincinnati Masters  Hard     7-6(4) 6-7(5) 6-3        25     28  \n24       Mark Philippoussis     Greg Rusedski      2002  Queen's Club        Grass    6-7(1) 7-6(3) 7-6(5)     25     24  \n24       Joachim Johansson      Kristof Vliegen    2006  Stockholm           Hard     6-7(5) 7-6(5) 7-6(7)     24     24  \n24       Andy Roddick           Ivo Karlovic       2009  Queen's Club        Grass    7-6(4) 7-6(5)            24     26  \n24       Richard Gasquet        Joachim Johansson  2009  Kuala Lumpur        Hard     4-6 7-6(1) 6-2           26     24<\/pre>\n
(There are several matches in which both players hit 23, including two on clay, both from 2011: Isner\/Karlovic in Houston, and Federer\/Feliciano Lopez<\/a> in Madrid. \u00a0Both went to three tiebreaks.)<\/p>\n
Aces in a losing effort<\/strong><\/p>\n
Even independent of Del Potro’s 30 aces, it stands out that Brands racked up 32 aces in a best-of-three losing effort. \u00a0But that’s not a record–it ties him for 16th of all time with several others, including Sam Querrey<\/a>, Milos Raonic<\/a>, Ivo Karlovic<\/a>, and Goran Ivanisevic<\/a>, who did it twice.<\/p>\n
Mardy Fish<\/a> may not be proud of this record, but he simply blows away the rest of the field, having served past the eminently ace-able<\/a> Olivier Rochus<\/a> 43 times despite losing to the Belgian. \u00a0Though Karlovic may not sit atop the list, he makes up for it by dominating the middle.<\/p>\n
lAces  Winner              Loser             Year  Event             Surface  Score                  wAces  \n43     Olivier Rochus      Mardy Fish        2007  Lyon              Carpet   6-7(5) 7-6(6) 7-6(15)      2  \n37     Yevgeny Kafelnikov  Alexander Waske   2002  Tashkent          Hard     6-7(6) 7-6(5) 7-6(6)      10  \n35     Pete Sampras        Goran Ivanisevic  1996  Tour Finals       Carpet   6-7(6) 7-6(4) 7-5         17  \n35     Andy Roddick        Feliciano Lopez   2011  Queen's Club      Grass    7-6(2) 6-7(5) 6-4         15  \n35     Feliciano Lopez     Ivo Karlovic      2004  Madrid Masters    Hard     6-4 6-7(10) 7-6(5)         8  \n35     Yen Hsun Lu         Ivo Karlovic      2012  Queen's Club      Grass    6-7(3) 7-6(6) 7-6(7)       6  \n35     Rafael Nadal        Ivo Karlovic      2008  Queen's Club      Grass    6-7(5) 7-6(5) 7-6(4)       6  \n35     Arnaud Clement      Ivo Karlovic      2004  's-Hertogenbosch  Grass    7-6(8) 6-7(5) 6-3          2  \n34     Thomas Johansson    Ivan Ljubicic     2002  Canada Masters    Hard     4-6 6-4 7-6(6)            17  \n34     Lars Burgsmuller    Wayne Arthurs     2006  Tokyo             Hard     6-7(5) 7-6(7) 7-6(3)      10  \n34     Richey Reneberg     Richard Krajicek  1997  Halle             Grass    4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(6)          6<\/pre>\n
Total aces in a single match<\/strong><\/p>\n
If there has never been a match in which both players hit 30 aces, a match total of 62 aces must be pretty impressive, right?<\/p>\n
Indeed it is. \u00a0Del Potro and Brands are now tied for the record, initially set by John Isner<\/a> and Gilles Muller<\/a> two years ago in Atlanta. \u00a0It’s only the fourth time that two players have combined for 60 or more aces in a best-of-three contest.<\/p>\n
totAces  Winner                 Loser             Year  Event               Surface  Score                 wAces  lAces  \n62       Juan Martin Del Potro  Daniel Brands     2012  Vienna              Hard     6-7(5) 7-6(4) 7-6(6)     30     32  \n62       John Isner             Gilles Muller     2010  Atlanta             Hard     4-6 7-6(6) 7-6(7)        33     29  \n61       Andrei Pavel           Gregory Carraz    2005  Milan               Carpet   7-6(0) 6-7(5) 7-6(3)     28     33  \n60       Goran Ivanisevic       Magnus Norman     1997  Zagreb              Carpet   7-6(5) 6-7(4) 7-5        40     20  \n58       Frank Dancevic         Peter Wessels     2007  Stockholm           Hard     6-1 6-7(7) 7-6(6)        35     23  \n55       Jan Michael Gambill    Wayne Arthurs     2002  San Jose            Hard     7-5 6-7(5) 7-6(4)        22     33  \n55       Bohdan Ulihrach        Goran Ivanisevic  1999  Rotterdam           Carpet   6-7(6) 7-6(3) 7-5        23     32  \n53       Andy Roddick           Wayne Arthurs     2006  Memphis             Hard     6-7(4) 7-6(9) 7-6(2)     20     33  \n53       Andy Roddick           Sam Querrey       2010  San Jose            Hard     2-6 7-6(5) 7-6(4)        21     32  \n53       Arnaud Clement         Thomas Johansson  2008  Cincinnati Masters  Hard     7-6(4) 6-7(5) 6-3        25     28  \n53       Joachim Johansson      Gregory Carraz    2004  Canada Masters      Hard     7-6(4) 6-7(3) 7-6(4)     30     23<\/pre>\n
The higher bar of ace rate<\/strong><\/p>\n
If you want to set a record in a best-of-three-sets match, getting to those three tiebreaks is a good idea. \u00a0The more points you play, the more likely you’ll hit more aces, as evidenced by Fish’s losing performance, where he not only reached three tiebreaks, but played at least twelve points in each one!<\/p>\n
For greater context, we should open up the field to all matches regardless of length, and compare them by ace\u00a0rate.<\/em><\/p>\n
Del Potro’s 30 aces came in 125 service points, for an ace rate of 24%. \u00a0Brands hit 32 in 131, for an ace ate of 24.4%. \u00a0It’s not often that one player (not named Isner, anyway) hits nearly one-quarter of his serves for aces, so it is particularly unusual for both players to do so.<\/p>\n
In all tour-level matches (including grand slams) since 1991, a minimum ace rate of 24.0% is only good for 17th. \u00a0Andy Roddick<\/a> was particularly adept at bringing about these kinds of matches, appearing in 6 of the top 11 on this list:<\/p>\n
minA%  Winner            Loser              Year  Event            Surface  Score                wA%    lA%  \n33.3%  Andy Roddick      Ivo Karlovic       2009  Queen's Club     Grass    7-6(4) 7-6(5)      33.3%  35.1%  \n29.8%  Mikhail Youzhny   Ivan Ljubicic      2007  Rotterdam        Hard     6-2 6-4            29.8%  29.8%  \n29.2%  Gregory Carraz    Martin Verkerk     2004  Milan            Carpet   6-3 7-6(3)         30.4%  29.2%  \n27.3%  Goran Ivanisevic  Boris Becker       1996  Antwerp          Carpet   6-4 7-6(5)         30.8%  27.3%  \n27.1%  John Isner        Gilles Muller      2010  Atlanta          Hard     4-6 7-6(6) 7-6(7)  27.5%  27.1%  \n27.0%  Robin Soderling   Andy Roddick       2008  Lyon             Carpet   7-6(5) 7-6(5)      27.0%  27.2%  \n26.7%  Janko Tipsarevic  Peter Luczak       2010  s-Hertogenbosch  Grass    6-3 6-3            26.7%  27.1%  \n26.1%  Andy Roddick      Gilles Muller      2008  Memphis          Hard     6-4 7-6(4)         27.4%  26.1%  \n25.4%  Andy Roddick      Joachim Johansson  2004  San Jose         Hard     6-3 7-6(7)         36.5%  25.4%  \n25.4%  Andy Roddick      Nicolas Mahut      2008  Lyon             Carpet   7-6(5) 6-4         29.0%  25.4%  \n25.3%  Andy Roddick      Feliciano Lopez    2008  Dubai            Hard     6-7(8) 6-4 6-2     26.2%  25.3%<\/pre>\n
Ace rate in a losing effort<\/strong><\/p>\n
While losers rarely hit as many aces as Brands did last week, losers often hit aces at a much higher rate. \u00a0Brands doesn’t register anywhere near the top of this all-time list.<\/p>\n
Think of it this way: The shorter the match, the more likely a player will do something off-the-charts, rate-wise. \u00a0Karlovic tops this list, with 28 aces in his 70 service points. \u00a0Brands didn’t maintain anywhere near the same rate that Ivo did, but Brands did have to hit nearly twice as many serves! \u00a0Had Karlovic continued for 61 more serves, he probably would’ve done better than 24.4%, but it is very unlikely he would have continued at a 4-in-10 pace.<\/p>\n
This is also a reason why we haven’t seen many best-of-five matches on the ace-rate leaderboards. \u00a0Even if one player is acing like a madman while quickly losing, he still has to keep up the pace for three sets.<\/p>\n
lA%    Winner              Loser               Year  Event               Surface  Score                     lAces  \n40.0%  Florent Serra       Ivo Karlovic        2009  Basel               Hard     7-6(5) 6-4                   28  \n37.5%  Alex Obrien         Mark Philippoussis  1996  Cincinnati Masters  Hard     6-4 6-4                      21  \n36.6%  Thomas Johansson    Ivan Ljubicic       2002  Canada Masters      Hard     4-6 6-4 7-6(6)               34  \n35.8%  Richey Reneberg     Richard Krajicek    1997  Halle               Grass    4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(6)            34  \n35.1%  Andy Roddick        Ivo Karlovic        2009  Queen's Club        Grass    7-6(4) 7-6(5)                26  \n34.8%  Paul Henri Mathieu  Ivo Karlovic        2009  Cincinnati Masters  Hard     7-6(9) 6-4                   23  \n34.8%  Paul Henri Mathieu  Chris Guccione      2008  Adelaide            Hard     4-6 6-3 6-4                  24  \n34.2%  Andre Agassi        Joachim Johansson   2005  Australian Open     Hard     6-7(4) 7-6(5) 7-6(3) 6-4     51  \n33.8%  Jonas Bjorkman      Mark Philippoussis  2002  Memphis             Hard     7-6(6) 7-6(1)                26  \n33.3%  Thomas Johansson    Wayne Arthurs       2001  Nottingham          Grass    7-6(3) 7-6(3)                24  \n33.3%  Yevgeny Kafelnikov  Marc Rosset         2002  Marseille           Hard     6-3 7-6(5)                   19  \n33.3%  Andre Agassi        Goran Ivanisevic    1994  Vienna              Carpet   6-4 6-4                      19<\/pre>\n
Combined ace rate<\/strong><\/p>\n
As you might have guessed by now, 24% isn’t going to be good enough to crack this final all-time list. \u00a0Roddick, Karlovic, and Mark Philippousis simply played too many matches to allow that to happen.<\/p>\n
Indeed, the Brands\/Del Potro combined rate of 24.2% isn’t even close to the top of this list. \u00a0To show up here, it’s necessary to come within an ace or two of the 30% mark. \u00a0With Andy’s retirement and Ivo’s decline, this leaderboard looks particularly safe at the moment.<\/p>\n
totA%  Winner              Loser              Year  Event                 Surface  Score          totAces    wA%    lA%  \n34.2%  Andy Roddick        Ivo Karlovic       2009  Queen's Club          Grass    7-6(4) 7-6(5)       50  33.3%  35.1%  \n31.6%  Andy Roddick        Thomas Johansson   2004  Bangkok               Hard     6-3 6-4             31  38.2%  23.3%  \n31.6%  Andy Roddick        Joachim Johansson  2004  San Jose              Hard     6-3 7-6(7)          42  36.5%  25.4%  \n31.6%  Martin Verkerk      Thomas Enqvist     2003  Milan                 Carpet   6-3 6-4             30  46.0%  15.6%  \n30.6%  Robin Soderling     Gregory Carraz     2004  Marseille             Hard     6-3 6-4             30  42.6%  19.6%  \n30.4%  Jonathan Stark      Goran Ivanisevic   1997  Indian Wells Masters  Hard     7-5 6-3             34  37.7%  23.7%  \n29.9%  Mark Philippoussis  Lionel Roux        1996  Paris Masters         Carpet   6-4 6-4             35  49.1%  11.7%  \n29.8%  Mikhail Youzhny     Ivan Ljubicic      2007  Rotterdam             Hard     6-2 6-4             28  29.8%  29.8%  \n29.8%  Gregory Carraz      Martin Verkerk     2004  Milan                 Carpet   6-3 7-6(3)          36  30.4%  29.2%  \n29.0%  Jonathan Stark      Thomas Enqvist     1993  Halle                 Grass    6-4 6-2             27  37.8%  20.8%  \n29.0%  Goran Ivanisevic    Boris Becker       1996  Antwerp               Carpet   6-4 7-6(5)          38  30.8%  27.3%<\/pre>\n
Andy, we’re missing you already.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the Vienna round of 16 last week, Juan Martin Del Potro beat Daniel Brands in a three-set, three-tiebreak match. \u00a0The courts are fast, Delpo serves big, and apparently Brands has quite the weapon of his own, as both players hit at least 30 aces. \u00a0Brands hit 32. We can’t help but be impressed at … Continue reading Daniel Brands and Ace Records in Context<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-records","category-toy-stats"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}