Entering tennis men’s Grand Slams within the top-10 and its relationship with the fact of winning the tournament

  1. Jaime Prieto-Bermejo 1
  2. Miguel Ángel Gómez-Ruano 2
  1. 1 Universidad Complutense de Madrid
    info

    Universidad Complutense de Madrid

    Madrid, España

    ROR 02p0gd045

  2. 2 Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
    info

    Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

    Madrid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/03n6nwv02

Journal:
RICYDE. Revista Internacional de Ciencias del Deporte

ISSN: 1885-3137

Year of publication: 2016

Volume: 12

Issue: 46

Pages: 410-422

Type: Article

DOI: 10.5232/RICYDE2016.04605 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: RICYDE. Revista Internacional de Ciencias del Deporte

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyse the relationship between entering tennis men’s singles Grand Slams within the top-10 ranking (i.e. title favourites) and the fact of winning the tournament. In order to differentiate between these players in a more powerful way than just considering the ranking number, a cluster algorithm was used to classify the players into two groups depending on their number of ranking points (i.e. higher level top-10 players vs. lower level top-10 players). The possible winners entering the tournament outside the top-10 (if any) were also considered. The sample comprised all the 92 men’s singles Grand Slams played between 1990 and 2012. As was expected, the majority of Grand Slams were won by players entering the tournament ranked in the top-10. However, the main result is contrary to the hypothesis that there would be significant differences in the number of titles won in favour of the players entering the tournament from the higher positions of the top-10 when comparing to those won by the players entering from the lower positions of the top-10. Several factors that may influence whether and to what extent a player is more or less favourite to win a Grand Slam title are presented in the discussion.

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