Tactical Analyses in Professional Tennis

The aim of the study. To systematize factual data on the formation and development of the competition system components in professional tennis before the beginning of the "tennis open era". Material and methods. Facts from the history of the formation of systematicity in professional tennis competitions and the formation of key competitions in the period up to 1968 was the main material of the research. The results. The era of modern tennis begins in the second half of the 19th century. It was found that the game began to be commercialized already in 1894, and this process began with the sale of tennis training equipment and textbooks. The first competitions, which were open to everyone, including professional tennis players, were held in Great Britain (Wimbledon tournament, 1875), but they cannot be called professional, since in British society attention was focused on the development and popularization of amateur sports. Summarizing the facts made it possible to find out that tennis began to develop as a professional sport in the United States, where were favorable economic and geopolitical conditions for this. Here, in 1926, the promoter K. Pyle held exhibition tours exclusively for professional tennis players with whom he concluded contracts. It was found that in the late 20s – early 30s of the XX century, three professional tennis majors of those times were created – U.S. Professional Championship, Wembley Professional Championships and French Pro Championship. These competitions actually set the pace for the development of the direction. It is established that characteristic for that time was a constant change in the number of participants, the format of holding and the surface of the tournament courts. The key barrier (separation between amateur and professional tennis) was overcome in 1968. In addition, the experience gained in the past in organizing professional tennis tournaments gradually received a new level of adaptation in the “Open Era tennis”. However, the period until the 1980s remained difficult to determine a unified attitude of the leading tennis organizations in the world to the process of its further professionalization. Conclusions. Tennis as a type of professional sport began to form in the US at the end of the 19th century and immediately developed dynamically, at the same time separated from the amateur (until 1968). The main tournaments (majors) of that time were the U.S. Professional Championship, Wembley Professional Championships and French Pro Championship, However, others tournaments developed too and they were even a priority for many leading professional tennis players periodically. The competition system was not stable, competition formats often changed, but professional tennis gained popularity and increasingly became a source of income for the athletes themselves and entire organizations.

Background: Isolated infraspinatus muscle atrophy is common in overhead athletes, who place significant and repetitive stresses across their dominant shoulders. Studies on volleyball and baseball players report infraspinatus atrophy in 4% to 34% of players; however, the prevalence of infraspinatus atrophy in professional tennis players has not been reported. Purpose: To investigate the incidence of isolated infraspinatus atrophy in professional tennis players and to identify any correlations with other physical examination findings, ranking performance, and concurrent shoulder injuries. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A total of 125 professional female tennis players underwent a comprehensive preparticipation physical health status examination. Two orthopaedic surgeons examined the shoulders of all players and obtained digital goniometric measurements of range of motion (ROM). Infraspinatus atrophy was defined as loss of soft tissue bulk in the infraspinatus scapula fossa (and increased prominence of dorsal scapular bony anatomy) of the dominant shoulder with clear asymmetry when compared with the contralateral side. Correlations were examined between infraspinatus atrophy and concurrent shoulder disorders, clinical examination findings, ROM, glenohumeral internal rotation deficit, singles tennis ranking, and age. Results: There were 65 players (52%) with evidence of infraspinatus atrophy in their dominant shoulders. No wasting was noted in the nondominant shoulder of any player. No statistically significant differences were seen in mean age, left- or right-hand dominance, height, weight, or body mass index for players with or without atrophy. Of the 77 players ranked in the top 100, 58% had clinical infraspinatus atrophy, compared with 40% of players ranked outside the top 100. No associations were found with static physical examination findings (scapular dyskinesis, ROM glenohumeral internal rotation deficit, postural abnormalities), concurrent shoulder disorders, or compromised performance when measured by singles ranking. Conclusion: This study reports a high level of clinical infraspinatus atrophy in the dominant shoulder of elite female tennis players. Infraspinatus atrophy was associated with a higher performance ranking, and no functional deficits or associations with concurrent shoulder disorders were found. Team physicians can be reassured that infraspinatus atrophy is a common finding in high-performing tennis players and, if asymptomatic, does not appear to significantly compromise performance.

To (1) report the prevalence of hip pain in professional table tennis players registered at a National Sports Institute, (2) describe their hip pathologies, and (3) evaluate expectations regarding hip pain before and after becoming high-level athletes. Case series. French National Sports Institute. Nineteen professional table tennis players. None. UCLA activity score, training information, prevalence of hip pain, expectations regarding hip pain, and hip joint injuries/pathologies. The cohort comprised 19 table tennis players, 6 women and 13 men, aged 24.9 ± 4.1 years. Before playing table tennis professionally, 8 players thought that becoming high-level players could cause pain at their joints; however, none thought that becoming high-level players could cause pain at their hip joint. Eleven athletes reported experiencing hip pain, with 8 having femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), which was concomitant with chondropathy in 6, hip dysplasia in 5, and coxarthrosis in 3. Five athletes required femoroplasty for FAI or total hip arthroplasty for coxarthrosis. All athletes who underwent surgery returned to sport. At the time of the questionnaire, 15 athletes thought it was common for high-level table tennis players to have hip pain. Professional table tennis players registered at the institute had a high prevalence of hip pain (58%) and FAI (42%), with 26% of athletes requiring surgery. These findings could allow coaches to align expectations in professional table tennis players, as well as to anticipate hip pathologies and design specific prevention programs.

Background:The cardiac characteristics of various types of athletes have been defined by echocardiography. Athletes involved in predominately static exercise, such as bodybuilders, have been found to have more concentric hypertrophy,...

Table tennis players execute short explosive movements, along with continuous hip flexion, abduction, and rotation, increasing their risk of injury. Previous studies reported a rate of return to sports (RTS) of 20% to 80% in athletes following total hip arthroplasty (THA). There are no studies reporting RTS in table tennis players following THA. To evaluate the clinical outcomes and RTS following custom THA in professional, ex-professional, and recreational table tennis players. Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Patients who underwent primary THA between April 2013 and January 2022 were retrospectively reviewed (n = 2977). Table tennis players of any level that received a custom femoral stem were included in the study (N = 17). At a minimum follow-up of 2 years, all players were assessed using the Oxford Hip Score (OHS), Forgotten Joint Score (FJS), and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) activity score, as well as with a sports-specific questionnaire that included questions related to their table tennis practice. Descriptive statistics, including medians and interquartile ranges, were used to summarize the data. All 17 players (22 hips) were available at ≥2 years, of which 3 were professional (5 hips), 4 were ex-professional (6 hips), and 10 were recreational (11 hips). The median OHS was 44.0 (IQR, 44.0-48.0) in professional, 48.0 (IQR, 48.0-48.0) in ex-professional, and 48.0 (IQR, 45.0-48.0) in recreational players. The median FJS was 92.0 (IQR, 88.0-98.0) in professional, 98.0 (IQR, 98.0-98.0) in ex-professional, and 100.0 (IQR, 93.0-100.0) in recreational players. The median UCLA activity score was 10.0 (IQR, 9.0-10.0) in professional, 9.0 (IQR, 9.0-9.8) in ex-professional, and 8.0 (IQR, 5.5-9.0) in recreational players. The rate of RTS was 100% for professional and ex-professional players, and 80% for recreational players. The hours played before onset of symptoms was higher than following surgery for professional (30.0 [IQR, 25.0-30.0] vs 20.0 [IQR, 16.0-22.5] h/week) and ex-professional players (19.5 [IQR, 11.0-29.3] vs 3.0 [IQR, 2.0-5.5] h/week), while it was constant for recreational players (4.0 [IQR, 2.3-4.0] vs 4.0 [IQR, 3.8-4.5] h/week). Our retrospective analysis demonstrated that at a minimum follow-up of 2 years THA using custom stems provided good to excellent clinical outcomes in professional, ex-professional, and recreational table tennis players. All professional and ex-professional players, as well as 80% of recreational players, were able to return to play table tennis, although both professional and ex-professional players reduced their number of hours of play compared with before surgery. These findings could be used to help set expectations for table tennis players who are scheduled to undergo THA.

The professional tennis tour lifestyle has become increasingly difficult over time. Although the financial strain of tour life has been identified [International Tennis Federation. (2017, March 30). ITF pro circuit review. https://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/about-pro-circuit/player-pathway.aspx], there is a gap in our understanding of the additional lifestyle challenges that professional players face and the potential impact these have on their progression and mental health. Adopting an exploratory case study methodology [Yin, R. K. (2017). Case study research and applications: Design and methods. Sage.], with “Behind the Racquet”, a social media platform aimed at raising awareness of professional players’ challenges as its case, and theoretically underpinned by [Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396.] hierarchy of needs, this study aimed to gain a contextual understanding of these challenges. Using “Behind the Racquet” as the data source provided a unique opportunity to gain authentic, self-reported experiences from a hard-to-reach population. The sample consisted of 65 professional players (33 males, 32 females; age range = 18–46 years; mean age = 27.34 years) from 28 different countries. Players achieved varying levels of success, including being Grand Slam and Olympic champions, ATP, and WTA Top 10 players, and within and outside of the world’s Top 100. Findings illustrated physical and mental fatigue, financial imbalance of the professional system, the social and psychological impact of living a nomadic existence, the weight of expectation, structural-caused instability, and mental illness as key challenges that players experience on the professional tour. These challenges, which inhibit players’ ability to meet basic needs on each level of [Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396.] hierarchy of needs, pose concerns to both players’ progression on tour and their mental health.

ObjectiveA moderate sport activity is considered beneficial for both physical and mental health. On the contrary, different studies have shown that professional players may be more vulnerable to suffer from psychological and/or psychiatric disorders. Given the limited information available, the present study aimed to investigate the possible presence of depressive and obsessive-compulsive symptoms or disorders in a group of professional tennis players.MethodTwenty-five current or former professional tennis players (18 men and 7 women; mean age ± SD: 42.32 ± 13.45 years), were recruited within the Italian Tennis Federation during an international competition and during a master meeting of coaches. They were compared with a control group, recruited from university students, doctors and nurses. All of them underwent a psychiatric interview with a structured scale and a psychopathological assessment carried out with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the Self Assessment Scale for Depression (SAD).ResultsThe Y-BOCS total and subscale scores were significantly higher in both current and past athletes than controls. Current athletes showed higher scores at Y-BOCS total, subscales and some items. The majority of the current athletes also showed superstitions and magical thinking.ConclusionsThe present study demonstrated that professional tennis players show a relevant increase of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and supertistions than controls. Interestingly, current athletes resulted more severe than past ones. Taken together, our findings support the notion that agonistic sport activities of high level require intensive training and compliance to strict daily routines that might represent a sort of vulnerability toward the onset of full-blown obsessive-compulsive disorder (as well as other disorders) in more fragile individuals. Not suprisingly, sport psychological support experts are increasingly needed.

In this article, we introduce PingTactics, a multimodal dataset tailored for table tennis action recognition and tactical analysis. Derived from professional table tennis matches, the dataset comprises annotated video clips capturing detailed player actions, positional dynamics, and scoring outcomes. A key feature of PingTactics is its comprehensive temporal annotation framework, which includes sequences of previous and next actions, enabling the study of fine-grained action relationships and their tactical implications. We ensured annotation quality through a semi-automated pipeline that combines machine-assisted pre-labeling with manual refinement by domain experts. To validate the dataset, we conducted extensive experiments using state-of-the-art deep learning models for action recognition, demonstrating PingTactics’ effectiveness for capturing the complex and dynamic action patterns typical of high-stakes matches. Beyond action recognition, PingTactics serves as a foundation for tactical evaluation, as evidenced by our quadrant-based scoring analysis, which reveals interaction patterns, key scoring strategies, and player tendencies. By offering fine-grained action annotations and enabling tactical insights, PingTactics provides a significant resource for advancing research in sports analytics, with implications for intelligent coaching, player performance evaluation, and strategic planning in table tennis and related domains.

Professional tennis players have their own habits of tactics and play. However, players’ shortcomings can be corrected by constantly practicing professional techniques and by tactical analysis. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a two-stage, expert decision-making system for tennis matches. The first stage consisted in dividing the court area and defining the technical classification of the net. Tennis coaches were invited to assess tennis players’ skills on the competition court, dividing it into 48 areas on both sides of the court centerline and identifying the skills used by the players. In the second stage, a classification model was developed, and the score, hitting habits, and tennis skills of the players, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, over 10 matches, played from 2007 to 2019, were analyzed and classified using notational analysis and the C5.0 decision tree algorithm. The results show that the two players’ highest scored techniques were the forehand stroke in the backcourt and the backhand stroke in the half court. Thus, using this expert decision-making system, our data can provide other players with imaginary training objects from two of the top players in the world to be used during training and can allow the accumulation of experience for players through continuous simulation and training analysis.

To develop a psychological profile of professional female athletes, specifically of elite tennis players, 16 professional female tennis players from five countries were given the Profile of Mood States to measure six mood states: tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue, and confusion. When age was controlled in the design, older female athletes exhibited the "iceberg profile," i.e., they scored higher on the vigor mood state and lower on all other mood states than college-age women. Younger athletes scored like college-age women. These results only partially support the 1987 work of Morgan, O'Connor, Sparling, and Pate.

This comprehensive article explores the critical aspects of mobile application performance optimization, focusing on the relationship between technical efficiency and user satisfaction. The article examines various performance metrics, including latency, frame rates, memory usage, and cold start times, while analyzing their impact on user engagement and business outcomes. Through detailed explanation of common performance challenges and optimization strategies, the article provides insights into effective development practices, testing methodologies, and resource management approaches. The article combines empirical data from multiple studies to demonstrate the significance of systematic performance optimization in mobile application development, offering practical solutions for developers and stakeholders to enhance application performance across different operational scenarios.

In rodents, endurance training increases leptin sensitivity in skeletal muscle; however, little is known about the effects of exercise on the leptin signalling system in human skeletal muscle. Thus, to determine whether chronic muscle loading increases leptin receptor (OB-R170) protein expression, body composition dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was assessed in nine professional male tennis players (24 +/- 4 years old) and muscle biopsies were obtained from the dominant (DTB) and non-dominant (NDTB) arm triceps brachii (TB), and also from the right vastus lateralis (VL). In each biopsy, the protein content of OB-R170, perilipin A, suppressor of cytokine signalling 3 (SOCS3), protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) phosphorylation were determined by western blot. The DTB had 15% greater lean mass (P < 0.05) and 62% greater OB-R170 protein expression (P < 0.05) than the NDTB. SOCS3 and PTP1B protein expression was similar in both arms, while STAT3 phosphorylation was reduced in the NDTB. OB-R170 protein content was also higher in DTB than in VL (P < 0.05). In summary, this study shows that the functional isoform of the leptin receptor is up-regulated in the hypertrophied TB. The latter combined with the fact that both SOCS3 and PTP1B protein expression were unaltered is compatible with increased leptin sensitivity in this muscle. Our findings are also consistent with a role of leptin signalling in muscle hypertrophy in healthy humans.

BackgroundA decrease in dominant shoulder internal and total rotational range of motion (ROM) has been found in tennis players immediately after competitive play. This can become a risk factor for...

BackgroundAlthough high injury prevalences and incidences for professional handball were reported, longitudinal analysis of injury burden remain rare.ObjectiveAnalysis of the injury data of the national statutory accident insurance (VBG) for...

Hip and shoulder internal rotation range of motion deficits in professional tennis players