Professional tennis in the twenty-first century: Hawk-Eye on competitive balance

Competitive balance in individual sports has not attracted as much attention as in other team settings. In terms of followers and media attention, tennis is definitely the most important individual sport. By following the methodology developed by Del Corral (2009), this chapter intends to analyse competitive balance in men’s and women’s low- and high-impact international tournaments. The data include 76 773 tennis matches (Association of Tennis Professionals 2000–2017 and Women’s Tennis Association 2007–2017) and display information on the type of surface, tournament, results, and players’ characteristics and performance. The analysis uses the percentage of players that reach the expected round and a modification based on quality to measure competitive balance. The chapter shows how the evolution of competitive balance differs in men’s and women’s tournaments; U-shaped versus sustained increased, respectively. The results also reveal variation owing to the type of surface and the importance of tournaments, which is consistent in both settings.