277 Events From the 1964 Women’s Tennis Season
The quest continues, and there are now another 3,200 matches in the women’s tennis database at Tennis Abstract. If you’d rather dive in to the data than read my ramblings about it, click here for the...
View ArticleHappy New Year! (By Which, Of Course, I Mean 1963)
Another week, another enormous tranche of new women’s tennis data on Tennis Abstract. Today I present an extensive view of the 1963 season, including about 250 events and almost 3,000 matches. The...
View ArticlePodcast Episode 89: Rebuilding the History of Women’s Tennis
Episode 89 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast reverses roles, with Carl Bialik, of the Thirty Love podcast, interviewing Jeff about his recent efforts to add pre-Open Era women’s tennis data to Tennis...
View ArticleThe 1962 Women’s Season at Tennis Abstract
Another year, another installment of the dominance of Margaret Court. I’ve added almost 3,000 matches across more than 200 events from the 1962 women’s tennis season, a year when Court went an...
View ArticleA Glimpse at Women’s Tennis Before Margaret Court Took Over
Tennis Abstract now includes extensive results from the 1961 women’s season. Margaret Court won her second major at January’s Australian Championships, but it wasn’t until the end of 1961 that she...
View ArticleThe 1960 Women’s Tennis Season, When Quality Topped Quantity
Our dive into the history of women’s tennis keeps getting deeper. Tennis Abstract now includes hundreds of events and thousands of matches from the 1960 season, which you can browse here. 1960 was the...
View ArticleHello, 1959
Another season, another 2,300 matches on the Tennis Abstract site. The latest addition is the 1959 women’s tennis season, which you can dig into here. Althea Gibson more or less retired from the...
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Charting Aryna Sabalenka’s Win Streak
Aryna Sabalenka has won 3 titles and 14 matches in a row. Let’s dig into the data and see if we can identify any improvements that would account for her success. For the Match Charting Project, I’ve...
View ArticleThe 1958 Women’s Tennis Season, When Maria Bueno Held It All Together
I’ve added another historical season to the Tennis Abstract database, so we can now see thousands of results per year for a full decade before the beginning of the Open Era. 1958 might be the most...
View ArticleRecreating the 1957 Women’s Tennis Season in 2,600 Easy Steps
Another historical season in the database! In 1957, Althea Gibson was so good it was almost boring. She was in the middle of a 161-week streak at the top of the Elo rankings, and with a 66-2 won-loss...
View ArticleAshleigh Barty’s Fully Baked Double Bagel
Not every double bagel is created equal. Today in Melbourne, Ashleigh Barty beat Danka Kovinic without losing a game, dropping only ten points. By contrast, a memorable Stuttgart first-rounder from...
View ArticleHsieh, Errani, and a Match That Broke Everybody
In their third round match today at the Australian Open, Sara Errani and Su Wei Hsieh played 232 points. The fastest serve either one hit registered at 93 mph (149 kmh), Hsieh’s first serves averaged...
View ArticleLove-Six? No Problem
Last week, Tsvetana Pironkova dealt Aryna Sabalenka a rough start to her Miami campaign: a 6-0 first set. It took two more hours and a third-set tiebreak to settle the issue, but ultimately Sabalenka...
View ArticleThe Best at Getting Better
Here’s a stat you probably didn’t know*. Since the restart, the WTA top five in first-serve points won are Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Ashleigh Barty, Jennifer Brady, and … Maria Sakkari. ** unless...
View Article100 Years of Women’s Tennis History
Exactly one year ago, I updated Tennis Abstract with some missing 1970s and 1980s WTA tournaments. I tweeted this progress report: Check out my socially distanced Thanksgiving project:The Tennis...
View ArticleAryna Sabalenka at One Hundred Percent
Aryna Sabalenka played her first match at Indian Wells on Friday, handily beating Evgeniya Rodina. Sabalenka won the first set 6-1, then took a 3-0 lead in the second. Commentator Mikey Perera noted...
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April 30, 1973: Truce
Margaret Court (left) and Billie Jean King holding a Waterford vase full of cash ahead of the $100,000 Family Circle Cup in Charleston “In tennis,” said a Philip Morris staffer involved with the...
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May 5, 1973: The Drop Shot Queen
Can’t tell what Rosie Casals will do next? You are not alone. The 1973 Virginia Slims tour got some criticism for being so top-heavy. Margaret Court won nearly everything. When Billie Jean King was...
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June 20, 1973: United, Mostly
British star Roger Taylor, who would come under immense pressure to compete at Wimbledon despite his membership in the ATP A disappointment for the top men and a disaster for Wimbledon, it smelled...
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July 19, 1973: Equal Prize Money
Billie Jean King at Forest Hills The Women’s Tennis Association was barely four weeks old, and it had already delivered a blow to the prevailing men-first attitude around the sport. On July 19th, US...
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