WTA Tour Statistical Abstract 2006
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WTA Tour Statistical Abstract 2006 Robert B. Waltz ©2006 by Robert B. Waltz Reproduction and/or distribution for profit prohibited Contents Introduction. .4 Surface Balance . .90 Percentage of Wins on Each Surface..........................90 2006 In Review: The Top Players . .5 Percentage of Points on Each Surface........................92 The Final Top Thirty .....................................................5 The Beginning Top Twenty-Five ...................................6 Player Results Characterized . 95 Summary of Changes, Beginning to End of 2006..........6 Fraction of Points Earned at Slams............................95 Ratio of Round to Quality Points ................................96 Top Players Analysed . .7 Strength of Schedule (based on tournament tier)........98 All the Players in the Top Ten in 2006: Strength of Schedule (based on tournament strength) 99 The Complete Top Ten Based on WTA Statistic ...... 7 Average Round Reached ...........................................101 Short Summary: The Top Eighty. .8 Quality of Wins..........................................................102 Rankings Month By Month ..........................................10 Quality of Losses.......................................................105 Success During the First and Second Half ...............108 Tournament Results . .11 Surface Preferences . .112 Tournament Winners by Date (High-Tier Events) ......11 Player Surface Biases ...............................................113 Tournament Winners by Tournament Type (High-Tier Events) ..................................................12 Alternate Rankings . 115 Winners at Smaller Tournaments (Tier III, IV, V) ......13 Basic Alternate Ranking Data...................................115 Full Summary of Tournament Results. .14 2005 Rankings: Best 17 Rankings with Quality Points 117 Title Defences ..............................................................34 1996 Ranking System: The Divisor...........................118 Tournament Strengths . .35 1996 System Updated: The Declining Divisor..........119 2006 Rankings with Double Quality Points..............121 Tournament Strength Based on Top Four Players......36 1996-Style Divisor with Double Quality Points........122 Tournament Strength Based on Modified TSI .............37 Declining Divisor with Double Quality Points.........123 Tournament Strength versus Tournament Points........38 Quality Points per Tournament.................................124 Tough Bills and Cheap Thrills ....................................40 Tournament Strength-Based Rankings......................125 Player Results . .41 Adjusted Strength per Tournament Ranking............ 127 Idealized Won/Lost....................................................129 Upsets. .66 The “Majors Ranking” .............................................131 The 100 Biggest Upsets of 2006 ..................................66 Doubles . 134 Worst Losses . .68 Worst Losses (based on rankings at the time).............69 2006 In Review: The Top Doubles Players . .134 Worst Losses (based on year-end 2006 rankings).......70 The Final Top Twenty-Five Doubles Players ...........134 The Beginning Doubles Top Twenty-Five.................135 Winning and Losing Streaks . .71 Summary of Doubles Changes ..................................135 The Ten Longest Winning Streaks by Top Players......73 Top Doubles Players Analysed . .136 The Ten Longest Losing Streaks by Top Players ........73 All the Players in the Doubles Top Ten in 2006 .......136 Surface Results . .74 Short Summary: The Doubles Top Fifty . .137 Clay . .74 Doubles Rankings Month By Month .........................139 Total Wins on Clay ......................................................76 Team Doubles Titles, Most to Least . .140 Winning Percent on Clay ............................................77 Individual Doubles Titles, Most to Least. .141 Grass . .78 Doubles Tournament Strengths . .143 Total Wins on Grass ....................................................80 Winning Percent on Grass ..........................................81 Doubles Results . .145 Hardcourts (Outdoor). .82 Doubles Upsets. .162 Total Wins on Hard .....................................................84 The 50 Biggest Doubles Upsets of 2006 ...................162 Winning Percent on Hard............................................85 Doubles Team Winning Percentage..........................164 Indoors . .86 Total Wins Indoors ......................................................88 Winning Percent Indoors.............................................89 WTA Statistical Abstract ©2006 Robert Waltz Page 2 Contents Alternate Doubles Rankings . .165 Career Results for Leading Players . .212 Doubles 2005 Rankings: Slam History. .238 Best 11 Rankings with Quality Points...................165 Singles Slam Winners................................................238 Doubles 1996 Ranking System: The Divisor.............166 Doubles Slam Winners..............................................241 Doubles Declining Divisor........................................167 Men’s Singles Slam Winners.....................................244 Doubles 2006 Rankings with Triple Quality Points..168 Men’s Doubles Slam Winners...................................247 Doubles Divisor with Triple Quality Points..............169 Singles and Doubles at the Same Slam (Open Era)..251 Doubles Declining Divisor with Triple Quality Points 170 Doubles Slams and Partners.....................................252 Doubles Quality Points per Tournament...................171 Grand Slams and Career Slams................................257 Doubles Tournament Strength-Based Rankings........173 Total Slam Victories, Open Era ................................259 Doubles Adjusted Strength per Tournament Ranking 174 Doubles “Majors Ranking” — Team........................175 Players and Titles . .260 Doubles “Majors Ranking” — Individual ................176 Players with Titles, Year by Year............................. 260 Most Titles, Year By Year .........................................263 Miscellaneous Statistics . .177 Five Or More Titles in a Year...................................264 Statistics About Tournaments:...................................177 Surface Sweeps — Singles (Since 1990) ...................265 Total Ranked Players, 1999–2006 ............................178 Career Surface Sweeps/Singles.................................267 The Busiest Players on the Tour . .179 Career Grand Surface Sweep ...................................268 Total Matches Played by Top Players.......................179 Year-End Top Players 269 Number of Events Played by the Top 100 .................181 Year-End Top Eight, Alphabetical, Since 1975 ........269 Total Matches by the Top 30 Doubles Players..........184 Total Years Ended At Each Rank, Since 1975 ..........271 Number of Events Played Strongest Career Rankings Showings.......................273 By the Top 100 Doubles Players...........................185 Total Years in the Top Eight .....................................274 Injuries . .187 Doubles Wins & Partners. .275 Winningest Doubles Player, From 1983...................275 WTA Tour History . .189 Titles With Multiple Partners, Single Year ...............277 Who Won What Summary — Singles.........................189 Slams With the Most Partners, Open Era.................277 Who Won What Summary — Doubles.......................190 Index . 278 Who Won What — History of Tournaments. .192 Recent Singles Winners, Finalists, Semifinalists . .199 WTA Statistical Abstract ©2006 Robert Waltz Page 3 Introduction Last year, when I finished the 2005 Statistical Abstract, I was sure there would not be another. There were several reasons for that, the single most important being the fact that the WTA was abolishing the “quality points” it awarded players for wins over strong opponents, showing yet again that the WTA neither cared about the integrity of their rankings nor had the understanding to be allowed to fiddle with them; it remains my opinion that marketing people who try to mess with mathematics should be permanently barred from management jobs — or at least made to repeat fourth grade math until they learn how to do it. The irony is, despite what they did to the ranking system in 2006, it hardly mattered; they came up with just about the same Top Ten they would have had under a system capable of actually ranking players. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than smart. But the result of their ranking bastardization is that this year I did not keep some of the statistics I kept in 2005, such as bagel and injury numbers. But I started keeping a rather more thorough database of WTA results. At the end of the year, I decided to go ahead and use that database to produce a Statistical Abstract. If you’ve seen past Statistical Abstracts, you will probably find this one very different, since much of it was recreated from scratch. I’ve tried to make the result clearer — there are rather more graphs than in past editions. There is a new section, “Player Results Characterized” on page 95. I find this a very interesting part, because I’ve tried to bring together a large proportion of the statistics that best describe a player. I sometimes am asked what I think the rankings “should” be. Of course, that’s what the Alternate Rankings are for. I think the best of these are • “Declining Divisor with Double Quality Points” on page 123 • “Adjusted Strength per Tournament Ranking” on page 127 • “Idealized Won/Lost” on page 129 On this basis, I