Tennis Maths: Is player height a BIG advantage? Metric

USA units post here.

The Australian Open is on at the moment in Melbourne in LOCKDOWN. (We have 1 community-acquired case. Tennis players are in a bubble.)

Is height a BIG advantage in tennis?

Here are the heights of 3 top seeds in the Australian  Open. (See graph below)

No. 1 Novak Djokovic  188cm

No. 6 Alexander Zverev  198cm

No. 8 Diego Schwartzman  170cm

1. Does serve speed increase with height?

That would be an advantage. Here is a Height vs Serve Speed chart for the Top 6 seeds in the tournament:

Find serve speed data here.

There is NO CLEAR HEIGHT ADVANTAGE for serve speed.

2. Does the serve return rate increase with height?

Here is Diego Schwartzman (L) when he defeated Alexander Zverev (R ) in the 2019 US Open.

What is Schwartzman’s Super Power?

Schwartzman, the shortest player on the circuit (see graph above), tops the service returns stats. Highest 2nd serve return rate. Third highest 1st serve return rate. See data below. So agility, speed, and reaction times are also important factors in becoming a tennis star.

Go Schwartzee! Check data here.