Tennis Australia, Melbourne, Australia.
Eur J Sport Sci. 2013;13(4):350-5. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2011.608812. Epub 2011 Nov 1.
In men's professional tennis, players aspire to hold the top ranking position. On the way to the top spot, reaching the top 100 can be seen as a significant career milestone. National Federations undertake extensive efforts to assist their players to reach the top 100. However, objective data considering reasonable ranking yardsticks for top 100 success in men's professional tennis are lacking. Therefore, it is difficult for National Federations and those involved in player development to give empirical programming advice to young players. By taking a closer look at the ranking history of professional male tennis players, this article tries to provide those involved in player development a more objective basis for decision-making. The 100 names, countries, birthdates and ranking histories of the top 100 players listed in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) at 31 December 2009 were recorded from websites in the public domain. Descriptive statistics were reported for the ranking milestones of interest. Results confirmed the merits of the International Tennis Federation's junior tour with 91% of the top 100 professionals earning a junior ranking, the mean peak of which was 94.1, s=148.9. On average, top 100 professionals achieved their best junior rankings and earned their first ATP point at similar ages, suggesting that players compete on both the junior and professional tours during their transition. Once professionally ranked, players took an average 4.5, s=2.1 years to reach the ATP top 100 at the mean age of 21.5, s=2.6 years, which contrasts with the mean current age of the top 100 of 26.8, s=3.2. The best professional rankings of players born in 1982 or earlier were positively related to the ages at which players earned their first ATP point and then entered the top 100, suggesting that the ages associated with these ranking milestones may have some forecasting potential. Future work should focus on the change in top 100 demographics over time as well as the evaluation of the interaction between rankings and tournament play.
在男子职业网球中，球员们渴望获得最高排名。在通往榜首的道路上，进入前 100 名可以被视为一个重要的职业里程碑。国家联合会为帮助球员进入前 100 名付出了巨大努力。然而，缺乏考虑男子职业网球前 100 名成功的合理排名标准的客观数据。因此，国家联合会和参与球员发展的人员很难为年轻球员提供经验性的编程建议。通过仔细研究职业男子网球运动员的排名历史，本文试图为参与球员发展的人员提供更客观的决策依据。在 2009 年 12 月 31 日，从公共领域的网站上记录了在职业网球协会（ATP）排名前 100 名的 100 名球员的名字、国籍、出生日期和排名历史。报告了感兴趣的排名里程碑的描述性统计数据。结果证实了国际网球联合会青少年巡回赛的价值，91%的前 100 名职业选手获得了青少年排名，其平均峰值为 94.1，s=148.9。平均而言，前 100 名职业选手在相似的年龄达到了他们最好的青少年排名并获得了他们的第一个 ATP 积分，这表明球员在过渡期间同时参加青少年和职业巡回赛。一旦获得职业排名，球员平均需要 4.5 年，s=2.1 年才能在平均年龄为 21.5 岁，s=2.6 岁时达到 ATP 前 100 名，这与前 100 名的平均当前年龄 26.8 岁，s=3.2 岁形成对比。1982 年或更早出生的球员的最佳职业排名与他们获得第一个 ATP 积分并进入前 100 名的年龄呈正相关，这表明这些排名里程碑的相关年龄可能具有一定的预测潜力。未来的工作应侧重于随着时间的推移，前 100 名人口统计数据的变化以及排名和比赛之间相互作用的评估。
