Abstract
We show that the advantage that can accrue to the server in tennis does not necessarily imply that serving first changes the probability of winning the match. We demonstrate that the outcome of tie-breaks, sets and matches can be independent of who serves first. These are corollaries of a more general invariance result that we prove for n-point win-by-2 games. Our proofs are non-algebraic and self-contained.
| Translated title of the contribution | Server Advantage in Tennis Matches |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Pages (from-to) | 1182 - 1186 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Probability |
| Volume | 41 (4) |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2004 |