Before we start Christmas Holidays, let us look back to the tennis season 2017 once more. The basic question we want to answer is whether the quality in top tennis is concentrated between just a few players, or there is wide competition.
The easy metrics we used is how many players are able to win at least one ATP/WTA tournaments during a year. More players are able to win tournaments the wider competition we see.
ATP COMPETITION
| YEAR | No. of players with at least one tournament win | Total number of ATP Tournaments |
| 2017 | 36 | 68 |
| 2016 | 37 | 67 |
| 2015 | 32 | 66 |
WTA COMPETITION
| YEAR | No. of players with at least one tournament win | Total number of WTA Tournaments |
| 2017 | 43 | 59 |
| 2016 | 42 | 61 |
| 2015 | 38 | 61 |
Check out Tournament Schedules and Winners of past
Comparing ATP and WTA numbers, we see that the quality in men’s tennis is more concentrated as among the ladies. The trend in women’s tennis is clear, fewer tournaments but more winners. Basically, almost anyone out of WTA Top 100 can win anything. Another evidence of such trend is number one position in WTA ranking. Five different players held the position during the year 2017. We are still waiting for one or two, three dominating players like in almost forgotten past.
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TOP 5, does it mean anything?
Another stat shows how much tournaments are won by Top 5 players.
ATP COMPETITION
| YEAR | Tournaments won by 5 players with most tournament wins | Total number of ATP Tournaments |
| 2017 | 26 | 68 |
| 2016 | 27 | 67 |
| 2015 | 30 | 66 |
Even in ATP tennis, there are more and more good players, who can reach tournament’s trophy. In 2015, roughly 45% of tournaments were won by 5 players. However, in 2017 just 38% were won by best 5 players.
WTA COMPETITION
| YEAR | Tournaments won by 5 players with most tournament wins | Total number of WTA Tournaments |
| 2017 | 15 | 59 |
| 2016 | 16 | 61 |
| 2015 | 18 | 61 |
In WTA five players with most tournaments wins in the respective year won just 25% tournaments in 2017, 29% in 2015.
Summary
This stat is not the bullet-proof. I even tend to call it just numbers game, which is fun, but nothing more. So please, take it just as fun numbers game during the tennis break. Even without numbers, we can say, that the range of favorites in men’s tournaments is tighter compared to ladies. That is all. Enjoy the Christmas, enjoy the start of next tennis season.
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