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Competitive Balance and Match Uncertainty in Grand-Slam Tennis

Author

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  • Julio del Corral

    (Fundación Observatorio Económico del Deporte University of Oviedo, corraljulio@uniovi.es)

Abstract

This article tests whether the increase in seeded players in tennis grand-slam tournaments from 16 to 32 in 2001 led to decreased competitive balance. In doing so, two alternative measures of competitive balance for single-elimination tournaments are proposed based on the performance of seeded players. Likewise, the differences in competitive balance due to gender and court surface are also analyzed. Additionally, using data from tennis grand-slam matches from 2005 to 2008, this article analyzed the determinants of ex post match level uncertainty with probit models.

Suggested Citation

  • Julio del Corral, 2009. "Competitive Balance and Match Uncertainty in Grand-Slam Tennis," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 10(6), pages 563-581, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:10:y:2009:i:6:p:563-581
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002509334650
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Dominik Schreyer & Benno Torgler, 2018. "On the Role of Race Outcome Uncertainty in the TV Demand for Formula 1 Grands Prix," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(2), pages 211-229, February.
    3. Alex Krumer & Mosi Rosenboim & Offer Moshe Shapir, 2016. "Gender, Competitiveness, and Physical Characteristics," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 17(3), pages 234-259, April.
    4. Tomi Ovaska & Albert J. Sumell, 2014. "Who Has The Advantage? An Economic Exploration of Winning in Men's Professional Tennis," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 59(1), pages 34-51, May.
    5. Oliver Budzinski & Arne Feddersen, 2020. "Measuring competitive balance in Formula One racing," Chapters, in: Plácido Rodríguez & Stefan Kesenne & Brad R. Humphreys (ed.), Outcome Uncertainty in Sporting Events, chapter 1, pages 5-26, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Linn-Brit Bakkenbüll & Stephanie Kiefer, 2015. "Are Attractive Female Tennis Players More Successful? An Empirical Analysis," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(4), pages 443-458, November.
    7. Kovalchik Stephanie Ann, 2014. "The older they rise the younger they fall: age and performance trends in men’s professional tennis from 1991 to 2012," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 1-9, June.
    8. Yixiong Cui & Miguel-Ángel Gómez & Bruno Gonçalves & Jaime Sampaio, 2018. "Performance profiles of professional female tennis players in grand slams," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, July.
    9. Kurt Rotthoff & Danielle Zanzalari & John Jasina, 2011. "What are the odds? A measure of the small sample problems," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(12), pages 1139-1143.
    10. L'aszl'o Csat'o & D'ora Gr'eta Petr'oczy, 2020. "Bibliometric indices as a measure of performance and competitive balance in the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League," Papers 2005.13416, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2023.
    11. Bakkenbüll, Linn-Brit, 2016. "Does attractiveness win? On the gender-specific impact of attractiveness on athletic performance in tennis," Discussion Papers of the Institute for Organisational Economics 01/2016, University of Münster, Institute for Organisational Economics.
    12. Lackner, Mario & Weichselbaumer, Michael, 2023. "Can barely winning lead to losing? Gender and past performance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 258-274.
    13. Helmut Dietl & Cornel Nesseler, 2017. "Momentum in tennis: Controlling the match," Working Papers 365, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    14. Alexander John Bond & Francesco Addesa, 2020. "Competitive Intensity, Fans’ Expectations, and Match-Day Tickets Sold in the Italian Football Serie A, 2012-2015," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(1), pages 20-43, January.
    15. Bakkenbüll, Linn-Brit & Kiefer, Stephanie, 2014. "Are attractive female tennis players more successful? An empirical analysis," Discussion Papers of the Institute for Organisational Economics 12/2014, University of Münster, Institute for Organisational Economics.

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