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Physical Demands of Tennis Across the Different Court Surfaces, Performance Levels and Sexes: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis

Pluim, Babette M ; Jansen, Marleen GT ; Williamson, Samuel ; Berry, Cain ; Camporesi, Silvia ; Fagher, Kristina LU ; Heron, Neil ; Janse van Rensburg, Dina C. ; Moreno-Pérez, Victor and Murray, Andrew , et al. (2023) In Sports Medicine 53(4). p.807-836
Abstract
Background
Tennis is a multidirectional high-intensity intermittent sport for male and female individuals played across multiple surfaces. Although several studies have attempted to characterise the physical demands of tennis, a meta-analysis is still lacking.

Objective
We aimed to describe and synthesise the physical demands of tennis across the different court surfaces, performance levels and sexes.

Methods
PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and SPORTDiscus were searched from inception to 19 April, 2022. A backward citation search was conducted for included articles using Scopus. The PECOS framework was used to formulate eligibility criteria. Population: tennis players of regional, national or international playing... (More)
Background
Tennis is a multidirectional high-intensity intermittent sport for male and female individuals played across multiple surfaces. Although several studies have attempted to characterise the physical demands of tennis, a meta-analysis is still lacking.

Objective
We aimed to describe and synthesise the physical demands of tennis across the different court surfaces, performance levels and sexes.

Methods
PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and SPORTDiscus were searched from inception to 19 April, 2022. A backward citation search was conducted for included articles using Scopus. The PECOS framework was used to formulate eligibility criteria. Population: tennis players of regional, national or international playing levels (juniors and adults). Exposure: singles match play. Comparison: sex (male/female), court surface (hard, clay, grass). Outcome: duration of play, on-court movement and stroke performance. Study design: cross-sectional, longitudinal. Pooled means or mean differences with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. A random-effects meta-analysis with robust variance estimation was performed. The measures of heterogeneity were Cochrane Q and 95% prediction intervals. Subgroup analysis was used for different court surfaces.

Results
The literature search generated 7736 references; 64 articles were included for qualitative and 42 for quantitative review. Mean [95% confidence interval] rally duration, strokes per rally and effective playing time on all surfaces were 5.5 s [4.9, 6.3], 4.1 [3.4, 5.0] and 18.6% [15.8, 21.7] for international male players and 6.4 s [5.4, 7.6], 3.9 [2.4, 6.2] and 20% [17.3, 23.3] for international female players. Mean running distances per point, set and match were 9.6 m [7.6, 12.2], 607 m [443, 832] and 2292 m [1767, 2973] (best-of-5) for international male players and 8.2 m [4.4, 15.2], 574 m [373, 883] and 1249 m [767, 2035] for international female players. Mean first- and second-serve speeds were 182 km·h−1 [178, 187] and 149 km·h−1 [135, 164] for international male players and 156 km·h−1 95% confidence interval [151, 161] and 134 km·h−1 [107, 168] for international female players.

Conclusions
The findings from this study provide a comprehensive summary of the physical demands of tennis. These results may guide tennis-specific training programmes. We recommend more consistent measuring and reporting of data to enable future meta-analysts to pool meaningful data. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Sports Medicine
volume
53
issue
4
pages
807 - 836
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • pmid:36752978
  • scopus:85147717958
ISSN
0112-1642
DOI
10.1007/s40279-022-01807-8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
be6228aa-f21b-4105-91e2-fb898dd93cf2
date added to LUP
2023-02-08 13:31:13
date last changed
2025-04-04 15:24:08
@article{be6228aa-f21b-4105-91e2-fb898dd93cf2,
  abstract     = {{Background<br/>Tennis is a multidirectional high-intensity intermittent sport for male and female individuals played across multiple surfaces. Although several studies have attempted to characterise the physical demands of tennis, a meta-analysis is still lacking.<br/><br/>Objective<br/>We aimed to describe and synthesise the physical demands of tennis across the different court surfaces, performance levels and sexes.<br/><br/>Methods<br/>PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and SPORTDiscus were searched from inception to 19 April, 2022. A backward citation search was conducted for included articles using Scopus. The PECOS framework was used to formulate eligibility criteria. Population: tennis players of regional, national or international playing levels (juniors and adults). Exposure: singles match play. Comparison: sex (male/female), court surface (hard, clay, grass). Outcome: duration of play, on-court movement and stroke performance. Study design: cross-sectional, longitudinal. Pooled means or mean differences with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. A random-effects meta-analysis with robust variance estimation was performed. The measures of heterogeneity were Cochrane Q and 95% prediction intervals. Subgroup analysis was used for different court surfaces.<br/><br/>Results<br/>The literature search generated 7736 references; 64 articles were included for qualitative and 42 for quantitative review. Mean [95% confidence interval] rally duration, strokes per rally and effective playing time on all surfaces were 5.5 s [4.9, 6.3], 4.1 [3.4, 5.0] and 18.6% [15.8, 21.7] for international male players and 6.4 s [5.4, 7.6], 3.9 [2.4, 6.2] and 20% [17.3, 23.3] for international female players. Mean running distances per point, set and match were 9.6 m [7.6, 12.2], 607 m [443, 832] and 2292 m [1767, 2973] (best-of-5) for international male players and 8.2 m [4.4, 15.2], 574 m [373, 883] and 1249 m [767, 2035] for international female players. Mean first- and second-serve speeds were 182 km·h−1 [178, 187] and 149 km·h−1 [135, 164] for international male players and 156 km·h−1 95% confidence interval [151, 161] and 134 km·h−1 [107, 168] for international female players.<br/><br/>Conclusions<br/>The findings from this study provide a comprehensive summary of the physical demands of tennis. These results may guide tennis-specific training programmes. We recommend more consistent measuring and reporting of data to enable future meta-analysts to pool meaningful data.}},
  author       = {{Pluim, Babette M and Jansen, Marleen GT and Williamson, Samuel and Berry, Cain and Camporesi, Silvia and Fagher, Kristina and Heron, Neil and Janse van Rensburg, Dina C. and Moreno-Pérez, Victor and Murray, Andrew and O'Connor, Seán R. and de Oliveira, Fábio C. L. and Reid, Machar and van Reijen, Miriam and Saueressig, Tobias and Schoonmade, Linda J. and Thornton, Jane S and Webborn, Nick and Ardern, Clare}},
  issn         = {{0112-1642}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{807--836}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Sports Medicine}},
  title        = {{Physical Demands of Tennis Across the Different Court Surfaces, Performance Levels and Sexes: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01807-8}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s40279-022-01807-8}},
  volume       = {{53}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}