基於社會網路分析探討男女職業網球選手在四大滿貫賽中的表現

Analyzing the Performance of Professional Tennis Players in Grand Slam Tournaments from the Perspective of Social Network Analysis

本研究目的以社會網路分析（social network analysis）方法中的程度中心性（degree centrality）探討男女職業網球選手在四大滿貫公開賽中的表現，並與採用選手在不同場地的勝率及獲得冠軍次數的排名進行比較。四大滿貫公開賽的網球場地（草地、硬地、紅土）特性差異極大，且各自有其特色，因此職業網球選手要在這四項層級最高的網球賽事中皆奪得優異成績實屬不易。研究對象為1968年至2020年WTA及ATP記錄的男女網球職業選手在四大公開賽的單打比賽勝負資料。研究結果顯示，以程度中心性評估職業網球選手在不同的場地的排名確實與傳統的勝率或大滿貫賽冠軍數的排名有些微差異。而本研究為社會網絡理論的工具和方法在實際應用於網球比賽的評估提供了不同的詮釋。

The aim of this study is to investigate the performance of male and female professional tennis players in the four Grand Slam tournaments using the method of degree centrality in social network analysis, and to compare it with their rankings based on their win rates and number of championship wins on different types of playing surfaces (grass, clay, and hard surfaces). The features of the tennis courts in the four Grand Slam tournaments differ greatly with each having its own unique characteristics, making it difficult for professional tennis players to achieve excellent results in all four of these top-level tennis tournaments. The subjects are male and female tennis professionals who have recorded their singles match results in the four Grand Slam tournaments from 1968 to 2020 in the WTA and ATP records. The results of the study show that the evaluation of professional tennis players’performances on different types of playing surfaces using degree centrality does differ slightly from the traditional rankings based on win rates or Grand Slam championship wins. This study offers a new interpretation of the application of social network analysis tools and methods in the evaluation of tennis matches.