Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Power Index makes global debut

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The top women's tennis players in the world are more powerful than ever. Now, there's a way to measure it. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour today announced the introduction of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Power Index, a new statistic designed to recognize the hardest-hitting, most powerful players on Tour.

 

The Acura Classic in San Diego was the first tournament to officially incorporate power index data, which will be compiled from all center court matches at Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments included in the U.S. Open Series. The new statistic represents a totaled analysis of a player's fastest shots during a match including: first and second serves, groundstroke (forehand or backhand), first and second-serve returns and smash/volley. The final Power Index "score" is an average of all six individual statistics.

 

"We're excited about the introduction of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Power Index and think it's another great way to recognize the extraordinary talent, athleticism and sheer power of our top players," said Stacey Allaster, President of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.  "Other leading professional sports have introduced new methods to measure and compare the performance of their players to provide another level of insight for fans. The power index affords that same opportunity for women's tennis."

 

Implemented using ball-tracking technology from Hawk-Eye Innovations, Ltd., the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Power Index monitors the play of select players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to deliver a unique perspective on their impressive power and precision for fans.

 

"The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Power Index is another example of our efforts to apply technology innovation that enhances the entertainment value of women's tennis for our fans," said Dee Dutta, head of global marketing for Sony Ericsson. "For years, the first serve has been the one concrete statistic players and fans could point to as a measure of power. With the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Power Index, there's now a vehicle by which to recognize aggressive play in a more comprehensive manner."

 

The index is reflective of a larger trend toward more advanced analysis in the sport of tennis, enabled in part by "contextualization" technologies like those offered by Hawk-Eye Technologies and Sony Ericsson. As new advancements are made, more in-depth data on player and ball movement will be collected, including  distance run during a three-set match, total number of balls struck, and conversion ratios of break points.  For example, the Sony Ericsson W580 mobile phone features a number of sport features including a pedometer that will be worn by Tour players during practice sessions to track their speed, calories burned and distance run on court. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour plans to introduce more contextualization-derived data over the course of the next few months.

 

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour will distribute the Sony Ericsson Power Index on a regular basis following each tournament.

  

Sourced From: GCI-The PR Division of Grey Global Group