Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Last week we offered optional homework and encouraged anyone with the time and data skills to confirm/refute the assertion that tennis has never been more physically demanding.*
Lots of gold stars to dispense—and we’ll keep on this—but Emmett Stanton is first to present his research. He sent along spreadsheets. He writes:
1. The average number of retirements in Slams per year has gone up, fairly consistently, with a few outliers. My question on those slams where there's a significant spike in retirements (Australian Open 2014, Wimbledon 2013, etc.) is if there's an additional circumstance, such as extreme heat or rain on the grass.