“Historically, you go to YouTube to find a match where you can see the style of the person playing,” he said.
“Now, we see all of the data, tag them, cut the videos up and deliver them to our players so they can see their strategies and weaknesses.
“I’m seeing the influence of all the strategic work. Everybody is lifting their game. The tech companies are lifting their game.”
O‘Shannessy said that until 2002, only very primitive statistics were kept but in the last two years there had been “an explosion” of intelligence, with more players and technology companies getting involved.
Roger Federer is understood to pay more than double the standard rate for exclusive access to leading agency Golden Set Analytics, run by leading economists and statisticians, who create groundbreaking computational models and software algorithms for players.
Sir Andy Murray is said to have experimented with various outfits including Lawn Tennis Association analyst Lorcan Reen, while Djokovic is thought to be the only player who employees a full time analyst.
O’Shannessy blames the deep divides within the world of tennis for the slow embracement of change.
He pointed to big team sports in the US such as Major League Baseball and the NFL which have one governing body, within which there are video and strategy departments.
