Break points are perhaps the most key part of a tennis match and both saving and winning them is a crucial part of a player’s skillset.
For a sport that spends a lot of time thinking about stats, it is no surprise that the ATP has identified who is best when it comes to break points.
According to their official stats, each player has been given an ‘Under Pressure Rating’ which is calculated by combing the percentage of break points converted and saved with the percentage of tie breaks won and deciding sets won.
Using all that, they have calculated who keeps cool in the most high-pressure moments and these are the top 10 from the last year.
10. Reilly Opelka
Kicking us off is the American Reilly Opelka who just beats Novak Djokovic onto this list.
Opelka’s best skill comes at saving break points with his 72%, only beaten by Sinner in the past year.
However, he is let down by converting just 30.8% of his own break point chances and his deciding set percentage is also a little low at 60%.
Break points converted: 30.8%
Break points saved: 72.0%
Tie breaks won: 64.3%
Deciding sets won: 60.0%
Under Pressure Rating: 227.1
9. Jenson Brooksby
Another American comes in the form of Jenson Brooksby who, unlike Opelka, does not have one outstanding skill but instead is good in all the departments.
His break points converted record at 40.1% is the 23rd best on the tour, while he has saved 61.2% of the break points he faced losing.
Break points converted: 40.1%
Break points saved: 61.2%
Tie breaks won: 69.2%
Deciding sets won: 58.3%
Under Pressure Rating: 228.8
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8. Flavio Cobolli
The first European on this list is Coblli with the world No.22 performing well across all four metrics.
The best of them is his 65.5% of tie breaks won, which is the 13th best on the tour.
Break points converted: 37.1%
Break points saved: 60.0%
Tie breaks won: 65.5%
Deciding sets won: 66.7%
Under Pressure Rating: 229.3
7. Felix Auger-Aliassime
Canadian Auger-Aliassime features at seventh on the list, being consistently good across break points saved, tie breaks won, and deciding sets won.
His break points converted could, though, do with a little work at 33.3%.
Break points converted: 33.3%
Break points saved: 67.2%
Tie breaks won: 65.8%
Deciding sets won: 69.6%
Under Pressure Rating: 235.9
6. Grigor Dimitrov
Veteran Dimitrov clocks in at sixth with strong numbers across all four data measurements.
His best is the 70% of deciding sets he has won, which is the seventh best on tour.
Break points converted: 38.4%
Break points saved: 63.3%
Tie breaks won: 69.2%
Deciding sets won: 70.0%
Under Pressure Rating: 240.9
5. Ben Shelton
The third, but crucially highest, American on this list is Ben Shelton whose best stats come in break points saved and deciding sets won.
At 68.8%, his break points saved is the sixth best on tour, while the 75% he scored for deciding sets won is good enough for fourth.
His weakest area is tie breaks won, which at 55.3% is only the 36th best on the tour.
Break points converted: 42.3%
Break points saved: 68.8%
Tie breaks won: 55.3%
Deciding sets won: 75.0%
Under Pressure Rating: 241.4
4. Jack Draper
Draper appears at No.4 with a very strong tie breaks won percentage. At 71.4%, he is the fourth best on the tour, while 68.8% of deciding sets won is the 11th best.
One area to improve would be his break points won percentage, which at 39.6%, is the 26th best on the tour.
Break points converted: 39.6%
Break points saved: 64.0%
Tie breaks won: 71.4%
Deciding sets won: 68.8%
Under Pressure Rating: 243.8
3. Jannik Sinner
Sinner appears at three on this list with his stats impressive across the board.
His best is the 72.5% of break points he has saved, which is the highest tally on the tour, while he has also been triumphant in 80% of the tie breaks he has faced.
In terms of break points converted, he is second only behind Denis Shapovalov, but it is in deciding set % that he drops down.
His tally of 50% is only the 50th best on the tour, which is why he is No.3 on this list rather than topping it.
Break points converted: 45.6%
Break points saved: 72.5%
Tie breaks won: 80.0%
Deciding sets won: 50.0%
Under Pressure Rating: 248.1
2. Carlos Alcaraz
Pipping his long-time rival, Alcaraz comes in at No.2.
In the last 52 weeks, Alcaraz has actually been worse than Sinner at break points converted and saved as well as tie breaks, but it is in the percentage of deciding sets won that he comes up trumps.
His tally of 78.9% won is behind only Djokovic and Valentin Vacherot for the year, and it has propelled him up the leaderboard.
Break points converted: 44.4%
Break points saved: 65.8%
Tie breaks won: 64.0%
Deciding sets won: 78.9%
Under Pressure Rating: 253.1
1. Valentin Vacherot
Now, Vacherot’s topping of this list should be taken with a pinch of salt considering he has only played 14 matches this year, but in that time, he has won 100% of the tie breaks he has featured in.
His remarkable run to success in Shanghai saw him featured in four tie breaks, and he was triumphant in all of them, including against Holger Rune and T. Griekspoor.
It is that stat that has sent him to the top, but his deciding set percentage at 80% is also very good.
At the other end of the scale, 33.3% of break points converted is on the lower side of things, but 54.8% of break points saved is a respectable tally.
Break points converted: 33.3%
Break points saved: 54.8%
Tie breaks won: 100.0%
Deciding sets won: 80.0%
Under Pressure Rating: 268.1
Read next: Has Carlos Alcaraz been given a huge Paris Masters advantage?
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