Archive | September, 2014

Tennis Server Interview Question – Stats

7 Sep

Your friend is a tennis player and he wants your help optimizing his serve aggression.

In tennis, the server begins play by tossing up a ball and hitting it towards the opponent. If the ball does not land in a designated area, a fault is declared and the server is allowed a second attempt. If that attempt results in a second fault, the point is forfeited and the server loses the point.
 
Your friend has has an aggressive serve and a conservative serve. The aggressive serve lands successfully in the designated area 61.9% of the time and results in a winning point 73.6% of the time. The conservative serve lands 91.1% of the time and results in a winning point 57.6% of the time.
 
How would you advise your friend serve to maximize their probability of winning the point?