Lewis v Williams

Venus Williams takes it, 8–4 on categories

Williams wins on first-serve points won %. Lewis’s case rests on first serve in %, but it isn’t enough to swing it. WTA Tour career: Lewis 5 matches, Williams 1,096 matches.

• Williams averages 3.1 aces a match to Lewis’ 1.4 — 2.2 times as many.
• Williams has the better sets won %: 69.3 to Lewis’s 40.
• Williams averages 1.6 sets won a match to Lewis’ 0.8 — 2 times as many.
• Winners’ edge: Williams’s teams won 73%, Lewis’s team won 40% of the matches they played.
• Longevity: Williams has 1,096 matches across 33 seasons, Lewis 5 in 2 — the averages matter more than the totals here.
• Small sample: Lewis (5 matches) — treat the averages with care.
• Not every stat was recorded for every match (grand slam titles): those averages use only the games that logged them.
• Different eras: the game, the rules and the stat-keeping have all changed between their careers.

Built only from games in our stats database. A read of the numbers, not a tip.