Predicting a tennis match in progress for sports multimedia

This article demonstrates how spreadsheets can generate the probability of winning a tennis match conditional on the state of the match. Previous models treat games, sets and matches independently. We show how a series of interconnected sheets can be used to repeat these results. The sheets are used in multimedia to predict outcomes for a match in progress, where it is shown how these predictions could benefit the spectator, punter, player and commentator. The development of the predictions could also form an interesting and useful teaching example, and allow students to investigate the properties of tennis scoring systems. OR Insight (2011) 24, 190–204. doi:10.1057/ori.2011.7; published online 1 June 2011