IBM - What's the point?

The Isner -v- Mahut match was a multi-record breaking event. The statistics are impressive: The longest tennis match ever played (665 minutes); the longest set ever played; the most games in a set; the most games in a match; the most aces served in a match.

Now, these statistics - while impressive - are relatively easy to record. All that is needed is an ability to count and a clock (and perhaps, as the third day began in something of a Groundhog Day-manner, a calendar).

But while the record-breaking statistics were bandied around the globe, there were many, many deeper levels of data being recorded and subsequently turned into meaningful information.

For example, Monsieur Mahut achieved 284 out of 328 winning points on his first serve. That's 87%. His opponent just 292 out of 361... a mere 81%. However, Isner got 59% of winners on his second serve, compared to Mahut's 55%.

And what about the percentage of serves that went to the right-hand edge of the court that were aces? And what percent of second serves were aimed at left-of-centre? These statistics are significantly harder to track - and virtually impossible with just a Mark One human eyeball.

That's where the IBM data entry team come into play. Teams of specialists log every type of shot that each player makes, to provide live information on each player, as it happens. Where a player serves, where they return, and how the point is then played out - it all gets recorded and the information processed. And all of it instantly.

Watching the game are a team of  highly trained data entry experts. One stands over the keyboard operators and - literally - calls the shots. And because a detailed knowledge of particular types of shots is needed, each of the data entry specialists are picked from some of the best sports colleges from around the country.

They may look fresh-faced and innocent, but these students know more about tennis than most of the commentators and pundits (and ex-players) that we see every evening, discussing the tournament's events of that day.

The information they record then travels down 35 miles of cabling into 'The Bunker', where the IBM systems then process all the data.

Not only is this information then made available - instantly - for television broadcasters, but it is also recorded by the IBM Project Office. All the statistics, together with video footage of the entire match, are then put on DVDs and by the time the match is over and the players have completed post-match interviews, they are presented with the DVD, for them to watch and assess their performance and use in future training sessions with their coaches.

And as for the marathon Isner -v- Mahut match? Well, the data entry team clocked up 5,789 keystrokes - a mammoth achievement.

And, in itself, another world-record result from IBM.