jen_legendary
Regular Member
I'm doing a comparison between BWF and ATP World Tour, using data from both tours to determine which one is more competitive. This is part of the working process which I found quite interesting and wanted to share.
Taking the two world no.1 (as of 13 May 2018) as case studies, looking at their playing patterns and results in the current ranking period to compare how well they had to play in the last 52 weeks to be no.1. Tournaments are listed in order from latest to oldest.

Competitiveness
1. Tournaments played
We can see that in ATP Tour (left), there are 16 mandatory tournaments which are counted towards the ranking, while this number is only 10 in BWF Tour.
Nevertheless, Roger only played 12 and still managed to be no.1 (Unattended tournaments counted as zero points).
Meanwhile, Viktor attended 11 tournaments in the ranking period to get the top 10 best results counted towards ranking points.
=> Competitive Point For: BWF
2. Points Won Percentage
As a result, Roger only needed to win 50% of (maximum) available points to be no.1, while Viktor had to win a much higher percentage of 76%. This percentage is even higher if I had excluded Sudirman Cup, where available points could not be precisely determined (I settled by using points won by Lee Chong Wei, who won the most points amongst MS players).
It’s also interesting that Roger afforded to miss tournaments with significant points available: 1 Grand Slam (2000) and 2 Masters (1000).
=> Competitive Point For: BWF
3. Matches Won Percentage
Roger edges out in this criteria, winning 89% of matches played, while Viktor only claimed victory in 82% of matches. If numbers adjusted to exclude the uncounted tournament (Hong Kong), this number would be 84% for Viktor, still less than Roger’s.
=> Competitive Point For: ATP
Conclusion: BWF Tour seems to win out on competitiveness, even just for the fact that Roger afforded to only play in 12/16 of counted tournaments and miss out on 4500 worth of points (more than half of his current ranking points). Of course he performed exceptionally at tournaments where he did play, but Viktor’s winning percentage is not much inferior.
Playing volume:
1. Tournament played: 12-11
=> ATP
2. Matches played: 56-39
=> ATP
In terms of playing volume, number of tournaments played is similar between the two athletes. However, Roger played significantly more matches, thus win out on playing volume. This is partly due to the fact that there are usually larger draws in ATP tournaments (especially in Grand Slams).
Conclusion: Roger Federer (ATP World Tour) wins out on playing volume.
That’s all I could found out for now. There are of course many limitations to this comparison but I’d still love to hear your opinions. Any suggestions/ideas on where I can improve is also welcomed.
Taking the two world no.1 (as of 13 May 2018) as case studies, looking at their playing patterns and results in the current ranking period to compare how well they had to play in the last 52 weeks to be no.1. Tournaments are listed in order from latest to oldest.

Competitiveness
1. Tournaments played
We can see that in ATP Tour (left), there are 16 mandatory tournaments which are counted towards the ranking, while this number is only 10 in BWF Tour.
Nevertheless, Roger only played 12 and still managed to be no.1 (Unattended tournaments counted as zero points).
Meanwhile, Viktor attended 11 tournaments in the ranking period to get the top 10 best results counted towards ranking points.
=> Competitive Point For: BWF
2. Points Won Percentage
As a result, Roger only needed to win 50% of (maximum) available points to be no.1, while Viktor had to win a much higher percentage of 76%. This percentage is even higher if I had excluded Sudirman Cup, where available points could not be precisely determined (I settled by using points won by Lee Chong Wei, who won the most points amongst MS players).
It’s also interesting that Roger afforded to miss tournaments with significant points available: 1 Grand Slam (2000) and 2 Masters (1000).
=> Competitive Point For: BWF
3. Matches Won Percentage
Roger edges out in this criteria, winning 89% of matches played, while Viktor only claimed victory in 82% of matches. If numbers adjusted to exclude the uncounted tournament (Hong Kong), this number would be 84% for Viktor, still less than Roger’s.
=> Competitive Point For: ATP
Conclusion: BWF Tour seems to win out on competitiveness, even just for the fact that Roger afforded to only play in 12/16 of counted tournaments and miss out on 4500 worth of points (more than half of his current ranking points). Of course he performed exceptionally at tournaments where he did play, but Viktor’s winning percentage is not much inferior.
Playing volume:
1. Tournament played: 12-11
=> ATP
2. Matches played: 56-39
=> ATP
In terms of playing volume, number of tournaments played is similar between the two athletes. However, Roger played significantly more matches, thus win out on playing volume. This is partly due to the fact that there are usually larger draws in ATP tournaments (especially in Grand Slams).
Conclusion: Roger Federer (ATP World Tour) wins out on playing volume.
That’s all I could found out for now. There are of course many limitations to this comparison but I’d still love to hear your opinions. Any suggestions/ideas on where I can improve is also welcomed.
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