PARIS — The ultimate contradiction in tennis is the unforced error.
This statistic suggests players should not commit errors, but tennis is a game of errors much more than winners.
Entering the singles semifinals at the French Open this year, 67 percent of the men’s points and 69 percent of the women’s points ended in errors.
But next to nothing happens in a match without some form of pressure. A player marginally leans to the left in the middle of a point, and the opponent catches it in his or her peripheral vision and changes a shot at the last second seeking a strategic advantage.