Home advantage in tennis exists independent of competition level, gender and COVID-19 restrictions: evidence from German team tennis competitions

Abstract

ABSTRACT While home advantage (HA) is a well-supported phenomenon in sports, the mechanisms responsible for its occurrence are not conclusively known. Research on HA in individual and amateur sport is scarce so far and situations where several plausible mechanisms do not apply are rare. Motivated by these aspects, the present study aims to investigate HA in an individual sport with a highly limited influence of three major factors (spectators, referees and travel) by investigating nearly 33,000 matches in almost 4000 tennis competitions from Germany. Based on separate analysis of competition levels (amateur to professional sports), competitions of both genders and competitions played before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, we find that HA exists in team tennis and its degree is not significantly influenced by these situational variables. These results support the notion that, in contrast to a widespread belief, an influence of spectators on athletes or referees is not a prerequisite for the existence of HA, at least in this sport. Moreover, HA seems to be a very general phenomenon existing widely independent of situational factors, suggesting that at least a significant part of HA is caused by physiological or psychological aspects like territoriality, expectations or learned behaviour. HIGHLIGHTS - Nearly 33,000 tennis matches in almost 4000 team competitions have been analysed. - Strong evidence for the existence of home advantage in tennis independent of competition level, gender and COVID-19 restrictions. - Results are evidence that home advantage exists in individual sports. - Results suggest that spectator support or a spectator-induced referee bias are not required for home advantage.