I’m flying back to Cairo tomorrow, and do you know what is sad about that? Well, in addition to leaving beautiful Lebanon? Yep, I’m going to miss the 2011 Wimbledon final match which is going to happen while I’m 20,000 feet above sea level!
But hey, wait! I may have a shot here! At Wimbledon, matches are played only at day light, so maybe if players were not ready to give up easily on each point, then the match will extend until sunset, and the match would be suspended and resumed on Monday just for my convenience! So what I need to know is how long on average a game between two players will last, and to help me feel better you should write a computer program to determine that!
The result of a tennis match is determined by the number of “sets” each player wins, the first player to win three sets wins the match. Accordingly, all possible match results are 3-0, 3-1 and 3-2. The result of each set is determined by the number of “games” in the set each player wins, the first player to win six or more games with two or more game difference from the opponent wins the set, however if the result of a set (including the last set) leveled at 6-6 then a tie-break game is played to determine the set winner, Accordingly all possible set results are 6-0, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 and 7-6 using a tie breaker game!
During each game (including tie-break), one player has the serve, this means that this player must start the play for all points of the game by hitting the ball, serving the ball is considered a big advantage. Assume that the serve starts at the first player and then alternates after each game till the end.
Given the probability of winning a game on serve for each player against his opponent, and assuming that each game lasts for five minutes, calculate the expected duration of the match.