Novak Djokovic registered one of the greatest seasons in tennis history, claiming 11 titles, including a record six ATP Masters 1000 and three Grand Slams events, finishing the season with an 82-6 match record.
Only Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, and Roger Federer have finished a campaign with as many or more titles and a better winning percentage.
Djokovic held the #1 spot during the entire 2015 season, the first time anyone has done so since Roger Federer accomplished it in 2007.
The ten-time Grand Slam champion also broke the record for most consecutive finals contested in one single season as he reached 15 in the 16 tournaments he played in 2015.
He became the first player ever to win four consecutive ATP World Tour Final events while finishing for the fourth time in five years at the world’s #1 spot.
However, what does Djokovic do so well that makes him seem an unbeatable force or at least one step ahead of the golden four group (Nadal, Federer, Murray) and two/three steps away from every player on the ATP Tour?
The three things you should know about the Djokovic 2015 Kingdom
Rallying is not an option; Djokovic is always in control
Engaging in a rally with the world’s #1 is not an option, mainly because both of his strokes are a massive force and very often deadly. As a consequence, the chances of overpowering him are slim.
That is why baseline tactics are almost always ineffective against the Serb because they are designed to grab control of your opponent during the rally, something almost impossible to achieve against the 28-year-old.
Baseline tactics are primarily used to move your opponents around the court to open up spaces with cross-court strokes, making them struggle to gain control of the point; this would lead into a tiring reach that will hopingly turn into a forced error by the opponent or a down the line winner by the tactician. But, to do so you must overpower to control the pace of the game.
However, Djokovic clearly does not allow this to happen, as he grasped and overpowered nearly every opponent in the 2015 season.
A recent example would be the ATP World Tour final event semifinal when he crushed Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-3.
Nadal, who was undefeated in his path to the semifinals, insisted with his baseline high topspin game plan.
It was a hopeless cause as he inflicted no damage to Djokovic, who seemed comfortable during both sets, as Nadal’s rally speed was no match for the Serbian machine.
Nadal was dispatched in less than 80 minutes. He did not claim a set against Djokovic in 2015; they played three times including the quarterfinals at the French Open, which Djokovic won 7-5, 63, 6-1.
The exception
There is one player that was able to defeat Djokovic engaging with hard-hitting ground strokes.
Stan Wawrinka, who is considered one of the hardest hitting players and to have one of the best/natural backhands on Tour, was the only player capable of defeating the Serb in four sets with a baseline tactic which stripped Djokovic of the French Open title and his Grand Slam run.
But only one defeated Djokovic at his own game.
The best return on Tour
As explained, both of Djokovic’s strokes are deadly, and they are even more frightening to opponents when he takes advantage of them during his returns.
Djokovic has crushed first and second serves throughout his path on the Tour, giving him the edge even when he faces some of the best serves in the game.
With stats revealed by the ATP Tour after the 2015 season, Djokovic sits in first place with 34% return games won in 82 matches. (David Ferrer has a higher rate 35% but with 16 fewer matches.)
Moreover, Djokovic managed to win 33% of the points when returning first serves to locate him at the top of the list tied with Federer, Murray, and Nadal.
Rule: Do not miss your first serve
If players think they are in trouble with their first serve, then they should be terrified when approaching world’s number one with their second.
When receiving second serves, Djokovic leads the ATP, winning an impressive 57% of the points.
That means that out of ten second serves a player launches at Djokovic, the Serbian will win almost six points.
Pure pressure!
As Pete Sampras said: “You’re only as good as your second serve.”
During the 2015 season, Novak won 90% of his service games, positioning himself within the top five on Tour.
The Serb is also in the top five with a 66% first serve percentage, winning 74% of the points and placing him 24th among players; impressive, but not Djokovic standard.
However, what separates the world’s #1 from the crowd is that he won an astonishing 60% of the points played while starting with his second serve, claiming 1,307 points in 86 matches, followed by John Isner’s 942 points won, which reflected in a 58% over 68 matches.
Djokovic has not ranked outside of the top five in this category since 2011, demonstrating that pressure is well handled by the world’s #1.
The Code Breakers or lucky ones?
Ivo Karlovic (Doha), Roger Federer (Dubai, Cincinnati, and group stage World Tour finals), Stan Wawrinka (Roland Garros) and Andy Murray (Canada) were the only ones to solve the Djokovic enigma during the 2015 season.
How do you defeat Novak? will be explained in a future article, but it seems like Federer could know the answer.
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