Federer Vs Djokovic- What Does Stats Have To Say?

As we all get ready for the most awaited showdown tomorrow at US Open- Best Player of the Year  vs Greatest Player in the History : Djokovic against Federer , it will be a good idea to look at their stats so far in the tournament and year so far as to see where they both stand and how it compares to possibly the best match of the year-French Open Semi Final.

Roger Federer
	French Open SF	US Open  2011	Year So Far
1st Serve %	65	65	64
Unforced Errors	46	136
Winning % on 1st Serve	77	78	78
Winning % on 2nd Serve	50	57	57
Winners	48	169
Receiving Points Won (%)	40	47	27
Break Point Conversions (%)	16	43	39
Net Approaches (%)	79	68
Novak Djokovic
	French Open SF	US Open  2011	Year So Far
1st Serve %	67	65	66
Unforced Errors	41	110
Winning % on 1st Serve	60	72	75
Winning % on 2nd Serve	61	57	58
Winners	40	111
Receiving Points Won (%)	33	52	39
Break Point Conversions (%)	31	57	48
Net Approaches (%)	50	66

As one can clearly see from above that although Federer has not been playing at his best this year, at French Open he managed to defeat Djokovic who is having a record year and possibly the best season in the history (66-2). If you look at the stats, one will realise that although Federer did not play good this year but he raised his game at FO SF : His receiving points won and net approaches shots won were more than Djokovic in FO SF.

Djokovic played at a level less than his normal best this year as seen from above. His first serve points % won were less than this year average as well as receiving points won which made the difference.

If Federer has to win, he has to play at his current level that he has been playing in US Open  and If Djokovic plays at his current level, he has a major shot tomorrow at winning the match. But we have to remember that tennis is also a battle of minds and Federer has an edge over Djokovic with him being the only player to have defeated him in best of 5 match. But Djokovic was under a lot of pressure in French Open with No.1 position at stake. So this time he will be a bit relieved to play with less at stake.

All in all, it will be a battle of baseline for both these players and the one who can mange to keep his cool, will come out with flying colors. This time I will just end with- May the best player win!

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Also: Federer vs Tsonga- Reasons for Federer's Impressive Win!

Novak Djokovic:New World No.1: How he joined the league of Federer/Nadal

Novak Djokovic: 47-1, 7 titles this year, this man known as Nole to the tennis world has done the unthinkable. A feat achieved today earlier thought as impossible:  For the first time since Feb 1, 2004, there is no Federer/Nadal as World No 1. His lifelong dream has come true. For me, it was simply amazing to see the majestic tennis display by Novak Djokovic who certainly won lot of hearts by his grit and determination today by defeating Tsonga in 4 sets: 7-6.6-2,6-7,6-3.

5 reasons why he won today and became number 1 (a well-deserved throne): 

1) Best Returner in the Game: A lot of people had predicted Tsonga because of his serve and powerful shots. In my previous post, I had said that Djokovic will win because he is the best returner in the game and won’t give away points easily to Tsonga. If Tsonga has powerful shots, so does Nole. And that’s exactly what we saw today. He had 12 break points today. The best moment was to see Djokovic come back one serve down in the first set: 4-5, and hit the best 3 returns of the game and thus the comeback story started.

2) Never Give Up: Tsonga should have been the winner at so many times in the match if it were not for the resilient Djokovic. His never give up attitude even in points unthinkable helped him crush his opponent’s confidence. And the result was there, he got 4-1 up in the second set immediately and inspite of losing the third set, he won the fourth set comfortably. He might have been under a little bit of pressure in third set when he failed to capitalize on 6-5 up,serving for the match and two match points in the tiebreak. But that’s obvious-Dream of his life-You are bound to feel pressure. He again came back to win the match. There was no one stopping Nole today to achieve his destiny.

3) Variety: I have always said that to win on grass court, you need variety. And that’s what was shown By Nole. He was coming on to the net, playing good volleys and classical cross court tennis, had shallow spin on his returns which left Tsonga perplexed. He was not hesitant to try drop shots on occasions to keep Tsonga guessing. He had answers to every shot that Tsonga played today.

4) No Weakness: The way, Nole has played this year has been perfect.47 wins and 1 Loss. And the reason is simple: This player does not have any weakness left in his game. Grass Court was supposed to be his weakest surface and the way he played today clearly showed that it’s past now. At present, he is doing everything possible, sliding, volleying, hitting winners on backhand/forehand, good serves. Above all if one would have seen the game today, he was doing what Nadal/Federer are known for doing: Running their opponents throughout the court and dictating the play.

5) Will to Succeed: After losing to Federer in French Open, he had said he will bounce back. You could see it in his eyes today. When he was 5-3 up, 30-15, he screamed out COME ON and it was stamped then- Nole will become number 1. And that is the most important thing if a person has to achieve his dream- Will TO Succeed. Unlike Federer, he was motivated today and his body language suggested he had come prepared and was not ready to give up even after he let the third set slip away. The SIGN of a TRUE CHAMPION.

Tsonga who had defeated Nadal and Federer in his last 20 days was easily overcome by Nole by his impeccable tennis today: Something which he has shown again and again this year. He has become the new NADAL of tennis who has no weaknesses and is afraid of no one. He has become physically strong and mentally tough- learning at every step in his career. Who would have thought him as World No. 1 at the start of the year? Is this the start of new era in men’s tennis? Time will tell but one thing is for sure, tennis fans all over the world have an amazing time ahead. Time for FEDALOVIC!


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Djokovic/Tsonga: Career Statistics & Wimbledon Men's Semifinal Preview: Part 2

Shocking as it was to see Fed tumbling out in QF, we cannot take away the glory from Tsonga who has been knocking on the doors of tennis since long but could not sustain because of his injuries.

Novak Djokovic vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga:

Both of these players have one thing in common: they have managed to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam in five setters. 

Djokovic who has been the player of the year so far had a topsy turvy QF ride against the young talented Tomic. One match here and there does not take away the fact that he has been playing the best tennis of his career this year. With Federer gone (who proved to be a thorn in French Open), he will be a bit relieved and more confident of reaching the finals and claiming No.1 spot in the world. 

He has Tsonga in his path who is singing his own song after playing the match of his life. Tsonga will be brimming with confidence. He is the same person who defeated Nadal at Queens this year and with Federer also in his list, he knows he has the game to defeat Djokovic too. Plus he is the crowd favorite whose victory dance has become quite famous with the fans.

But Djokovic who is the best returner in the game right now will not allow him to go away with easy points on his serve. And he will be well prepared for power hitting by Tsonga after seeing Federer lose his way in the third set of QF. It will all depend on how prepared Djokovic is to handle the pressure of World no.1. Will he crumble or rise? Time will tell us.

  Let’s Look at their Career Statistics:

Name	Novak Djokovic	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Current Ranking	World no.2	World no. 19
Head to Head Record	2	5
Grand Slam Record	1	1
Wimbledon Record	First Meeting
2011 Win Loss Record	46-1	27-13
Career W/L Record	371-106	161-76
Titles (2011)	7	0

Tsonga is leading Djokovic with a 5-2 record but that was before Djokovic started his dream run this year. Last match was played in Australian Open 2010, where Tsonga defeated Nole in 5 sets. That was before Djokovic’s uprisal in Davis Cup in 2010. It will be an interesting match to see two gutsy players playing it out with serves and winners.

Novak Djokovic: "I can play a lot better than I did. I've been up and down but now it's going to go up”

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: "I'm the type of player who likes these big moments...so I hope I can have some more”

My Opinion: Novak Djokovic will come out to be the winner if only he is ready to take on the responsibilities of being World no.1

Reason: 

1)  He has been playing best tennis of his career (46-1) (Also he is currently the best returner in the game with no weakness in his game).

2) He will be better prepared for Tsonga’s serve and power hitting. Also he will have the psychological edge of not playing Federer in the Semi Final which will in turn make him feel relieved and play his natural game.


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Also Click Here For:Nadal/Murray: Career Statistics & Wimbledon Men's Semifinal Preview: Part 1

Nadal/Murray: Career Statistics & Wimbledon Men's Semifinal Preview: Part 1

With Federer out, the Big-Four-Semifinal-Dream has been shattered. But still we cannot take away the interesting matches lined up tomorrow in Men’s Semifinal. With 3 of the Semifinalist from 2010, Tsonga is a new addition this year in place of Berdych after playing the match of his life.

Rafael Nadal vs. Andy Murray:

Both these players are playing imperious tennis and it seems nothing can go wrong for them. It would be pretty interesting to see how they come out and play tomorrow. The only concern for both the players would not be tennis but the injuries that they picked during their previous matches in Wimbledon.

Nadal after having a MRI was unsure of his chances to play but seemed pretty good in his QF, running freely after taking medications for his foot. That is good news for fans of Nadal who has become the hot favorite to win back to back grand slams (French Open + Wimbledon) 3 times with Federer out of the door. 

Whereas Andy Murray who is carrying the burden of 75 years of history of the nation seems to be the silent underdog amongst the top 4. The result will depend on Andy Murray’s pressure handling abilities. In the past we have seen him tumble down at grand stages but who knows if he can hold himself and not allow Nadal to control the long rallies by imposing his own kind of play, we might have a upset at hand. Not to forget, he was the only player (except Federer) who had come close to defeating Djokovic (who has defeated Nadal 4 times this year). So he has the game. It’s all about nerves now for him.

  Let’s Look at their Career Statistics:

Name	Rafael Nadal	Andy Murray
Current Ranking	World No. 1	World no. 4
Head to Head Record	11	4
Grand Slam Record	4	2
Wimbledon Record	2	0
2011 Win Loss Record	50-7	27-8
Career W/L Record	522-108	294-102
Titles (2011)	3	1

With Nadal having won 11 out of 15 times and also their last 2 Wimbledon encounters in 2008/2010, he is certainly the favorite to win the Semi Final.

Rafael Nadal: "Last year I beat Andy here in the semi-finals, but it was a very close match, even if it was in straight sets. For sure I always enjoy playing these kind of matches." - Nadal

Andy Murray: “I just have to have a better game plan -- go out there and play well and serve well and believe, and I'll have a chance."

My Opinion: Andy Murray can cause the upset of the day if he can play his natural game.

Reason:

1)  He has become mentally and physically stronger than last year.

2)  He will be playing in front of his home crowd. If only he can use this to his advantage, we might have a champion from England after 75 years.


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(Click Here for: Djokovic/Tsonga: Career Statistics & Wimbledon Men's Semifinal Preview: Part 2)