Djokovic's brilliant performance yesterday was a reflection of how much a person can achieve in just one year's time frame. His opponent could just manage to take 2 games from him and he marched into the third round deservedly like the best player of the year.
Last year at the same time, he was considered to be the third favorite with ~10% chance to reach the Finals and this year he is the clear favorite to win the US Open. Amazed by the transformation!
So let’s take a look at his stats and see if the mystery is solved?
US Open Final 2010 | Australian Open Final 2011 | Wimbledon Final 2011 | US Open 2011 II Round | |
1st Serve % | 66% | 67% | 73% | 66% |
Aces | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
Double Faults | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Unforced Errors | 47 | 33 | 12 | 15 |
Winning % on 1st Serve | 64% | 70% | 72% | 68% |
Winning % on 2nd Serve | 46% | 60% | 54% | 63% |
Winners | 45 | 26 | 27 | 31 |
Receiving Points Won | 32% | 51% | 38% | 67% |
Break Point Conversions | 75% | 39% | 83% | 50% |
Net Approaches | 62% | 64% | 73% | 78% |
Fastest Serve Speed | 125 | 129 | 126 | 126 |
Average 1st Serve Speed | 117 | 119 | 117 | 111 |
Average 2nd Serve Speed | 94 | 98 | 93 | 91 |
Clearly the stats above tell us the picture of how this one player single handedly has changed the landscape of tennis. If one looks at the last 3 finals and yesterday's performance, one can see the change in his serve % against US Open 2010 (which he lost to Nadal). His serve points won (by almost 15%) have also improved considerably along with his receiving points won showing how much he has improved his shots. And the most important- His unforced errors have gone down considerably (by 30-35)showing his accuracy on the court.
Just to wonder, at the start of Jan 2011, nobody could even think that Djokovic will storm into the world of tennis uprooting the dominance of the two greatest players in the history of tennis! Calls for pure respect and admiration for Novak Djokovic-Hats off to him!
Also to find out more on this: don't forget to read Where There Is Djokovic. There Is A Way (My article describing how he has managed to achieve this transformation)
( PS- i will be at US Open for the coming weekend so my next post will be on Thursday. Till then, don't forget to join my Facebook Page and Twitter to catch the latest updates, pictures & videos of your favorite players. Stay Tuned!)
If you have any questions- You can mail me at apekshaha@gmail.com