ATP: Novak Djokovic - Lord of the short points
When should a player take the initiative in a rally? The statistics of the ATP show: the earlier, the more promising.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Feb 04, 2019, 12:08 pm
In decisive moments of a big tournament, a serve on the line, a backhand pass, or maybe the net tape, is still decisive in individual cases. Seen over the distance of a Grand Slam tournament, however, trends can be identified that should also be understood as a tactical stimulus for all professional and amateur players. The bottom line from the Australian Open 2019 is: keep the points as short as possible.
This applies not only, but also particularly to the Dominator of Melbourne, Novak Djokovic. The Serb scored on his way to the seventh title especially in those rallies that did not last longer than four strokes. The difference between won and lost points for Djokovic was 202. And the best ratio was achieved by the industry leader in the short rallies (plus 112).
| Length of rally | Points won | Lost points | difference | Percentage difference |
| 0 to 4 beats | 422 | 310 | +112 | 55% |
| 5 to 9 beats | 152 | 108 | +44 | 22% |
| more than 9 strokes | 113 | 67 | +46 | 23% |
| total | 687 | 485 | +202 | 100% |
However, Djokovic argues that he also wins two thirds of his points in rallies with more than nine strokes, and even 68 percent in rallies between five and nine strokes.
In general, however, the statisticians of the ATP noted that the match winners succeeded above all in the short rallies. Whoever left Melbourne as the winner won more short rallies in 85 percent of the matches - with more than nine shots the ratio was only 62 percent.
| Length of the rally | Winner won more points than losers |
| 0 to 4 beats | 85% |
| 5 to 8 beats | 70% |
| more than 9 strokes | 62% |