By Ferruccio Roberti
62- The percentage of weeks Djokovic has occupied the top spot of the ATP rankings since July 4th 2011 – the day after his first Wimbledon triumph, when he rocketed to number 1 for the first time in his career – to today.
Such a figure could have been even more impressive if a shoulder injury hadn’t hindered the second part of 2017 and if he hadn’t missed 2 Majors and 4 Masters 1000 events in 2023 due to his Covid vaccination stance, (and if Wimbledon points hadn’t been stripped).
Other striking figures outline what he has accomplished since July 2011: he has won 19 of the 42 Majors he played (45.2%) and 29 Masters 1000 events out of 75 (38.6%). In this period he has also won 190 of the 245 matches against players ranked in the top 10, which means a stunning 77.6%. If we look at the total amount of matches this percentage rises to 87.2%, 670 wins of 768 played. Of the players who were in the top 20 when Djokovic became No.1, Nadal, Murray, Monfils, Gasquet and Wawrinka are still on the tour, whereas if we consider the current top 20 only Nadal and Carreno Busta were already pro when Djokovic began his reign.
Each of the three greats, namely Djokovic, Federer and Nadal, has traced their own fantastic astral orbit and making comparisons is quite trivial. Just focusing on the period since Djokovic became No. 1, we can notice that only Nadal, who is one year older than Djokovic, can boast similar, yet less impressive, numbers. Over these twelve years, Rafa has reaped 12 Majors (of the 39 he played, which means 30.77%), 17 Masters 1000s and has occupied the top spot of the rankings for 107 weeks. However, he lost 18 of 31 matches he played against the Serbian and defeated him only twice when not playing on his favourite surface, clay.
Federer was born almost six years before Djokovic and was about to turn 30 one month after Nole became No. 1. The age gap inevitably has affected the balance of their rivalry. In the period we are analysing, the immense Swiss champion added 4 majors and 11 Masters 1000 to his trophy cabinet, was No. 1 for 25 weeks and won 9 of the 27 matches he played against Djokovic.
Djokovic was 35 years, 8 months and 6 days old on January 29th,2023 the day he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the Australian Open. But the Serbian has yet to beat the record of the oldest Grand Slam Champion and overtake six players. The record holder is Ken Rosewall, who won the 1972 Australian Open aged 37 years, 1 month and 24 days. He is also still to smash the record as the oldest number 1, held by Roger Federer at 36 years 10 months and 10 days.
What is most impressive about Djokovic is the level of his performances: not only he can rise to stunningly high peaks, which is not uncustomary for champions aged 36, but he is able to maintain consistency. He has won 38 of his last 40 matches and all of his 11 matches against a top 10 player.
| Part. | Titles | Finals. | Tot. matches | Won | Lost | % Won | % Sets won | % Games won | % Tie Breaks | |
| Australian Open | 18 | 10 | 0 | 97 | 89 | 8 | 91.8 | 82.9 | 62.3 | 63.8 |
| Roland Garros | 18 | 2 | 4 | 101 | 85 | 16 | 84.2 | 77.1 | 60.2 | 55.9 |
| Wimbledon | 17 | 7 | 1 | 96 | 86 | 10 | 89.6 | 78.7 | 58.6 | 67.2 |
| US Open | 16 | 3 | 6 | 94 | 81 | 13 | 86.2 | 76.0 | 60.0 | 61.4 |
| Indian Wells | 14 | 5 | 1 | 59 | 50 | 9 | 84.7 | 76.3 | 59.7 | 69.6 |
| Miami | 13 | 6 | 1 | 51 | 44 | 7 | 86.3 | 82.1 | 61.6 | 83.3 |
| Monte Carlo | 15 | 2 | 2 | 48 | 35 | 13 | 72.9 | 67.0 | 58.0 | 80.0 |
| Madrid | 12 | 3 | 0 | 39 | 30 | 9 | 76.9 | 69.6 | 56.0 | 50.0 |
| Roma | 16 | 6 | 6 | 74 | 64 | 10 | 86.5 | 76.0 | 59.6 | 63.2 |
| Montreal/ Toronto | 11 | 4 | 1 | 44 | 37 | 7 | 84.1 | 79.4 | 58.0 | 73.3 |
| Cincinnati | 14 | 2 | 5 | 52 | 40 | 12 | 76.9 | 71.1 | 56.3 | 61.1 |
| Shanghai | 9 | 4 | 0 | 39 | 34 | 5 | 87.2 | 81.4 | 61.4 | 71.4 |
| Parigi Bercy | 16 | 6 | 3 | 54 | 45 | 9 | 83.3 | 74.2 | 58.3 | 70 |
| O2 Arena (ATP Finals) | 11 | 4 | 2 | 46 | 34 | 12 | 73.9 | 68.3 | 56.5 | 70.6 |
| Dubai | 12 | 5 | 1 | 50 | 43 | 7 | 86.0 | 78.4 | 59.8 | 69.2 |
There is not one centre court which hasn’t seen Djokovic lift the trophy. He is the only player in tennis history who has won all the Majors, all the Masters 1000’s and the ATP finals at least twice. His ten Australian Opens, the tournament where he has reaped more titles than any other player, suggest that the Rod Laver Arena is likely the court where he would elect to play the match of his life. The table above shows Djokovic’s stats in the most important tournaments of the tour as well as those where he has played a significant amount of matches, such as Dubai.
The chart confirms that Djokovic has achieved his best performance record at the Australian Open. Not only is it the tournament he has most often participated in (18 times, just like in Roland Garros), but it’s where he has achieved the highest percentage of matches (91.8%) and sets (82.9) won. His thriving figures on the Church Road courts come as no surprise too, since he is a seven-time Wimbledon winner. Indeed, his excellent stats in Rome, at the Italian Open are slightly more unexpected: it’s his most successful tournament on clay and his fourth best (preceded only by AO, Wimbledon and Shanghai). Anyway, his figures are outstanding all over. Only in Monte Carlo, Madrid, Cincinnati and the ATP Finals he hasn’t won at least 80% of his matches. Not too bad…
Translated by Kingsley Elliot Kaye
