The Grand Slams provide a unique challenge for the ATP World Tour’s stars, as players compete in a best-of-five set format. And judging by historical success, one superstar has risen to that challenge exceedingly well, which may prove important during the Roland Garros fortnight. Novak Djokovic is second among active players in both fifth-set win-rate (75.7%) and five-set victories (28-9) according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone — the only other player in the Top 5 of both categories is Feliciano Lopez (68.6%, 24-11). Only Roger Federer, 30-20, has won more five-setters than Djokovic. Most Five-Set Wins Among Active Players Player Five-Set Record Roger Federer 30-20 Novak Djokovic 28-9 Marin Cilic 27-13 Stan Wawrinka 26-20 Feliciano Lopez 24-11 In recent...
Rafael Nadal has become the fourth player in ATP World Tour history (since 1973) to record 400 clay-court match wins after his semi-final victory over David Goffin on Saturday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. While Argentina’s Guillermo Vilas (659), Spain’s Manuel Orantes (502) and Austria’s Thomas Muster (422) have all won more matches on the red dirt, no player has achieved a better winning percentage on the surface than Nadal, according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone. Over the past 15 seasons, ever since his first tour-level clay-court victory over Karel Kucera of Slovakia in the 2003 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters first round, Nadal has compiled a 400-35 match record on terre battue – a winning percentage of 91.9 – and...
Not every match goes according to plan for the ATP World Tour’s best. And when it doesn’t, you will not be surprised to find out which players rise to the occasion and find a way to win regardless. According to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, four players who have reached the top spot of the ATP Rankings, lead active players in the rate of matches won after losing the first set. Kei Nishikori, who has climbed as high as World No. 4, is fifth on the list. The common misconception is that the best do not face adversity. Take Federer, for example — the Swiss went 92-5 in a historic 2006...
Roger Federer has been one of the premier hard-court performers on the ATP World Tour throughout his career. But since the beginning of 2017, when the Swiss was as low as No. 17 in the ATP Rankings, he has far exceeded his already-impressive average win-rate on the surface. In fact, Federer has led the Tour with a 52-4 record (92.9 per cent) on hard courts during that span, winning seven of his nine tour-level titles on the surface since the start of last year. Five of those seven triumphs came at either an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event (2017 Indian Wells, 2017 Miami, 2017 Shanghai) or a Grand Slam (2017 & 2018 Australian Open). But perhaps what is most...
The ability to quickly adjust to different surfaces and conditions is a necessity on the 64-tournament circuit. Here's a look at some of the best performers in 2017 by surface this year: Clay Courts (minimum 10 matches) 'King of Clay' Rafael Nadal recorded historic 10th titles at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and at Roland Garros. He also won a fifth Mutua Madrid Open trophy and now has a record 53 red dirt crowns. Dominic Thiem also excelled, compiling a 24-5 (.828) mark on the surface (1-2 record in finals). Player W-L Record Winning % Rafael Nadal 24-1 .960 Dominic Thiem 24-5 .828 Albert Ramos-Vinolas 22-13 .629 Pablo Carreno Busta 20-9 .690 Diego Schwartzman 17-12 .586...