By Chris Oddo | Monday, January 11, 2016
Novak Djokovic has now reached the final of his last 16 events. We explore this and more in this week's Statisfaction.
Photo Source: Qatar Tennis
Welcome to your weekly glimpse inside the numbers of the ATP and WTA Tours. We’ll try to make some sense out of the week that was with a shakeout of what we perceive to be some very telling numbers.
1. Djokovic’s 16th straight final puts him two shy of record
Surprise, surprise. Novak Djokovic cruised through to the Doha title, dropping just 28 games in five matches to claim career title No. 60. The title means that Djokovic has now reached a year’s worth of finals--IN SUCCESSION!. Yeah, it’s been a while since Djokovic wasn't one of the last two men standing at an event. 2015 at Doha, when the Serb fell to Ivo Karlovic in the quarterfinals, was the last time Nole failed to reach a title match.
He’s currently two shy of the Open Era ATP record for consecutive finals reached, which is held by Ivan Lendl at 18 (Federer’s personal record is 17). And that’s just one of what seem to be a never ending plethora of mind-blowing stats produced by the world No. 1. He’s won nine of ten matches vs. Nadal, and now owns the upper hand in the pair’s rivalry for the first time ever, at 24-23. He won a WHOPPING 45 percent of his return games last week. And there’s a few other things worth mentioning as well:
There’s this:
And this:
We could certainly continue rambling on about Djokovic’s stellar stats for a while, but we have decided to wait and put out a separate post later this week. Stay tuned.
2. Nadal has not won a hard court title in two years now
The sky isn’t falling, and we’re here to tell you that Nadal is on the up. Later this week you’ll be able to read our article about Rafael Nadal’s rosy future, but when it comes to hard court titles, well, there simply haven’t been many for Rafa of late. It’s not like he hasn’t been close, but the fact remains: Nadal’s last title on hard court came in Doha in 2014. Since winning that title over Gael Monfils in 2014, Nadal has gone 45-18 on hard, reaching four finals and dropping them all.
That’s a 71.4 percent winning percentage for Nadal on hard court since 2014 Doha (basically two seasons), which stacks up somewhat unfavorably against his all-time hard court winning percentage of 77 percent.
Is it about to turn around?
3. Acing their way to titles
Milos Raonic (48) and Stan Wawrinka (41) are currently the ATP’s No. 1 and 2 in aces in 2016. Each player was remarkably efficient on serve last week, winning 98 percent of service games en route to titles in Brisbane and Chennai, respectively.
4. Vika on Fire!
Victoria Azarenka won the Brisbane title with ease last week and tied a very impressive record in the process. By losing just 17 games all week, Azarenka tied the tournament record for least games surrendered en route to a title. Serena Williams dropped just 17 games in 2013, but she needed a walkover to do that.
Another impressive tidbit on Azarenka’s first title run in well over two years: She won a whopping 74 percent of her return games! She broke in 29 if her 39 return games. That’s just astounding.
5. Hingis and Mirza winning streak hits 26
The winning streak of world No. 1 doubles pair Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza has hit 26 matches after #Santina claimed the Brisbane title with a 7-5, 6-1 decision over Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber. It’s the longest WTA doubles winning streak since Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva won 28 matches in succession in 1994 (21 years!).
Hingis and Mirza have now won ten titles as a team, including the last two Grand Slams. They will look to break the record this week in Sydney.