7 reasons why Novak Djokovic scored his 31st Wimbledon win

Novak Djokovic is desperate to win his 24th Grand Slam singles title and when you analyse these fascinating statistics from his latest step towards the trophy, you’ll see why he’s the outright favourite

With the help of Craig O’Shannessy of Brain Game Tennis who was on Centre Court as Djokovic faced his old adversary Stan Wawrinka, Tennishead details the key elements of a battle that promised much but didn’t live up to it’s expectations thanks to a sublime performance form the Serb and some serious tactical errors from the Swiss.

Novak Djokovic sailed on his merry way into the fourth round of Wimbledon last night with a 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(5) victory over Stan Wawrinka. It finished late so there is a good chance you may not have seen it. Here are seven quick stats that will tell you all you need to know.

1: Stan Lost The Baseline Battle

Baseline Points Won

• Djokovic = 55% (46/83)
• Wawrinka = 38% (39/103)

Djokovic is on a 31-match win streak at Wimbledon. Nobody has won more than 50% of baseline points during that period. Wawrinka, who is 38-years-old, was not going to be the first. It was a tactical error to stand at the baseline 103 times thinking things were going to go your way against the base baseliner in the world.

2: Stan Lost The Net Battle

Stan did not serve and volley once and only made it to the net 10 times. That combo is never going to work against Djokovic at Wimbledon. Got to come after him

Net Points Won

• Djokovic = 81% (25/31)
• Wawrinka = 30% (3/10)

Novak is always looking to jump on a short ball and finish at the net, which he did 31 times. Wawrinka avoided the net and it cost him dearly.

3: Wawrinka First Serve Percentage

• Set 1 = 35% (9/26)
• Set 2 = 39% (11/28)
• Set 3 = 50% (19/38)
• Total = 42% (39/92)

Djokovic made 64% of his first serves. Wawrinka made 42%. Wawrinka got broken four times and Djokovic was not broken. The tournament average for first serves in 64%. Wawrinka’s first serve simply didn’t turn up.

4: Wawrinka Won 15 Points Returning

• 1st Serve Return Points Won = 5/48
• 2nd Serve Return Points Won = 10/27

Wawrinka could not get into Djokovic’s service games at all. He never sniffed a break point. He never got to Deuce on Djokovic’s serve.

5: Rallies Length

• 0-4 Shots = Djokovic 52 / Wawrinka 48
• 5-8 Shots = Djokovic 30 / Wawrinka 13
• 9+ Shots = Djokovic 15 / Wawrinka 9

Wawrinka did a commendable job of staying with Djokovic in short rallies, only trailing by four points overall (52-48). But when the rally went five shots or longer, Djokovic dominated 45-22. Wawrinka is typically so strong in longer rallies. Didn’t happen yesterday.

6: Winners

• Djokovic = 38
• Wawrinka = 12

Djokovic hit more than triple the amount of winners than Wawrinka. The Swiss used to belt opponents all over the court. The shoe is now well and truly on the other foot against the game’s elite.

7: Break Points

Djokovic didn’t face a break point for the match. Wawrinka faced nine. The huge problem for him is was that he missed his first serve on seven of nine. Giving Djokovic looks at your second serve on break point is about the toughest way to start the point in tennis.

You may not have seen the match, but with these stats and analysis, you certainly have a feel for what it probably looked like. Lots of pain for Stan.

Wawrinka did lead 5-3 in the third set tie-break but Djokovic closed the door by winning the last four points in a row.

Djokovic now plays Hubert Hurkacz from Poland in the fourth round. If he gets through that, either Alexander Bublik or Andrey Rublev will be waiting in the quarters.

For free access to Craig O’Shannessy’s complete courses on ‘25 Golden Rules of Singles‘ and ‘25 Golden Rules of Doubles‘, join thousands of other keen amateur tennis players and become a member of the Tennishead Club. Once you join we’ll immediately send you ground breaking coaching advice, a welcome pack including a full ASICS head to toe outfit including shoes, plus loads more. And it costs as little as £79/$99 to join with membership benefits worth over £600/$700 per year!

Craig O’Shannessy is the creator of Brain Game Tennis. For 20 years he’s been involved in tennis as a coach to players like Kevin Anderson and even Dustin Brown when he famously beat Rafa Nadal at Wimbledon. More recently Craig’s been working as a match analyst at Wimbledon and for the ATP Tour. He has also used the unique insights from his match analysis software dartfish to guide players such as Novak Djokovic with analysis of opponents and performances.

Visit BrainGameTennis.com to read the latest and best selling course ‘Getting Tight’ where Craig teams up with Jeff Greenwald to combine their specific skill sets to help you with the universal problem all players struggle with in matches.

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