Arguably the greatest returner of serve in the history of the game, Novak Djokovic’s serve has helped him to new heights this season at age of 36.
Djokovic claimed his seventh Paris Masters crown last weekend with a 6-4 6-3 win in the final against Grigor Dimitrov, who was unable to secure any break point opportunities during the match against the world No.1.
Often overshadowed by his all-round excellence, Djokovic’s serve is one of the best in the world – and in 2023 it is his second serve that stands out above the rest.
As explained on The AO Show podcast by data analyst and high-performance coach Simon Rea, no player on the ATP Tour wins more points off their second serve.
“When I look at Novak across season 2023, he leads the ATP Tour off his own second serve, and I think it’s an often-underrated part of the Novak game,” Rae said, highlighting Djokovic’s 58 per cent of second serve points won for the year.
“We marvel at the athleticism and foot speed, and we talk a lot about his return game, but on his own serve he is highly effective, particularly on second serve.”
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Djokovic took this to another level in Paris, serving his way through the draw and becoming the first player in history to win 40 ATP Masters 1000 titles.
“In the final in Paris, you saw this first-hand account of how instrumental this discrepancy can be between Novak and his opposition,” Rae said.
“He wins 69 per cent of points on his second serve; Grigor Dimitrov down the other end, down at 42 (per cent).
“When you’ve got that type of gap in performance on both players second serves, there’s no coming back from that.”
Djokovic has not lost a match since the Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz in July, and amid this form will have his sights set on more silverware during the Australian summer.
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With his Paris success, the 36-year-old has now won 97 ATP singles titles, third-most in the Open Era and six behind second-placed Roger Federer.
“You fail to be able to come up with a way to describe what this guy does,” Rea said.