Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 in the Year End Championship (World Tour Finals) final, 2015 on indoor hard court in London England
It was Djokovic's 5th title at the event and record breaking 4th in a row. It capped a season where he won Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open (beating Federer in the finals of the latter two) while being runner-up at French Open, in addition to record breaking 6 Masters titles from 8 finals. He'd go onto to win Australian Open (beating Federer in the semi-final) and French Open the following year to complete a non-calendar year Grand Slam. Federer had won the pairs round robin encounter - 1 of 3 times he beat him in the year (5 losses). Exactly half of all the losses Djokovic had for the year were to Federer
Djokovic won 62 points, Federer 53
(Note: I'm made confident guesses about serve type for two points)
Serve Stats
Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (37/56) 66%
- 1st serve points won (23/37) 62%
- 2nd serve points won (16/19) 84%
- Aces 5 (1 second serve)
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (17/56) 30%
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (39/59) 66%
- 1st serve points won (27/39) 69%
- 2nd serve points won (9/20) 45%
- Aces 6
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (16/59) 27%
Serve Pattern
Djokovic served...
- to FH 41%
- to BH 52%
- to Body 7%
Federer served...
- to FH 47%
- to BH 44%
- to Body 9%
Return Stats
Djokovic made...
- 41 (18 FH, 23 BH)
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 9 Forced (5 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (41/57) 72%
Federer made...
- 39 (16 FH, 23 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 12 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (5 FH, 2 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 5 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (39/56) 70%
Break Points
Djokovic 3/9 (5 games)
Federer 0/2 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Djokovic 8 (4 FH, 4 BH)
Federer 14 (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV, 2 OH)
Djokovic's FHs - 4 cc (1 return, 1 pass and 1 at net)
- BHs - 1 cc pass, 2 dtl and 1 inside-out
Federer's FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 2 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- BHs - 3 dtl
- the FHV was a swinging shot and not a net point
- 1 OH was the second volley of a serve-volley point and 1 was on the backpedal, hit from behind the service line with Djokovic slightly behind his service line (but has been counted a net point for both)
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Djokovic 23
- 13 Unforced (7 FH, 6 BH)
- 10 Forced (7 FH, 3 BH)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 51.5
Federer 35
- 23 Unforced (9 FH, 12 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 12 Forced (5 FH, 4 BH, 2 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.4
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: The 'Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is a measure of how aggressive of intent the average UE made was. 60 is maximum, 20 is minimum. This match has been scored using a four point scale - 2 defensive, 4 neutral, 5 attacking, 6 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Djokovic was...
- 4/5 (80%) at net, with...
- 1/1 forced back/retreated
Federer was...
- 11/18 (61%) at net, including...
- 2/4 (50%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 2/3 (67%) off 1st serve and..
- 0/1 off 2nd serve
--
- 1/1 forced back/retreated
Match Report
Routine and impressive from Djokovic. There are two keys to the match - Djokovic's greater consistency of shot and Federer's inability to manufacture any counter-play against the Djoko second serve
Serve & Return
Its a slow court.... slow enough that the unreturned serve rates (Djoko 30%, Fed 27%) are surprising. Looking at conditions, I'd have expected about 20% to be standard mark. What's going on there?
Federer serves superbly. Serving like this on a fast court, he could easily have 45-50% unreturned serves. The second serve in particular is very good... hard hit, usually deep and often wide. Just the 2 double faults (albeit, one of them on match point)
Djokovic misses 5 second serve returns - and 4 of them have been marked forced errors. Fed usually has 1 or 2 forced errors off his second serve, but nothing like this. The second serves Djoko puts in play are usually strong enough to warrant being called forced errors had he missed. I have not seen Federer use his second serve this well. One assumes he did so because long experience had taught him what happens to ordinary serves against Djokovic (they tend to end up right back on the baseline)
First serve is about normal Fed's norm (i.e. very good). The slowness of the court and Djokovic tremendous reaction returning holds Federer to just 27% unreturned serves. Djoko moves to get into position in a flash and swings returns back neutralizingly (rarely initiative grabbingly)… credit both players for this half of the serve-return battle
Things are far more mundane on the other half. Djoko serves strong himself. The improvements in his serve over the years is interesting to see. Quality of his first serve isn't far short of Federer. Its a hell of a lot closer to Federer's serve than Federer's return is to Djoko's, for starters. Still, most would struggle returning Djoko's first serve... and Federer is no exception. He's neither particularly consistent nor damaging with the return... and misses a few makeable returns, while Djoko sends down a few very difficult ones too (5 aces from Djoko - just 1 less than Federer)
If there's a stat that stands out and slaps you in the face its Djokovic winning 84% second serve points - that's one of the highest I've seen or heard of and begs many questions. The answer isn't that interesting though... Federer -
a) tries to return aggresively
b) fails completely
8/19 Djoko second serves go unreturned (including an ace Fed misanticipated the direction of) and its all down to Fed making a mess of would-be attacking returns. runaround attempts, early big cut returns, possible chip-charges... he goes through the whole bag of tricks, virtually every time he goes for something more. Quality of Djoko's second serve is normal... full discredit for this to Federer's returning
One understands the decision for the attempt and also the big second serving because in play....
It was Djokovic's 5th title at the event and record breaking 4th in a row. It capped a season where he won Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open (beating Federer in the finals of the latter two) while being runner-up at French Open, in addition to record breaking 6 Masters titles from 8 finals. He'd go onto to win Australian Open (beating Federer in the semi-final) and French Open the following year to complete a non-calendar year Grand Slam. Federer had won the pairs round robin encounter - 1 of 3 times he beat him in the year (5 losses). Exactly half of all the losses Djokovic had for the year were to Federer
Djokovic won 62 points, Federer 53
(Note: I'm made confident guesses about serve type for two points)
Serve Stats
Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (37/56) 66%
- 1st serve points won (23/37) 62%
- 2nd serve points won (16/19) 84%
- Aces 5 (1 second serve)
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (17/56) 30%
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (39/59) 66%
- 1st serve points won (27/39) 69%
- 2nd serve points won (9/20) 45%
- Aces 6
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (16/59) 27%
Serve Pattern
Djokovic served...
- to FH 41%
- to BH 52%
- to Body 7%
Federer served...
- to FH 47%
- to BH 44%
- to Body 9%
Return Stats
Djokovic made...
- 41 (18 FH, 23 BH)
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 1 Unforced (1 FH)
- 9 Forced (5 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (41/57) 72%
Federer made...
- 39 (16 FH, 23 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 12 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (5 FH, 2 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 5 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (39/56) 70%
Break Points
Djokovic 3/9 (5 games)
Federer 0/2 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Djokovic 8 (4 FH, 4 BH)
Federer 14 (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV, 2 OH)
Djokovic's FHs - 4 cc (1 return, 1 pass and 1 at net)
- BHs - 1 cc pass, 2 dtl and 1 inside-out
Federer's FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 2 inside-out and 1 inside-in
- BHs - 3 dtl
- the FHV was a swinging shot and not a net point
- 1 OH was the second volley of a serve-volley point and 1 was on the backpedal, hit from behind the service line with Djokovic slightly behind his service line (but has been counted a net point for both)
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Djokovic 23
- 13 Unforced (7 FH, 6 BH)
- 10 Forced (7 FH, 3 BH)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 51.5
Federer 35
- 23 Unforced (9 FH, 12 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 12 Forced (5 FH, 4 BH, 2 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.4
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: The 'Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is a measure of how aggressive of intent the average UE made was. 60 is maximum, 20 is minimum. This match has been scored using a four point scale - 2 defensive, 4 neutral, 5 attacking, 6 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Djokovic was...
- 4/5 (80%) at net, with...
- 1/1 forced back/retreated
Federer was...
- 11/18 (61%) at net, including...
- 2/4 (50%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 2/3 (67%) off 1st serve and..
- 0/1 off 2nd serve
--
- 1/1 forced back/retreated
Match Report
Routine and impressive from Djokovic. There are two keys to the match - Djokovic's greater consistency of shot and Federer's inability to manufacture any counter-play against the Djoko second serve
Serve & Return
Its a slow court.... slow enough that the unreturned serve rates (Djoko 30%, Fed 27%) are surprising. Looking at conditions, I'd have expected about 20% to be standard mark. What's going on there?
Federer serves superbly. Serving like this on a fast court, he could easily have 45-50% unreturned serves. The second serve in particular is very good... hard hit, usually deep and often wide. Just the 2 double faults (albeit, one of them on match point)
Djokovic misses 5 second serve returns - and 4 of them have been marked forced errors. Fed usually has 1 or 2 forced errors off his second serve, but nothing like this. The second serves Djoko puts in play are usually strong enough to warrant being called forced errors had he missed. I have not seen Federer use his second serve this well. One assumes he did so because long experience had taught him what happens to ordinary serves against Djokovic (they tend to end up right back on the baseline)
First serve is about normal Fed's norm (i.e. very good). The slowness of the court and Djokovic tremendous reaction returning holds Federer to just 27% unreturned serves. Djoko moves to get into position in a flash and swings returns back neutralizingly (rarely initiative grabbingly)… credit both players for this half of the serve-return battle
Things are far more mundane on the other half. Djoko serves strong himself. The improvements in his serve over the years is interesting to see. Quality of his first serve isn't far short of Federer. Its a hell of a lot closer to Federer's serve than Federer's return is to Djoko's, for starters. Still, most would struggle returning Djoko's first serve... and Federer is no exception. He's neither particularly consistent nor damaging with the return... and misses a few makeable returns, while Djoko sends down a few very difficult ones too (5 aces from Djoko - just 1 less than Federer)
If there's a stat that stands out and slaps you in the face its Djokovic winning 84% second serve points - that's one of the highest I've seen or heard of and begs many questions. The answer isn't that interesting though... Federer -
a) tries to return aggresively
b) fails completely
8/19 Djoko second serves go unreturned (including an ace Fed misanticipated the direction of) and its all down to Fed making a mess of would-be attacking returns. runaround attempts, early big cut returns, possible chip-charges... he goes through the whole bag of tricks, virtually every time he goes for something more. Quality of Djoko's second serve is normal... full discredit for this to Federer's returning
One understands the decision for the attempt and also the big second serving because in play....