Duel Match Stats/Reports - Djokovic vs Federer, Paris semi-finals, 2013 & 2018

[Waspsting]

Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the Paris semi-final, 2013 on indoor hard court

Djokovic would go onto beat David Ferrer in the final for the first of 3 titles in a row at the event. Federer had previously won the the title in 2011

Djokovic won 97 points, Federer 84

Serve Stats
Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (60/92) 65%
- 1st serve points won (43/60) 72%
- 2nd serve points won (17/32) 53%
- Aces 7, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (33/92) 36%

Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (60/89) 67%
- 1st serve points won (40/60) 67%
- 2nd serve points won (12/29) 41%
- Aces 5, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (20/89) 22%

Serve Pattern
Djokovic served...
- to FH 40%
- to BH 59%
- to Body 1%

Federer served...
- to FH 42%
- to BH 54%
- to Body 4%

Return Stats
Djokovic made...
- 65 (28 FH, 37 BH)
- 2 Winners (2 FH)
- 14 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (3 FH, 1 BH)
- 10 Forced (4 FH, 6 BH)
- Return Rate (65/84) 77%

Federer made...
- 54 (19 FH, 35 BH), including 2 return-approaches
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 25 Errors, comprising...
- 13 Unforced (7 FH, 6 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 12 Forced (4 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (54/87) 62%

Break Points
Djokovic 4/10 (5 games)
Federer 2/5 (4 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Djokovic 16 (12 FH, 3 BH, 1 BHV)
Federer 17 (9 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV, 2 OH)

Djokovic's FHs - 3 cc (1 pass), 2 dtl (1 return pass), 4 inside-out (1 return-pass) and 3 inside-in
- BHs - 1 dtl pass, 1 lob and 1 drop shot

Federer's FHs - 2 cc, 1 dtl, 2 inside-out (1 return), 1 inside-in, 1 longline and 2 drop shots
- BHs - 1 cc and 1 longline pass

- 1 from a serve-volley point, 1 second volley OH

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Djokovic 42
- 20 Unforced (8 FH, 10 BH, 2 BHV)
- 22 Forced (7 FH, 13 BH, 1 FHV, 1 FH1/2V)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net, 2 BH running-down-drop-shot at net & 1 BH at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.5

Federer 44
- 29 Unforced (15 FH, 11 BH, 3 FHV)... with 1 FHV non-net shot
- 15 Forced (4 FH, 6 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 1 Tweener)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.2

(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...
- 5/15 (33%) at net, with...
- 1/1 forced back

Federer was...
- 20/32 (63%) at net, including...
- 7/13 (54%) serve-volleying, comprising..
- 6/11 (55%) off 1st serve and...
- 1/2 off 2nd serve
---
- 1/2 return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

Match Report
Some beautiful stuff from Federer in first set, some typical granite-solid stuff from Djokovic in the third highlight an otherwise mediocre, though interesting match on a slow court

Standout/unexpected features of play include
- Djokovic being the stronger server
- Federer not aggressive off FH, but with net play and drop shots

Serve & Return
Djokovic leading in both areas

He has 36% unreturned serves with 7 aces. Fed has 22% and 5... Djoko's numbers are due to both his serving well and Federer returning not well, and the reverse for Fed

For most part, Djoko's first serves are about his norm - healthy, short of great. But... he turns it on when he strains to and hits lines and spots. There's a stretch of play where 7 serves in a row across 3 games are unreturned (2 aces, 1 service winner and 1 near enough service winner)... and extends it to 9 unreturned in 11 points across 4 games

Particularly strong second serving from Djoko though, with some genuinely forceful serves out wide. Which also leads to high 5 double faults

Fed seems to serve within himself for most part. In one stretch, he lands 20 straight first serves in - something he is very, very unlikely to have been able to do without taking something off the serve. Pace is down and placement is conservative for him - and Djoko returns with reasonable comfort

Not only is Fed's 22% unreturned rate low, its aided by regular serve-volleying, without which, number would undoubtedly be even lower. When he does look for bigger serves, he tends to miss first serve

On the return front, both player are a bit down from their norms

Djoko still returns well by a normal standard, but with Fed's serve more returnable than usual, he's quite capable of having done more. Misses a few makeable balls and doesn't pound the regulation ones too often. Takes him awhile to come to grips with returning against serve-volleying too... though when he gets it right, it proves decisive

Fed is loose on return. Note 13 UEs, most of them regulation returns

In a nutshell, Djokovic taking a sizable advantage out of serve-return complex

Djokovic's Play
Slow start from Djoko but he gets better and better as match wears. By the end, he's playing something like his best tennis

The start though is a whole other matter. For most of a set and half, he's making random neutral errors at almost the same rate as Federer, making errors against mildly forced shots (i.e. not good defence - particularly for him), a step slow of movement (coming forward or side to side), passing poorly, even returning less than well

Fed's net play is very good, and he comes in off strong approaches as well as covers the net well. No easy passes for Djoko. Still... he misses them by uncharacteristically large margins

Fed's serve isn't particularly strong. Djoko can't return damagingly and Fed can make comfortable first volleys. More credit to Fed for volleying well than discredit to Djoko on the return for this though

This goes on for set and a half, gets only slightly better in second half of second set

In third set though, Djoko's top notch. Serving strongly, returning consistently and powerfully, barely missing a ball from the back while hitting a heavy ball, giving Fed tough volleys... and he's by far the better player at that stage

Note Djoko's terrible net numbers of 5/15 points won. Its not as bad as it sounds... most of those points are dealing with drop shots. Its more accurate to say coming to net has no role in his game than he falters up there

 

[Waspsting]

Federer's Play
Generally against Djokovic, Federer tends to attack. Always with the FH from the baseline and sometimes throwing in net play

In this match, his baseline attacks are drop shot based, coupled with net play

Off both wings, he rarely moves out of neutral. Note low 7 non-drop shot FH winners (Djoko has 12), which is particularly glaring since his unreturned rate is low. A typical Federer performance would see a much higher number. Playing neutrally off BH is more normal for him and he does reasonable job on that front (11 UEs, to Djoko's 10 - though that's as much due to Djoko being loose as Federer being tight)

So Federer is -
- not serving big and not getting cheap points with the serve
- not attacking from the back

Its not bad strategy on slow court, but one would expect Djoko to come up ahead in neutral rallying dynamic. The onus would thus be on Fed to do something proactive. What does he do?

He goes with drop shots. Lots of them. I wouldn't expect it to be successful - percentages aren't in favour of it - but he pulls it off. 2 winners, 4 errors forced, setting up volley winners (he usually follows his drop shots to net), no UEs trying... good job by Fed on the drop shot. Its anything but an obvious strategy... he's usually not in charge of baseline rallies enough to push Djoko back and Djoko's quick enough for it to be obviously tinged with risk - but he pulls it off

It not just drop shots. There's a good number of short slices that draw Djoko forward, or/and effectively act as a drop shot

The bigger part of Fed's attack is coming to net, especially serve-volleying. He wins 63% points up front coming in regularly, somewhat helped by Djoko failing on the pass for half the match. When Djoko gets it together... Fed loses more than he wins up front

Decent movement from Fed. He'd struggled all season in this area and with minor back issues. Here, he's about his norm for court coverage, but selective about when to make the effort. Doesn't bother running down a few balls that were not hopeless cases

Not too hard to force errors out of him but that's common in the period and not necessarily an indicator of lax movement, but rather, his normal defensive capabilites

Match Progression
Error ridden, unimpressive of quality first set. In third game, Djoko double faults twice in a row to go down 30-40. Next point, Fed hits a lovely drop shot that he follows to net and is there to BHV away Djokovic get

Tremendous FH dtl winner from Fed from way outside the doubles alley awhile later

The serve out from Fed lasts 14 points and he faces 4 break points, erasing most with strong play. The pick of them is a net point where he first makes a low volley against a hard hit ball and then a reflex BHV winner next shot. Fed makes first serves on all 14 points in the game

Players trade breaks to open the second set - both error strewn games. Djokovic's groundshots get a bit better - they'd been particularly loose in first set - and Fed dials back on coming to net and using drop shots. The latter isn't a bad idea - I wouldn't expect drop shot based attacks to continue being effective indefinitely, but the former is a mistake. He replaces net approaches with going for attacking baseline shots - and fails at it

Good play from Djoko and Fed double gives Djoko 2 break points in game 6. Fed saves both with error forcing shots (FH cc and BH dtl) but then makes 2 errors himself to be broken - the last one, an easy first volley FHV off a serve-volley point

3 easy holds from there to end the set

Third set is all Djoko. He does everything well in it. I don't think Fed's level drops - the change in outcome is all due to Djoko's rise

Couple of great points. One sees Djoko come in, get lobbed as Fed comes in, Fed drop shots Djoko again, there's an exchange net to net which ends with Djoko lobbing Fed away... and point ends with Fed missing a tweener

Djoko breaks for the second time in the set with a brilliant point. He stretches to make a wide return, recovers quickly to run down the third ball and whack place it perfectly FH cc in the corner for the winner. And then serves out to love - including an ace and 2 third ball FH inside-out winners

Summing up, interesting match with Djokovic dominating serve-return complex and Fed creatively utilizing drop shots and efficient at net to hold even in play amidst sub-par neutral baseline rallying. Its only when Djoko's ground game is loose that play is even though. When he gets it together, he comes out comfortably the better player

Stats for pair's upcoming round robin match at Year End Championship - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...l-2012-round-robin-2013.657323/#post-13881394

 

[Waspsting]

In 2018, Djokovic beat Federer 7-6(6), 5-7, 7-6(3) in the semi-final

Djokovic, who had the last 2 Slams and would go onto win the next, would go onto lose the final to Karen Khachanov. Federer was playing the tournament for the first time since 2015. This is the longest 3 set match between the pair

Djokovic won 129 points, Federer 123

Serve Stats
Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (77/113) 68%
- 1st serve points won (57/77) 74%
- 2nd serve points won (27/36) 75%
- Aces 8, Service Winners 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (36/113) 32%

Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (94/139) 68%
- 1st serve points won (69/94) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (25/45) 56%
- Aces 16, Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (45/139) 33%

Serve Pattern
Djokovic served...
- to FH 35%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 4%

Federer served...
- to FH 53%
- to BH 42%
- to Body 4%

Return Stats
Djokovic made...
- 92 (43 FH, 49 BH), including 1 runaround BH
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 27 Errors, comprising...
- 9 Unforced (6 FH, 3 BH)
- 18 Forced (13 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (92/137) 67%

Federer made...
- 77 (25 FH, 52 BH), including 2 return-approaches
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 25 Errors, comprising...
- 16 Unforced (7 FH, 9 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 9 Forced (3 FH, 6 BH)
- Return Rate (77/113) 68%

Break Points
Djokovic 0/12 (6 games)
Federer 1/2 (3 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Djokovic 20 (12 FH, 5 BH, 2 FHV, 1 OH)
Federer 35 (11 FH, 6 BH, 10 FHV, 5 BHV, 3 OH)

Djokovic's FHs - 2 cc (1 return pass), 2 dtl (1 pass), 3 inside-out (1 pass), 1 inside-out/longline, 1 inside-in, 1 longline and 1 running-down-drop-shot dtl at net
- BHs - 4 cc (3 passes) and 1 dtl

Federer's FHs - 2 cc (1 return), 2 dtl, 3 inside-out, 2 inside-in, 1 longline and 1 net chord dribbler
- BHs - 5 dtl (1 return) and 1 drop shot

- 3 from serve-volley points -
- 2 first volleys (2 FHV)
- 1 second volley (1 BHV)

- 4 other FHVs were swinging shots (1 a non-net shot)
- 1 other BHV was a off a hard, net chord pop over pass from Djokovic

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Djokovic 43
- 27 Unforced (12 FH, 15 BH)
- 16 Forced (8 FH, 7 BH, 1 BHV)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.3

Federer 71
- 48 Unforced (24 FH, 22 BH, 1 BHV, 1 OH)... the OH was on the full from near the baseline and was a from a forced back net point (i.e. the shot itself was not a net shot)
- 23 Forced (13 FH, 6 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45

(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...
- 8/13 (62%) at net

Federer was...
- 31/47 (66%) at net, including...
- 6/11 (55%) serve-volleying, comprising..
- 6/9 (67%) off 1st serve and...
- 0/2 off 2nd serve
---
- 0/2 return-approaching
- 0/2 forced back

Match Report
An interesting, if not particularly good match in unusual conditions, the court being slow of pace but also low of bounce. Djokovic is significantly the better player but Federer loses without being losing serve

Djoko's superiority comes through in winning 6 more points despite serving 26 fewer. And he's a remarkable 0/12 on breaks points, having had them in 6 games. Fed can't get into return games at all for long stretches, but converts 1/2 completely against run of play to pinch the second set

Given the period, most likely explanation would be Federer serving lights out, but that's not at all what happens. Serving from both players is decidedly ordinary for most of the match and high unreturned rates of about 33% for both players is largely down to poor returning (especially Federer's returning

Note both players doing well on second serve points - Djoko winning a very high 75% (higher than either manages off their 1st serves), Fed 56%. Usually, you see this with strong servers in quick conditions. That is not what happens here. Conditions are at least slow-ish and while both serve good second serves, nothing to justify such numbers. Djoko's is based on being vastly the better court player and Fed's weak returning. Fed's surprise figure is the reason the match is so close. Usually, when gap between 2 in play is so vast (Djoko wins 91 points, Fed 78 sans double faults and unreturned serves), Fed wins well below 50% second serve points - and unless he has a particularly high unreturned count, loses easily

Match can be divided into 2. For 2 sets, play is quite drab off the baseline and serving conservative from both players
In last set, play and serving both pick up and match resembles something like a typical Federer-Djokovic match

Serve & Return
For 2 sets, neither player serves or returns particularly well

Djokovic's serve is about average. Good first serve in count, (49/72 or 68%), but that's about it. Overwhelming bulk off first serves are decent paced in Fed's swing zone, with odd few a bit wide (even those are not difficult to return) and a few slow change ups. Just 1 ace and 2 service winners

By contrast, in last set he has 7 aces and 1 service winner - serving at the same 68% in. Unreturned rate for first 2 sets is 21/77 at 27%, and for the last, 15/36 at 42%

He has little trouble holding serve at any time in the match. In first part, its largely due to Fed's poor returning and play. He wins 14 straight service points at one stage in second set and 19/20 extended from there... there's nothing in his serve to warrant this. During the 19/20 streak, he 8 serves don't come back - and 5 have been marked unforced return errors

(Jokes on Djoko though... that 19/20 streak ends with Fed winning 4 points in a row to secure the only break of the match, which also happens to give him the set)

Note 16 return UEs for Fed (as opposed to 9 forced and Djoko has 9 UEs for comparison's sake). About half the 9 forced errors are on the makeable side of being forced 2. Fed mostly returns neutrally - just bad returning consistency from him against ordinary serving for two sets

Third set is a different matter. Tremendous serving from Djoko as he hits his spots out wide. Some of the best serving I've seen from him

Good second serving from Djoko. For 1 thing, 0 double faults and as the 75% second serve points won hints at, the shot itself is at least good. A few forceful ones thrown in - especially down the middle - and at least, not easy to attack. There's a bit of a cat & mouse game going on both Djoko's serve... with Fed softly chipping BH returns, odd slower serves tend to get netted. Its low level subtlety that wouldn't be an issue with decent returning

In a nutshell, primarily discredit to Fed's returning for 2 sets and primarily credit to Djoko's serve for the last set

Fed's a bit down from his high serving norm too, though with his general standard high, that still leaves plenty of room for him to have served well. 16 aces is a very good number for this court and 33% unreturned is about as well as he could expect

Djoko's apt to miss regulation returns more than usual helps, as does Fed serve-volleying occasionally. In these conditions, I'd have estimated 25-30% unreturned rate for Fed, given his typical serving and Djoko's typical returning quality. It being a bit higher than that is due to Djoko's return being down from norm, not Fed's serve being up

A ploy of Fed's that ends up working is going predominantly to Djoko's FH, especially out wide in deuce court. Its risky as FH cc is Djoko's most dangerous return, but generally, Djoko's also more prone to error of FH than BH return. So it proves. Note disproportionately high 19 FH return errors, to 8 BHs... given Fed's 53-43 distribution. Risky ploy and it comes off. Djoko missing regulation FH returns - usually going long - is part of his sub-par returning showing

 

[Waspsting]

Play - Baseline & Net
As match long stats indicate, this isn't a high quality match of action. Djoko has 20 winners, 27 UEs while Fed has 35 and 48 respectively. If anything, those numbers are a bit flattering

For 2 sets, Djoko put ball in play short of his norm for power and depth. Still, reasonably heavy neutral ball. He's prone to miss regulation BHs though, somewhat due to Fed's slicing. He does not attack, does not even look to beat down Fed much

Fed's movement is poor. He's slow of foot and defensively lax. The 19 FEs Djoko gets out of him have a large chunk of mild ones - balls that Fed's a bit on the defensive on, but not too hard to put in play at least. Furthermore, his movement in reaching such balls is slow... with normal movement, he'd be there in time that the errors would have been marked unforced

Errors are forced out of Fed fairly easily and unforced ones don't take too long to come from neutral rallies either. And for all that, he's not even attacking. Scarcely a big FH, let alone BH to be seen for most of 2 sets

So how does he hang in? Net play and slicing

Fed's slicing is excellent and key to his staying close to Djoko. In fact, its just about the only thing he does particularly well off the baseline. Its a low bouncing court, which helps, but Fed's slices typically stay below knee high - and the more heavily sliced ones, lower still. It puts a stopper in any hopes Djoko might have had in collaring BH rallies, or breaking Fed's BH down in cc rallies. He's even forced to reply with slices sometimes

Very few slice errors from Fed. Djoko doesn't cope particularly well with the slice - something he usually does well - but I'd overwhelmingly credit Fed for good slicing than discredit Djoko, who yields a decent number of errors against the shot. Still, when 'slicing well' is the best thing your doing from the baseline... your not doing very well from the baseline. Baseline contests are a no-contest, Djoko is streets ahead, without playing particularly well

Djoko briefly hammers down Fed's BH with FH inside-outs. Generally, he doesn't do this because he doesn't have to; he can achieve the same end with BH cc's without sacrificing court position. That he turns to this back-away FH inside-out'ng here is both a sign of Fed's slowness leaving Djoko nothing to fear as far as counter-attack goes and Djoko's BH not being up to handling the low slices. Fed's not too bad at defensively slicing wide balls against attempts to break-down his BH by Djoko's BH cc's... but the FH inside-outs prove to be a bit too much. Mind you, its only a brief period Djoko goes this route

Fed's second equalizer is net play - and is very good. 66% net points won against Djoko who passes strongly and just 1 UE on the volley are great outcomes. He's particularly good coming in off rallies, winning 25/34 or 74% and since he's usually on back foot from baseline, the approach shots aren't overly strong

Fed tends to approach down the middle and volley short, especially BHV inside-out. Djoko for his part reaches balls and smacks them well as can... all credit to Fed's net play here. He covers the forecourt well, though a bit slow to get forward. Some good reflex volley winners against hard hit passes. 1 of the shots is almost a miracle... when Djoko's pass pops up hard off the top of the tape, Fed lifts his racquet and ducks his head slightly, ball hits racquet and goes for winner. That's on a break point no less, and Djoko just smiles in appreciation

Action of third set is more in line with pair's norm. Hard hitting shots from both players of both wings. All 4 of Fed's BH dtl winners come in the set, he doesn't slice much and isn't able to come to net because Djoko's hitting harder too (on top of serving up a storm)

Match Progression
No breaks in the first set, though Djoko has better of play. Fed has to serve 59 points to Djoko's 45 in it

Djoko misses a regulation BH on his first break point, in his first return game. Later, there's a 20 point Fed game where he saves 4 break points. An unnecessary FH dtl winner attempt miss on 1 of those by Djoko - a shot at odds with how he was playing and the way Fed was, unnecessary - but rest is down to Fed's play, including a miraculous reflex volley winner to a ball that popped up hard off net chord

Tiebreak is close though. 2 players combine for 10 first serves in 14 points and 6 unreturned serves and its Fed who has the first set point, against the Djoko serve. He makes the second serve return, but misses a regulation BH. Next point, misses a second serve return. And on his serve with Djoko on set point, misses another BH

Second set is a cruise on serve for Djoko - all the way til he's broken to lose it. In between, he has 3 more break points, all erased by strong plays from Fed. Having gone through previously mentioned run of winning 19/20 serve points to lead 15-0, he loses the next 4. First, he misses a FH dtl winner attempt. Next, a regulation third ball BH cc. Then, Fed's able to prolong a long baseline rally where Djoko is hitting better til Djoko misses another BH. On set point, Djoko blasts a ball to Fed's FH corner, but its redirected up the line almost on half-volley for a winner. The kind of Federer tends to make look easy, though its anything but

Third set is highest quality of the match. Both players serve harder, return more consistently against regulation returns and play more firmly form back of court

Again, its Djoko with the chances. He has 2 break points in opening game. The first is aced away and on the second, Fed is lucky with a net chord dribbling winner. Fed's appears uncharacteristically genuine in his apology - generally, he just makes a token gesture at such times. Later in set, 2 other break points are erased with unreturned serves, including an ace

Fed himself serves strongly enough that he stays in command of his service games, despite Djoko returning better than earlier in match. But he can't get a sniff on return - objectively, Djoko serves better than Fed for the set, which is very rare. Generally, its not too rare for Djoko to be more successful with serves, but usually Fed's comparatively weaker returning has a hand

Poor tiebreak from Fed. He misses routine, neutral third ball FH and then double faults for only the second time in the match to go down 2 mini-breaks and loses 2 points with regulation errors on return points too as Djoko takes it comfortably 7-3

Summing up, a very close finish but not high of quality or entertainment value match. Djoko' serving is usually average (though top notch in last set), Fed's returning inconsistent and movements poor, baseline action is passive and attritional with Fed's slicing standing out for quality. On up side, some excellent net play from Federer. Djoko's baseline game, despite not being too good by his standard, being vastly better than Fed's sub-par one sees the winner have all the chances in a close match. Appropriate result in the end

Stats for pair's previous match, the Cincinnati final - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...ovic-vs-federer-cincinnati-final-2018.670924/