Duel Match Stats/Reports - Federer vs Djokovic, Basel finals 2010 & 2009

[Waspsting]

Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in the Basel final, 2010 on indoor hard court

It was a rematch of the previous years final, which Djokovic had won. Federer had won the tournament the 3 previous times and this was his 4th title at the event

Federer won 87 points, Djokovic 79

Serve Stats
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (49/84) 58%
- 1st serve points won (39/49) 80%
- 2nd serve points won (19/35) 54%
- Aces 6, Service Winners 3
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (30/84) 36%

Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (56/82) 68%
- 1st serve points won (36/56) 64%
- 2nd serve points won (17/26) 65%
- Aces 4
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (23/82) 28%

Serve Patterns
Federer served...
- to FH 48%
- to BH 42%
- to Body 10%

Djokovic served...
- to FH 41%
- to BH 53%
- to Body 6%

Return Stats
Federer made...
- 57 (23 FH, 34 BH), including 2 return-approaches
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 19 Errors, comprising...
- 5 Unforced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- 14 Forced (8 FH, 6 BH)
- Return Rate (57/80) 71%

Djokovic made...
- 51 (29 FH, 22 BH)
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 21 Errors, comprising...
- 5 Unforced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- 16 Forced (8 FH, 8 BH)
- Return Rate (51/81) 63%

Break Points
Federer 3/8 (5 games)
Djokovic 1/5 (4 games)

Winners (excluding serves, including returns)
Federer 16 (7 FH, 2 BH, 4 FHV, 1 BHV, 2 OH)
Djokovic 12 (4 FH, 4 BH, 3 FHV, 1 OH)

Federer's FHs - 2 cc, 1 dtl return, 1 inside-out and 3 inside-in (1 a guided, touch shot)
- BHs - 2 dtl (1 slice)

- FHVs - 1 swinging inside-out shot, 1 drop and 1 not clean
- 1 OH was from the baseline

Djokovic's FHs - 1 cc, 1 inside-in return, 1 longline and 1 lob (inside-out'ish)
- BHs - 2 cc (1 pass) and 2 dtl (1 pass)

- 1 FHV was a drop
- the OH was hit from behind service line but has been counted a net point

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Federer 41
- 25 Unforced (16 FH, 7 BH, 1 BHV, 1 OH)… including 1 FH at net and 1 BH at net
- 16 Forced (8 FH, 6 BH, 1 FHV, 1 Tweener)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.6

Djokovic 39
- 29 Unforced (14 FH, 15 BH)
- 10 Forced (3 FH, 7 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.6

(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 an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Federer was...
- 9/19 (47%) at net, with...
- 0/2 return-approaching
- 1/3 (33%) forced back/retreated

Djokovic was...
- 12/14 (86%) at net

Match Report
Good match on a fast court, interesting playing dynamics and a number of surprising stats coming out of it. Biggest factor in shaping the result is probably Djokovic's not-great serve and in the result itself, his sloppiness in final set, but its also a who-plays-the-big points-better match, as fast court matches tend to be

Action is fast. Even routine groundstrokes rush both players and rallies are short

Serve & Return
36% unreturned rate for Federer (with 6 aces and 3 service winners) and 28% for Djokovic (4 aces) don't seem too high for a fast court. Why?

Neither player appear to be looking to win points outright with the serve. Even Federer places the bulk of his first serves in Djoko's swing range, and Djoko almost always does. The opposite of line-licking, going for aces serving. Why?

In Federer's case, I imagine its because a normal paced first serve (115-125mph) placed safely is sufficient to force return errors and by placing them safely, he can get a higher percentage in. He doesn't get a particularly high number in - 58% is quite common for him - but gets all the cheap points he needs. 80% first serve points won... can't ask for more than that. He at least was most capable of doing a lot more damage with precision, line-licking serving. Strong second serving from Fed too... worth noting though, its a good ways off the way he served to Djokovic in their Wimbledon matches

In this match, 'strong second serving' means 'powerful enough to be not easy to attack'. In the Wimbledon matches, there was all of that plus serving wide... 'reasonable for a first serve' strong second serving

In Djoko's case, I don't think he had it in him to lick lines with serves. He serves about the same speed as Fed, but rarely does the Swiss have to move to reach the ball. Even then, its fast enough to draw a good chunk of errors

With most games being comfortable holds, it seems likely give the each player served that sooner or later, Fed would get a bunch of returns in play together - and have chances to break

Djoko's second serve is relatively ordinary. Its a function of the court (and Fed's relative passivity on the return) that even those are not attacked

Fed's happy to just block balls back in play for the most part, including second serves

With return errors being near identical (Fed 19 - 5 unforced, 14 forced and Djoko 21 - 5 unforced, 16 forced), Fed having stronger first and second serves but Djoko serving at 68% to Fed's 58%... its not easy to tell who actually has the advantage in serve-return complex

To confound that still more, there are a small number of games where Fed in particular half-tanks on return... common enough practice on fast courts

I think even with Djoko's significantly greater first serves in rate, Fed is the stronger server - and likely has another gear he's not going to on the shot. And Djoko is the stronger returner - the kinds of stand-and-swing balls Fed misses, he does not... but neither is clear.

Probably Fed edging the serve-return complex, particularly in light of potential. He can do a bit more with the serve, he can do a bit more with the return at choice moments... Djoko is likely maxed out on both shots

 

[Waspsting]

Surprise Stat 1 - Second Serve Points Won
Usually a good indicator of quality of play (i.e. serve not a big factor)

Fed with a good 54%, but its dwarfed by Djokovic's 65% - which is top drawer in this category

Surprsie Stat 2 - Net Points
Look at the net points

Federer with a below par 47%, Djokovic with a very high 86% won - and that can't be attributed to number of approaches (Fed has 19, Djoko 14), or drop shots

Some good passing and lobbing from Djoko - he successfully pushes Fed back 3 times and some pretty ordinary volleying from Fed (plopping ball where Djoko can reach it without trouble)
Some pretty ordinary passing from Fed - Djoko also plops volleys in play (if anything, punching through them less than Fed), but Fed can't make the passes and Djoko can finish with a second volley

Play - Baseline
The strange key to difference between two players comes out in breakdown of an coincidence in numbers

Note identical Unforced Error Forcefulness Index scores of 47.6. (to be more specific, Fed's is exactly 47.6, Djoko's is 47.586

Fed's UEs -
- 13 neutral
- 5 attacking
- 7 winner attempts

Djoko's UEs -
- 12 neutral
- 12 attacking
- 5 winner attempts

The big difference is in the attacking errors

As with the serve, so in play. Fed doesn't go for too much attackingly - which is smart, because its not necessary on this court. His regulation FH is strong enough to win points (Djokovic's is nearly as strong) and its a lot stronger than most players 'regulation' shot. He angles the odd FH a bit more or hits it harder and/or deeper to force action - and that's sufficient to win points. With little risk

Fed can afford to do this because he's so steady of the BH. Just 7 UEs on that side - by far the most secure of the 4 groundies on show (Fed's FH has 16, Djoko's FH 14 and Djoko's BH 15). He hits good clean attacking cc's with it too, bounce is low enough that going dtl isn't too troublesome (though he usually doesn't) and slices only when on the defensive.

For the most part though, action centers around FHs, particularly for Federer. Djoko doesn't seem to have a preference in sides, or in going to a side

Djokovic attacks moderately too, but is prone to missing such shots when in control of a rally, unlike his opponent. More than Fed, he looks to do so about equally of both wings. His moderately attacking play is just tad off... goes for more than what's needed or chooses the wrong ball to go for on occasion. That, and poor execution... his 'just off' attacking instincts would read 'fabulous stuff' if he'd pulled it off (and what he misses isn't overly ambitious). More bad execution more than bad instincts... it stands out next to Federer, who seems to know just what he wants to do at any given time (including semi-tanking some return points)

Among Djoko's questionable shot choices are a number of stupid drop shot attempts. Why he perseveres with this, I don't know... I don't think he comes out in net positive with the shot against Federer in a single match I've statt-ed. He does do well with the lob though - another shot which usually fails him (and there's little need for)
---

Match starts tough, the first 3 games lasting 8, 12 and 12 points. Unreturned serves thwart break chances - Fed misses back to back makeable returns in first game, Djoko does likewise to stronger serves in the second

Fed gains break in third game with Djoko making a couple of third ball errors in a row. First is a relatively gentle FH inside-out, the second is a BH cc winner attempt. Fed seizes the break with a FH dtl that Djoko can't handle

There's a tweener play a couple games later - Djoko lobbing Federer at net, Fed retreating to baseline and netting a tweener. That's the 4th such play I've come across between the two - the others being in Dubai '07, Australia '08 and the one everyone remembers in US '09.

Couple of lovely touch winners from Fed. Ones a BH dtl slice to open court... not a drop shot, but so hit that it would bounce twice before reaching the baseline and a running Djoko gives up the chase. The other is a FH inside-in from mid-court that he underspin guides rather than drives

Strong returning and deep groundstrokes give Djoko a break point as Fed serves for the set. He misses a routine FH on it and Fed holds with 2 more unreturned serves

Djoko races to 3-0 in second set. The break comes from a poor Fed game, though it features a stunning BH cc pass from well behind the baseline from Djoko. Next game, he hits a lovely, inside-out FH lob winner

Djoko continues to threaten to break again for rest of set while holding comfortably. Having won 2 return points in 4 games in the set, Fed manages to get a break chance with Djoko serving for set, but misses 2 makeable returns and a pass he had a good look at

Djoko's game falls apart in third set, in all ways save the serve. He continues to serve at the same level he had all match, but Fed ups the consistency of his returning (which always seemed probable). Djoko being sloppy in play does the rest

2 errors (and a beautiful Fed FH inside-in winner) puts Djoko down break point, and he double faults. He's broken again next game - couple of good returns from Fed in it, 1 wide BH inside-out and the other Djokovic-like to the servers feet win points - but 4 poorly judged attacking shots of all types are the main reason

Meanwhile, Fed loses 1 point on serve in the set. He continues to serve at similar level to rest of match, but Djoko's returning consistency takes a nosedive too

Summing up, good fast court match with high reward for firm shots. Federer's judgement in knowing what to go for and when to go for it is better than his opponent on the whole - and a sloppy last set to boot from Djoko seals the result

 

[Waspsting]

Djokovic beat Federer 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the Basel final, 2009 on indoor hard court

To date, this is Djokovic’s only title at the event

Djokovic won 97 points, Federer 87

Serve Stats
Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (63/98) 64%
- 1st serve points won (45/63) 71%
- 2nd serve points won (19/35) 54%
- Aces 6 (1 whiff, bad bounce related), Service Winners 2
- Double Faults 7
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (24/98) 24%

Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (61/86) 71%
- 1st serve points won (42/61) 69%
- 2nd serve points won (11/25) 44%
- Aces 10
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (28/86) 33%

Serve Pattern
Djokovic served...
- to FH 46%
- to BH 51%
- to Body 3%

Federer served...
- to FH 53%
- to BH 44%
- to Body 4%

Return Stats
Djokovic made...
- 57 (33 FH, 24 BH)
- 2 Winners (2 BH)
- 18 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (4 FH, 2 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 12 Forced (7 FH, 5 BH)
- Return Rate (57/85) 67%

Federer made...
- 67 (30 FH, 37 BH)
- 16 Errors, comprising...
- 8 Unforced (7 FH, 1 BH)
- 8 Forced (4 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (67/91) 74%

Break Points
Djokovic 4/8 (4 games)
Federer 2/11 (4 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Djokovic 20 (6 FH, 8 BH, 4 FHV, 1 BHV, 2 OH, 1 BHOH)
Federer 13 (5 FH, 3 BH, 3 FHV, 2 BHV)

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

- 1 FHV can reasonably be called an OH

Federer's FHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 2 inside-out (1 pass), 1 drop shot
- BHs - 2 cc, 1 dtl

- 2 FHVs were swinging non-net shots (1 cc, 1 longline/cc)

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Djokovic 39
- 29 Unforced (17 FH, 11 BH, 1 BHV)
- 10 Forced (7 FH, 2 BH, 1 BHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.8

Federer 52
- 37 Unforced (24 FH, 12 BH, 1 BHV)
- 15 Forced (9 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.4

(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...
- 13/18 (72%) at net, including...
- 0/1 serve-volleying, a first serve
---
- 1/1 forced back

Federer was...
- 9/14 (64%) at net, including...
- 2/2 serve-volleying, both first serves

Match Report
A messy FH shoot-out on a quick court and Djokovic has better of almost everything. Most prominently, the contest of FHs which makes up staple of action, though that’s more down to Federer being poor than anything the winner does (he does help the process along)

24 UEs from the Federer FH. Putting that in context -

Winners - Djoko 20, Fed 13
FEs - Djoko 10, Fed 15
Unreturned serves - Djoko 24, Fed 28
Djoko’s UEs (all shots) - 29

Djoko’s FH doesn’t exactly set the sky alight either with 17 UEs. Despite high error counts, neither player can do much damage with the shot either (FH winners - Djoko 6, Fed 5)

Action is heavily FH sided. The two trade cc shots. Fed moves over to (try to) attack with FH inside-outs. Djoko occasionally moves over to play FH inside-outs to breakdown Fed’s BH. Fed responds as much as he can by moving over to play counter-punching FH inside-out or longline back, but usually has to counter-punch with BH, often slices (which is the best thing he does in the match off the ground)

Combined totals of errors
- UEs - FHs 41, BH 23
- FEs - FHs 16, BH 6

Its not good tennis, but not as bad as it looks because much of the hitting is excellent (match would be first class if the court were 10% bigger, the net 5% lower but alas, its standard sized). Rallies are normally angled cc of nature (not the blunt angled longline stuff Djoko sometimes implements), and with clean hitting and on this court, such well hit FHs are pressuring, if not forceful. In other words, errors are likely to come and them coming isn’t necessarily a sign of bad play

Excellent hitting, sure but not so excellent as to override the quality you’d gauge from -11 and -19 FH winner/UE differential counts for the players, but at least, not as bad as those numbers look

FHs make up the meat - and the meat is on its way to spoiling - but good stuff from Djoko on the bones all around it, particularly the powerful returns, good BHs (dtl’s are a hit) and some interesting stuff with his second serve (relatively big). Fed’s a little off in all areas - including the serve, though his numbers have come out well there

‘Epic’ 28 point game in which Djoko serves out the first set. In quotation marks because it’s a terrible game where the 2 players compete ferociously to see who can miss the most FHs. The 2 split 6 FH UEs in consecutive points, “anything you can do, I can do just as badly”. Fed wins the contest, Djoko wins the game

Couple of memorable points and shots. Fed deftly BH half-volleys a bullet first return to his baseline for a winner. Lovely point from Djoko - strong return from him draws weak rejoinder, which he drop shots to draw Fed in as he himself takes net, and he putsaway Fed’s get with an awkward BHOH winner net-to-net

Serve & Return
Fed serves better (not by much), Djoko returns better (considerably) and Djoko has better of things overall. Some deceptive/misleading stats in there

Fed leading freebies 33% to 24% and aces 10 to 6 (from virtually same number of first serves) isn’t as substantial as it looks. For starters, Djoko has 2 service winners (Fed 0) and second, 4 of Fed’s aces come in his last 2 holds when he’s down 4-0 and 2 breaks in the third set

Djoko with high 7 double faults - that’s 1 every 5 second serves - looks atrocious. Sans that, he wins 19/28 or 68% of his second serve points, which is in the ballpark of both players first serve points won (Djoko 71%, Fed 69%). Looks like high risk, high reward big second serving by Djoko. That’s only partially true - it is beefed up second serving, but calibrated to exploit Fed’s returning flaws rather than being a first serve calibre second serve

For Fed, fair chunk of regulation, in-swing zone first serves. By his standard, not great. Court is quick and his serve is quick and that might be enough against most players. Djoko isn’t among them

Good lot of returns pounded back to the baseline by Djoko. Easy to reach pacey serves aren’t much trouble for him. More credit to Djoko’s return than discredit to Fed’s serve, which is fine by any normal standard

Djoko has a little phase where he goes for particularly aggressive returns, looking for winners. Misses a few routines at the time, also strikes 2 winners (and other point ending returns)

Of Djoko’s serve, his firsts are as pacey as Fed’s (probably a bit more), with higher lot in-swing zone, which is less out of his norm than Fed’s. And more acceptable, given returner

As all the double faults but high 2nd serve points won implies, healthy second serving from Djoko. Like a weak-ish first serve - pacey for second serves, but rarely placed damagingly wide. A good second serve to prevent returner from attacking more than a damaging one - a mild weapon at most

Good enough for Fed, whose returning consistency fluctuates. Never damaging, while having period of great consistency (such as the 28 point game where Djoko makes 19 first serves and has just 1 unreturned), with fair few routine misses

Return errors
- UEs - Djoko 6, Fed 8
- FEs - Djoko 12, Fed 8

UEs close - partially due to little spell of Djoko being indulgently aggressive. FEs a sign of Fed with better serve. All in all, Djoko better in all ways - more consistent against the routine placed stuff (Fed if not faulty, would need to do better there, given his force of shot is lower), returning with heat (good lot of stuff hard hit right to baseline, Fed just blocks pushes ball back in play - normal for him)

And substantial credit to Djoko’s return for the hand it has in keeping Fed’s third ball attacking opportunities down

Generally (i.e. in most matches), Fed has high FH winners and high lot of those are third ball shots against weak and not-strong balls returns drawn by his serve. By returning with such authority, Djoko (both generally and in this match), cuts that down. Big blow for Fed, as its one of his chief point winning ploys

Gist - Fed slightly better serve due to more regular wide placement, Djoko much better returner due to large gap in force of shot (he hammers, Fed blocks) + missing fewer regulation returns (which aren’t too easy to return on this court)

Wisely, tempered boldness to Djoko’s second serving, calibrated just so to tackle Fed’s returning vulnerabilities to pacey, but not wide serves

 

[Waspsting]

Play - Baseline (& Net)
FH centric play as described earlier. Neither player pointedly implements it, both seem happy to go along. Djoko occasionally backs off to target Fed’s BH with FH inside-outs (he doesn’t go the BH cc, cc, cc route), otherwise, both players leading with FHs

Fed’s denied ready made attacking options by Djoko’s firm/hard hit returns and Djoko’s content to start rallies with a third ball, pressuringly hard hit FH (as opposed to a winner attempt)

FH UEs - Djoko 17, Fed 24
FH FEs - Djoko 7, Fed 9
FH winners - Djoko 6, Fed 5

Djoko doing better in all ways, even beyond those numbers. He resists Fed’s power a little better than Fed resists his. he’s more more patient in continuing the hard-hitting cc rally while Fed’s apt to go for more and miss

Neutral UEs (all shots, not just FHs) - Djoko 18, Fed 20
Attacking UEs - Djoko 8, Fed 14
Winner Attempt UEs - both 3

Not much aggression shown as low winners and errors trying indicate. That’s a product of the hitting and depth in staple rallies being good enough to keep both players honest, not passivity (as stated before, match isn’t as bad as the numbers make it seem)

According to those numbers, patiently sticking it out or having a grind contest might work better for Fed than manufacturing an attack against solid hitting. Food for thought. Respective games being what they are, wouldn’t think it would be a good idea - but Fed has held even with Djoko of basic consistency (including off the BH), and its his attempts to up the ante that’s let him down

To be clear, Fed misses balls that are there to be attacked or at least, not difficult to plenty. He does not play well but again, not as badly as number look because with Djoko solidly strong, Fed often has create openings to attack. His strongly hit FH cc’s might do against most players, but Djoko’s a match for him there (probably edges things actually, due to better shot resistance. Fed has edge in pure hitting strength)

BH UEs - Djoko 11, Fed 12

The best thing Fed does off the ground is resist Djoko’s FH inside-out breakdown attempts. He’s encouraged (if not forced) to slice, and does so without giving up errors. In that dynamic, that’s a relative win for Fed. His BH errors tend to be random misses to routine balls

Djoko’s errors include random errors like Fed (fewer), the odd dumb drop shot miss and the odd dtl miss. Down the line on whole works for him and gives him real advantage in BH cc rallies - both as a point ender and in opening court up and working away at Fed’s legs

Good slicing from Djoko. Bounce is low and he responds to Fed’s slices with equally good ones of his own. A little surprising

Finally, Djoko’s more proactive in looking for net, within context of neither player particularly doing so. Virtually all of Fed’s 12 approaches from rallies are from advantageous positions to just finish the point easily. Most of Djoko’s 18 are too, but he does occasionally manufacture an approach from a slice

Some good, improbable winning passes from Djoko accounts for his winning higher lot at net than Fed. He’s 13/17 there, Fed 7/12 (excluding small serve-volleys, 1 for Djoko, 2 for Fed). 7/12 is quite poor from Fed, given the kind of strong approaches he comes in off, but he’s just got the 1 volley UE (and that one’s not too easy), so credit Djoko’s passing

Minimizing Fed’s third ball FH aggression via strong returns, matching Fed of hitting to again keep FH from getting on a role, hitting hard enough to discourage approaches and passing very well on rare times he’s called to - pretty good from Djoko

24 FH UEs, 14 attacking UEs to force 10 errors, just 5 FH winners - not so good from Fed. Djoko doesn’t make things easy, but all the FH errors are are just plain poor from the loser

Match Progression
Quick, regular holds at start of match. In-swing zone first serves aren’t easy to return and it takes Fed a brief while to get a grip on Djoko’s healthy second serves. Djoko holds easier (in fact, almost perfectly) upto 4-4

Poor game from Fed with 3 sloppy UEs (BH cc to open court, regulation FH and extra hard hit inside-in FH) and a double fault to lose serve, and Djoko steps up to serve for the set at 5-4

He’d lost 2 points in his 4 holds (both double faults). He starts the serve-out with another double - before the two great players vie for honour of having most FH errors

27 points (and 11 FH UEs) later, Djoko ends the game by slicing his way to net and drawing a pass error. He’d had 6 previous set points (to Fed’s 5 break points), including at 40-30. At one stage in game, two players alternate 6 FH UEs in succession, a run that ends with Fed actually making a strong FH inside-out to win point

Djoko takes on-court treatment on his back between sets, breaks to open and moves to 2-1. Fed grabs the break back, sealing it with a drop shot winner. Its his first FH winner of the match (he has 16 UEs off that side at the time) and comes in matches 98th point

Regular holds from there til Fed breaks to end the set. Ending of course with a FH UE. Onto decider

Greater variety by Fed to again start by getting broken as he mixes up FH and BH errors this time. Why should the FH have all the fun? Djoko adds a second break to make it 3-0 - this one is actually a good game. A perfect line BH drop shot winner by Djoko stands out (because it’s the only drop shot attempt he makes all match), and he brings up the final break point of the 14 point with a well played BHOH net-to-net winner

Match is as good as over at 4-0. Fed does reach 0-40, but Djoko comes through to hold and serves it out awhile later

Summing up, not a good match and two biggest differences between the players is on the FH and the return, with Djokovic considerably better in both areas

He returns with power to neutralizing, initiative grabbing and even point-ending degree. Federer, who has the slightly better serve, push-blocks returns back by contrast and is prone to missing regulation returns more. Mostly credit Djokovic, who also takes risks with relatively big second serving to captilize on opponent’s shortcoming

On the FH front, mostly discredit Federer who’s an error-machine. Djokovic isn’t anything special either, but better than that at least

Djokovic also has the sturdier BH and is more proactive in occasionally manufacturing the odd trip to net to finish, while Federer’s BH is non-threatening and he’s content on baseline, despite getting short end of the stick there