Federer's dominant first serve return game this SW19

[ghostofMecir]

He was off and on with the BH return this Wimbledon, but overall, he locked into just about every server's serve sooner or later and was getting a plethora of returns into play and that allowed him to apply pressure in return games. The neutralizing "bunt" FH return on the AD side, the neutralizing BH slice return on the deuce side were really good all throughout the tournament. In addition, he was punishing enough second serve returns as he did at the AO/IW/Miami and that made defeating him really difficult given that breaking him was very difficult to do.

Nobody won more than 71% of first serve points against him and that is incredible since he faced some huge servers on grass. Here is what other all time returners did as Wimbledon champions.

2016 Wimby (Murray)--Tsonga won 72% of first serve points, Berdych won 70%, Kyrgios won 68%

2015 Wimby (Djokovic)--Anderson won 83% of first serve points, Cilic 76%, Federer 74%.

2014 Wimby (Djokovic)--Dmitrov won 83% of first serve points, Federer 77%

2013 Wimby (Murray)--Jerzy won 75%, Verdasco 72%, Robredo 70%

2011 Wimby (Djoko)--Baggy won 73%, Tsonga 68%, Nadal 67%

2010 Wimby (Nadal--perhaps not considered a great natural returner but does win a high % of return points once the rally starts although his overall stats are skewed by how many return points he wins on clay)--Soderling won 82% of first serve points, Murray 78% and Berdych 73%

2008 Wimby (Nadal)--Gulbis won 76% of first serve points, Federer won 72%

2002 Wimby (Hewitt)--Carraz won 87% of first serve points, Henman won 67%

1992 Wimby (Agassi)-Ivanisevic won 86% of first serve points, Becker won 76%

Once tennisabstract updates, we can take a look at total amount of first serve return points won.

Federer's first serve returning this Wimbledon

Cilic--served 60%. 5 aces, 0 service winners, won 65% of first serve points. He wasn't 100%, but these are astonishingly low power numbers off of a monster serve that was just as powerful today as it has been all tournament speed wise.

Won 88% of first serve points against Querry, 84% against Muller, 79% against Agut, 80% against Johnson, 90% against Mayer, 80% against Kohli. Some bad returners there, but Cilic has been one of the most dominant first serve players over the past year and his serve was completely neutralized.

Berdych--served 62%. 9 aces, 3 service winners, won 68% of first serve points.

Won 93% of first serve points against Djokovic, 82% against Thiem, 84% against Ferrer, 84% against Harrison, 87% against Chardy

Raonic--served 73%. 11 aces, 2 service winners, won 71% of first serve points.

One of the all time first serve points won leader. 76% against Zverev, 84%of first serve points won against Vinolas, 89% against Youznhy, 78% against struff,

Dimitrov--served 63%. 7 aces, 0 service winners, won 65% of first serve points.

83% of first serve points won against Sela, 79% against Baggy, 85% against Swartzman

Zverev-served 62%. 6 aces, 1 service winner, won 71% of first serve points.

Lajovic--served 64%. 3 aces, 0 service winners, on 57% of first serve points.

Dolgopolov--served 46%. 2 aces, 0 service winners, won 57% of first serve points.

 

[TearTheRoofOff]

Great summary, thanks for this. Incredible numbers, really.

 

[Gazelle]

Yes. It was staggering how many returns he put back into play this Wimbledon. Opponents could barely get a serve past him.

 

[Fed881981]

These numbers are consistent with what he did in the 5th set against Nadal in Milbourne. Back then, Nadal faced at least one BP in every service game in that set.

 

[ghostofMecir]

These numbers are consistent with what he did in the 5th set against Nadal in Milbourne. Back then, Nadal faced at least one BP in every service game in that set.

Just a real clarity on return and every player started feeling the vise close as the match goes on because he's not getting broken andnFed seemed to be in every return game. Raonic, Berdych, and Cilic on grass behind their first serves are struggling to win 70% of the points; that's a death sentence against Federer.

 

[Gary Duane]

He was off and on with the BH return this Wimbledon, but overall, he locked into just about every server's serve sooner or later and was getting a plethora of returns into play and that allowed him to apply pressure in return games. The neutralizing "bunt" FH return on the AD side, the neutralizing BH slice return on the deuce side were really good all throughout the tournament. In addition, he was punishing enough second serve returns as he did at the AO/IW/Miami and that made defeating him really difficult given that breaking him was very difficult to do.

Nobody won more than 71% of first serve points against him and that is incredible since he faced some huge servers on grass. Here is what other all time returners did as Wimbledon champions.

2016 Wimby (Murray)--Tsonga won 72% of first serve points, Berdych won 70%, Kyrgios won 68%

2015 Wimby (Djokovic)--Anderson won 83% of first serve points, Cilic 76%, Federer 74%.

2014 Wimby (Djokovic)--Dmitrov won 83% of first serve points, Federer 77%

2013 Wimby (Murray)--Jerzy won 75%, Verdasco 72%, Robredo 70%

2011 Wimby (Djoko)--Baggy won 73%, Tsonga 68%, Nadal 67%

2010 Wimby (Nadal--perhaps not considered a great natural returner but does win a high % of return points once the rally starts although his overall stats are skewed by how many return points he wins on clay)--Soderling won 82% of first serve points, Murray 78% and Berdych 73%

2008 Wimby (Nadal)--Gulbis won 76% of first serve points, Federer won 72%

2002 Wimby (Hewitt)--Carraz won 87% of first serve points, Henman won 67%

1992 Wimby (Agassi)-Ivanisevic won 86% of first serve points, Becker won 76%

Once tennisabstract updates, we can take a look at total amount of first serve return points won.

Federer's first serve returning this Wimbledon

Cilic--served 60%. 5 aces, 0 service winners, won 65% of first serve points. He wasn't 100%, but these are astonishingly low power numbers off of a monster serve that was just as powerful today as it has been all tournament speed wise.

Won 88% of first serve points against Querry, 84% against Muller, 79% against Agut, 80% against Johnson, 90% against Mayer, 80% against Kohli. Some bad returners there, but Cilic has been one of the most dominant first serve players over the past year and his serve was completely neutralized.

Berdych--served 62%. 9 aces, 3 service winners, won 68% of first serve points.

Won 93% of first serve points against Djokovic, 82% against Thiem, 84% against Ferrer, 84% against Harrison, 87% against Chardy

Raonic--served 73%. 11 aces, 2 service winners, won 71% of first serve points.

One of the all time first serve points won leader. 76% against Zverev, 84%of first serve points won against Vinolas, 89% against Youznhy, 78% against struff,

Dimitrov--served 63%. 7 aces, 0 service winners, won 65% of first serve points.

83% of first serve points won against Sela, 79% against Baggy, 85% against Swartzman

Zverev-served 62%. 6 aces, 1 service winner, won 71% of first serve points.

Lajovic--served 64%. 3 aces, 0 service winners, on 57% of first serve points.

Dolgopolov--served 46%. 2 aces, 0 service winners, won 57% of first serve points.

I think you are missing the big picture:

I already know that Fed won close to 62% of his games, something like 3rd best in his career on grass.

Last time I checked the ATP had not yet posted stats, but let's do a bit of math:

93/29 is my guess, meaning that if he ended up winning around 93% of his games serving, he won 29% of return games. That is absurdly high for most player and hugely better than he has been in years on return.

I said before W started that if Fed won, his return stats would be way up again. Even if he won 95% of his service games, he's going to end up around 27% for return games.

His career average is around 24% for return games.

Profile page still says:

No Player Stats
We do not have any stats for this player.

The ATP site has been pathetic this year, but that should finally be fixed over the next 24 hours.

 

[Mr Feeny]

That's an insane amount of research! How did you come up with all this?

 

[stringertom]

Can you imagine how many more titles he would have won with improved return game results from the RF97 if he had made the change during his mid-career lull???

 

[falstaff78]

He was off and on with the BH return this Wimbledon, but overall, he locked into just about every server's serve sooner or later and was getting a plethora of returns into play and that allowed him to apply pressure in return games. The neutralizing "bunt" FH return on the AD side, the neutralizing BH slice return on the deuce side were really good all throughout the tournament. In addition, he was punishing enough second serve returns as he did at the AO/IW/Miami and that made defeating him really difficult given that breaking him was very difficult to do.

Nobody won more than 71% of first serve points against him and that is incredible since he faced some huge servers on grass. Here is what other all time returners did as Wimbledon champions.

2016 Wimby (Murray)--Tsonga won 72% of first serve points, Berdych won 70%, Kyrgios won 68%

2015 Wimby (Djokovic)--Anderson won 83% of first serve points, Cilic 76%, Federer 74%.

2014 Wimby (Djokovic)--Dmitrov won 83% of first serve points, Federer 77%

2013 Wimby (Murray)--Jerzy won 75%, Verdasco 72%, Robredo 70%

2011 Wimby (Djoko)--Baggy won 73%, Tsonga 68%, Nadal 67%

2010 Wimby (Nadal--perhaps not considered a great natural returner but does win a high % of return points once the rally starts although his overall stats are skewed by how many return points he wins on clay)--Soderling won 82% of first serve points, Murray 78% and Berdych 73%

2008 Wimby (Nadal)--Gulbis won 76% of first serve points, Federer won 72%

2002 Wimby (Hewitt)--Carraz won 87% of first serve points, Henman won 67%

1992 Wimby (Agassi)-Ivanisevic won 86% of first serve points, Becker won 76%

Once tennisabstract updates, we can take a look at total amount of first serve return points won.

Federer's first serve returning this Wimbledon

Cilic--served 60%. 5 aces, 0 service winners, won 65% of first serve points. He wasn't 100%, but these are astonishingly low power numbers off of a monster serve that was just as powerful today as it has been all tournament speed wise.

Won 88% of first serve points against Querry, 84% against Muller, 79% against Agut, 80% against Johnson, 90% against Mayer, 80% against Kohli. Some bad returners there, but Cilic has been one of the most dominant first serve players over the past year and his serve was completely neutralized.

Berdych--served 62%. 9 aces, 3 service winners, won 68% of first serve points.

Won 93% of first serve points against Djokovic, 82% against Thiem, 84% against Ferrer, 84% against Harrison, 87% against Chardy

Raonic--served 73%. 11 aces, 2 service winners, won 71% of first serve points.

One of the all time first serve points won leader. 76% against Zverev, 84%of first serve points won against Vinolas, 89% against Youznhy, 78% against struff,

Dimitrov--served 63%. 7 aces, 0 service winners, won 65% of first serve points.

83% of first serve points won against Sela, 79% against Baggy, 85% against Swartzman

Zverev-served 62%. 6 aces, 1 service winner, won 71% of first serve points.

Lajovic--served 64%. 3 aces, 0 service winners, on 57% of first serve points.

Dolgopolov--served 46%. 2 aces, 0 service winners, won 57% of first serve points.

excellent post!!!!

 

[BeatlesFan]

Yes. It was staggering how many returns he put back into play this Wimbledon. Opponents could barely get a serve past him.

Djoker and Murray obviously are greater returners in general, but nobody in the history of the game has returned HUGE servers as well as Roger:

 

[Meles]

Djoker and Murray obviously are greater returners in general, but nobody in the history of the game has returned HUGE servers as well as Roger:

Murray is the only contender. A weakness for Djokovic in his dotage if anything. First return is one of Zverev's keys to greatness, but he's not even close to Fed, just better than the other big servers.

 

[MajesticMoose]

Great stuff OP. You do a great job on summarizing data like this. Keep it up.

 

[Red Rick]

So what big servers did he play, except for Raonic, who was doing very little special?

 

[xFedal]

Murray is the only contender. A weakness for Djokovic in his dotage if anything. First return is one of Zverev's keys to greatness, but he's not even close to Fed, just better than the other big servers.

Murray is only contender for what? What weakness for Djokovic ? Return? Return for Nole has been down for a year and also serve numbers too... But Noles return numbers for grass this year were the best..

 

[StrongerThanAll]

Look out US Open!

 

[Sysyphus]

Djoker and Murray obviously are greater returners in general, but nobody in the history of the game has returned HUGE servers as well as Roger:

 

[Meles]

Murray is only contender for what? What weakness for Djokovic ? Return? Return for Nole has been down for a year and also serve numbers too... But Noles return numbers for grass this year were the best..

Murray is/was only contender for top first return. Servebot proof player.