Match Stats/Report - Djokovic vs Nadal, Olympic Games second round, 2024

Waspsting

Hall of Fame
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Rafael Nadal (Spain) 6-1, 6-4 in the Olympic Games second round (round of 32), 2024 on clay in Paris, France

Djokovic would go onto win the title, beating Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) in the final. Nadal had previously won the title in 2008 in Beijing, China on hard court. This was the 11th match the two had played at this venue with the rest occuring at the French Open. Djokovic had won 2, Nadal 8 of them. This was the 60th match the pair had played, Djokovic leading the head-to-head 31-29

Djokovic won 63 points, Nadal 43

Serve Stats
Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (29/48) 60%
- 1st serve points won (23/29) 79%
- 2nd serve points won (10/19) 53%
- Aces 5
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (13/48) 27%

Nadal....
- 1st serve percentage (42/58) 72%
- 1st serve points won (23/42) 55%
- 2nd serve points won (5/16) 31%
- Aces 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (8/58) 14%

Serve Patterns
Djokovic served...
- to FH 40%
- to BH 60%

Nadal served...
- to FH 21%
- to BH 75%
- to Body 4%

Return Stats
Djokovic made...
- 48 (13 FH, 35 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 7 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (3 BH)
- 4 Forced (4 BH)
- Return Rate (48/56) 86%

Nadal made...
- 34 (12 FH, 22 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- 2 Forced (1 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (34/47) 72%

Break Points
Djokovic 5/12 (5 games)
Nadal 2/3 (2 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Djokovic 18 (7 FH, 9 BH, 2 BHV)
Nadal 11 (6 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)

Djokovic's FHs - 1 dtl, 5 inside-out, 1 inside-out/dtl at net
- BHs - 2 cc (1 pass at net), 3 dtl, 4 drop shots

- 1 from a serve-volley point, a first volley BHV

Nadal's FHs - 1 cc pass, 2 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in, 1 running-down-drop-shot dtl pass at net
- BHs - 1 cc pass at net (a slice), 2 dtl

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

- the OH was on the bounce

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Djokovic 23
- 15 Unforced (7 FH, 7 BH, 1 FHV)
- 8 Forced (2 FH, 5 BH, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 51.3

Nadal 30
- 18 Unforced (13 FH, 5 BH)
- 12 Forced (8 FH, 4 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.2

(Note 1: All 1/2 volleys refer to such shots played at net. 1/2 volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke numbers)

(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Djokovic was...
- 9/15 (60%) at net, including...
- 2/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves

Nadal was...
- 5/8 (63%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 1/2 forced back

Match Report
Straight out thrashing with Djokovic better in all areas, and Nadal being ordinary in all of them. Djokovic’s serve is stronger, he returns with damaging force and hits where and how he wants off both wings to overhwhelm

Could have been worse for Nadal. He’s down 1-6, 0-4 with a service game to follow. At that stage, he’s won 21 points to Djoko’s 47. He manages to scrape out 4 games to level at 4-4, without looking too convincing. Makes final scoreline a little more respectable

18 winners, 15 UEs for Djoko, with both wings scoring. FH has 7 winners and UEs apiece, BH does better still with 9 winners, 7 UEs bolstered with drop shotting success

Nadal’s FH falters and has match high 13 UEs (other groundies have 5, 7 and 7) and 8 FEs (other groundies 2, 4 and 5). Initially, he looks to play back-away FHs as much as possible as he did in his breakout days. He has neither force of shot of that side, nor the necessary quick footwork to to make it effective and soon settles to more, central court position game. FH continues to falter though

Djokovic doing what he likes, as he likes, of which wing he likes.
Hard, wide BH cc’s or surprise wrong-footing longlines. Combo’s of hard FH cc, and then down-the-line after pegging Nadal to other side. Move over FH inside-outs. And drop shots

This is the pair’s 60th match. Probably the 2nd or 3rd time Djoko’s come up net positive using drop shots. Djokovic excelling with drop shots would be like Nadal serving a mountain of aces - death knell for opponent

And before all that, Djoko serving well (force and placement), Nadal average on same fronts

Nadal struggling to return, Djoko quite comfortable - with a few typical, easily hit returns to the baseline. Unreturned serves - Djoko 27%, Nadal 14% - with Djoko drawing weak returns, Nadal solid ones at least, and sometimes deep one’s that at least leave him no chance to get on front foot and as often, put on back one

Both players movements are average. Nadal’s is tested more and shows up worse, but Djoko’s not flying around court either. Djoko’s wrong footing shots catch Nadal out, while Nadal can rarely deliver such surprises, but Djoko’s forced into errors by moderately wide shots too. Kind of balls good clay courters are in habit of putting back in play. Ordinary defence from both players, a very far cry from many of their previous matches

Before all that, Djokovic serving and returning better
Unreturned serves Djoko 27%, Nadal 14%
Djoko with 5 aces, Nadal 1

Nadal returning from well-back position. His movements aren’t good and 6/8 return erros have been marked UEs. While relatively low return rate (compared to other matches between the two) is mostly down to that, Djoko does serve particularly well. Against normal position returner, most of his first serves would qualify as forceful, which isn’t typical on clay

Nadal’s serve is normal for him. Good 72% first serves in, without serves being damaging

Some typical, easy deep returns close to baseline by Djoko. By contrast, good few short returns by Nadal. Not unheard of for him, though minority. Generally, he can rely on running and scampering like crazy from such positions to eke out a few points (and make winning points a pain for opponent at least)

He ain’t running and scampering like crazy here. He’s overpowered, out-manuvered and putaway
 

Waspsting

Hall of Fame
Winners - Djoko 18, Nadal 11
Errors Forced - Djoko 12, Nadal 8
UEs - Djoko 15, Nadal 18

Djoko goes hard off both wings. Hard BH cc’s to test Nadal’s FH. Firm longline change-ups that tend to catch out his BH. And even drop shots to finish. He’s got 4 BH drop shot winners

Initially, Djoko looking to play more prounced, powerful FH cc to beat down Nadal’s BH. Nadal’s BH proves steady, but does give up not strong balls and Djoko turns to more back-away FH inside-out play, including in conjunction with FH cc’s

Nadal goes for odd dtl winner (off both sides). He has to go for them from at best, normal positions. He can’t out-hit or outmanuver Djoko to set up a good opening for the winner and his serve can’t draw weak returns to do so either

React, defend, hope Djoko misses and rarely, have a go at a chancey winner is what Nadal’s relegated to

Reactions are slow. Djoko’s BH longlines tend to win points or catch him out. Djoko with 4 dtl winners and more moderate longlines (hit from closer to center of court) either draw errors or weak balls Djoko can attack as he pleases

Defence is not strong, primarily due to movement - both footspeed and changing directions
Djoko doesn’t miss much. 5 attacking UEs for forcing 12 errors, 6 winner attempts UEs for 18 winners. Not the greatest figures ever, but as often as he’s attacking, more than good enough
And the rare, chancey winner attempt, whether it comes off or not, isn’t likely to turn match, with Djoko attacking so much more often, doing so efficiently and while getting double the freebies with the serve

Neutral UEs - Djoko 4, Nadal 9
Djoko scoring with drop shots is death knell in this match up
Sizably more aggressive player being more so more consistent on basic front is death knell for any match up
Djoko’s UEFI is massive 51.9. In words, while being aggressor, he's barely missing anything rallying normally

So a normal rally (where 2 are just trading groundies) either end -
- with Nadal blinking up error (relatively pressured and his FH being loose)
- or Djoko getting on the attack via power or direction changing shots. And Nadal far from being able to defend against such attacks to anything vaguely likely to see him eke out bulk of points

What else? 5/7 Djoko’s FH winners are inside-outs. On BH, he’s got 4 drop shot and 3 dtl winners
The hard hit finishers are nice way to finish after moving opponent opposite way. The drop shots are luxary

Nadal’s BH doing well statisitcally with 3 winners, match low 5 UEs. Its not damaging though and pushed back by Djoko’s more powerful FH cc’s and caught out by BH longlines. Djoko does work weak balls out of it and its not particularly good either. Better than the FH and its 13 UEs

Match Progression
5-0. Not in quick time, but 5-0

Nadal starts match looking to move over to play FHs as much as possible. 0-5 scoreline good indicator of how well it work

Deuce game to open match. Djoko with a winning BH dtl to start the match, that Nadal’s a little slow to reach. 2 good points from Nadal soon after - an attacking BH inside-in return leads to him dominating rally, and he puts away OH on bounce from baseline after Djoko forces him back from net and a a typically winning FH inside-in, but Djoko goes on to hold

Back to back FH winners from Nadal next game (inside-in and inside-out), but he also misses third balls on the same shots. In between, Djoko’s BH longline again winning a point and an artsy one with DJoko drop shotting Nadal in and lob volleying him back to baseline

Couple of BH drop sho winners by Djoko in holding to love for 3-0

Good game after that, with just 3 UEs in 10 point. After Nadal saves break point with BH dtl winner, Djoko raises another with an even better BH dtl winner, and a deep return draws a makeable FH FE, which Nadal doesn’t move too well for

Djoko serves out set in due time and moves to 4-0 in second set. Error riddled first break, with Nadal’s BH eventually caving up the points and an aggressive games from both players for the second. A running, third ball FH dtl winner from Djoko in game 2 is one of the best shots of the match

With Djoko hitting third ball BH drop shot winners and serve-volleying to putaway BHV to move to 4-0, a bagel looks on the cards
Instead, Nadal levels at 4-4, hanging in rallies and Djoko missing a few attacking shots (Djoko still playing further up the court leading action)
Memorable point to get to 4-4, with Nadal blocking a smash back in play to force a low volley that he can easily dispatch FH cc for winner

Djoko wins next 2 games to wrap up match. Starts game 5 with another BH dtl winner and with Nadal missing couple third ball groundies, score reaches 15-40. Nadal comes back to deuce, including by serve-volleying for only time, and coming away with a net-to-net second FHV winner, but is broken not long after

BH dtl turns even rally on its head and allows Djoko to dispatch mid-court FH inside-out winner to raise 4th break point of game. And another BH drop shot winner finishes the job
Djoko serves out to 30, starting game with FH inside-out winner, ending with an ace

Summing up, close to a mismatch with Djokovic sizably better in all ways. Good damaging serve (Nadal’s average), consistent and fairly often damaging return (Nadal nondescript). Once rally gets underway, Djokovic more powerful, plays from further up the court, able to pound dtl or longline change-ups to catch out opponent and finish as he pleases, with power or cute drop shots

Nadal slow of foot, pushed on back foot and squashed. Djokovic’s movements are average too, and he’s not difficult to force errors out of either, but is rarely forced to defend
 

Hitman

Bionic Poster
Hopefully that is the last time we see these two go at it in an official match imo. Nadal hasn't been a factor to Djokovic on HC for over a decade, he had clay left, even that is now gone. The rivalry should end here, fitting it ends on the very court that it started back in 2006 on.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
Hopefully that is the last time we see these two go at it in an official match imo. Nadal hasn't been a factor to Djokovic on HC for over a decade, he had clay left, even that is now gone. The rivalry should end here, fitting it ends on the very court that it started back in 2006 on.
Davis cup remains
 

Djokodalerer31

Hall of Fame
I understand, but why post it now? Looks like random and weird timing to me...it was quite a minute since that match was played and you try to make it look as if it just happened yesterday, i don't get it...LOL
 
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