Match Stats/Report - Djokovic vs Nadal, Rome final, 2014

[Waspsting]

Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Rome final, 2014 on clay

It was Djokovic's third Rome title and he would go onto win the following year also. Nadal was the defending champion. The two would go onto contest the final of the French Open shortly after, with Nadal winning

Djokovic won 92 points, Nadal 73

Serve Stats
Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (45/72) 63%
- 1st serve points won (32/45) 71%
- 2nd serve points won (15/27) 56%
- Aces 7 (1 not clean), Service Winners 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (16/72) 22%

Nadal....
- 1st serve percentage (69/93) 74%
- 1st serve points won (37/69) 54%
- 2nd serve points won (11/24) 46%
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (16/91) 18%

Serve Patterns
Djokovic served...
- to FH 53%
- to BH 44%
- to Body 3%

Nadal served...
- to FH 19%
- to BH 67%
- to Body 14%

Return Stats
Djokovic made...
- 75 (23 FH, 52 BH), including 3 runaround FHs
- 5 Winners (4 FH, 1 BH)
- 16 Errors, comprising...
- 13 Unforced (4 FH, 9 BH)
- 3 Forced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (75/91) 82%

Nadal made...
- 56 (31 FH, 25 BH), including 5 runaround FHs
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 8 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (3 FH, 1 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 4 Forced (4 FH)
- Return Rate (56/72) 78%

Break Points
Djokovic 6/14 (8 games)
Nadal 4/6 (4 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Djokovic 37 (22 FH, 10 BH, 1 FHV, 3 BHV, 1 OH)
Nadal 15 (6 FH, 4 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV, 2 OH)

Djokovic's FHs - 3 cc (1 pass), 8 dtl (2 returns), 6 inside-out (2 returns), 3 inside-in (1 at net), 1 drop shot and 1 net chord dribbler
- BHs - 4 cc (1 return), 4 dtl, 1 drop shot and 1 net chord dribbler

- the FHV was a first volley off a serve-volley point

Nadal's FHs - 1 cc, 1 cc/inside-in, 2 dtl (1 return) and 2 inside-out
- BHs - 1 cc pass, 2 running-down-drop-shots cc at net and 1 running-down-drop-shot drop shot at net

- 1 OH was on the bounce behind the service line and has not been counted a net point

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Djokovic 42
- 26 Unforced (12 FH, 12 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)… with 1 FH at net
- 16 Forced (10 FH, 5 BH, 1 BH1/2V)… with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.3

Nadal 37
- 19 Unforced (9 FH, 10 BH)
- 18 Forced (11 FH, 7 BH)… with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 41.6

(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 for these two matches are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Djokovic was...
- 14/23 (60%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 1/1 retreated

Nadal was...
- 10/14 (71%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back

Match Report
Brutal from Djokovic as he hammers a decent playing Nadal down

This match is exceptional in the pair's clay court rivalry. Djokovic has thrashed Nadal more than once, but he was either attacking with low percentage, high intensity that happened to come off or Nadal was playing poorly. Neither is really the case here. Djoko attacks - but in controlled to 'edgy' fashion. His play is very high quality, but also seems sustainable. Nadal doesn't play badly,... he plays as well as he's allowed (rarely challenging for control of action) and he's allowed little

Note Nadal having served 93 points to Djoko's 72, but Djoko winning 74 points in play to Nadal's 57. Despite going 3 sets, this is a very convincing thrashing. More so than some or the pair's straights set matches

Serve & Return
The standout is the returning - strong from Djoko, ineffective style choice by Nadal

Djoko serves with heat. more so than in years gone by. On strength of this match, his serve in general has improved

Note unforced/forced breakdown of return errors drawn -
- 13/16 errors drawn by Nadal are unforced
- 4/8 by Djoko are

... most would be against first serves. Compared to the routine serves Nadal sends at him, Djoko's sending down challenging, forceful ones. 7 aces and a service winner (Nadal has 0) is another sign of Djoko having the far, far stronger serve in the match

Ordinary serving from Nadal. 74% in with no aces is clear indicator that. And he's served 67% to the BH... a change from immediately preceding years.

On the return, Djoko is particularly damaging. He hammers balls back to the baseline all match - at 82% return rate, which is higher than his norm. And 5 winners, which is very high (usually has 0 or 1). When Nadal goes to the body, he's stepped aside to make room to hit FH in a flash and Nadal's body serves aren't precisely placed too. Djoko treats them like any regulation serve - and he's pounding them all day

Nadal's returning position puts him in trouble and he doesn't return too well beyond that. Since the previous year, Nadal had dropped back on his return position drastically (and he'd been returning from well back even before that), but he'd been able to get good depth on the second shot

Here, he's got almost nothing positive happening. 78% return rate isn't great (close to 90% isn't unusual for him). He's making errors from leaving so much scope for wide angled serving. And he returns short (not intentionally - Djoko's serves are too strong for him to do otherwise), which lets Djoko launch into third balls. It doesn't go with his game either.... he's missing extraordinary defence, movement and retrieval (more on that later) that his position would leave him needing

Well as Djoko served, it seems Nadal's returning is a bit off too

In a nutshell, serve-return complex is a no-contest. Djokovic is far stronger in both areas

 

[Waspsting]

Play - Baseline
But for late in the third set, action is almost completely on Djokovic's racquet. In the first set, he makes a whole bunch of errors to lose and in the next 2, he hits a whole bunch of winners and forces errors to win. Nadal is almost just along for the ride

Look at the UEFI of Djoko 47.3, Nadal 41.6... that's a huge gap, and Nadal's score is exceptionally low

And despite being far, far more passive, Nadal isn't even that much more consistent, if at all. Both players have 15 neutral UEs apiece (Nadal also has a defensive one). Nadal's total UE advantage is made of Djoko's missed attacking shots - Djoko has 5 attacking and 8 winner attempt errors, Nadal 1 and 2 respectively. And Djoko's neutral shots are heavier than Nadal's

Basically, Djoko is attacking, Nadal is putting the ball in play passively. Djoko winning tons of points with his attacks (and losing relatively few), but Nadal isn't even winning neutral rallies. And 'neutral' is a relative term in this case... even neutral play is somewhat tilted towards Djoko pushing towards attacks more than Nadal. Complete mis-match from the back

Neutral rallies are on the short side by the pair's standard. Nadal making errors in short rallies is especially unusual and as more than the playing dynamics, speaks to his not having a good day. The high 18 FEs he has are also relatively mild, which is to say, tough balls he's been in the habit of getting back for years. More a testament to how ridiculously good he's been for years than his playing badly in this match

Finally, Djoko has the defensive and movement advantage. Nadal's movement has declined significantly. He's about average by a general standard (not his own sky high one), maybe a bit above in covering the court. Still slides perfectly and the ability to tap the hard hit, wide ball on the move is still there... but he can't reach them as he did in '11-'13, let alone before that. When Djoko is moved around (which happens a lot more rarely), he does significantly better at reaching the ball and whacking it back in play on the run. Often deep

In previous years, Djoko had directed his attacks to Nadal's FH side (mostly with FH inside-outs, plus some BH cc's) in combination with trying to break down the BH (with FH cc's), and there are a couple of changes here

In attacking Nadal's FH side, Djoko's added a FH inside-in, which had been glaring missing previously. Here, when he forces Nadal to FH corner and gets a elicits a not strong ball down the middle, he finishes with FH inside-in. Its a pattern of play that Nadal excels at

Amidst Djoko FH cc - Nadal BH cc rallies, Djoko's quick to switch to FH dtl to kill point. Note 6 such winners (and 2 returns), which would comprise plays of this type and third ball shots into open court. And also, winners out of regulation positions. This isn't something Djoko does too often - he does most of the match here

It isn't til middle/late in the third that Nadal steps up in the court and tries to counter-attack. Its a bit late for it, but even then, he's not too successful. Djoko's defences hold firm - this ability of his to switch between attack and defence seamlessly and with seeming comfort is remarkable - Nadal makes errors and Djoko continues enjoying the lions share of having the initiative anyway. Still, good move from Nadal to try... sitting back putting balls in play (aka 'hope Djoko misses'?) was proving a dud strategy. Its not unusual for Nadal to go down at such times without having stepped up to attack

Though down from his own superlative standards, note Nadal's overall good numbers. 15 winners to 19 UEs is good for clay... and throw forcing 16 errors out of Djoko (which is no easy feat) and statistically, he's done more than well

Its just that its dwarfed by Djoko with 37 winners to 26 UEs and forcing 18 errors out of Nadal. This 55/26 ratio points ended forcefully/unforced errors is astounding

Match Progression
Nadal breaks twice to go up 4-1 on back of Djoko errors. Djoko pulls one back and then has Nadal at 0-40, having forced a pair of errors to get there. From there, he loses 5 straight points - the last 3 to bad errors. From breaking Nadal, Djoko had won 11/14 points

Djoko starts the second like a hurricane, winning 12/14 points to go up 3-0. He hands the break back from 40-0 up, losing the last 4 point to neutral UEs, but breaks right after with a return winner a BHV winner after making a FH1/2V, and Nadal double faulting on break point

From middle part of last game of second set to early part of third game of the third, Djoko goes on another run, this time winning 13/14 points in a row. 0-2 down, Nadal manages to hold through a 16 point game.

Nadal finally steps up to contest for initiative and evens set at 3-3. From there, though Djoko wins the next 3, including 2 breaks to close out the match

There's a pair of contrasting points in successive games. Brought to net by an already at net Nadal, Djoko doesn't have many viable options. The most obvious one would be to hit hard straight at Nadal. He instead goes for a hit-up-high-lob (i.e. without top spin), which Nadal easily smashes away

Next game, an at net Djoko is forced into a weak shot that Nadal races to meet at net. He can put the ball anywhere. He goes (not too hard) straight at Djokovic, who fends the ball out. In the previous year, Nadal had struck Djoko in the face with an at net pass in Canada but in that case, it was almost his only option

Summing up, Tremendous from Djokovic as he outhits and dominates his opponent. Nadal's a bit down in most areas and unwise to leave play in Djoko's hands to the extent he does but could still have probably beaten anybody else comfortably

Stats for other Rome matches between the two -
- 2011 - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...madrid-rome-finals-2011.666819/#post-14227210
- 2012 - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...-carlo-rome-finals-2012.668158/#post-14275622
- 2019 - https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...ort-nadal-vs-djokovic-rome-final-2019.670998/

 

[MichaelNadal]

I remember being upset after this match bc I thought Rafa would lose the FO......

#Mythical

 

[K-H]

I remember being upset after this match bc I thought Rafa would lose the FO......

#Mythical

How sexy is that point tho...
The flair and finesse in the movement and then the strike and follow through

 

[RF-18]

I remember being upset after this match bc I thought Rafa would lose the FO......

#Mythical

Please respect the OPs work and don't start talking about a whole other match.

 

[Gazelle]

Weird how Djokovic returned so strongly in the rome final, but then returned like a noob in their RG final a few weeks later.

 

[HetTheGreaterer]

I remember being upset after this match bc I thought Rafa would lose the FO......

#Mythical

The most important shot in djokodal rivalry is nadal's Forehand down the line

 

[MichaelNadal]

Weird how Djokovic returned so strongly in the rome final, but then returned like a noob in their RG final a few weeks later.

He didn't, the FHDTL was crispy

The most important shot in djokodal rivalry is nadal's Forehand down the line

Yep, it has to be firing at will for Rafa to win.