Match Stats/Report - Federer vs Djokovic, Canadadian Open semifinal, 2010

[Waspsting]

Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in the Canadian Open semi-final, 2010 on hard court in Toronto

Federer would go onto lose the final to Andy Murray, while Djokovic would go onto reverse the result in the US Open semi-final shortly afterwards

Federer won 111 points, Djokovic 102

Serve Stats
Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (55/95) 58%
- 1st serve points won (40/55) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (17/40) 43%
- Aces 11, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (34/95) 36%

Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (81/118) 69%
- 1st serve points won (46/81) 57%
- 2nd serve points won (18/37) 49%
- Aces 2
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (25/118) 21%

Serve Patterns
Federer served...
- to FH 43%
- to BH 55%
- to Body 2%

Djokovic served...
- to FH 34%
- to BH 60%
- to Body 6%

Return Stats
Federer made...
- 90 (34 FH, 56 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 2 return-approaches
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 23 Errors, comprising...
- 8 Unforced (4 FH, 4 BH), including 1 runaround FH & 1 return-approach attempt
- 15 Forced (4 FH, 11 BH)
- Return Rate (90/115) 78%

Djokovic made...
- 59 (24 FH, 35 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 22 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 18 Forced (8 FH, 10 BH)
- Return Rate (59/93) 63%

Break Points
Federer 5/12 (7 games)
Djokovic 3/9 (5 games)

Winners (excluding serves, including returns)
Federer 16 (11 FH, 2 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)
Djokovic 25 (16 FH, 6 BH, 1 FHV, 2 OH)

Federer's FHs - 5 cc (1 pass), 1 dtl return, 2 inside-out, 1 inside-in, 1 longline and 1 running-down-a-drop-shot at net
- BHs - 1 dtl and 1 drop shot

- 1 FHV was a drop

Djokovic's FHs - 1 cc, 3 dtl, 8 inside-out, 3 inside-in and 1 running-down-a-drop-shot at net
- BHs - 2 cc, 1 dtl/inside-out, 2 inside-out (1 return pass) and 1 running-down-a-drop-shot

- 1 FHV was a stop

Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Federer 50
- 30 Unforced (19 FH, 11 BH)
- 20 Forced (6 FH, 13 BH, 1 BHV)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.3

Djokovic 58
- 39 Unforced (12 FH, 25 BH, 1 FHV, 1 Incorrect Challenge)
- 19 Forced (7 FH, 9 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.9

(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...
- 13/16 (81%) at net, including...
- 1/2 serve-volleying, comprising...
- 1/1 off first serve and...
- 0/1 off second serve
---
- 1/2 return-approaching

Djokovic was...
- 6/13 (46%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back

 

[Waspsting]

Match Report
A strange and very patchy match that yields some surprising stats. Could have gone either way and at different points in the match, one or the other player is playing better (and usually, one, the other or even both are playing poorly). Fitness might be the deciding factor - Federer is still fresh at the closing stages but Djokovic looks tired and plays like it at that juncture

Blink and you'll miss the first set. It takes 6 minutes for Federer to take a 3-0 lead and about 15 minutes later, the set is done. To win a set so easily, one has to at least play adequately - and Federer does rather more than that. He serves well, returns consistently and hits cleanly off the ground. The scope to shine though is limited by Djokovic playing badly. 12 UEs from Djokovic (Fed has 5, mostly at unimportant moments) in the set.

Federer breaks again to start the second (3 UEs from Djokovic) and after holding, is up 0-30 (2 UEs from Djokovic) as he looks for a double break. A thrashing looks on the cards (its amusing to hear the commentators hinting that Djokovic lacks heart and might just throw in the towel and get swept away.... how times change). The Serb begins to turn things around with a slightly mishit BH dtl that lands in for a winner, but follows up with a cleanly struck BH cc winner

Rest of the set is a scrappy dog fight with plenty of errors from both players. After being denied a break to take the lead, Djokovic scraps through a 22 point service game (only faced 2 break points) to take advantage of a loose service game from Federer. 2 routine errors from the Swiss in the game before he nets a Djoko moonball to give up the break.

Still, he plays a fine game as Djoko serves out the set. His only return winner (FH dtl), and a very sharply angled FH cc winner gives him a break point, but Djoko clutches through with an ace, a powerful pass that forces a chip-charging Federer to net a volley and a FH inside-out winner to take the match into the decider.

3rd set is still a dog fight with slightly higher level of play. Djoko has a horrendous service game with 3 routine errors to be broken to love but breaks back in time in a well played 14 point game. Its round about 5-5 that Novak shows signs of tiredness. He doesn't bother to try to chase down a not-great Federer drop shot, steps up to hit with more power and depth and also go for winners from the back. He's largely successful too - and has 3 break points which would have left him serving for the match - 2 of which are erased with strong serves.

The final game is anticlimactic. Djoko gives up the first two points with routine FH errors in short rallies and finishes with 3 successive errors. He's not moving much and just looking to bash the ball, not necessarily to the open court

Serve & Return
From start to finish, Federer has the advantage in both (and net play, more on that later)

This comes out in the stats well - 12 aces/service winners to 2 from Djoko and 36% unreturned serves (Djoko 21%), despite trailing service percentage 58% to 69%. Fed's second serve is strong enough to force the odd error, while 1 or 2 Djoko unreturned first serves have been marked unforced return errors

On serve, Fed is painting lines and mixing up excellent jumping kickers with his flat hard serves. On return, he's excellent at putting the ball in play. Djoko's serve is neither strong nor weak, but its a quick enough court that he would have expected to gain more cheap points, but Fed seems to get everything back. Fed's return rate is over 80% for most of the match, but he makes a number of errors late in the 3rd set to take it down to a still very good 78%

I would primarily credit Fed for both returning and especially, serving well rather than discredit Djoko, who returns about as well as he's allowed to. But Novak's serve isn't great. Its decent, but not a weapon, he doesn't place it particularly well and Fed also seems to read it very well. According to commentators, he was having a lot of trouble with double faults round about this time. He avoids this, but with Fed returning so surely, he needs to do more work in play than he'd have liked to

Note Djoko's low 57% first serve points won. That's a bit deceptive and weighed down by winning just 8/20 in the first set (due to poor play, not serving), but even winning 62% for the rest of the match is on the low side.... credit Federer's neutralizing returns for this

Baseline Play
Some interesting stats

Note Djoko outdoing Fed on winners 22-13 (both have 3 net winners also). He also forces 19 groundstroke errors to Fed's 16 (and more of the errors Fed forces were passing shots). Note also Djoko winning 49% second serve points to Fed's 43%.... I think its clear that Djoko was the better baseliner

Note FH UEs (Djoko 12, Fed 19). Combined with FH winners (Djoko 16, Fed 11 - including a pass)…. its also pretty clear the Serb got the better of the FH battle
Note BH UEs (Fed 11, Djoko 25). With winners not being much of a factor (Djoko 6, Fed 2)…. its pretty clear the Swiss got the better of the BH battle

Not shocking, but surprising

Fed doesn't have a good day on the FH, and doesn't particularly try to be aggressive with it. But his BH is solid.... even stevens in rallying with Djoko's more powerful two-hander and far more secure. I'd give equal credit to Federer BH showing and discredit to Djoko's for this match... he makes so many sloppy errors. And barely uses dtl court opening and/or attacking shots with it

Should be noted that the court is on the quick side of medium paced which means many of the UEs are on the forced side of being unforced... but still, the baseline action is fairly ordinary from both men, at least by their own standards

Both move and defend well. Federer was more notable to me in this regard.... probably just because its significantly different to the way he's been playing for years now, not because he's necessarily superior to Djoko defensively and of movement

Net Play
Not a huge factor in the match.... but it could have been

Federer is excellent up front (Djoko isn't great on the pass too). Djokovic is... uncomfortable at net (Federer also passes very well)

What could that lead too?

With Djoko getting the better of the baseline exchanges, Fed could have looked to attack the net to keep the upper hand (the way he does now). He doesn't.... he seems to want to show who's boss from the back. In this match, nobody is really the baseline boss (Djoko just edges it), but I doubt Federer had it in him to get the better of Djokovic purely baseline-to-baseline round about this time

(One perspective I'm looking at these old matches from is that of sussing the evolution of playing dynamics and abilities of the players

I suspect Federer was a tad slow in coming to grips with Djokovic being his equal from the back of the court. From matches I've rewatched recently, it looks like Djoko was Federer's equal from the baseline from as early as 2007. From there, Djoko continued improving (drastically even) and Federer declining (more gradually)

Fed kept his nose in front based on other skills - the serve in particular, and some mental issues (strong ones from him, weak ones from Djoko)… from the baseline, Djoko equalled and probably surpassed Federer fairly early)

Summing up, a very patchy match of playing quality, but a great scrap. Federer serving and returning superbly, neither playing particularly well from the back (but Djoko better). Fed playing important points better and being fit enough to maintain a decent level all the way probably the difference in the end

 

[metsman]

Good summary. I will add though that Fed clearly had the edge in baseline rallies in their 07-09 USO meetings so since this was there first meeting of the year I wouldn't quite say that Fed couldn't come to terms with Djokovic off the baseline. As evidenced by all 3 of their post USO meetings too. Fed and Djoker were both in pretty mediocre form most of the year pre USO in 2010 post AO for Fed, and this match is just a sloppy match that shows that off. I wouldn't look too much into it. 2011 is when Djokovic took another leap in his game and started clearly getting the better of Fed off the baseline (he could still do plenty of selectively damage though on his favored conditions though, it wasn't like post 14).