Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 6-3 in the Shanghai final, 2024 on hard court
This was Sinner’s first title at the event. He’d recently won the US Open. Djokovic was a four time former champion and looking for a 100th career title
Sinner won 65 points, Djokovic 60
Serve Stats
Sinner...
- 1st serve percentage (41/67) 61%
- 1st serve points won (31/41) 76%
- 2nd serve points won (17/26) 65%
- Aces 8, Service Winners 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (22/67) 33%
Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (38/58) 66%
- 1st serve points won (29/38) 76%
- 2nd serve points won (12/20) 60%
- Aces 4, Service Winners 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (22/58) 38%
Serve Patterns
Sinner served...
- to FH 43%
- to BH 52%
- to Body 4%
Djokovic served...
- to FH 34%
- to BH 55%
- to Body 10%
Return Stats
Sinner made...
- 36 (15 FH, 21 BH)
- 17 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 13 Forced (4 FH, 9 BH)
- Return Rate (36/58) 62%
Djokovic made...
- 45 (18 FH, 27 BH)
- 13 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 9 Forced (6 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (45/67) 67%
Break Points
Sinner 1/2 (1 game)
Djokovic 0
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Sinner 14 (5 FH, 4 BH, 2 FHV, 3 OH)
Djokovic 8 (4 FH, 1 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)
Sinner's FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 2 inside-in (1 at net), 1 longline
- BHs - 4 dtl (1 pass)
- 1 FHV was a swinging inside-in, non-net shot & 1 OH was on the bounce from teh baseline
Djokovic's FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 inside-in
- BH - 1 cc
- 1 from a serve-volley point, a first volley BHV
- 1 other FHV was a swinging dtl/inside-out
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Sinner 30
- 19 Unforced (9 FH, 10 BH)
- 11 Forced (5 FH, 5 BH, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.7
Djokovic 29
- 16 Unforced (8 FH, 5 BH, 3 BHV)... with 1 FH pass attempt
- 13 Forced (4 FH, 9 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48.1
(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
Sinner was 6/7 (86%) at net
Djokovic was...
- 7/13 (54%) at net, including...
- 3/6 (50%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 3/5 (60%) off 1st serve and...
- 0/1 off 2nd serve
Match Report
Two players play similarly - very good serving and power hitting from the baseline - to yield thorough server dominance on a fast court. Sinner is a bit better at everything - serve, return, power of shot, movement, defence - to fittingly come out ahead of a strong Djokovic who isn’t far behind
Despite Sinner’s superiority, there isn’t much in the result. Just 1 game with break points in it, which Sinner snatches and other set decided in toss-up tiebreak. That aside, both players hold easily. Djokovic in fact, more easily
Love holds - Djoko 4
15 holds - Sinner 5, Djoko 1
30 holds - Sinner 6, Djoko 3
8-point hold - Djoko 1 (no break points, Djoko leading 40-0)
… to go with the 1 break to 30 by Sinner make up regular games
It’s a fast court and both players serve strongly, and back it up with exemplary hitting. In that light, unreturned serves are not high
In-count - Sinner 61%, Djoko 66%
First serve ace/service winner rate - Sinner 22%, Djoko 13%
Unreturned serves - Sinner 33%, Djoko 38%
Unreturned serves breakdown -
- Return UEs - both 4
- Service Winner’d - both 1
- Aced - Sinner 4, Djoko 8
- Return FEs - Sinner 13, Djoko 9
… to yield identical 22 freebies for 2 (Djoko faces 9 more serves, so has better return rate)
Sinner firing 4 more aces, Djoko forcing 4 more return errors. Hard forcing them too.
3/4 Sinner UEs are against routine first serves (he’s also has an FE against a second serve, and there are other forceful seconds that he gets back in play). All of Djoko’s UEs by contrast drawn by second serves, and virtually 0 unforceful first serves from Sinner
Sinner slightly stronger first serve, with Djoko occasionally throwing in in-swing zone ones and having higher lot in
Both with good second serves, Djoko rarely throwing in genuinely forceful ones
Both half-back to return and striking (as opposed to blocking) as much as possible. Sinner getting a few more troublingly deep or wide ones off and little quicker moving for wide ones (against not as pacey serves). Solid returning from both; despite the obvious troubles against such good serves, both return firmly and don’t leave ready kill shots on the third ball
Call it a wash - Sinner slightly better serve quality and returning little better (which difference in serve quality has hand in), Djoko not far behind on quality, while getting 5% more first serves in
That 5% is exactly the same as his freebie advantage
This was Sinner’s first title at the event. He’d recently won the US Open. Djokovic was a four time former champion and looking for a 100th career title
Sinner won 65 points, Djokovic 60
Serve Stats
Sinner...
- 1st serve percentage (41/67) 61%
- 1st serve points won (31/41) 76%
- 2nd serve points won (17/26) 65%
- Aces 8, Service Winners 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (22/67) 33%
Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (38/58) 66%
- 1st serve points won (29/38) 76%
- 2nd serve points won (12/20) 60%
- Aces 4, Service Winners 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (22/58) 38%
Serve Patterns
Sinner served...
- to FH 43%
- to BH 52%
- to Body 4%
Djokovic served...
- to FH 34%
- to BH 55%
- to Body 10%
Return Stats
Sinner made...
- 36 (15 FH, 21 BH)
- 17 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 13 Forced (4 FH, 9 BH)
- Return Rate (36/58) 62%
Djokovic made...
- 45 (18 FH, 27 BH)
- 13 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (1 FH, 3 BH)
- 9 Forced (6 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (45/67) 67%
Break Points
Sinner 1/2 (1 game)
Djokovic 0
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Sinner 14 (5 FH, 4 BH, 2 FHV, 3 OH)
Djokovic 8 (4 FH, 1 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV)
Sinner's FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 2 inside-in (1 at net), 1 longline
- BHs - 4 dtl (1 pass)
- 1 FHV was a swinging inside-in, non-net shot & 1 OH was on the bounce from teh baseline
Djokovic's FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl, 1 dtl/inside-out, 1 inside-in
- BH - 1 cc
- 1 from a serve-volley point, a first volley BHV
- 1 other FHV was a swinging dtl/inside-out
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Sinner 30
- 19 Unforced (9 FH, 10 BH)
- 11 Forced (5 FH, 5 BH, 1 BH1/2V)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 44.7
Djokovic 29
- 16 Unforced (8 FH, 5 BH, 3 BHV)... with 1 FH pass attempt
- 13 Forced (4 FH, 9 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48.1
(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
Sinner was 6/7 (86%) at net
Djokovic was...
- 7/13 (54%) at net, including...
- 3/6 (50%) serve-volleying, comprising...
- 3/5 (60%) off 1st serve and...
- 0/1 off 2nd serve
Match Report
Two players play similarly - very good serving and power hitting from the baseline - to yield thorough server dominance on a fast court. Sinner is a bit better at everything - serve, return, power of shot, movement, defence - to fittingly come out ahead of a strong Djokovic who isn’t far behind
Despite Sinner’s superiority, there isn’t much in the result. Just 1 game with break points in it, which Sinner snatches and other set decided in toss-up tiebreak. That aside, both players hold easily. Djokovic in fact, more easily
Love holds - Djoko 4
15 holds - Sinner 5, Djoko 1
30 holds - Sinner 6, Djoko 3
8-point hold - Djoko 1 (no break points, Djoko leading 40-0)
… to go with the 1 break to 30 by Sinner make up regular games
It’s a fast court and both players serve strongly, and back it up with exemplary hitting. In that light, unreturned serves are not high
In-count - Sinner 61%, Djoko 66%
First serve ace/service winner rate - Sinner 22%, Djoko 13%
Unreturned serves - Sinner 33%, Djoko 38%
Unreturned serves breakdown -
- Return UEs - both 4
- Service Winner’d - both 1
- Aced - Sinner 4, Djoko 8
- Return FEs - Sinner 13, Djoko 9
… to yield identical 22 freebies for 2 (Djoko faces 9 more serves, so has better return rate)
Sinner firing 4 more aces, Djoko forcing 4 more return errors. Hard forcing them too.
3/4 Sinner UEs are against routine first serves (he’s also has an FE against a second serve, and there are other forceful seconds that he gets back in play). All of Djoko’s UEs by contrast drawn by second serves, and virtually 0 unforceful first serves from Sinner
Sinner slightly stronger first serve, with Djoko occasionally throwing in in-swing zone ones and having higher lot in
Both with good second serves, Djoko rarely throwing in genuinely forceful ones
Both half-back to return and striking (as opposed to blocking) as much as possible. Sinner getting a few more troublingly deep or wide ones off and little quicker moving for wide ones (against not as pacey serves). Solid returning from both; despite the obvious troubles against such good serves, both return firmly and don’t leave ready kill shots on the third ball
Call it a wash - Sinner slightly better serve quality and returning little better (which difference in serve quality has hand in), Djoko not far behind on quality, while getting 5% more first serves in
That 5% is exactly the same as his freebie advantage