Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers shows how two Roland Garros champions have improved in Paris
How does a player get a hot hand? A study of the past two Roland Garros champions, Novak Djokovic (2016) and Stan Wawrinka (2015), identifies obscure yet fascinating areas of their games that they improved in Paris to capture the sport’s prized clay-court Grand Slam title.
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An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Djokovic at Roland Garros in 2016, and Wawrinka in 2015, uncovers 10 areas that saw them perform much better than their season average in each year.
Roland Garros 2016 – Novak Djokovic
1. Serving at 0/15 (73% won)
Djokovic fell behind 0/15 30 times on serve at Roland Garros in 2016. He won the 0/15 point 73 per cent (22/30) of the time, which was higher than his 2016 season average of 69 per cent. The eight times he did fall behind 0/30 at Roland Garros, he won his serve on only one occasion.
2. First Serve Percentage Down Break Point (70%)
Djokovic faced 43 break points at Roland Garros in 2016. He made 70 per cent (30/43) first serves, which was five percentage points (65 per cent) higher than his season average. At Roland Garros, he made 73 per cent (8/11) in the deuce court, and 69 per cent (22/32) in the ad court.
3. Second Serve Points Won (60%)
Djokovic won a dominant 60 per cent (120/199) of his second-serve points in Paris last year. His career average in this specific area on clay is 54 per cent (3,073/5,669), while his 2016 season all-surfaces average was 56 per cent. The career leader of second-serve points won on clay is Rafael Nadal, at 56 per cent (4,358/7,765).
4. Total Return Points Won (49%)
Djokovic actually won fewer service points (67 per cent to 66 per cent) at Roland Garros compared to his season average. But on the return side, he improved from a season average of 44 per cent (2,498/5,657) to a mind-blowing 49 per cent (335/689).
5. First Serve Return Points Won (42%)
Djokovic is 19th in the career averages list of first-serve return points won at 36 per cent (3,807/10,517). Overall in the 2016 season he was at 35 per cent (1,185/3,413). This part of his game caught fire at Roland Garros last year, winning a staggering 42 per cent (175/418) of first-serve return points.
Roland Garros 2015 – Stan Wawrinka
1. Break Points Saved (82%)
Wawrinka found himself down break point 51 times at Roland Garros in 2015. He saved an astounding 82 per cent (42/51) of them, which was way up from his 2015 season average of 68 per cent (288/426).
2. Holding After Breaking Serve (97%)
When Wawrinka broke serve, he did an excellent job of holding serve in the following game. Wawrinka held serve 30 of 31 times (97 per cent) in this specific situation, which was up from his 2015 season average of 90 per cent (179/198).
3. Receiving With New Balls (42%)
Serving with fresh balls always seems to be a psychological advantage for the server. In the 2015 season, Wawrinka broke serve 20 per cent of the time (21/106) when facing new balls. But that percentage more than doubled at Roland Garros, as he broke serve 42 per cent (5/12) when facing new balls.
4. Breaking After Losing Serve (56%)
The disappointment of losing serve can make it tough to break straight back. In 2015, Wawrinka broke straight back after losing serve 24 per cent (31/130) of the time. At Roland Garros, he got straight back on the horse, breaking 56 per cent (5/9) of the time.
5. Breaking from 0/40 (100%)
Wawrinka finished what he started when returning at Roland Garros in 2015. Ten times he got his opponent to 0/40 on serve, and 10 times he broke. In the 2016 season he was at 90 per cent (45/50), and from the start of the 2015 season up to Madrid earlier this month, he broke serve just 76 per cent (105/139) of the time after building a 0/40 lead returning.
Go inside the tournament at RolandGarros.com.
Rafael Nadal began his quest for the Paris edition of “La Décima” with relative ease on Monday at Roland Garros, dismissing Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in just under two hours.
“For me, it’s important to serve a little bit better than what I did today… I feel that some moments I was not serving that well. The rest of the things I am happy with,” Nadal said.
The nine-time Roland Garros champion is again looking to make history during this European clay-court swing as he seeks a record 10th Roland Garros title. No man or woman has won a Grand Slam event 10 times in the Open Era (since April 1968).
Most titles at the same Grand Slam tournament (men and women)
|
Player |
Grand Slam |
Titles |
Years |
|
Margaret Court |
Australian Open* |
11 |
1960-66, 1969-71, 1973 |
|
Martina Navratilova |
Wimbledon |
9 |
1978-79, 1982-87, 1990 |
|
Rafael Nadal |
Roland Garros |
9 |
2005-08, 2010-2014 |
*Known as Australian Championships before 1969
The 30-year-old Nadal has already won his 10th Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, his 10th Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and his fifth Mutua Madrid Open during the past two months. With his win on Monday, he improves to 18-1 during this year’s clay-court swing and 73-2 lifetime at Roland Garros.
Nadal’s clay-court losses by season, *also won Roland Garros
|
2002 |
1 |
2010* |
0 |
|
2003 |
6 |
2011* |
2 |
|
2004 |
3 |
2012* |
1 |
|
2005* |
2 |
2013* |
2 |
|
2006* |
0 |
2014* |
3 |
|
2007* |
1 |
2015 |
6 |
|
2008* |
1 |
2016 |
4 |
|
2009 |
2 |
2017 |
1 |
The Mallorca native broke Paire eight times and was challenged by the World No. 45 only in the second set, when Paire twice broke Nadal and led 3-1. But Nadal marched back into the set, breaking in the fifth game, then at 3-4, he erased two break points and held during a nine-point game to level the second-set scoreline at 4-4.
The Spaniard then broke Paire to love, striking a forehand return service winner to lead 5-4. He’d hold to 15 for a two-sets-to-zero lead.
“Every time I play against Rafa, the games are not good. The only times when I can sort of identify the ball, I just see it and I’m just trying to put it back onto the court,” said Paire, who fell to 0-3 against Nadal in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. “He’s exceptional. He moves really fast. He hits really hard.”
No suprise @rafaelnadal is right at home on clay. Match point is worth a ?#RG17 pic.twitter.com/Kp2DaODuX8
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 29, 2017
The fourth-seeded Nadal will next face Dutchman Robin Haase. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0.
“I know him very well and he knows me very well. He’s a dangerous opponent. He hits the ball very hard. So I need to be very focused on the serve because returning him can be tough,” Nadal said. “I’ll do my utmost, which is always what I do when I practise, when I play a match. I put out my best tennis… I’m not particularly obsessed about anything in particular, except that I have to play my best tennis. Then we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
Go inside the tournament at RolandGarros.com.
| French Open |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May-11 June |
| Coverage: Listen to live radio commentary and follow text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online. |
Britain’s Andy Murray says he is ready to challenge for the French Open when he gets his campaign under way on Tuesday, despite a lack of recent form.
The world number one has a relatively modest 16-7 record this year, with just five wins on clay.
He plays Russian Andrey Kuznetsov in the first round at about 11:30 BST, with fellow Britons Johanna Konta and Kyle Edmund also in action on day three.
Murray has a 2-0 record against Kuznetsov, ranked 73rd after reaching the semi-finals in Geneva last week.
Murray was in good spirits when he faced the media on Friday, despite coughing occasionally.
Another bout of sickness last week brought a brief halt to training, after he suffered with shingles and the flu earlier in the year, as well as an elbow injury.
“The past few months have not been good, obviously. I haven’t played well. I had a few issues as well,” said the Scot.
“I need to accept that I’m struggling and then find a way to get through it.
“I will get through it – I’m sure of that. When that happens, I don’t know. Hopefully it happens in a few days. Hopefully it happens at this event. If it doesn’t, maybe it happens during the grass.”
Murray, who turned 30 earlier this month, faces a huge task to hold on to his number one ranking in the coming months, as he defends the large number of points he racked up over the second half of 2017.
At this stage last year he had 22 wins to his name, 12 of them on clay, and he arrived in Paris having just won the Italian Open.
He then went on a run to the final at Roland Garros that included one of his best clay performances against Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals.
Murray looks far from that level right now, lacking match practice and struggling with his movement.
The statistics show he is winning fewer points on both first serve (72% to 76%) and second serve (50% to 54%) than in 2016, leaving him under pressure more regularly.
Murray remains optimistic, however, and is boosted at the tournament by the return of Ivan Lendl to his coaching set-up for the first time since March.
“I’m very happy with the team I have around me when he isn’t there,” said Murray, who has Jamie Delgado alongside him throughout the year.
“I don’t think the reason why I haven’t been playing well is because [Lendl] hasn’t been around a lot.
“Certainly no-one mentioned that at any stage during the period between Wimbledon and the Tour Finals last year and I did OK.”
Boris Becker, six-time Grand Slam champion and former coach of Novak Djokovic:
From somebody that couldn’t lose a match last year to somebody that can’t win a match at the moment – I don’t know what happened.
I’m sure he’s a bit tired, a bit burnt out with all the matches he played last year. Clay is not his best surface, so he always has to play his very best to win on clay.
I don’t think it’s going to take a lot – winning matches helps. Ivan (Lendl) is back in Paris now in his corner – I think that helps as well.
Maybe the break between Melbourne and the French Open was too long – but they know better.
Konta’s remarkable rise from around the world’s top 150 to inside the top 10 over the past two years has been achieved largely away from clay courts.
The Briton, 26, has picked up a couple of wins on the surface over the past month but has yet to hit the heights of her grass and especially hard-court success.
“I’m lucky enough to have been challenged quite a bit this clay season, so I’m really enjoying that,” Konta told BBC Sport.
“It’s really giving me the opportunity to grow, to improve my game, my competitiveness and generally me as a person.”
She has a chance to claim her first main-draw win at Roland Garros, having twice lost in the first round, when she takes on Taiwanese world number 109 Hsieh Su-wei.
The pair have met twice before – with one win each – but never on clay and not since 2013.
“She’s an incredibly talented player, I do remember that,” added Konta.” She can be quite tricky, so I’ll be trying to take care of things my end and adapt as best as possible.”
Britain’s Aljaz Bedene says his American opponent Ryan Harrison effectively threw away the second set of their first round match at the French Open.
| French Open |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May- 11 June |
| Coverage: Listen to live radio commentary and follow text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online. |
British number three Aljaz Bedene is considering switching his allegiance back to Slovenia in order to compete at the Olympics.
Bedene, 27, became a British citizen in 2015 but has been unable to overturn a ban preventing him from representing Great Britain in the Davis Cup.
To go to the Olympics, a player must have been available for the Davis Cup.
“That’s a dream for every athlete,” said Bedene after beating Ryan Harrison to reach the French Open second round.
Bedene represented Slovenia in three Davis Cup ties before becoming a British citizen – and rules were introduced shortly after his switch barring players from representing more than one nation.
“I’ll have to see what can be done,” he added. “At the moment I’m representing Great Britain, but I do want to play Olympic Games.”
Bedene moved to Britain in 2008 but Dan Evans said earlier this month he still considered himself to be the British number three despite being overtaken by Bedene in the rankings.
“At the moment, for the clay season, I spent quite a lot of time in Slovenia,” Bedene said on Monday.
“My fiancee said she wants to move back. She wants to have her career there.
“I’m travelling a lot, so it’s not easy – but I do want to spend as much time as I can with her.
“I’ve still got a house in England. My home is still there. I have always been known as Slovenia-born – but I love Britain.
“I feel Slovenian and British.”
BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller
Bedene would need to play three Davis Cup ties for Slovenia between now and the Tokyo Olympics to be eligible for the 2020 Games, and so realistically would need to switch back in time for the 2019 competition.
He has a Slovenian passport, but also needs to be in “good standing” with the country’s Olympic Committee and would have to rebuild relationships broken when he started playing under the British flag.
In March, an arbitration hearing upheld the International Tennis Federation’s ruling that players can no longer represent more than one country, but expressed the hope the governing body could one day be persuaded that Bedene is worthy of an exemption.
That appears a long shot in the time available, and any switch back to Slovenia is likely to go down very badly with those at the Lawn Tennis Association who have spent so much time and resources on his case.
Earlier on Monday, Bedene won 6-4 6-0 3-6 6-1 against American Harrison – a player ranked 10 places higher at 42 in the world.
Afterwards, he accused his opponent of “tanking”, saying the American effectively gave up the second set to help him win the third
“That is in a way a tactic, and it worked,” Bedene told BBC Sport. “That was his decision. I’m not doing that.
“It’s never easy to start off the third set after someone’s tanking.”
Bedene has now won 21 of 24 matches on clay this year, winning two titles on the second-tier Challenger circuit and reaching an ATP Tour final in Hungary.
He will face Czech player Jiri Vesely in the second round, with Rafael Nadal of Spain a potential fourth-round opponent.
Fellow Britons Andy Murray, Kyle Edmund and Johanna Konta start their challenge on Tuesday, but Dan Evans lost on Sunday.
| French Open |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May-11 June |
| Coverage: Listen to live radio commentary and follow text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online. |
Defending champion Novak Djokovic won his first match under new coach Andre Agassi to reach the second round of the French Open in Paris.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion teamed up with American Agassi after parting company with his entire coaching team.
The world number two Serb, who could meet Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, beat Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-4 6-2.
Spaniard Nadal, bidding for a 10th French Open title, eased past France’s Benoit Paire 6-1 6-4 6-1.
Djokovic faces either compatriot Janko Tipsarevic or Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the second round, while Nadal will take on Robin Haase of the Netherlands.
| French Open |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May-11 June |
| Coverage: Listen to live radio commentary and follow text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online. |
Spain’s Garbine Muguruza started the defence of her French Open title by beating 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-4.
Fourth seed Muguruza went into the match having won only three times on clay this season, but she cruised through the first set.
Italian Schiavone, 36, won three games in a row to lead the second set but Muguruza fought back to win.
Muguruza will face Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit in the second round.
“I cannot believe in the first round we have two ex-champions. Not only that but Francesca is a legend and I was very excited to play on Philippe Chatrier court with her,” said Muguruza.
Muguruza defeated Serena Williams to win her maiden Grand Slam title a year ago, but the 23-year-old needs to return to the final to stay in the world’s top 10.
“I know I played good here before, but that doesn’t make me extra confident this year. I have to play well to earn that confidence again,” she said.
Schiavone, who is 37 in June, played in the tournament for the final time before her retirement at the end of the year.
Kristina Mladenovic – France’s biggest hope in the women’s draw – overcame American Jennifer Brady in a three-hour match on Philippe Chatrier court.
The world number 14 was trailing in the first set when she had to go off for treatment on a back problem.
She also found herself 0-3 down in the deciding set before coming back to win 6-3 3-6 9-7.
“I pulled my back yesterday and specialists were saying I needed 48 hours,” said Mladenovic. “I was almost sure I could not make it to court today.
“It was not the best thing obviously but I promise you I will come back and will fight until the end.”
Caroline Wozniacki had to fight hard to beat Australian Jaimee Fourlis 6-4 3-6 6-2.
Wildcard Fourlis, aged 17 and at 337 the lowest-ranked player in the main draw, pushed the 11th seeded Dane in the second set.
But Wozniacki, who had to retire during last week’s Strasbourg tournament because of a lower-back injury, regained control in the deciding set.
Andy Murray can go “very, very deep” at the French Open as he rebuilds his confidence, argues Davis Cup captain Leon Smith.