Finishing a season inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings is an outstanding achievement. To get there, players must distinguish themselves in various facets of the sport.

Thanks to Infosys ATP Scores & Stats, ATPTour.com can show you how the Top 10 players compare to one another in many key statistical categories in both serve and return games. In 2018, Rafael Nadal led the Top 10 in six of nine key serve and return categories, helping him finish inside the Top 2 of the year-end ATP Rankings for the 10th time.

All statistics are based off of Infosys ATP Scores & Stats’ Individual Match Stats Leaderboard, which includes players who competed in a minimum of 40 tour-level main draw matches in 2018.

Return Games Won
Juan Martin Del Potro’s return to the Top 5 was aided by improved performance in his return games, as the Argentine won his highest percentage of those games since 2011 (in years he has played 40+ matches).

First-Serve Return Points Won
Alexander Zverev improved tremendously on his first-serve return this season, bumping his winning percentage up four points. If the German won 28.4 per cent of his first-serve return points in 2018, he would have finished 27th on the ATP Tour and eighth among Top 10 players.

Second-Serve Return Points Won
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Nadal and Djokovic finished inside the Top 3 in three of the four major return categories in 2018. That showed in their year-end ATP Ranking, with Djokovic returning to World No. 1 and Nadal finishing at No. 2.

Break Points Converted
This was the Top 10’s worst category of the bunch in 2018. On average, they finished 27th in break points converted. 

Break Points Saved
Nadal was especially strong when facing break point in 2018. Entering the year, his career winning percentage saving break points was 66.3 per cent. 

Service Games Won
It’s no surprise that John Isner led the pack in service games won, claiming 93.6 per cent of those games. The American was broken just 55 times in 54 matches in 2018.

Aces
Isner surpassed 1,000 aces for the sixth time in his career, leading the ATP Tour in the category for a record-tying sixth time.

*does not abide by the 40-match rule

First-Serve Points Won
Roger Federer’s 80.2 per cent winning rate on first-serve points was the best mark of his career. Former World No. 3 Milos Raonic, while not inside the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings, topped this category in 2018.

Second-Serve Points Won
Nadal wins more second-serve points on the ATP Tour than anyone else for the second consecutive year. Djokovic topped the list in 2015-16.

View the rest of ATPTour.com’s 2018 In Review series.