Why Djokovic’s Points Won Tally Is Superhuman

What have you got to do to win 52 per cent or more of your points over an extended period? Basically, be Superman.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of points won over a five-year span from 2015-2019 identifies that only six active players won more than 52 per cent of their points. They were Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Milos Raonic and Juan Martin del Potro.

Only Djokovic, Nadal and Federer were able to climb above the 54 per cent threshold, which is just another indicator of how the Big Three separate themselves from the pack. The win percentages for the six players are:

2015-2019: Total Points Won > 52 percent

Nadal led the Tour from 2017 to 2019 with points won in a single season, including the highest single-season percentage of 55.77 per cent (4,891/8,770), which he posted last year. The season leaders from 2015-2019 are:

Season Leader – Total Points Won
•2015: N. Djokovic = 55.53% (6054/10902)
•2016: N. Djokovic = 55.27% (5469/9895)
•2017: R. Nadal = 55.53% (5966/10744)
•2018: R. Nadal = 55.42% (4226/7626)
•2019: R. Nadal = 55.77% (4891/8770)

There are 16 more players who won between 51 per cent and 52 per cent of total points from 2015 to 2019, with the five highest being Marin Cilic (51.91%), Kei Nishikori (51.88%), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (51.81%), Dominic Thiem (51.74%) and Gael Monfils (51.72%).

You would think that posting a FedEx ATP Ranking around the Top 50 would also match with winning many more points than those lost, but only 53 players barely won more than 50 per cent of their points over the five-year period, with 47 of them living in the 50-52 per cent range.

Djokovic went on a tear to start 2020, going 18-0 in his first three events of the season. During the undefeated run, he only needed to notch up his percentage of total points won, which is typically right around 55 per cent, by one percentage point – to 56.03 per cent. The leading five players through the first two months of 2020 are:

2020 Leaders (Jan/Feb)
N. Djokovic = 56.03% (1635/2918)
R. Nadal = 55.46% (1330/2398)
R. Bautista Agut = 54.63% (1032/1889)
S. Tsitsipas = 54.07% (1241/2295)
A. Rublev = 53.71% (1464/2726)

Sixty-seven players won more points than they lost to start the 2020 season. When the Tour resumes, finding one or two more points out of every hundred will have real purpose now that we better understand the razor-thin margins that success in our sport are built upon.