The Bryan brothers and golf legend Jack Nicklaus again brought together some of the world’s best golfers and tennis players to raise money for their children’s foundations.

The “Fore Love” tournament, which combines golf and tennis pro-ams and was held for the first time in 2017, was hosted again last weekend in North Palm Beach and Jupiter, Florida, and raised $1.1 million for the Bryan Bros. Foundation and the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation.

The tennis players who participated: Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Milos Raonic, Andy Roddick, Kevin Anderson, Frances Tiafoe, Mardy Fish, Gaston Gaudio, Fabio Fognini, Guillermo Canas, Jean-Julien Rojer, Reilly Opelka, along with WTA star Sloane Stephens and retired WTA player Flavia Pennetta, who is married to Fognini.

Nicklaus, along with PGA players Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger, Kevin Tway and Jason Duffner led the golf pro-am. Donors, who participated in the pro-ams and enjoyed dinner at the Nicklaus’ home, among other perks, each paid $50,000 for the opportunity.

The Bryans met Jack and Barbara Nicklaus eight years ago through a mutual friend and share a passion for philanthropy.

Imagine losing the opening point of your service game and consequently not being favoured to hold serve. You must be playing Rafael Nadal.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the 2018 year-end Top 25 of the ATP Rankings identifies that there is just one player who statistically becomes the favourite when returning if he wins the opening point of the game.

The data set is from the past four seasons and uncovers that Nadal has won 50.4 per cent (649/1288) of his return games when he wins the opening point.

The average for the current Top 25 is breaking 39.5 per cent (9543/23,682) of the time when they win the opening point of the game, which highlights Nadal’s superiority in this specific area.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic comes in second best breaking serve when he wins the opening point of the game when returning, at 49.2 per cent (673/1367).

Current Top 25 Over Past Four Seasons: Breaking Serve When Leading 0/15

Diego Schwartzman moved to a career-high ranking of No. 11 in June, and was the No. 1 returner on the ATP Stats Return LEADERBOARD, powered by Infosys Nia Data, in 2017.

Fabio Fognini was the fourth best returner on tour in 2018, and finished this season with his career-best ranking of No. 13. David Goffin finished second to Nadal in the Infosys Return Ratings in 2018.

Winning the opening point when serving against these return giants is crucial. Otherwise, the game may be over before it’s really started.

Editor’s Note: Craig O’Shannessy is a member of Novak Djokovic’s coaching team.

Imagine losing the opening point of your service game and consequently not being favoured to hold serve. You must be playing Rafael Nadal.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the 2018 year-end Top 25 of the ATP Rankings identifies that there is just one player who statistically becomes the favourite when returning if he wins the opening point of the game.

The data set is from the past four seasons and uncovers that Nadal has won 50.4 per cent (649/1288) of his return games when he wins the opening point.

The average for the current Top 25 is breaking 39.5 per cent (9543/23,682) of the time when they win the opening point of the game, which highlights Nadal’s superiority in this specific area.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic comes in second best breaking serve when he wins the opening point of the game when returning, at 49.2 per cent (673/1367).

Current Top 25 Over Past Four Seasons: Breaking Serve When Leading 0/15

Diego Schwartzman moved to a career-high ranking of No. 11 in June, and was the No. 1 returner on the ATP Stats Return LEADERBOARD, powered by Infosys Nia Data, in 2017.

Fabio Fognini was the fourth best returner on tour in 2018, and finished this season with his career-best ranking of No. 13. David Goffin finished second to Nadal in the Infosys Return Ratings in 2018.

Winning the opening point when serving against these return giants is crucial. Otherwise, the game may be over before it’s really started.

Editor’s Note: Craig O’Shannessy is a member of Novak Djokovic’s coaching team.

Prior to 2018, Borna Coric and Roger Federer had met just once on the ATP World Tour. On that occasion, at the 2015 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Federer cruised past the Croatian in just 56 minutes to reach the championship match in the Middle East.

This year, none of their three FedEx ATP Head2Head clashes showed any resemblance to that meeting. With three years of learning experience under his belt, Coric’s three milestone moments in 2018 were all highlighted by clashes against Federer. With two semi-final encounters and one championship match meeting in 2018, Coric and Federer only met in the latter stages of events as the stakes and both players’ form reached peak levels.

After defeating Kevin Anderson in a final-set tie-break to reach his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Coric was handed the challenge of trying to end Federer’s personal record-tying 16-match unbeaten streak to start the season. (Federer began 2018 in top form, claiming his 20th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open before returning to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings after winning the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in February.)

Coric made a dream start against Federer in the Californian desert, snatching a late break in the opening set before earning an immediate second-set advantage after firing a forehand winner. With Pete Sampras and Rod Laver in attendance, it appeared as though the young Croatian might be able to earn a surprise win over the World No. 1 on one of the grandest stages in the sport. But, as Coric neared the finish line, nerves settled into the 21-year-old’s game.

Federer struck just four unforced errors in the last four games of the second set as Coric’s serve began to fall short and the Swiss took full advantage. Coric once again led by a break in the decider, but Federer clawed his way back into contention before eventually breaking to love to claim a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory and set a personal record 17-0 start to an ATP World Tour season.

“I should have lost [the] match,” said Federer. “I was down twice a break in the third, I was down a break in the second. So no doubt about it, this was definitely the toughest match [of the year so far].”

After registering back-to-back three-set victories over Taylor Fritz and Kevin Anderson, Coric rose 13 spots to No. 36 in the ATP Rankings following his run to the semi-finals in Indian Wells.

“It was very enjoyable, but at the same time it was tough. It doesn’t feel great to lose this match, but I know that’s tennis. I need to look at it from the positive side, definitely, just the whole tournament, and this match as well.”

Three months later, Federer arrived in Halle in search of his 10th Gerry Weber Open trophy. After capturing his first MercedesCup title in Stuttgart the week before, the nine-time champion advanced to his 12th final in Halle riding a 20-match grass-court winning streak. Across the net was Coric, who, prior to his arrival at the ATP World Tour 500 event, owned just two wins in nine tour-level matches on grass.

But, despite his inexperience on the surface, Coric had defeated Alexander Zverev for the loss of just five games en route to the final. Federer needed to lift the trophy in Halle to remain at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, but it was Coric who ended the week with the trophy in his arms after a 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2 victory.

Saving two set points at 4/6 in the first set-tie-break, Coric took a one-set lead over the World No. 1 in dramatic fashion. Despite conceding the second set after dropping serve at 3-4, Coric reeled off four straight games from 2-2 in the decider to charge towards the biggest title of his career.

“It is the most unbelievable feeling, [to beat Federer],” said Coric. “I looked up to him when I was younger, watching his matches back at home with my mum, my dad and my sister. Just playing him here today was a very special moment and beating him just makes it even bigger for me.”

The result lifted Coric to a career-high No. 21 in the ATP Rankings and the Croatian continued to improve that position throughout the remainder of the season. In the final instalment of their 2018 trilogy, Coric and Federer clashed in the semi-finals of another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event; the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

After tough three-set wins over Daniil Medvedev and Roberto Bautista Agut in his opening two matches, Federer arrived in the last four with great confidence following a convincing straight-sets win over an in-form Kei Nishikori. Coric had also been made to work hard for a position in his second Masters 1000 semi-final, navigating his way past Stan Wawrinka and Juan Martin del Potro to set a third meeting of the season against the Swiss.

With confidence from his previous two meetings in 2018 against Federer, Coric produced one of the best wins of his career, beating Federer 6-4, 6-4 in a dominant serving display to reach the biggest final of his career.

“It’s absolutely there. If not the best [win], then it’s in the Top 2, Top 3,” said Coric. “It’s really something special.”

The Croatian landed nine aces, dropped just six points behind his first serve and did not face a break point to overcome the defending champion in 74 minutes. Tying his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Federer for the first time, at 2-2, the Halle champion also guaranteed himself a new career-high of No. 13 in the ATP Rankings heading into his final encounter against Novak Djokovic.

“It’s one of the best matches I have ever played. I was just feeling through the ball,” said Coric. “I think I served the best in my life, for sure. I was going for the angles. I was going for the body. Everything was going in.”

Ending the year at No. 12 in the ATP Rankings, it would appear that Coric and Federer may be forced to continue their trend of only meeting at the back end of tournaments in 2019. As one of the emerging talents on the ATP World Tour, will Coric be able to continue his rapid rise next year and continue his winning streak against Federer? Or will the 99-time tour-level champion find a way to reverse his recent fortunes against the 22-year-old and regain control of their FedEx ATP Head2Head series? If 2018 is anything to go by, it won’t be an easy task for either man.

Coric vs. Federer: 2018 Meetings

Rafael Nadal was the king of break points in 2018.

The 32-year-old Spaniard finished the season at No. 2 in the ATP Rankings with a 45-4 record, including five titles. He also earned more than $8.6 million dollars in prize money. Nadal’s outstanding performance in the crucible of break points – both when serving and receiving – was a major reason.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Nadal on break points in 2018 uncovered that he finished second best on tour this year with break points saved, and third best with break points converted.

Rafael Nadal: 2018 Season
No. 2: Break Points Saved = 70.46% (198//281)
No. 3: Break Points Converted = 45.57% (216/474)

The following analysis combines break points saved when serving along with converting break points when receiving into one number. As you will see from the table below, which includes the best 10 players in this combined metric, Nadal’s separation on break point is evident.

2018 Season: Combined Total – Break Points Saved & Converted

Roger Federer finished second best with the combined total (110.37), which helped power the Swiss to an end-of-season ATP ranking of No. 3. He also spent six weeks at No. 1 earlier in the year.

Gael Monfils finished 10th best in the combined totals list, and actually finished first in Break Points Converted for all players on tour in 2018, winning 46.42 per cent (149/321). Steve Johnson was the tour leader in Break Points Saved, at 70.75 per cent (208/294).

Nadal and Federer both had an outstanding win rate on break points in 2018.

2018: Nadal & Federer – Percentage of Break Points Played

The illustrious careers of both Nadal and Federer have been built around winning the big points, and 2018 was no exception.

Continuing our Season In Review series, ATPWorldTour.com revisits the fiercest rivalries of 2018. Today we feature Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem:

Four years ago, Rafael Nadal played Dominic Thiem, who was 20 years old, for the first time. Nadal beat the Austrian at Roland Garros in two hours and five minutes with the loss of just seven games en route to lifting his ninth Coupe des Mousquetaires in 10 years. But the Spaniard certainly noticed the talent in front of him.

“I didn’t have the backhand, I didn’t have that power,” Nadal said at the time.

Nadal would win five of his first seven FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against Thiem, who was proving himself one of the best clay-court players in the world. But in 2018, the pair’s rivalry ascended to a new level.

Nadal and Thiem clashed four times, including in the Roland Garros final and the US Open quarter-finals, one of the year’s best matches. Both Top 10 players in the ATP Rankings, the duo contested some of the highest-quality clashes of the season.

But perhaps that was hard to foresee when they met for the first time in 2018 at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. There, Nadal dismantled Thiem in 68 minutes with the loss of just two games, the most lopsided match of their rivalry. The eventual champion lost just six service points and broke serve five times.

“That is not a normal result against a player [like Dominic],” Nadal said. “He’s one of the best players of the world, especially on clay.”

But Nadal would go 26-1 on clay courts this year. to move to 50-2 on the surface in 2017-18 combined. But like in 2017, his only loss on clay this season came against Thiem.

The Austrian beat Nadal in straight sets in the quarter-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open. Thiem would go on to reach his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final at that event.

“I had to really increase my level compared to Monte-Carlo to beat Rafa here,” Thiem said. “He’s in really great form. He won 21 matches on clay and 50 sets. This is amazing. So I had to play an extraordinary match, and that’s what I did.”

While Thiem is known to sometimes drop way back in the court, he stayed right in on the baseline to take time away from Nadal and control play. 

The stakes would get even higher at Roland Garros, where Thiem advanced to his first Grand Slam final. But once again, Nadal was across the net. And this time, the Spaniard asserted his dominance on the terre battue, winning the title in Paris for the 11th time in the pair’s biggest match to date.

“When you start the clay-court season that Dominic, he’s one of these players that has a chance to win every tournament that he’s playing, and maybe even more here in Roland Garros because he’s strong physically,” Nadal said.

That was their 10th match, and all of those had come on clay.

But Nadal and Thiem saved the best clash of their rivalry, to date, for last. Thiem served Nadal the Spaniard’s first bagel at the US Open in 14 years in the quarter-finals, ripping shot after shot from the first point of the match to stun the favourite early. But the top seed eventually battled back for an epic five-set victory, finishing it off in a deciding-set tie-break. Thiem threw all his weapons at Nadal, blasting balls throughout the match. But the left-hander outlasted Thiem in four hours and 49 minutes.

“It’s going to be stuck in my mind forever. Forever I’m going to remember this match, for sure,” Thiem said. “It’s cruel sometimes, tennis, because I think this match didn’t really deserve a loser.”

The match showed exactly how enthralling this rivalry could be with both men at their best. They might be the two biggest ball-strikers on the ATP World Tour, putting everything they have into every shot like in a heavyweight championship boxing match.

For every heavy topspin cross-court forehand from Nadal, Thiem answered back with a big cut on his one-handed backhand. And for every time Nadal tried to take his two-handed backhand early and launch it flat like it was coming out of a cannon, Thiem was there to counter with a bigger blow off his forehand.

Their US Open clash was a perfect way to showcase one of the sport’s great budding rivalries. And based on the result, with the match going the distance, it’s safe to say that fans have plenty more to look forward to between Nadal and Thiem in 2019 and beyond.

Nadal vs. Thiem: 2018 Meetings