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Best of 2019 By The Numbers: Part 2
Continuing our 2019 in Review series, we take a broader look at the ATP Tour, using Infosys ATP Scores & Stats to examine which players on the entire circuit excelled in all of the key service and return categories this year, and how that helped shape their results.

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 2019.

Return Games Won
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were clearly the two best players in the world in 2019 according to the ATP Rankings, battling for year-end No. 1 until the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. One thing that they had in common was their success on return.

Nadal has led the ATP Tour in return games won in three of the past four years. The top five players in the category are all inside the Top 15 of the ATP Rankings.

Player Return Games Won Return Games Winning %
1. Rafael Nadal 250 715 35%
2. Novak Djokovic 253 796 31.8%
3. Diego Schwartzman 247 796 31%
4. Daniil Medvedev 270 963 28%
5. David Goffin 203 728 27.9%
Break Points Converted
Nobody took advantage of their break point opportunities this year more than Djokovic, the World No. 2. One year ago, Djokovic only converted 39.9 per cent of the time, finishing 2018 in 27th place in this department. The Serbian significantly improved in 2019, though, breaking on 49 per cent of his opportunities.

Medvedev, who finished sixth in percentage of break points won, led the ATP Tour by breaking 270 times on the season.

Player Break Points Won Break Points
Winning %
1. Novak Djokovic 253 516 49%
2. Rafael Nadal 250 556 45%
3. Albert Ramos-Vinolas 150 340 44.1%
4. Adrian Mannarino 147 337 43.6%
5. Fabio Fognini 171 392 43.6%
First-Serve Return Points Won
It's no surprise that Nadal and Djokovic finished in the top two spots in first-serve return points won. It is the fourth time in the past five years that Nadal has led this category.

The last time Djokovic won a higher rate of first-serve return points compared to Nadal was in 2015.

Player First-Serve Ret Points Won First-Serve Ret Points Winning %
1. Rafael Nadal 865 2,425 35.7%
2. Novak Djokovic 1,191 3,463 34.4%
3. Diego Schwartzman 838 2,568 32.6%
4. David Goffin 688 2,117 32.5%
5. Gael Monfils 1,156 3,568 32.4%
Second-Serve Return Points Won
Argentine Diego Schwartzman may stand at only 5'7", but he has been a second-serve return giant over the past three years. Schwartzman won a higher rate of second-serve return points than anyone else on the ATP Tour for the second time this season (also 2017), finishing second last year.

Schwartzman finished at a career-high year-end ATP Ranking of No. 14, making him the top-ranked Argentine.

Player Second-Serve Ret Pts Won Second-Serve Ret Pts Winning %
1. Diego Schwartzman 1,153 2,057 56.1%
2. Rafael Nadal 940 1,681 55.9%
3. Daniil Medvedev 1,336 2,402 55.6%
4. Andrey Rublev 929 1,702 54.6%
5. Novak Djokovic 1,073 1,980 54.2%
Service Games Won
Could John Isner's serving be getting better with age? In 2018, his 93.6 winning percentage in service games won was the best rate of his career. But the American improved on that mark in 2019, winning more than 94 per cent of his service games.

Player Service Games Won Service Games Winning %
1. John Isner 604 642 94.1%
2. Roger Federer 744 815 91.3%
3. Reilly Opelka 614 675 91%
4. Rafael Nadal 664 737 90.1%
5. Novak Djokovic 723 825 87.6%
Aces
Two players cracked the 1,000-aces benchmark for the fifth time in six seasons, with Isner standing just 31 aces from becoming the second player (also Ivo Karlovic) to hit the 12,000-aces mark.

Player Aces Matches
1. John Isner 1,032 48
2. Reilly Opelka 1,014 48
3. Alexander Zverev 709 67
4. Milos Raonic 697 36
5. Daniil Medvedev 690 79
*does not abide by 40-match rule
First-Serve Points Won
Milos Raonic led the ATP Tour in first-serve points won for the fourth time in 2018, setting a career-high mark. But Isner took the throne this season at 81 per cent.

Perhaps the surprise member of the group is German Jan-Lennard Struff (79%), who reached a career-high World No. 33 in July.

Player First-Serve Points Won First-Serve Points Winning %
1. John Isner 2,231 2,753 81%
2. Reilly Opelka 2,135 2,645 80.7%
3. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 1,834 2,289 80.1%
4. Jan-Lennard Struff 2,089 2,644 79%
5. Roger Federer 2,459 3,137 78.4%
Second-Serve Points Won
Nadal may not be considered the biggest server in the world, but he has now won the most points behind his second serve on the ATP Tour in each of the past three years. Roberto Bautista Agut, ranked fifth on the list at a rate of 56 per cent, broke into the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time this season.

Player Second-Serve Points Won Second-Serve Points Winning %
1. Rafael Nadal 922 1,546 59.6%
2. Roger Federer 1,011 1,701 59.4%
3. John Isner 633 1,105 57.3%
4. Novak Djokovic 946 1,659 57%
5. Roberto Bautista Agut 920 1,644 56%
Break Points Saved
One of the reasons Isner was able to win a personal-best rate of service games in 2019 was that when he faced pressure, he was nearly lights-out. The American was broken only 38 times this season, saving nearly 73 per cent of the opportunities his opponents earned.

Matteo Berrettini made his breakthrough in 2019, and it helped that he saved nearly 69 per cent of the break points he faced this year.

Player Break Points Saved Break Points Faced
Winning %
1. John Isner 101 139 72.6%
2. Roger Federer 173 244 70.9%
3. Stan Wawrinka 237 336 70.5%
4. Pablo Carreno Busta 236 341 69.2%
5. Matteo Berrettini 234 340 68.8%

Rafael Nadal had some strong words for the Serbian crowd after his tough loss to Novak Djokovic in the finals of the ATP cup. In fact, not only did The Spaniard lose his singles rubber, he refused to participate in the doubles citing lack of energy.

Ultimately, Spain lost even the doubles competition 6-3, 6-4. This led to Serbia becoming the first winner of the ATP Cup.

Why Was Rafael Nadal Upset With The Serbian Crowd?
Serbian crowd was extremely supportive of their team throughout the finals tie. The chants of Novak echoed throughout the arena as the fervent fans pushed their team to victory.

However, a frustrated Nadal who was already being countered by Djokovic on every aspect of the game, took offence to the crowd’s attitude.

“Sonetimes people from some countries, they probably don’t understand how the tennis goes. They think it’s about football. Atmosphere in tennis is different. At some point, the respect with small part of the crowd have not been there.”

After Roberto Bautista Agut gave Spain an important victory in the first rubber, it became crucial for Rafa to seal the deal in the clash of the titans.

Read More- Rafael Nadal Complaints About A Short Off Season Break

Rafael Nadal never looked in control as his serve got broken in the opening game. You can imagine how loud the crowd was by the fact that the umpire had to request them to keep quiet two times during the eight minute game.

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
PIN IT
Nadal was broken for the second time in the seventh game. In fact, he again went to the chair umpire to complain about the crowd.

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Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
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The second set was better for Rafa as he fought brilliantly on his serve. As the match slipped into tie breaker, Novak Djokovic held his nerve despite a shaky start.

Where Do Nadal And Djokovic Go From Here?
This was a crucial victory for Djokovic as it shows that the Serbian is still dominant on the hard court. In fact, the biggest roadblock in his Australian Open crown defence is Rafael Nadal.

However, today’s victory shows that Novak is more than ready for this challenge.

Do you think anyone can challenge Novak Djokovic’s dominance in the Australian Open?