The techniques and tactics behind Djokovic’s dominance

Novak Djokovic has been the most dominant player on the ATP tour for the past 18 months. What lies behind his success? Simply put, Djokovic’s physique, techniques and tactics are, among current top ATP players, the most optimised for modern tennis. Let’s look closely at a few things: statistical tennis, the high backhand down the line and flexibility over bulk.

The history of modern men’s tennis begins with Pete Sampras. He pioneered a service technique nearly two decades ahead of its time. His would still be one of the best serves on tour today for power, variety, precision and tactical genius.

On the heels of Sampras came a run of players defined by huge serves, notably Goran Ivanesevic, Greg Rusedski and Mark Philippoussis (and then a young Andy Roddick). This was the era of zero-break sets where players just dropped ace after ace. Crowds were not happy with the lack of rallies.

Officials did not wait for returns to catch up with Agassi, Grosjean, Ferrero and Monaco, they just went ahead and slowed down both the courts and the balls. Your average punter wouldn’t know this, but the Australian Open balls you buy at Big W and the ones used at the actual tournament are different. The tournament balls fluff up almost immediately, leading to stronger spin effects and less speed through the air. Modern hardcourts, like the plexi-cushion used at the Australian Open, are built on a rubberised layer that increases ball bounce while absorbing power. Wimbledon grass is now rolled down to reduce skid (which would otherwise keep the ball very low and thereby obviate against deep-court defence) and play more like a traditional hard court.  

The changing of the balls and the courts reduced the dominance of the serve and oriented the game heavily towards groundstroke rallies from deep behind the baseline. With racquet technology moving even faster than changes to the courts and balls, players were able to bring the power necessary to exploit this new environment. Witness the rise of Nadal, Gasquet, Monfils, Tsonga, Gonzalez and the giants (Del Potro, Cilic and Raonic, among others).

Critically, the modern tennis environment punishes aggressive play in the form of net approaches and angles. The player who first opens up the angle is likely to be met by a stronger reply at an even sharper angle. Those who approach the net will be forced to volley balls coming in very fast and spinning down at their feat because high bouncing courts mean that defenders sitting deep get high balls to hit passing shots off. Both of these phenomena are exacerbated by the absurd athleticism of contemporary tennis players.

In this environment, the style of play that is rewarded is a statistical approach that minimises exposure to risk. Players are encouraged to play deep and through the baseline (rather than angling through the sidelines) because this reduces the opponents ability to produce an angle and gives more time for the player to see a shot coming from the other end. They are encouraged to hit high over the net with heavy spin to increase the likelihood of deep shots, minimise the chance of a net and get the ball high around the opponent’s shoulder from where it is difficult to generate power without taking a risky flat cut. Because it is so hard to generate risk-less power players instead opt to roll the ball high and heavy and the cycle continues.

For a long time Nadal dominated this style. Both his backhand and especially his forehand are optimised for spin and bounce. His atypical forehand is a result of putting all his effort into hitting up rather than through the ball and his backhand grips are the most extreme on tour to bring about the same effect. His tactics were to shut his opponent down by keeping the ball bouncing very high. Opponents could not hit through him without taking a lot of risk, and his consistency eventually wore them down. No player felt this more acutely than Federer, whose more old fashioned style of single-handed backhand was particularly weak against the high ball.

Djokovic has since transcended Nadal precisely because Djokovic dominates the high backhand, the shot that has come to determine the outcome of modern tennis rallies more than any other. Since tennis moved to the baseline rallies have always proceeded crosscourt initially until one player sends a shot too short or too close to the middle, at which point the opponent can get on top of it and punish it down the line, thereby gaining control of the point. At this point, the standard play of the defender is to clear high to the opponent’s backhand and try to reset the point. Unfortunately, Djokovic is utterly consummate at leaning into such clearance balls and crushing them off his shoulder. There is no respite once he has control of a point.

This dynamic is glaring in Djokovic’s rallies. He takes almost no risk—even his ‘pull-the-trigger’ shots seem to be hit at 90 per cent. He plays deep and straight so that his opponents can’t get him on the stretch. Even their best shots in this no-angles framework can be pulled back by Djokovic’s world best open-stance defensive backhand.  He plays heavy, high bounces to coax short balls without forcing himself to hit particularly aggressively. He looks for the inside-out off-forehand to take control of points and once he has it he slowly tightens the screws over 3–6 shots to claim points without ever risking losing control. When opponents try to get out of jail with high clearances he belts them down the line. Indeed, it often appears to be his principle vehicle for producing winners.

Equipped with this understanding of the role of statistical tennis and the high backhand in Djokovic’s game we can turn to the other thing that sets him apart from his peers—an emphasis on a lean, tall, flexible physique over bulk. This body makes Djokovic very resilient to injury, which is important amidst modern tennis’ gruelling hardcourt seasons. But it also grants him one of his signature and most important shots, the open-stance defensive backhand. Combined with his deep, straight groundstrokes this shot makes Djokovic extremely hard to hit through and entraps his opponents into the long-drawn out rallies than Djokovic’s low-risk approach prefers.

Djokovic’s height makes him able to control high balls without having to take them on the rise (a difficult proposition that would also force him to step up to the baseline). It also grants him service power and gives his groundstrokes enough pop that he can squeeze opponents out of points without having to throw absolutely everything into shots. The low-risk style of tennis and his efficient high backhand (where he does take the ball on the rise to capture extra power) also make only limited use of raw power, which means he doesn’t need bulk. An absence of bulk makes him faster and places less strain on his stamina over the course of long matches.

Djokovic’s style of statistical tennis defined by clean, deep, straight groundstrokes hit at 80% of full power and limited exposure to risk will become increasingly prevalent on the tour. I think it makes for pretty boring tennis, but you might disagree. In any case, look out for his tactics around the place, especially among up and comers like Raonic, Kokkinakis and Nishikori.

Mark Fabian is the head coach of the Australian National University, where he is completing a PhD in Economics. He was previously employed by Maccabi Tennis Club at White City in Sydney. 

This article was originally published here, by Blind Side Sport.