When Even Novak Djokovic Can’t Return the Ball, You Know the Court Is Fast
· Yahoo Sports
There is something rather amusing about watching Novak Djokovic, arguably the greatest returner in tennis history, repeatedly stand on the baseline and watch tennis balls fly past him. It wasn’t so much because Djokovic was playing poorly or because he forgot how to return; it was mostly because Jan-Lennard Struff was playing one of his crazy matches where he seemingly can’t do anything wrong.
Visit newsbetting.cv for more information.
Their second-round encounter at the Swiss Indoors Basel produced an extraordinary 48 combined aces, with Struff hitting 27 and Djokovic contributing another 21. The German eventually won 6-7(4) 7-5 7-6(5), ending the match, rather appropriately, with another ace.
His 27th, and it was hardly an ordinary victory. Struff had lost all eight previous meetings against Djokovic, winning just one set across those encounters. Now, at 36, he had finally defeated the 24-time Grand Slam champion after two hours and 36 minutes of exceptional tennis.
Not too long ago, we examined some of the most remarkable serving performances in tennis history in our piece on best-of-three-match ace records in the wake of the extraordinary match in Brussels. But the real story in Basel wasn’t the number of aces; it was how the conditions allowed Struff to challenge one of the greatest defensive and returning players ever, and how brilliantly he took advantage.
Basel Is Turning Tennis Into a Serving Competition
Indoor tennis generally provides favorable conditions for serving as there is no wind to interfere with ball tosses, no sunlight to complicate preparation, and relatively little environmental variation between points.
When those conditions combine with a fast-playing court, the result can be devastating for returners, and Basel has offered plenty of evidence this week. Ben Shelton struck an extraordinary 44 aces in his opening-round victory over Aleksandar Kovacevic, who contributed another 13.
That is 57 aces in one match, just 3 short of the record, which you can read all about in our piece on the topic. Neither player lost serve, and Shelton needed three tiebreaks to secure the victory. Then came Djokovic and Struff. Another 48 aces. Perhaps the most revealing statistic wasn’t Struff’s 27, but Djokovic’s 21.
The Serbian has developed an increasingly effective serve as he has grown older, but he has never relied on it as much as the traditional giants of the sport. Yet here he was, producing ace numbers that would make many dedicated big servers rather proud.
Of course, ace totals alone cannot establish exactly how fast a court is. The players involved matter enormously, and without an independently verified Court Pace Index measurement, it’s premature to declare Basel one of the fastest tournaments on Tour.
But the evidence certainly suggests that aggressive serving is being handsomely rewarded and that changes the tactical equation. Djokovic’s extraordinary returning ability normally lets him neutralize powerful servers, establish rallies, and expose weaknesses in their baseline games.
Against Struff, those opportunities were severely limited. The German repeatedly found excellent spots with his serve, followed it with aggressive forehands, and moved forward whenever the opportunity presented itself. The key was that Struff wasn’t just hitting aces; he was preventing Djokovic from playing the kind of tennis that has made him so successful.
And against someone with Djokovic’s extraordinary defensive ability, that is quite an accomplishment.
Struff Played Almost Perfectly, and Still Had to Fight for Everything
The opening set demonstrated just how difficult the match would become. Struff struck 11 aces and 24 winners, winning 81% of points behind his first serve. On the other side of the net, Djokovic struggled little. The Serbian produced 16 winners against only five unforced errors and won 84% of his first-serve points, yet the set still required a tiebreak, which Djokovic won 7-4. For Struff, it could have been another familiar story.
Eight previous defeats, another narrow set lost, and the chance to watch Djokovic gradually take control. Instead, he continued attacking. In the second set, Djokovic created four break points, and Struff saved every single one. Then, at 6-5, the German finally found an opportunity of his own and broke to take the set 7-5. It was a remarkable demonstration of how effectively he had managed the important moments, and the deciding set followed much the same pattern.
Djokovic continued searching for ways into Struff’s service games, but the German repeatedly responded with excellent deliveries and aggressive first strikes. Neither player could establish a decisive advantage, so another tiebreak followed. And this time, Struff refused to let the opportunity disappear.
He earned three match points at 6-3, watched Djokovic save the first two, and then stepped up to serve again. He delivered an ace and the match was over. After eight consecutive defeats against Djokovic, the German had finally found a way past him. And he had done it without abandoning the aggressive tennis that makes him so dangerous. That is perhaps the most impressive aspect of the performance.
It would have been easy to become tentative after losing the opening set or watching Djokovic rescue those first two match points. Struff did neither. He kept trusting his serve and attacking whenever the opportunity appeared, and the result was one of the finest victories of his career.
The Last Word
Only last week, Lorenzo Musetti and Luca Van Assche spent more than three and a half hours chasing balls around an exceptionally slow indoor court in Lyon. Now Basel has offered something approaching the opposite extreme.
Struff’s performance was exceptional, but the conditions certainly helped him make Djokovic uncomfortable. And that is what makes tennis’s different surfaces and playing conditions so interesting. The greatest returner in history can still look almost helpless when an excellent server finds his rhythm. Struff needed 27 aces to beat Djokovic for the first time. Fittingly, the last one mattered most.
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey – Imagn Images