Some Amazing Novak Stats

[El Dude]

For those not thinking 2011-present is the Age of Djokovic, consider this: Novak has won at least five "big tournaments" (Slam, WTF, Masters) in each of the last five years, from 2011 to 2015. Like so:

2011 (8): 3 Slams, 5 Masters
2012 (5): 1 Slam, WTF, 3 Masters
2013 (5): 1 Slam, WTF, 3 Masters
2014 (6): 1 Slam, WTF, 4 Masters
2015 (7): 3 Slams, 4 Masters

2015 is obviously "so far" with two Masters and the World Tour Finals still to be determined, as of this writing. Anyhow, that's an astonishing 31 (and counting) big titles over the last five years.

How do Federer and Nadal match up? During the same time frame, Nadal has 15 big titles, Federer has 9, and Andy Murray has 7. Yes, that's correct: Novak has as many big titles over the last five years as Rafa, Roger, and Andy combined (!!!!!).

What about career-wise? Well Andy has never had five big titles in a year. He's never had more than two in a year, which he's done five times. Rafa's done it four times (2005, 2008, 2010, 2013) although never in consecutive years (he was close in 2009 with four, which would have given him three years in a row). And Roger? He's also "only" done it four times, in consecutive years (2004-07) when he amassed 27 big titles - an average of almost 7/year.

In case you're curious, here are the "Big Four's" career totals:

Federer 47 (17 Slams, 6 WTF, 24 Masters)
Nadal 41 (14 Slams, 0 WTF, 27 Masters)
Djokovic 38 (10 Slams, 4 WTF, 24 Masters)
Murray 13 (2 Slams, 0 WTF, 11 Masters)

It seems a foregone conclusion that Novak will pass Rafa's Masters count. He has a good chance of at least equally Roger's World Tour Finals count. The Slam total seems unlikely, but it seems viable that Novak ends his career with more total big titles than either Rafa or Roger.

 

[nehmeth]

If he sustains this level, he can conceivably match/pass Nadal's slam count and end up somewhere behind Fed.

 

[tented]

If he sustains this level, he can conceivably match/pass Nadal's slam count and end up somewhere behind Fed.

If he sustains this level, he will surpass Nadal and Federer.

Think about it: Who could prevent this? Neither Rafa nor Roger, that's for sure, and there's no one else currently on tour who could do so either.

If Novak stays healthy, and continues to play into his thirties, there's seemingly no end to what he could accomplish.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

If he sustains this level, he can conceivably match/pass Nadal's slam count and end up somewhere behind Fed.

If he sustains this level, he will surpass Nadal and Federer.

Think about it: Who could prevent this? Neither Rafa nor Roger, that's for sure, and there's no one else currently on tour who could do so either.

If Novak stays healthy, and continues to play into his thirties, there's seemingly no end to what he could accomplish.

That is a big if. Human beings have trouble imagining the future. People often think the status quo will remain the same indefinitely. This too shall pass. Nothing lasts forever. Novak will cool down (meaning coming down from his peak current form) within at most two years.

 

[tented]

If he sustains this level, he can conceivably match/pass Nadal's slam count and end up somewhere behind Fed.

If he sustains this level, he will surpass Nadal and Federer.

Think about it: Who could prevent this? Neither Rafa nor Roger, that's for sure, and there's no one else currently on tour who could do so either.

If Novak stays healthy, and continues to play into his thirties, there's seemingly no end to what he could accomplish.

That is a big if. Human beings have trouble imagining the future. People often think the status quo will remain the same indefinitely. This too shall pass. Nothing lasts forever. Novak will cool down (meaning coming down from his peak current form) within at most two years.

Even if he cools down, who's going to beat him? The guy has nearly twice as many points as the next player -- even if we cut that lead in half, he's still winning an awful lot.

The big factor here is that there's no one who can reliably beat Novak, even if he isn't playing his absolute best. Djokovic can play his B-game -- even his C-game -- and take down 99% of the tour. He has no history of injuries, he isn't currently injured, and has shown his game isn't hard on his body. So what's to prevent him playing another 5 years, and winning 2-3 GSs per year?

 

[TsarMatt]

A truly remarkable talent.

 

[El Dude]

Its true, tented. Novak is an all-time great in his prime. Rafa and Roger are all-time greats passed their primes. There are no other all-time greats either in their prime or on the horizon. Even if some of the current young players become all-time greats, they are all at least 2 years away - probably more. Novak could slip a bit and still win 2+ Slams a year through 2018. Maybe he wins six more in 2016-18 then another couple in 2019-20 and finishes with 18.

Or maybe he starts slipping next year and one or more young players jump a notch and he wins only three more Slams. Unlikely, but possible. I still think the safe bet is that he wins 5-6 more and finishes with 15-16. Tennis is full of unexpected happenings, and while the status quo looks like Novak is nigh invincible for two or three years yet, you just never know.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Novak slips a bit and yet manages two in 2016 and 2017. Then he wins just one in 2018. Then he goes slamless in 2019. Then he comes back and wins one more before retiring, thus finishing just 2 less than Roger at that time.

 

[Kirijax]

Every time i see a player had an absolutely great year and people predicting more of the same, I remember John McEnroe. True he had Lendl, Wilander, Becker and Edberg hot on his heels, but his 1984 was so spectacular, I thought for sure he was going to continue that. Didn't even come close. Never won another slam. Djokovic will win more slams but I think another young player or two will suddenly rise up in the next year or so and start challenging him. I think I will still be surprised if Djokovic passes Nadal in Slam count.

 

[nehmeth]

I remember when four years ago I predicted Nole would get 10+ slams. :cover The mocking I took for that was unbelievable.

Here we are now. No one can tell the future and no one knows the curves life will throw, but I believe Novak will pass Rafa and at least get close to Roger's haul of 17

 

[Kirijax]

I remember when four years ago I predicted Nole would get 10+ slams. :cover The mocking I took for that was unbelievable.

Here we are now. No one can tell the future and no one knows the curves life will throw, but I believe Novak will pass Rafa and at least get close to Roger's haul of 17

Well, you believed in your man and now you get to gloat! :clap

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I remember when four years ago I predicted Nole would get 10+ slams. :cover The mocking I took for that was unbelievable.

Here we are now. No one can tell the future and no one knows the curves life will throw, but I believe Novak will pass Rafa and at least get close to Roger's haul of 17

Well, you believed in your man and now you get to gloat! :clap

He may get to gloat, but I am sure, he won't get to goat.

 

[Kirijax]

I remember when four years ago I predicted Nole would get 10+ slams. :cover The mocking I took for that was unbelievable.

Here we are now. No one can tell the future and no one knows the curves life will throw, but I believe Novak will pass Rafa and at least get close to Roger's haul of 17

Well, you believed in your man and now you get to gloat! :clap

He may get to gloat, but I am sure, he won't get to goat.

He may yet!

 

[nehmeth]

I believe in winning Beijing, Novak became the first player to win 15 million dollars in a year. Today after winning Shanghai, he is over 16 million dollars.

 

[Kirijax]

I believe in winning Beijing, Novak became the first player to win 15 million dollars in a year. Today after winning Shanghai, he is over 16 million dollars.

DAYUM :eyepop

 

[tented]

For the second time, Novak has won 5 Masters in a single calendar year. (I think Rafa is the only other person to have won 5 in a year.)

If Novak wins Paris -- and why not, right? -- he'll be the first guy ever to win 6 Masters in one year.

 

[Haelfix]

I remember when four years ago I predicted Nole would get 10+ slams. :cover The mocking I took for that was unbelievable.

Here we are now. No one can tell the future and no one knows the curves life will throw, but I believe Novak will pass Rafa and at least get close to Roger's haul of 17

It wasn't crazy to predict 10 slams. It was a bit crazy to predict 13-14 given that he was already relatively late in his career. Novak in 2010 was what, 23 years old already?

It was clear that his chief rivals were going to go on the downswing (Federer was well past his prime, Nadal was just at the end of his prime, and would conceivably go down from that point), but as usual in tennis normally the young generation picks it up.

I would have thought Del Potro/Cilic/Murray and a whole group of new players whom I hadn't even conceived of yet would be readily providing competition.

That that only happened a tiny bit is one of the great disappointments in modern tennis these past 4 years, and why I think we are in a bit of a power vacuum, not unlike the late 80s when Lendl was still dominating.

 

[dante1976]

Another mind-blowing stat... from Shanghai 2014 Novak didn't lose any (that's 0 ) ATP points for whole year!? I am not that good at statistics but I think that no one else achieved that in open era!? Ofc 2016 will be hard as granite to repeat that kind of stat

 

[Front242]

Right now, Stan Wawrinka is the most likely guy to stop Novak from winning slams imo. And yes, he'll (Novak - just in case people thought I meant Stan) surpass Rafa in masters and slams when all is said and done.

 

[dante1976]

He stands alone with most GS/1000 Masters finals in a season (11!!!???, with 1 more 1000 Masters event in his schedule), Most Masters 1000 finals in season (7, with one more Masters 1000 to go), If he win in Paris he'll stand alone with 6 1000 Masters titles in one year... and... After his win in Shanghai, he's currently holding the WTF, 3/4 of the slams, and 6/9 of the masters!!!???
That's 71% of the big tournaments. Might be a while until that record is broken. For reference, Federer held 57% in 2006, and Nadal held 50% in 2013