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How Rafa Outdid The Top 10 In 2018

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Finishing a season inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings is an outstanding achievement. To get there, players must distinguish themselves in various facets of the sport.
Thanks to Infosys ATP Scores & Stats, ATPTour.com can show you how the Top 10 players compare to one another in many key statistical categories in both serve and return games. In 2018, Rafael Nadal led the Top 10 in six of nine key serve and return categories, helping him finish inside the Top 2 of the year-end ATP Rankings for the 10th time.
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 2018.
Return Games Won
Juan Martin Del Potro’s return to the Top 5 was aided by improved performance in his return games, as the Argentine won his highest percentage of those games since 2011 (in years he has played 40+ matches).

 Player
 Winning %
 Leaderboard Pos
Player
Winning %
 Pos

 Rafael Nadal
 36.6%
 1
 Dominic Thiem
 24.4%
 17

 Novak Djokovic
 30.3%
 3
 Roger Federer
 23.9% 
 19

 Alexander Zverev
 27.6%
 7
 Marin Cilic
 22.8%
 26

 Juan Martin del Potro
 25.2%
 14
 Kevin Anderson
 16.0%
 47

 Kei Nishikori
 24.5%
 16
 John Isner
 9.4%
 49

First-Serve Return Points Won
Alexander Zverev improved tremendously on his first-serve return this season, bumping his winning percentage up four points. If the German won 28.4 per cent of his first-serve return points in 2018, he would have finished 27th on the ATP Tour and eighth among Top 10 players.

 Player
 Winning %
 Leaderboard Pos
Player
Winning %
 Pos

 Rafael Nadal
 35.7%
 1
 Juan Martin del Potro
 30.5%
 17

 Novak Djokovic
 34.4%
 2
 Marin Cilic
 29.9% 
 19

 Alexander Zverev
 32.4%
 4
 Kei Nishikori
 29.6%
 21

 Roger Federer
 32.1%
 6
 Kevin Anderson
 26.6%
 41

 Dominic Thiem
 31.3%
 11
 John Isner
 22.8%
 49

Second-Serve Return Points Won
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Nadal and Djokovic finished inside the Top 3 in three of the four major return categories in 2018. That showed in their year-end ATP Ranking, with Djokovic returning to World No. 1 and Nadal finishing at No. 2.

 Player
 Winning %
 Leaderboard Pos
Player
Winning %
 Pos

 Rafael Nadal
 56.6%
 1
 Dominic Thiem
 51.5%
 17

 Novak Djokovic
 54.5%
 3
 Marin Cilic
 50.5% 
 23

 Juan Martin del Potro
 52.8%
 10
 Roger Federer
 48.3%
 38

 Alexander Zverev
 52.3%
 12
 Kevin Anderson
 44.9%
 48 

 Kei Nishikori
 52.1%
 13
 John Isner
 41.3%
 49

Break Points Converted
This was the Top 10’s worst category of the bunch in 2018. On average, they finished 27th in break points converted. 

 Player
 Winning %
 Leaderboard Pos
Player
Winning %
 Pos

 Rafael Nadal
 45.6%
 3
 Dominic Thiem
 39.3%
 29

 Kei Nishikori
 42.6%
 11
 Juan Martin del Potro
 39.0% 
 31

 Alexander Zverev
 42.1%
 12
 Marin Cilic
 36.0%
 43

 Roger Federer
 41.9%
 14
 Kevin Anderson
 35.4%
 46

 Novak Djokovic
 39.9%
 27
 John Isner
 27.6%
 49


Break Points Saved
Nadal was especially strong when facing break point in 2018. Entering the year, his career winning percentage saving break points was 66.3 per cent. 

 Player
 Winning %
 Leaderboard Pos
Player
Winning %
 Pos

 Rafael Nadal
 70.5%
 2
 Novak Djokovic
 64.8%%
 12

 John Isner
 68.9%
 3
 Kevin Anderson
 64.3%% 
 13

 Roger Federer
 68.4%
 4
 Kei Nishikori
 62.9%%
 21

 Marin Cilic
 65.4%
 8
 Juan Martin del Potro
 62.6%
 22

 Dominic Thiem
 65.3%
 11
 Alexander Zverev
 58.0%
 44

Service Games Won
It’s no surprise that John Isner led the pack in service games won, claiming 93.6 per cent of those games. The American was broken just 55 times in 54 matches in 2018.

 Player
 Winning %
 Leaderboard Pos
Player
Winning %
 Pos

 John Isner
 93.6%
 1st
 Marin Cilic
 87.0%
 7th

 Roger Federer
 91.1%
 2nd
 Rafael Nadal
 86.4% 
 8th

 Kevin Anderson
 89.1%
 4th
 Dominic Thiem
 85.2%
 12th

 Juan Martin del Potro
 87.6%
 5th
 Alexander Zverev
 83.0%
 16th

 Novak Djokovic
 87.2%
 6th
 Kei Nishikori
 81.4%
 23rd

Aces
Isner surpassed 1,000 aces for the sixth time in his career, leading the ATP Tour in the category for a record-tying sixth time.

 Player
 Aces
 Leaderboard Pos
 Player
 Aces
 Pos

 John Isner
 1,213
 1
 Roger Federer
 534
 11

 Kevin Anderson
 1,082
 2
 Dominic Thiem
 514
 12

 Marin Cilic
 592
 8
 Novak Djokovic
 342
 33

 Juan Martin del Potro
 555
 9
 Kei Nishikori
 229
 57

 Alexander Zverev
 549
 10
 Rafael Nadal
 122
 93

*does not abide by the 40-match rule

First-Serve Points Won
Roger Federer’s 80.2 per cent winning rate on first-serve points was the best mark of his career. Former World No. 3 Milos Raonic, while not inside the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings, topped this category in 2018.

 Player
 Winning %
 Leaderboard Pos
Player
Winning %
 Pos

 John Isner
 80.9%
 2
 Dominic Thiem
 76.1%
 9

 Roger Federer
 80.2%
 3
 Alexander Zverev
 74.4% 
 17

 Kevin Anderson
 79.4%
 4
 Novak Djokovic
 74.3%
 18

 Marin Cilic
 79.0%
 5
 Rafael Nadal
 71.7%
 31

 Juan Martin del Potro
 76.9%
 6
 Kei Nishikori
 71.5%
 32

Second-Serve Points Won
Nadal wins more second-serve points on the ATP Tour than anyone else for the second consecutive year. Djokovic topped the list in 2015-16.

 Player
 Winning %
 Leaderboard Pos
Player
Winning %
 Pos

 Rafael Nadal
 59.6%
 1
 Kevin Anderson
 54.3%
 11

 Roger Federer
 58.6%
 2
 Marin Cilic
 53.7% 
 14

 John Isner
 56.8%
 4
 Juan Martin del Potro
 53.1%
 16

 Novak Djokovic
 56.6%
 5
 Dominic Thiem
 52.7%
 21

 Kei Nishikori
 54.9%
 7
 Alexander Zverev
 52.4%
 26 

View the rest of ATPTour.com’s 2018 In Review series.
Source: ATP World Tour

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