By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_now | Saturday, March 29, 2025
Photo Credit: Miami Open from ItUu
Tennis is a game with numbers.
King Grand Slam Novak Djokovic has spent his career collecting dominant figures.
FIGHTER FIGHTER: Eala shakes the keys in Miami
The 37-year-old Serbian superstar has reached 142 finals, won 99 career championships, including 24 Grand Slam crowns, holds the ATP and WTA record for most weeks as no. 1 World (428) and he has won a record of $ 182 million, and counting, in cash.
So it takes a considerable statistic to impress Djokovic.
The accuracy of the fourth seed service in Miami has hit Djokovic himself as an “amazing, amazing standard”.
In his most commanding service performance of the year, he served an 87 percent mind today, won 31 of the 39 first service points, fired five aces and faced only two resting points that included old friend Grigor Dimitrov in a 70-minute semifinal. This followed an amazing service show that saw it serve 84 percent and pump 11 Aces by beating Sebastian Korda in a quarter -final physical occupation.
“I think I served quite well this year,” Djokovic told the media in Miami. “Maybe some other elements in my game have not worked particularly well. But the service was strong. I mean, this is a completely different level of service, obviously.
“I mean, I didn’t expect myself to lead the performance of the last match service, where I had 83%, and I had 87% today. I was missing that five or six serves the whole match. So this is really amazing, amazing, standard standard.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cuhwhsqjkc
Gjokovic is holding the service at an 88.19% rate this season, which is seventh in the ATP tournament. Explosive French Giovanni MPTSHI Perricard runs holding ATP with 93.86%, Matteto Berrettini is second to 90.91% and America Taylor Fritz is third to 90.37%
The skill service has given a larger return of the open era a brief appearance on how it should feel to be Reilly Opelka or Nick Kyrgios.
Opposing his first open Miami since 2019, Gjokovic said the fastest speed of service and the fact that he found his range and rhythm in the service almost immediately pushed him to this eighth final of Miami Open vs Jakub Menis.
“I have to say that he was joking with my Henman in the post -match interview that I now know how to be Isner or Opelka, just do most of your first services,” Gjokovic said. “Maybe not as much aces as these people but …
“But yes, it helps extremely a lot. It just releases that unnecessary pressure from all the other shots in your game. Then you can put more pressure on the return games to your opponent.”
The famous Andre Agassi hall has called Djokovic the largest return of all time. Fammer John MCineroe’s hall calls Djokovic “the largest track in a difficult court I have ever seen in a tennis court” and many opponents have called him the largest land of the open era.
One aspect of Gjokovic’s game that probably does not get so much appreciation is his service.
Earlier in his career, Gjokovic actually hit more double mistakes than aces in the season, but worked diligently to strengthen his service.
Over the years, Gjokovic worked with three coaches who were prevailing servers on their day – Goran Ivansevic, Boris Becker and Todd Martin–And he says his secret is that he puts a premium on establishing power to set his first strike. Gjokovic said he and new coach Andy Murray have done a lot of work in his service in practice.
“Of course I’m a basic player. Most of my career return and back are probably the shots that are most talked about when it comes to my game and success,” Djokovic said. “Maybe the service has been a little underestimated. But I have always liked my service, especially when it comes to accuracy and accuracy. That’s what I was looking for.
“I was never really looking to pull the miles an hour in the service. I mean, it’s great if you can serve 130 miles-a service hour, but it would better serve 120 miles and hit the line and hit the perfect place in the box because it’s what either gets you a point or gives you a slight kick in the rally.”
