Men's Tennis : 5 lesser known records of Novak Djokovic

It is difficult to pinpoint any particular weakness or flaw in Novak Djokovic's game. Although Novak doesn't have any flamboyant shots like a Federer cross-court forehand or a Rafael Nadal top-spin forehand, he more than compensates for the lack of flair with a game that is built on ruthless shot-making coupled with very little or no flaws whatsoever. Djokovic's stance when receiving an opponent's serve is a textbook example of how ideally one should gauge the opponent's serve. Djokovic is able to gauge the direction and speed of his opponent's serve so effortlessly and this is what makes him the greatest returner of the service game that tennis has ever had.

Entering the 2018 tennis season on the back of a disappointing 2017 season, few would have envisioned a scenario where Djokovic would reclaim the top ranking. But that is exactly what Novak did in the latter half of the 2018 season as he re-discovered his ruthless form to rise to the Top of the ATP rankings despite being ranked outside the top-20 at the start of the season (the only man in tennis history to ascend to do so). With 14 Grand Slams in his kitty and his favourite Australian Open tournament on the horizon soon, Novak has never looked in better shape to do what he routinely does - win tournaments!

Without talking about the obvious, we delve into 5 records that Djokovic has set in his career so far that are probably not known by many:

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#5. Most ATP Points accrued at a time

Djokovic earned $21,646,145 in 2015 - the highest ever by any tennis athlete in a single season

The year 2011 was the year Novak finally dislodged the might of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal from the top pedestal of tennis. Making incremental changes to his diet and fitness regimen, Djokovic romped to 3 of the 4 Grand Slam titles that year and became the World Number 1 for the first time.

In 2015, he went one better and surpassed what he had achieved in 2011. The year 2015 is without a doubt the greatest tennis season that any athlete has had in the Open Era. He not just won 3 of the 4 Grand Slam titles on offer, he made 15 straight finals winning 10 of them. Such was his domination, that he accrued a total of 16,950 ATP ranking points - the highest ever. This was in fact more than the sum total of the second and third ranked players.

#4. 4 consecutive ATP World Tour Finals wins

Djokovic lifts his 4th straight Barclays ATP World Tour Finals trophy in 2015

Djokovic, one can say, is probably the greatest hard-court player of all-time, with Roger Federer. The Serb has won 9 Grand Slam titles on hard-courts second only to Federer's 11 and his tally of 24 Hard Court titles is second to none.

Two of Djokovic's favourite tournaments over the years have been the Australian Open and the ATP Finals. Between 2012 to 2015, Djokovic won the ATP Finals consecutively and remains the only player to have won a hat-trick of ATP Finals titles in the Open Era.

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#3. 30 consecutive Grand Slam match wins

Novak Djokovic Celebrates His First French Open Title At Place de La Concorde In Paris

Djokovic was at his ruthless throughout 2015 and a larger part of 2016. Few people have dominated tennis in any eras as much as Djokovic demonstrated during these couple of years. In the year 2015, Djokovic logged wins against all top-10 ranked players (an all-time record). In fact, he won 31 matches against the Top-10 ranked players that year and had a 10-1 win-loss record against Federer and Nadal combined. From winning the opening round match against Phillip Kohlschreiber in Wimbledon 2015 to facing a third round defeat at the hands of Sam Querrey in the 3rd round of the Wimbledon Championships in 2016, Djokovic had gone on a 30 match Grand Slam winning spree. During this time, he completed the Career Slam at the 2016 French Open and became the only player in the Open Era to hold all 4 Grand Slams at the same time (non-calendar year Slam)

#2. Only player to beat Nadal in 3 clay court tournament finals

Djokovic poses with the 2013 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo title

To beat Rafael Nadal once on clay is an achievement. An achievement that Robin Soderling will be proud of. But Novak has registered more victories against Nadal on clay than any other tennis player. The only other player to defeat Nadal at Roland Garros is Djokovic. In fact, Djokovic is the only player to win against Nadal in the final of a clay-court tournament. He achieved this not once but thrice in the finals of the Madrid Masters (2011), Rome Masters (2011) and Monte Carlo Masters (2013).

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#1. Highest hardcourt match winning percentage (all-time)

Djokovic won the 2018 Western & Southern Open to become the only man to win all 8 of the ATP elite tournaments

Djokovic doesn't really have a weakness in any surface. He has established himself as an all-court player over the years suitably adapting his game to the demands of different surfaces. But that being said, if one has to pick one surface where he has been the most dominant - it has to be the hard courts. With a total of 9 Grand Slam wins on hard courts including a record 6 Australian Open triumphs, Djokovic well and truly thrives on the hard courts. Not just the Grand Slams, but with 24 ATP titles on hard-courts, he is the most accomplished on this surface. In the year 2015, he registered a record 59 wins on hard courts. The previous best was 41. The only athlete to win all the 8 ATP Masters 1000 events (Career Golden Masters) - Djokovic's win-loss record on hard courts is 84.2% (539–101).