Tsitsipas – Djokovic: Comparing their performances at this year’s Australian Open

On Sunday morning (January 29, 10:30 a.m., Eurosport 1) Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic will face each other in the final of the Australian Open.

The two come from different starting points, but their goal is the same. On the one hand, the 24-year-old Greek (No. 4) wants to win his first Grand Slam title, while the 35-year-old Serbian (No. 5) is aiming for his 22nd.

Whoever wins will climb to the top of the world rankings on Monday morning. But how did they manage to reach the finals and what do their progress numbers show?

Your way to the final

It is with these two elements that we will deal in this article. Both Tsitsipas and Djokovic managed to reach the Australian Open final in complete control, losing just a few sets in the process.

The Greek tennis player dropped just three sets en route to the final. He first eliminated Alis, Hijikata and Kriekspur without. His first major test came in the fourth round, where he needed five sets to break the resistance of Yannick Sinner while beating Khachanov in a set in the semifinals.

On the other hand, Djokovic only lost one set despite his injury. Nole went unbeaten in the first round against Karbages Baena, lost a set against Koakod and then went unbeaten against Dimitrov, De Minor, Rublev and Paul.

your past numbers

Let’s see what Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic have done so far in their course at the Australian Open.

We picked specific points from the stats to get a better picture of what they performed on the pitch. Of course, we should note that the 24-year-old Greek has spent more time on the pitch as he has played two more sets than Nole.

So far, Stefanos has Tsitsipas 69 aces, but 22 counts too double fault. For his part, Novak Djokovic counts 59 aces with the same number Double fault (22).

Nole Djokovic stands out for the points he earns after returning his opponent’s first serve with 144 while Tsitsipas counts on the other side 120

Two other stats that are likely to play a role in the finals are breaks. How many chances will each create to break their opponent’s serve, but also how many will they manage to save.

Both are doing great in this area. Novak Djokovic scores 35 won Break points while Stefanos has Tsitsipas 25

At the same time, their performance on saved breakpoints is also impressive. Tsitsipas has faced break points 55 times and managed to save 44 of them while Nole is doing even better.

The 35-year-old Serb had 26 break points and his opponents only broke his serve five times.

These should be avoided

Continuing the analysis using the numbers, let’s focus on specific numbers that the two had that could play a crucial role if repeated in the final.

Let’s start with Stefanos Tsitsipas. We already mentioned it on the positive side that he saved 44 of the 55 break points he faced. This statistic has a double reading.

A good example is his confrontation with Yannick Siner. The Italian has created 26 break points and that number will be devastating if repeated against Djokovic.

At the same time, Stefanos Tsitsipas wants a more stable first serve. It is characteristic that in the first set against Khachanov he had a quota of just over 40% for the longest time.

Let’s now turn to Novak Djokovic. No doubt Nole doesn’t want to repeat the first set he made against Paul, regardless of whether he took it.

The 35-year-old Serb made 24 unforced errors and nearly lost a set in which he was 5-1 up, only to be saved by his immense class.

Another element that can be crucial to the outcome of the final is the backhand. Djokovic had 16 of his 33 unforced errors in the semis when Paul hit his backhand and he certainly wouldn’t want to see that in the final.