By Ros Satar, at Wimbledon
- We crunch the numbers between Kevin Anderson and Novak Djokovic as they bid to win the Wimbledon Gentlemen’s singles title
WIMBLEDON, UK – Will Novak Djokovic make it a fourth Wimbledon crown or is Kevin Anderson ready to claim his first Grand Slam title?
[table “ADWIM” not found /]
Head to Head
Kevin Anderson [8] | Novak Djokovic [12] |
1 | 5 |
Kevin Anderson may have gotten the first win over Novak Djokovic when this rivalry started but since then it has been one-way traffic for the Serbian. Djokovic won the pair’s first Wimbledon meeting in straight sets in the second round in 2011 but had to come from two sets down in their fourth round match here in 2015. Djokovic then went on to defeat Roger Federer in the final.
Advantage: Djokovic
Titles History
Anderson | Djokovic | |
Titles (2018) | 4 (1) | 68 (0) |
Slams | 0 | 12 |
While Anderson has picked up silverware this year, this is just his second Slam final, whereas Djokovic is on the hunt for a 13th Slam title, and a fourth Wimbledon title.
Advantage: Djokovic
Year to Date/Career W/L Record
Anderson | Djokovic | |
All surfaces W/L | 29-10 / 300-211 | 24-9 / 807-172 |
Grass-court | 6-1 / 36-24 | 10-1 / 24-9 |
Djokovic comes across the slightly steadier on the grass – not bad considering that he was so disgruntled after crashing out of the Roland Garros quarter-final he was not even sure he wanted to play on the turf. He made up for that with taking a wild card into Queens and making the final.
Advantage: Djokovic
Match Stats 2018
Anderson | Djokovic | |
Tie-Breaks | 21-13 | 6-8 |
Deciding sets | 13-6 | 2-5 |
Tie-breaks
Anderson, not surprisingly has been far more effective in tie-breaks while Djokovic has struggled to come out on top this year.
Deciding Sets
More tellingly, Anderson is a lot more successful when going the distance. Djokovic’s frustration this year has been evident as he lost his first four deciders this year before finally getting a win in Rome when going the distance.
Advantage: Anderson
Tournament
Serve/Return
There is very little to separate the pair in their first serve points won, and Anderson is maybe marginally better in his second serve margins, but it is no surprise that Djokovic’s return game is spot on.
It is hardly surprising that Anderson leads the way in aces, but also roars ahead on unforced errors.
Deuce
What they had to say
Anderson may be a late bloomer – but he is getting the results now where it counts, as he said after his semi-final match:
“There’s sort of mini breakthroughs. In terms of a broad picture, making finals of Grand Slams, there’s obviously a huge breakthrough. Along the way, there were many small breakthroughs: making top 10 in 2015, beating Andy Murray in the round of 16 at the US Open, almost beating Novak here, being up two sets to love, losing very close in the fifth set.
“Then getting injured in 2016 was tough. I work really hard. I have good goals. I’m always looking to improve. I’ve got a great team behind me. I have a lot of support. I feel like, as I’ve been saying, some of my best tennis I feel is still ahead of me. Look at the game, I think there’s still areas I can do better, improve both physically, mentally, emotionally.
“I think more than anything I’ve just really trusted the process. There’s ups and downs. Even in the last 12 months, I’ve made finals of US Open and now Wimbledon. There’s been ups and downs even in the last little while.
“I’m just always looking at learning, keep improving. I feel like that’s probably one of my biggest strengths, is my ability to sort of keep at it, keep my head up. It’s not easy at times. That’s what I just keep on doing. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep it up because there’s still a lot that I want to play for in terms of achievements.”
For Djokovic the frustration of the journey back has been evident, but he has a champions mentality:
“There were moments of doubt, of frustration, disappointment, where you’re questioning whether you want to keep it going in this way or that way, where is that taking you. Everybody goes through that process of thinking. I don’t know anybody that is managing always to stay positive, to always 100% have self-belief, confidence. It’s life.
“I managed to overcome challenges and obstacles, get myself to the finals of a slam. Obviously if you told me that six months ago, I would take it right away. But did I truly believe that I can get back on the level?
“I don’t know if I’ll be the clear favourite in that one. I think we’re quite even. He’s playing I think his second Grand Slam finals. He played the US Open finals last year. He’s definitely playing the tennis of his life. He’s coming off from two epic marathon five-set wins. I don’t think he has much to lose really tomorrow. He’s going to come out with big serves and big tennis. Hopefully I’ll be able to weather the storm.”
Who will win the Wimbledon 2018 Gentlemen’s Singles Title?
The Wimbledon Gentlemen’s singles final will be played on Sunday at 2pm (BST).
[table “ADPDTATP” not found /]
Follow Britwatch - Sport in General, Brits in Particular! | |
---|---|
Subscribe to Britwatch Sports | |
Soundcloud | |
YouTube | |
We may receive compensation for products purchased via affiliate links on this website |