Are big serves the best weapon against Novak Djokovic?
Tennis in the modern era is all about technique and variety. The traditional service games, in which players like Andy Roddick, Pete Sampras and Ivan Ljubicic relied heavily on bring their game under control. Now, if we see the top players in the current era, there are only a few players who rely on their service game.
One cannot beat the top guys when you depend heavily on the serve. But the present stats show that big serve is essential to trouble the best player in the world, Novak Djokovic if not, you beat him.
The strong return game that Djokovic possess makes the player on the other end, to lose the balance and force an error. This was evident when Djokovic was in full flow in 2015.
You simply cannot beat the Serbian if you have lesser attributes. If we analyse the 11-time champion's dramatic 2015, he was troubled by the players, who use the big serve as their weapon.
Karlovic, Wawrinka, Anderson, Berdych and big serves
He was defeated by the Croatian, Ivo Karlovic in Doha last year. Since the defeat against Karlovic, the Serbinator took everything under his control and defeated the top guys. He has lost only 6 times last year and three of those defeats came in the hands of Federer.
Last year at Roland Garros, Stan Wawrinka followed this thunderous serving technique and brutal backhands against Djokovic. After the break in the first set, the Swiss No. 2 decided to lift his serve consistently in a hot French Capital. This is the best way to distract the player, who has been the best returner in the modern era.
At the Wimbledon in 2015, the big-serving Kevin Anderson, almost, would have erased Djokovic's name in the title, when they met in the fourth round. The No.1 seed had no clue to stop the South African in first two sets. Djokovic was pushed till the fifth set to earn a victory.
The same routine was followed by the Czech Tomas Berdych in the ATP masters tournament in Paris, but he came up short in the tie-breakers. Berdych, who has a poor record against Djokovic played one of the best matches against him.
Roger Federer is not a big server in this sport. But the Swiss, who was consistent with his range of serves is the only player who troubled Djokovic few times. The 17-time champion was really emphatic with his serves, against the World No.1 in Dubai, Cincinnati and London.
But no doubt Djokovic's strong return game defeated Federer's serve in Grand Slams including the Australian Open in 2016.
It's very difficult to play against Djokovic defensively like Nadal and Murray used to do against him. You can't rely on the rallies against the most physical player in this sport. This is clearly evident why these two players haven't succeeded against the Serbian in the past 10 encounters.
You can't say, the big serve is the best way to beat the guy who's been in the top of the game. But this is one of the few things that will work really well against Djokovic.