To thrive on the ATP World Tour, it’s a given that players must find a way to succeed on various surfaces under different conditions throughout the year’s 64 tournaments. The 2018 season was no different, according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone. Here’s a look at some of the best performers by surface this year:

Clay Courts (minimum 10 matches)
It’s no surprise that Rafael Nadal was the best player on clay in 2018, winning three more titles on the surface (4) than he had losses (1). The Spaniard claimed his 11th titles at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and Roland Garros, also triumphing at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia. Nadal now owns 57 clay-court tour-level trophies, which would rank 12th all-time among title winners on all surfaces. 

While Alexander Zverev shone brightest in London, where he claimed the Nitto ATP Finals crown, the German was successful on clay as well, winning 84 per cent (21-4) of his matches on the surface.

Hard Courts (minimum 10 matches)
Nadal also had the ATP World Tour’s best winning percentage on hard courts, but he played just three tournaments on the surface, finishing with a 14-2 record. Other Top 10 players produced standout performances on hard courts, including Juan Martin del Potro, who won back-to-back titles in Acapulco and Indian Wells (his first ATP Masters 1000 title). He also reached four hard-court finals, including the US Open. The Argentine claimed 36 wins on the surface, as did Roger Federer, who won his sixth Australian Open, the ATP 500 title in Rotterdam (where he returned to World No. 1) and his ninth title in Basel.

But among players with 30 or more hard-court match wins this season, Novak Djokovic had the best winning percentage of 83.8 per cent (31-6), despite starting the year 3-3 on the surface. The Serb won 26 of his final 28 matches, all on hard courts. During that span, he completed the Career Golden Masters at the Western & Southern Open, was victorious at the US Open and captured the Rolex Shanghai Masters crown.

Grass Courts (minimum 5 matches)
Djokovic’s resurgence after a 6-6 start to the year got underway during the grass season. He held championship point at the Fever-Tree Championships before ultimately falling against Marin Cilic, who had the third best record on the surface this year. But Djokovic used that event as a launching pad to capture his fourth Wimbledon crown.

Roger Federer won a record 18th grass-court title in 2018, triumphing at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, while also reaching the final at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

Indoor Courts (minimum 10 matches)
While indoors is not a surface, Karen Khachanov rode great success indoors to his breakthrough in 2018. The Russian won his maiden ATP World Tour title two years ago in Chengdu. But Khachanov added three more trophies to his total this year, with all of those victories coming on indoor hard courts. Khachanov won the Open 13 Provence, the VTB Kremlin Cup and he earned his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Paris Masters, finishing the season 20-4 indoors.

Overall
It’s fitting that the Top 3 players in the year-end ATP Rankings — Nadal (No. 2), Federer (No. 3) and Djokovic (No.1)  — are also in the Top 3 in overall winning percentage in 2018. Djokovic lost just six matches after his 6-6 start, finishing with wins in 47 of his last 53 matches. Zverev, who led the ATP World Tour with 58 match wins, earned a 75.3 winning percentage.

John Isner has averaged north of 1,000 aces per season for the past 10 years and just posted his second highest ace total to finish 2018.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Isner’s prodigious serving identifies that he hit 1,213 aces this year, which is second only to the 1,260 he crushed in 2015. He has averaged 1,024 aces per season during the past decade, which firmly cements his place as one of the biggest servers our sport has ever seen.

Isner led the tour in most aces hit for the third straight season, and has now finished first in the category in six of the past 10 seasons. If anything, his serve is getting better, as he has not dipped below 1,000 aces in the past four seasons, after being under that mark in the previous three years.

Isner won the biggest title of his career earlier this season at the Miami Open presented by Itau, hitting 78 aces while committing just eight double faults in 70 service games to win his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.

Isner narrowly finished second this season to Ivo Karlovic on the ATP Serve LEADERBOARD, powered by Infosys Nia Data, with the average amount of aces hit per match.

2018: Average Aces Per Match
Ivo Karlovic = 22.7
John Isner = 22.5
Nick Kyrgios = 19.8
Milos Raonic = 17.5
Kevin Anderson =16.4

Isner’s 2018 average aces per match total was his second highest in the past 10 years, and was a major driving force for the 33-year-old American qualifying for his first Nitto ATP Finals in London last month, and enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 8 in July.

Read & Watch: Isner Surges To Historic Miami Title

Isner’s average aces per match has steadily climbed during the past decade.

John Isner – Average Aces Per Match
2018 = 22.5
2017 = 19.7
2016 = 23.2
2015 = 18.5
2014 = 17.4
2013 = 16.3
2012 = 16.8
2011 = 14.7
2010 = 17.5
2009 = 14.5

Isner now sits in second place on the all-time ace list with 10,937 aces from 609 matches. The only man ahead of him is 39-year-old Karlovic, who has 12,936 aces from 657 matches. Two quality seasons from Isner, and that 1,999 ace gap could quickly vanish.

John Isner has averaged north of 1,000 aces per season for the past 10 years and just posted his second highest ace total to finish 2018.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Isner’s prodigious serving identifies that he hit 1,213 aces this year, which is second only to the 1,260 he crushed in 2015. He has averaged 1,024 aces per season during the past decade, which firmly cements his place as one of the biggest servers our sport has ever seen.

Isner led the tour in most aces hit for the third straight season, and has now finished first in the category in six of the past 10 seasons. If anything, his serve is getting better, as he has not dipped below 1,000 aces in the past four seasons, after being under that mark in the previous three years.

Isner won the biggest title of his career earlier this season at the Miami Open presented by Itau, hitting 78 aces while committing just eight double faults in 70 service games to win his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.

Isner narrowly finished second this season to Ivo Karlovic on the ATP Serve LEADERBOARD, powered by Infosys Nia Data, with the average amount of aces hit per match.

2018: Average Aces Per Match
Ivo Karlovic = 22.7
John Isner = 22.5
Nick Kyrgios = 19.8
Milos Raonic = 17.5
Kevin Anderson =16.4

Isner’s 2018 average aces per match total was his second highest in the past 10 years, and was a major driving force for the 33-year-old American qualifying for his first Nitto ATP Finals in London last month, and enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 8 in July.

Read & Watch: Isner Surges To Historic Miami Title

Isner’s average aces per match has steadily climbed during the past decade.

John Isner – Average Aces Per Match
2018 = 22.5
2017 = 19.7
2016 = 23.2
2015 = 18.5
2014 = 17.4
2013 = 16.3
2012 = 16.8
2011 = 14.7
2010 = 17.5
2009 = 14.5

Isner now sits in second place on the all-time ace list with 10,937 aces from 609 matches. The only man ahead of him is 39-year-old Karlovic, who has 12,936 aces from 657 matches. Two quality seasons from Isner, and that 1,999 ace gap could quickly vanish.

David Goffin is hard at work in Monte-Carlo, preparing for the 2019 season. But on Friday, the Belgian got a special surprise after practice.

ATP and the Monte-Carlo Country Club celebrated Goffin’s 28th birthday during the ATP Training Camp at the facility, as chefs from the club prepared racquet and tennis ball-shaped cakes to be presented by various staff including Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters Tournament Director Zeljko Franulovic.

Stan Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych and Monaco’s Romain Arneodo paused training to join in the celebration. Goffin was also given a Moet & Chandon Magnum to commemorate the day.

Now, it will be back to work for the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up. Goffin is well into his offseason training, posting videos on his social media accounts showing him rock climbing in the local mountains, stretching while suspended in midair, ziplining, and doing conditioning work at Club 39 and Stade Louis II.

PRESEASON 2019 ?
(View full video on Instagram or Facebook) @ASICSTennis @WilsonTennis @aadrink @MercedesBenzBE @Piaget @OfficialMauiJim @setteo #Mobilityl#newseasoniscoming pic.twitter.com/4evchDY6nP

— David Goffin (@David__Goffin) December 1, 2018

In 2019, Goffin will try to finish inside the Top 25 of the ATP Rankings for the sixth consecutive year. The World No. 22 last competed in Shenzhen due to a bone edema.

David Goffin is hard at work in Monte-Carlo, preparing for the 2019 season. But on Friday, the Belgian got a special surprise after practice.

ATP and the Monte-Carlo Country Club celebrated Goffin’s 28th birthday during the ATP Training Camp at the facility, as chefs from the club prepared racquet and tennis ball-shaped cakes to be presented by various staff including Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters Tournament Director Zeljko Franulovic.

Stan Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych and Monaco’s Romain Arneodo paused training to join in the celebration. Goffin was also given a Moet & Chandon Magnum to commemorate the day.

Now, it will be back to work for the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up. Goffin is well into his offseason training, posting videos on his social media accounts showing him rock climbing in the local mountains, stretching while suspended in midair, ziplining, and doing conditioning work at Club 39 and Stade Louis II.

PRESEASON 2019 ?
(View full video on Instagram or Facebook) @ASICSTennis @WilsonTennis @aadrink @MercedesBenzBE @Piaget @OfficialMauiJim @setteo #Mobilityl#newseasoniscoming pic.twitter.com/4evchDY6nP

— David Goffin (@David__Goffin) December 1, 2018

In 2019, Goffin will try to finish inside the Top 25 of the ATP Rankings for the sixth consecutive year. The World No. 22 last competed in Shenzhen due to a bone edema.

Gustavo Kuerten accomplished a lot on the ATP World Tour, from lifting 20 tour-level titles and ascending to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings to collecting nearly $15 million in prize money and endearing himself to countless fans around the world. But now, the 42-year-old can call himself one of GQ Brasil’s Men of The Year for the second time.

In 2015, the three-time Roland Garros winner was named Man of the Year in the social responsibility category. But this year, Kuerten was honoured in the GQ Icon category.

It’s important to note that Kuerten has long been respected for his efforts on the court — after his 2001 victory in Paris, Brazil issued a postage stamp of him with the Eiffel Tower in the background. But Kuerten has taken even more pride in his character. In 2000, the star founded the Gustavo Kuerten Institute to support children and the disabled.

“I am convinced that I was privileged, had conditions that few have without having to do much more than dedicate myself to my mission,” Kuerten told GQ Brasil. “It gives me the certainty that the least I can do is to serve these 700 children at the Institute better and better.”

While Kuerten knows he will be remembered for his triumphs on the court, he is focused on creating even more of a legacy off of it.

“The relation of the Brazilian is with the result, not with the sport. This is cruel, dehumanises the athlete. If he wins, he is deified, if he loses, he is execrated,” Kuerten said. “The athlete needs to return to a more normal cycle of existence. Otherwise, life moves you to a fictitious, superficial and finite path.”

Gustavo Kuerten accomplished a lot on the ATP World Tour, from lifting 20 tour-level titles and ascending to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings to collecting nearly $15 million in prize money and endearing himself to countless fans around the world. But now, the 42-year-old can call himself one of GQ Brasil’s Men of The Year for the second time.

In 2015, the three-time Roland Garros winner was named Man of the Year in the social responsibility category. But this year, Kuerten was honoured in the GQ Icon category.

It’s important to note that Kuerten has long been respected for his efforts on the court — after his 2001 victory in Paris, Brazil issued a postage stamp of him with the Eiffel Tower in the background. But Kuerten has taken even more pride in his character. In 2000, the star founded the Gustavo Kuerten Institute to support children and the disabled.

“I am convinced that I was privileged, had conditions that few have without having to do much more than dedicate myself to my mission,” Kuerten told GQ Brasil. “It gives me the certainty that the least I can do is to serve these 700 children at the Institute better and better.”

While Kuerten knows he will be remembered for his triumphs on the court, he is focused on creating even more of a legacy off of it.

“The relation of the Brazilian is with the result, not with the sport. This is cruel, dehumanises the athlete. If he wins, he is deified, if he loses, he is execrated,” Kuerten said. “The athlete needs to return to a more normal cycle of existence. Otherwise, life moves you to a fictitious, superficial and finite path.”