Global dominance at the elite level of our sport is actually built upon razor thin margins that appear when we examine the building blocks of point play.

Novak Djokovic has won 92 per cent (46-4) of his matches this season, but when broken down to the simplest level of points won, his winning percentage is just 56 per cent. It’s amazing that someone as dominant as Djokovic is taking a 50-50 battle and shifting it just six percentage points in his favour to create the superiority that we have grown accustomed to.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis shows that the current players in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings have won, on average, just 53.2 per cent of their points this season. The flip side of the coin is also sobering to contemplate: Top 10 players average losing 47 per cent of all the points they play.

This is the hidden math of tennis that is exposed when you break the sport down to the building blocks of our game, which can be further divided into the two categories of serving and returning.

Holding serve is definitely an easier task, thanks to the inherent power of the serve at the beginning of the point. Players also have to win a substantial amount of points returning, which is far more difficult, as they are quite often on defence trying to neutralise 130 mile per hour serves to begin points.The variety of serve and return win percentages actually varies a lot within the Top 10.

Take, for example, Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka. Both are winning 68 per cent of their serve points this season, but Djokovic is winning a much higher number on the return side of the equation, 46 per cent, compared to just 40 per cent for Wawrinka.

No two players in the Top 10 have exactly the same win rate in serve and return points won, highlighting the variety of playing styles that can be utilised to reach this elite level of our game.

On the serving side, Milos Raonic and Roger Federer are the top performers in service points won at 71 per cent. To achieve such lofty numbers, Raonic does it with the raw power of his serve, while Federer relies more on hitting spots and winning the strategic guessing game of serve location.

It’s also interesting to note that Dominic Thiem and Andy Murray both win 67 per cent of their serve points, while the Brit performs slightly better on the return side of the equation, winning 42 per cent of return points to 40 per cent for Thiem.

Tomas Berdych and Richard Gasquet have a two-point separation on both the serve and return sides of the equation, with Berdych taking the honours on the serve side, (66 per cent to 64 per cent), while Gasquet leads returning (41 per cent to 39 per cent).

There are dozens of players good enough to reach the Top 10, but with only 10 spots available, it’s all about mastering key strategies that slightly tip the win percentages.

*Statistics do not include Wimbledon results.

Pablo Cuevas reached the quarter-finals of the German Tennis Championships 2016 on Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Brazilian Thiago Monteiro. Cuevas, the third seed, won 85 per cent of his serve points (33/39) and erased his only break point faced.

The 30-year-old Uruguayan earned four breaks against the 22-year-old qualifier. Monteiro also had to serve almost more than double the number of points – 69 – than Cuevas – 39.

“I played so good today,” Cuevas said. “He’s a good player.”

Cuevas, No. 24 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, has had good luck this season when beating Monteiro in a tournament. He beat the left-hander at Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in February, and both times, Cuevas went on to win the tournaments. The 30 year old has won five ATP World Tour titles, all on clay. He next will face Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, who outlasted Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 in two hours and 49 minutes. Mathieu saved 11 of 14 break points faced, including all seven in the second set.

Home favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber overcame a slow start to move into the quarter-finals. The top seed dispatched Argentine Nicolas Kicker 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and 51 minutes. The top German was broken twice in the first set but only once in the remaining two sets.

Kohlschreiber, No. 22 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is vying to become the first German winner in Hamburg since current tournament director Michael Stich in 1993. Five of Kohlschreiber’s seven ATP World Tour titles have come in Germany, including the BMW Open by FWU AG in May (d. Thiem).

Kohlschreiber next will face Argentine Renzo Olivo, who swept compatriot Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4. The 24-year-old Olivo, No. 153 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, erased all three break points to reach the quarter-finals of an ATP World Tour 500 event for the first time.

Sixth seed Adrian Mannarino won 122 points in his first-round match at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport on Tuesday. His opponent, Aussie wild card James Duckworth, won 124.

But in tennis, not all points are created equal, and it was the 28-year-old Frenchman who won the biggest points to move into the second round 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 7-6(4).

The two-hour and 35-minute match was about as close as they come. Both players lost their serve exactly four times. But in the two set tie-breaks that Mannarino won, he suffered exactly one less mini-break than Duckworth. The left-handed Mannarino also took full advantage of the two opportunities he had to serve out the tie-breaks.

He next will face Aussie Sam Groth, who hit 23 aces to beat Polish qualifier Michal Przysiezny 7-6(2), 6-4.

American wild card Stefan Kozlov earned his third ATP World Tour match win with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph over German veteran Benjamin Becker. The 17 year old next will face countryman Donald Young.

Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic swept American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4. Dancevic’s reward for winning three consecutive matches, including qualifying? A second-round match-up with big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic, a two-time Newport finalist.

In a battle of Aussies, John-Patrick Smith got the better of Jordan Thompson 6-4, 6-4. In the second round, Smith will face 34-year-old Swiss Marco Chiudinelli, who prevailed against American qualifier Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 7-6(6).

Brian Baker won the all-American battle against Austin Krajicek 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. “It’s just one of those matches where you just have to compete pretty hard and take advantage of some break points when you get them,” said Baker, who saved five of six break points and converted three.

The 31-year-old qualifier, who’s had 11 surgeries since 1999, will face fourth seed Marcos Baghdatis in the second round for the first time. Baghdatis, who made the quarter-finals on the grass in Halle and Nottingham, is making his Newport debut.

In doubles, Baker teamed up with Wimbledon doubles semi-finalist Rajeev Ram to sweep Young and South African Dean O’Brien 6-3, 7-5 in 62 minutes. Fourth seeds Purav Raja and Divij Sharan, both of India, advanced with a 2-6, 6-3 10-6 win against Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic and American John Paul Fruttero.

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