Nadal, Djokovic & Federer Among Surface Leaders In 2019

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic finished the 2019 season in the top two spots of the ATP Rankings. So it’s no surprise that one of the tennis legends topped each of the surface leaderboards this year, while year-end World No. 3 Roger Federer made his return to clay. Here’s a look at some of the best performers by surface in 2019 according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone:

Clay Courts (minimum 10 matches)
Rafael Nadal had the best record on clay once again in 2019, winning two titles on the surface while losing just three matches. The Spaniard did not reach the final in his first three clay-court tournaments of the year, but the lefty bounced back to triumph in Rome and at Roland Garros. Nadal now has 59 tour-level titles on clay, 10 more than Guillermo Vilas, who is second on the Open Era list with 49.

This year also marked Roger Federer’s return to clay. The Swiss, who had not competed on the surface since 2016 Rome, went 9-2 on the red dirt and advanced to the Roland Garros semi-finals.

Hard Courts (minimum 10 matches)
Nadal has long been successful on hard courts, entering the season in 12th place on the Open Era list for winning percentage on the surface. But the Spaniard was especially successful on hard courts in 2019, winning 32 of his 35 matches, a rate of 91.4 per cent. Nadal won multiple hard-court titles in a season for the seventh time, triumphing in Montreal and at the US Open.

Federer and Djokovic were right behind at 82.5 per cent and 81.4 per cent, respectively. Djokovic (first) and Federer (third) are two of the three best players on hard court in the Open Era. Daniil Medvedev won an ATP Tour-leading four titles on the surface this season, as well as emerging victorious in a Tour-best 46 matches.

Grass Courts (minimum 5 matches)
Djokovic immediately shook off the disappointment of a semi-final exit at Roland Garros. Although he did not compete in the Fever-Tree Championships like he did in 2018, the Serbian quickly took to the grass at SW19, winning his fifth Wimbledon crown. The top seed dropped just two sets en route to the final, in which he saved two championship points to defeat Roger Federer for the title.

If Federer had won either of those match points, he would have topped this list. But instead the Swiss comes in at No. 2 with an 11-1 record on grass this season. Federer won his 19th grass-court trophy in Halle.

This year’s grass-court swing also marked the breakthrough of Matteo Berrettini. Entering Stuttgart, he was World No. 30. But a title there, followed by a semi-final in Halle and a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon, set the Italian on course for the Top 10 and a trip to the Nitto ATP Finals.

Indoor Courts (minimum 10 matches)
This was another list that Nadal led in 2019, mostly thanks to his efforts at the Davis Cup Finals, where he won all five of his singles matches to make a rapid leap up the indoor standings.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga began 2019 at No. 239 in the ATP Rankings, coming back from left knee surgery. And although the Frenchman did not crack the Top 5, finishing seventh for the year, he used his play indoors to help him climb to year-end No. 29. Tsonga won titles in Metz and Montpellier, his 12th and 13th indoor title, respectively.

Federer, who had the fourth-best record on the ATP Tour indoors this year (8-2), captured his 10th Basel title, which was his 103rd tour-level trophy overall.

Overall
It’s only fitting that with Nadal finishing year-end No. 1, he also had the best record on the ATP Tour in 2019. The Spaniard tallied a 58-7 record, with his winning percentage just short of 90 per cent. Five of his seven losses came against Top 10 opponents, with his other two defeats coming against dangerous shotmakers in Fabio Fognini and Nick Kyrgios.