This is the first story in a three-part series examining the analytics boom in tennis.
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On the eve of the U.S. Open, Roger Federer proclaimed, “No return, no wins.” He went on to say that Rafael Nadal was “by far the best” in returning serves, and his insight proved to be prophetic. Nadal broke Daniil Medvedev’s serve three times in the fifth set of Sunday’s championship match in Flushing, Queens.
In 2019, Nadal led the ATP Tour in this facet, having won 38% of all return games, a 5% percent advantage over Novak Djokovic and the rest of the field.