By Chris Oddo | Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Ahead of their second Grand Slam final in two months, let's go inside the numbers of the storied Federer-Djokovic rivalry.
45
Number of times Djokovic and Federer will have locked horns after Wednesday. That's second-most all-time.
Here are the top seven:
1. Djokovic-Nadal, 47
2. Federer-Djokovic, 45
3. Lendl-McEnroe, 36
4. Connors-Lendl, 35
4. Becker-Edberg, 35
5. Connors-McEnroe, 34
5. Agassi-Sampras, 34
6. Federer-Nadal, 34
22-22
22s are wild in this rivalry. But here's something interesting about Djokovic's recent rise: If Djokovic wins today, he will lead each of the other members of the big 5 – Federer, Murray (21-9), Nadal (24-23) and Wawrinka (20-4) – in their previous head-to-heads for the first time. Only 4 players hold a winning record against Djokovic at Tour-level where multiple matches have been played – Fernando Gonzalez (2-1), Ivo Karlovic (2-1), Andy Roddick (5-4) and Marat Safin (2-0).
27
Grand Slam titles between the two. Federer comes in with a pretty hefty edge of 17-10. Go ahead and relive some of the glory of their 2015 Wimbledon final, you know you want to:
11-6
Djokovic owns the edge in career finals vs. Federer.
148
Career ATP titles between the two. Federer, five years Djokovic's senior, has the edge of 88 to 60.
68
Number of Grand Slam semifinals the two have reached, collectively. Djokovic passes Ivan Lendl to move into third on the all-time list with 29, while Federer is the all-time leader with 39. Here are the top five all-time:
Roger Federer 39
Jimmy Connors 31
Novak Djokovic 29
Ivan Lendl 28
Andre Agassi 26
15
The number of Grand Slam meetings that Federer and Djokovic will have totalled after today. That's the most all-time. Here's the top four in ATP history, in terms of meeting at majors:
Novak Djokovic v Roger Federer 14 Djokovic leads 8-6
Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal 13 Nadal leads 9-4
Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal 11 Nadal leads 9-2
Ivan Lendl v John McEnroe 10 Lendl leads 7-3
39
The number of times a Big Four (Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Murray) member has won the title in the last 43 majors. The only players to break through during this 43-event span are Juan Martin del Potro (2009, US Open), Stan Wawrinka (2014, Australian Open, 2015 Roland Garros) and Marin Cilic (2014 US Open).
6
The winner of today's semifinal will move into first place on the list for most Australian Open finals all-time in the Open Era. Here are the top seven in that category:
Novak Djokovic 5
Stefan Edberg 5
Roger Federer 5
Andre Agassi 4
Ivan Lendl 4
Andy Murray 4
Mats Wilander 4
12-5
Djokovic's record against Federer in deciding sets, including victories in seven of the eight deciders.
36-8
Record of player who wins the first set when Federer and Djokovic play. Federer is only 21-7 when taking the first set against Djokovic, far from a lock. Djokovic is 15-1 when he takes the opener.
6-5
Federer's record in Australian Open semifinals. The Swiss maestro has lost his last four semifinals in Melbourne, including 2008 and 2011 to Djokovic. Here's the list of Federer's AO semifinal results:
2004 vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero Won 64 61 64
2005 vs. Marat Safin Lost 57 64 57 76(6) 97
2006 vs. Nicolas Kiefer Won 63 57 60 62
2007 vs. Andy Roddick Won 64 60 62
2008 vs. Novak Djokovic Lost 75 63 76(5)
2009 vs. Andy Roddick Won 62 75 75
2010 vs.Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Won 62 63 62
2011 vs. Novak Djokovic Lost 76(3) 75 64
2012 vs. Rafael Nadal Lost 67(5) 62 76(5) 64
2013 vs. Andy Murray Lost 64 67(5) 63 67(2) 62
2014 vs. Rafael Nadal Lost 76(4) 63 63
22
Number of tiebreakers the pair have played, with Federer owning the 12-10 edge, including three of the last four.
.
56
Djokovic is bidding to tie Stefan Edberg on the all-time list for Australian Open wins. Here are the top five in that category:
Roger Federer 80-12
Stefan Edberg 56-10
Novak Djokovic 55-6
Andre Agassi 48-5
Ivan Lendl 48-10
45
Number of Grand Slam finals that Federer and Djokovic have combined to reach. Federer, who owns a career record of 27-11 in Grand Slam semis, has reached more than any other player. Djokovic, who has gone 18-10 in Grand Slam semifinals, will bid to tie Ivan Lendl for third on the all-time list.
Here are the top four, all-time:
Roger Federer 27
Rafael Nadal 20
Ivan Lendl 19
Novak Djokovic 18
Thursday will mark the 10th time that Federer and Djokovic have met in a Grand Slam semifinal. Federer holds the 5-4 edge, but the pair have not played a Grand Slam semifinal since 2012 Wimbledon.
Miscellaneous:
---Federer is looking to record his 10th victory over a player ranked No. 1. His most recent victory over a No. 1 ranked player came against today’s opponent in the round-robin at the 2015 ATP World Tour Finals. He has a 9-18 win-loss record against No. 1 players overall and a 1-7 record against them at the majors.
---Federer is bidding to become the 3rd different man in the Open Era to reach the Australian Open final aged 34 or over. At 34 years 176 days, he would become the 4th oldest Australian Open finalist overall.
---Djokovic has won 15 of his last 16 Tour-level matches against Top 10 opposition. His only defeat in that time came to Federer in the round-robin at the 2015 ATP World Tour Finals. He has won 12 of his last 13 matches against Top 10 opposition at the Grand Slams, with his only defeat in that time coming against No. 9 Stan Wawrinka in the 2015 Roland Garros final.
--- Djokovic is looking to equal Roy Emerson’s record of 6 Australian titles and become the 10th man in history to win 6 titles at any Grand Slam event. The Serb is currently on a 13-match winning streak, dating back to last year's World Tour Finals.
(Stats courtesy of ATP Media and Tennis Abstract)