ATP Tour

The key to Novak Djokovic's grass-court success

There is little doubt that Novak Djokovic is one of the best grass-court players in tennis history.

The Serbian is a seven-time Wimbledon champion, who entering this year's grass Slam had won 85.6 per cent of his matches on the surface (125-21). The 39-year-old is into the third round this year at The All England Club, where he is trying to tie Roger Federer's record of eight men's singles trophies at the event.

But where does he stand out on grass compared to his overall palmares, which features 24 major titles, 101 tour-level trophies, 40 ATP Masters 1000 crowns and seven Nitto ATP Finals triumphs?

It all starts with Djokovic's first serve, where he turns small gains into key improvements, according to an Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis.

Entering Wimbledon this year, Djokovic had won 74.2 per cent of his first-serve points and 55.5 per cent of his second-serve points. On grass, he has actually only made a marginal improvement to a 55.8 winning percentage behind his second serve (increase of 0.5%).

But the eight-time grass-court titlist has won 77.6 per cent of his first-serve points on the surface, a 4.6 per cent increase. Behind that improvement, Djokovic has won 89.6 per cent of his service games on grass compared to 86.1 per cent on all surfaces. 

Djokovic Career vs. Career on Grass (pre-Wimbledon 2026)

That is not to say Djokovic has the best first-serve winning percentage on grass. In fact, he ranks 62nd among qualifying players since ATP Tour began tracking such statistics in 1991. But on all surfaces, he is 82nd. 

Those improvements tend to happen differently for different star players. Federer won 77.3 per cent of his first-serve points on all surfaces compared to 79.4 per cent on grass (+2.7%). However, the Swiss made a much bigger jump behind his second serve (56.8% to 59.1%, +3.9%).

Pete Sampras, a 10-time tour-level champion on grass, was nearly identical to Djokovic. The American improved from winning 80.9 per cent of his first-serve points on all surfaces to 84.6 on grass (+4.6%), and just 52.6 of his second-serve points to 53 per cent (+0.9%).

Another key statistic is Djokovic's break point defence. Entering Wimbledon, the eight-time ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF had saved 68.8 per cent of his break points faced on grass compared to 65.4 per cent on all surfaces.

That is a pivotal improvement because had he saved 65.4 per cent on grass throughout his career, the Serbian would have won 26 fewer service games (88.4% compared to 89.6%). That might not seem like a huge difference, but tennis is a sport of the finest of margins, and a single service break could make a big difference in any given match.

Djokovic 2026 Stats (pre-Wimbledon) 

Djokovic entered the third major of the season with just a 13-match sample size for the year, so it is difficult to compare his performance to a career of more than 1,400 tour-level matches. But the one area to keep an eye on is his return games won.

The 101-time tour-level titlist had won just 24.1 per cent of his return games, well below his 31.5 career percentage and down from 26.2 per cent in 2025.

However, his first-serve points won rate (73.7%) was close to his career mark (74.2%). Succeeding behind his first serve has proven pivotal on grass throughout his career, and that could be key again if he is to claim his 25th major title.