Novak Djokovic never won as many tiebreaks as this year, which is an interesting stat to observe in relation to the type of year he had.
Winning three out of four Grand Slams this year has certainly dominance written all over it. Djokovic was utterly spectacular this year; he was basically the best player for much of it, so when you consider that, you might be surprised that he never won as many tiebreaks as he did this year.
Tiebreaks usually happen when a player can't really find a way to overcome the serve of the opponent. It generally happens in very close matches, so did Djokovic struggle with his opponents more than before this year?
Well, you could certainly interpret this stat that way because he not only won more tiebreaks than ever, but he also played the most he's played in the past 10+ years. That's exactly why he won as many because he played as many.
Djokovic totaled 39 tiebreaks this year, which is by far the most he's in recent years. The only year he had more was back in 2007, when he played 43 tiebreaks. Djokovic played 24 tiebreaks last year, 24 the year before, and only 17 the year before.
So he's playing more tiebreaks than ever but he's also winning most of them. He won 31 tiebreaks which is the most he's ever won, topping even the 30 he won in 2007.
It's clear that he's having more struggle with breaking down the serve of his opponents, but when it matters the most, Djokovic still finds a way to win the match.
That's ultimately all that matters, but the legend is clearly slowing down. Not fast enough according to his rivals, but he's certainly slowing down compared to his previous years. We'll see what happens next year.
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