Cement-based hard courts are reason for Novak Djovkic’s dominance

Novak Djokovic grabbed his sixth China Open title, trashing career rival Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-2 on Monday in an undefeated campaign at the tournament. While it was expected for the top seed Djokovic to win the China Open, the surprise at the tournament came on how easy “Djoker” made the game of tennis look.

Djokovic left the China Open with the same untainted condition of not dropping a single set as he powered his streak to 29 matches capped by an overwhelming win against Nadal in the final round. It was an easy win for Djokovic, who has won three Grand Slam titles.

According to ESPN’s Peter Bodo, one of the main reasons for Djokovic’s dominance of today’s tennis game is the cement-based hard courts, which is the most common surface on the Association of Tennis Professionals, or ATP, Tour. The China Open being played on hard court was reportedly an advantage for the Serbian international, leading him to a dominating performance over Nadal.

Based on ATP World Tour’s records, Djokovic has won 45 hard court matches this year, including Grand Slam tournaments like the Australian Open and U.S. Open, where the 28-year-old Djokovic defeated Andy Murray and Roger Federer, respectively. The 10-time Grand Slam winner also tops the list for the match win rate of playing on hard courts with 83.7 percent on a slate of 435-85, which earned him 43 of his 56 titles. In all of ATP World Tour’s 58 tournaments, Djokovic won eight titles, with five of them on hard courts.

Meanwhile, Djokovic will participate at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, the eighth ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season, in an attempt to dethrone the defending champ Federer. While Federer also holds an impressive record on hard courts (29-3), Djokovic would still be a threat to the Swiss Maestro’s bid for a 25th career ATP Masters crown.

Djokovic will start his campaign for his ninth title of the year and third at the Shanghai Masters when he faces Slovakian Martin Klizan, who recorded his 30th win of the year on Monday after defeating wild card Ze Zhang 7-6(8) 6-2.

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