2018 Novak Djokovic tennis season

2018 Novak Djokovic tennis season

Djokovic at the 2018 Queen's Club Championships
Full name	Novak Djokovic
Country	Serbia
Calendar prize money	$15,967,184 (singles & doubles)
Singles
Season record	53–13
Calendar titles	4
Year-end ranking	No. 1
Ranking change from previous year	11
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian Open	4R
French Open	QF
Wimbledon	W
US Open	W
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	F
Doubles
Season record	2–4
Calendar titles	0
Current ranking	268
Year-end ranking	34
← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 Novak Djokovic tennis season started with the Tie Break Tens event in Melbourne, Australia.

Djokovic returned from his six-month injury hiatus since 2017 Wimbledon Championships at the Tie Break Tens event where he played a tune-up for the 2018 Australian Open. He was defeated by Lleyton Hewitt in his first match, 10–6.

Djokovic played his first official match since Wimbledon at the Australian Open. After defeating Donald Young in straight sets, he defeated Gaël Monfils in the second round after dropping the first set, with Monfils succumbing to extreme heat in the latter stages of the match. With a victory over Albert Ramos Viñolas in third round, Djokovic set up a meeting with Korean Chung Hyeon. In a match of constant breaks of serve, Djokovic eventually lost in straight sets due to relentless backcourt defense from Chung and copious unforced errors on critical points. After his loss, Djokovic decided to undergo a surgery on his right elbow, which he claimed was affecting him from previous two years.^[1]

Djokovic surprisingly returned to tour since his surgery at the Indian Wells Masters. After receiving a first round bye, he was upset in the second round by World No. 109 Taro Daniel in three sets.

Djokovic's next event was at the Miami Open, where his spring slump continued as he lost to Benoît Paire in straight sets.

Hoping to regain form at the clay court events, Djokovic played at the Monte Carlo Masters. He won his first two matches in straight sets, defeating Dušan Lajović and Borna Ćorić in first and second rounds respectively. His 6–0, 6–1 win over Lajović was particularly dominant and suggested significant improvements in form. He needed 10 match points to beat Coric in round 2. In the third round, he lost to World No. 7 and clay court specialist Dominic Thiem. After the match, Djokovic stated : "After two years finally I can play without pain".^[2]

Inspired by his improvement, Djokovic took a wildcard to play at Barcelona Open^[3] He was unable to carry on his run there, and lost to Martin Klizan in his opening round match.

Djokovic next competed at the Madrid Open. In his first victory over a top-20 opponent in over eight months, he defeated former World No. 5 Kei Nishikori in the first round, before falling to Briton Kyle Edmund. As a result of the loss and failing to defend his semifinals position at the event, Djokovic fell to No. 18, his lowest ranking in twelve years.^[4][5]

Djokovic's next event was the Italian Open, where he has previously won four times and was the defending finalist. He progressed to his first quarterfinals appearance since 2017 Wimbledon, defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov, Nikoloz Basilashvili and Albert Ramos in straight sets. He would go on to beat Kei Nishikori, but lose to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinal. After failing to defend his finalist points from 2017, Djokovic's ranking fell to No. 22. This was his first time out of the top 20 since October 2006.

In Roland Garros, Djokovic beat Roberto Bautista Agut and Fernando Verdasco en route to the quarterfinals, where he suffered a shocking defeat to Marco Cecchinato in four sets.

Djokovic took a wildcard to play at Queen's Club for the first time since 2010. He beat second seed Grigor Dimitrov, Adrian Mannarino, and Jérémy Chardy to reach the final. In the final, he lost to Marin Čilić in three sets, despite holding a match point.^[6]

Showing further improvement in form, Djokovic beat Australian Open quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren, British number one Kyle Edmund, and Kei Nishikori to set up a semifinal against Rafael Nadal. In the second longest Wimbledon semifinal to date (second only to the first semifinal between Isner and Anderson), Djokovic beat Nadal in five sets played over two days due to Wimbledons 11pm curfew and the first semifinal delaying the start of the Djokovic Nadal semifinal to after 8PM local time.^[7]

He then defeated Kevin Anderson in the final in straight sets to win his fourth Wimbledon title and 13th overall Grand Slam title. This was his first title of the season, which catapulted him from 21st back into the 10th spot in the rankings. He also became the lowest ranked male player to win a Wimbledon title since Goran Ivanišević won it in 2001 as a wildcard.^[8]

Djokovic started his US Open series campaign with straightforward wins against Mirza Bašić and Peter Polansky in Toronto, but fell in the third round to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Next for Djokovic was the Cincinnati Masters, the only Masters 1000 tournament he hadn't won. After beating Steve Johnson in straight sets, Djokovic faced several difficult matches in a row. He had to come back from a one-set deficit against Adrian Mannarino and ATP number 5 Grigor Dimitrov, and needed three sets to beat Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals and Marin Čilić in the semifinals.

Djokovic then beat top-seeded and number 2 ranked Roger Federer in straight sets in the final. It was their first match since their semifinal match at the 2016 Australian Open. With this win, Djokovic became the first singles player to complete the Career Golden Masters.^[9]

Struggling with the heat and humidity,^[10] Djokovic survived an upset scare and beat Márton Fucsovics in four sets in the first round. He would again need four sets to overcome Tennys Sandgren in the second round. With cooler conditions, the next rounds proved to be easier: Richard Gasquet in the third round, João Sousa, and John Millman in the quarterfinal were all defeated in straight sets.

He would then face Kei Nishikori in their first match at the US Open since Nishikori's upset over Djokovic in 2014. This time Djokovic prevailed in straight sets to set up a final against Juan Martín del Potro. In the final, Djokovic took control of the match early, winning the first set and securing a break early in the second. However, a spirited comeback from del Potro prolonged the second set, with Djokovic winning in a tiebreaker after a 95-minute set. Djokovic eventually closed out the match in straight sets.^[11]

The victory earned Djokovic his third US Open and 14th Grand Slam title overall, tying Pete Sampras. He also climbed back to number 3 in the ATP rankings and qualified for the ATP Finals.

Seeded second at the Shanghai Masters, he defeated Jérémy Chardy, 16th seed Marco Cecchinato, 7th seed Kevin Anderson, 4th seed Alexander Zverev, and 13th seed Borna Ćorić in a decisive run. He did not drop a set nor have his serve broken during the tournament. This was his fourth title in Shanghai and second Masters title of the year. With this win, he overtook Roger Federer and returned to the #2 ranking for the first time since the 2017 French Open.^[12]

Djokovic defeated João Sousa, Damir Džumhur, Marin Čilić, and his rival Roger Federer en route to the final, where he lost in straight sets to Karen Khachanov.

However, with Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from the tournament, Djokovic regained the No. 1 ranking after the tournament concluded.^[13] It was exactly two years ago when he lost the No. 1 ranking in Paris, following a quarterfinals exit.^{[citation needed]}

Djokovic easily qualified for the semifinals, winning all 3 of his round robin matches in straight sets and without losing serve. He defeated John Isner, Sascha Zverev and Marin Cilic. In the semifinals he defeated Wimbledon runner up Kevin Anderson in straight sets. In the final he faced Sascha Zverev, who Djokovic beat four days earlier in round robin play. This time Zverev came out on top in straight sets for his first ATP Finals title.

This table lists all the matches of Djokovic this year, including walkovers W/O (they are marked ND for non-decision)

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent (seed or key)	Rank	Result	Score
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam tournament Hard, outdoor 15 – 28 January 2018
	1 / 947	1R	Donald Young	63	Win	6–1, 6–4, 6–2
	2 / 948	2R	Gaël Monfils	39	Win	4–6, 6–3, 6–1, 6–3
	3 / 949	3R	Albert Ramos Viñolas (21)	22	Win	6–2, 6–3, 6–3
	4 / 950	4R	Chung Hyeon	58	Loss	6–7(4–7), 5–7, 6–7(3–7)
Indian Wells Masters Indian Wells, United States ATP Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 5 – 18 March 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	5 / 951	2R	Taro Daniel	109	Loss	6–7(3–7), 6–4, 1–6
Miami Open Miami, United States ATP Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 19 March – 1 April 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	6 / 952	2R	Benoît Paire	47	Loss	3–6, 4–6
Monte-Carlo Masters Monte Carlo, Monaco ATP Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 15 – 22 April 2018
	7 / 953	1R	Dušan Lajović	93	Win	6–1, 6–0
	8 / 954	2R	Borna Ćorić	39	Win	7–6(7–2), 7–5
	9 / 955	3R	Dominic Thiem (5)	7	Loss	7–6(7–2), 2–6, 3–6
Barcelona Open Barcelona, Spain ATP Tour 500 Clay, outdoor 23 – 29 April 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	10 / 956	2R	Martin Kližan	140	Loss	2–6, 6–1, 3–6
Madrid Open Madrid, Spain ATP Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 7 – 13 May 2018
	11 / 957	1R	Kei Nishikori	20	Win	7–5, 6–4
	12 / 958	2R	Kyle Edmund	22	Loss	3–6, 6–2, 3–6
Italian Open Rome, Italy ATP Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 14 – 20 May 2018
	13 / 959	1R	Alexandr Dolgopolov	54	Win	6–1, 6–3
	14 / 960	2R	Nikoloz Basilashvili	74	Win	6–4, 6–2
	15 / 961	3R	Albert Ramos Viñolas	41	Win	6–1, 7–5
	16 / 962	QF	Kei Nishikori	24	Win	2–6, 6–1, 6–3
	17 / 963	SF	Rafael Nadal (1)	2	Loss	6–7(4–7), 3–6
French Open Paris, France Grand Slam tournament Clay, outdoor 28 May – 10 June 2018
	18 / 964	1R	Rogério Dutra Silva	134	Win	6–3, 6–4, 6–4
	19 / 965	2R	Jaume Munar	155	Win	7–6(7–1), 6–4, 6–4
	20 / 966	3R	Roberto Bautista Agut (13)	13	Win	6–4, 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–4), 6–2
	21 / 967	4R	Fernando Verdasco (30)	35	Win	6–3, 6–4, 6–2
	22 / 968	QF	Marco Cecchinato	72	Loss	3–6, 6–7(4–7), 6–1, 6–7(11–13)
Queen's Club Championships London, UK ATP Tour 500 Grass, outdoor 18 – 24 June 2018
	23 / 969	1R	John Millman	63	Win	6–2, 6–1
	24 / 970	2R	Grigor Dimitrov (2)	5	Win	6–4, 6–1
	25 / 971	QF	Adrian Mannarino	26	Win	7–5, 6–1
	26 / 972	SF	Jérémy Chardy	61	Win	7–6(7–5), 6–4
	27 / 973	F	Marin Čilić (1)	6	Loss (1)	7–5, 6–7(4–7), 3–6
Wimbledon Championships London, United Kingdom Grand Slam tournament Grass, outdoor 2 – 15 July 2018
	28 / 974	1R	Tennys Sandgren	57	Win	6–3, 6–1, 6–2
	29 / 975	2R	Horacio Zeballos	126	Win	6–1, 6–2, 6–3
	30 / 976	3R	Kyle Edmund (21)	17	Win	4–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–4
	31 / 977	4R	Karen Khachanov	40	Win	6–4, 6–2, 6–2
	32 / 978	QF	Kei Nishikori (24)	28	Win	6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2
	33 / 979	SF	Rafael Nadal (2)	1	Win	6–4, 3–6, 7–6(11–9), 3–6, 10–8
	34 / 980	W	Kevin Anderson (8)	8	Win (1)	6–2, 6–2, 7–6(7–3)
Canadian Open Toronto, Canada ATP Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 6 – 12 August 2018
	35 / 981	1R	Mirza Bašić (LL)	84	Win	6–3, 7–6(7–3)
	36 / 982	2R	Peter Polansky (WC)	121	Win	6–3, 6–4
	37 / 983	3R	Stefanos Tsitsipas	27	Loss	3–6, 7–6(7–5), 3–6
Cincinnati Masters Cincinnati, USA ATP Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 13 – 19 August 2018
	38 / 984	1R	Steve Johnson	34	Win	6–4, 7–6(7–4)
	39 / 985	2R	Adrian Mannarino	25	Win	4–6, 6–2, 6–1
	40 / 986	3R	Grigor Dimitrov	5	Win	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
	41 / 987	QF	Milos Raonic	29	Win	7–5, 4–6, 6–3
	42 / 988	SF	Marin Čilić (7)	7	Win	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
	43 / 989	W	Roger Federer (2)	2	Win (2)	6–4, 6–4
US Open New York City, United States Grand Slam tournament Hard, outdoor 27 August – 9 September 2018
	44 / 990	1R	Márton Fucsovics	41	Win	6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 6–0
	45 / 991	2R	Tennys Sandgren	61	Win	6–1, 6–3, 6–7(2–7), 6–2
	46 / 992	3R	Richard Gasquet (26)	25	Win	6–2, 6–3, 6–3
	47 / 993	4R	João Sousa	68	Win	6–3, 6–4, 6–3
	48 / 994	QF	John Millman	55	Win	6–3, 6–4, 6–4
	49 / 995	SF	Kei Nishikori (21)	19	Win	6–3, 6–4, 6–2
	50 / 996	W	Juan Martín del Potro (3)	3	Win (3)	6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–3
Laver Cup Chicago, United States Laver Cup Hard, indoor 21 – 23 September 2018
	51 / 997	Day 2	Kevin Anderson	9	Lost	6–7(5–7), 7–5, 6–10
	–	Day 3	Nick Kyrgios	27	not played	N/A
Shanghai Masters Shanghai, China ATP Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 6 – 14 October 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	52 / 998	2R	Jérémy Chardy	41	Win	6–3, 7–5
	53 / 999	3R	Marco Cecchinato (16)	21	Win	6–4, 6–0
	54 / 1000	QF	Kevin Anderson (7)	8	Win	7–6(7–1), 6–3
	55 / 1001	SF	Alexander Zverev (4)	5	Win	6–2, 6–1
	56 / 1002	W	Borna Ćorić (13)	19	Win (4)	6–3, 6–4
Paris Masters Paris, France ATP Tour Masters 1000 Hard, indoor 29 October – 4 November 2018
	–	1R	Bye
	57 / 1003	2R	João Sousa (Q)	48	Win	7–5, 6–1
	58 / 1004	3R	Damir Džumhur	52	Win	6–1, 2–1 ret.
	59 / 1005	QF	Marin Čilić (5)	7	Win	4–6, 6–2, 6–3
	60 / 1006	SF	Roger Federer (3)	3	Win	7–6(8–6), 5–7, 7–6(7–3)
	61 / 1007	F	Karen Khachanov	18	Loss (2)	5–7, 4–6
ATP Finals London, United Kingdom ATP Finals Hard, indoor 11 – 18 November 2018
	62 / 1008	RR	John Isner (8)	10	Win	6–4, 6–3
	63 / 1009	RR	Alexander Zverev (3)	5	Win	6–4, 6–1
	64 / 1010	RR	Marin Čilić (5)	7	Win	7–6(9–7), 6–2
	65 / 1011	SF	Kevin Anderson (4)	6	Win	6–2, 6–2
	66 / 1012	F	Alexander Zverev (3)	5	Loss (3)	4–6, 3–6

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponents (seed or key)	Ranks	Result	Score
Miami Open Miami, United States ATP Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 19 March – 1 April 2018 Partner: Viktor Troicki
	1 / 106	1R	Mektić / Peya	32 / 36	Loss	6–4, 5–7, [3–10]
Queen's Club Championships London, UK ATP Tour 500 Grass, outdoor 18 – 24 June 2018 Partner: Stan Wawrinka
	2 / 107	1R	Daniell / Koolhof (LL)	40 / 46	Loss	4–6, 6–7(2–7)
Canadian Open Toronto, Canada ATP Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 6 – 12 August 2018 Partner: Kevin Anderson
	3 / 108	1R	Auger-Aliassime / Shapovalov (WC)	587 / 398	Win	6–3, 6–2
	4 / 109	2R	Herbert / Mahut (3)	6 / 5	Win	4–6, 6–4, [10–7]
	5 / 110	QF	Mektić / Peya (4)	24 / 18	Loss	5–7, 5–7
Laver Cup Chicago, United States Laver Cup Hard, indoor 21 – 23 September 2018 Partner: Roger Federer
	6 / 111	Day 1	Kevin Anderson / Jack Sock	241 / 2	Loss	7–6(7–5), 3–6, [6–10]

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent (seed or key)	Rank	Result	Score
2017 Mubadala World Tennis Championship Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Hard, outdoor 28 – 30 December 2017
	–	QF	Bye
	–	SF	Roberto Bautista Agut (5)	20	Withdrew	N/A
	–	SF-B	Dominic Thiem (1)	5	Withdrew	N/A
Tie Break Tens Melbourne, Australia Hard, indoor 10 January 2018
	1	QF	Lleyton Hewitt	–	Loss	[6–10]
Radek Štěpánek's farewell match[14] Prague, Czech Republic Hard, indoor 18 October 2018
	2		Radek Štěpánek	–	Loss	6–7(6–8)

Date	Tournament	Location	Category	Surface	Prev. result	Prev. points	New points	Result
15 January 2018– 28 January 2018	Australian Open	Melbourne (AUS)	Grand Slam	Hard	2R	45	180	Fourth round (lost to Chung Hyeon, 6–7(4–7), 5–7, 6–7(3–7))
5 March 2018– 18 March 2018	Indian Wells Masters	Indian Wells (USA)	Masters 1000	Hard	4R	90	10	Second round (lost to Taro Daniel, 6–7(3–7), 6–4, 1–6
19 March 2018– 1 April 2018	Miami Open	Miami (USA)	Masters 1000	Hard	A	N/A	10	Second round (lost to Benoît Paire, 3–6, 4–6)
15 April 2018– 22 April 2018	Monte-Carlo Masters	Monte-Carlo (MON)	Masters 1000	Clay	QF	180	90	Third round (lost to Dominic Thiem, 7–6(7–2), 2–6, 3–6)
23 April 2018– 29 April 2018	Barcelona Open	Barcelona (ESP)	500 Series	Clay	A	N/A	0	Second round (lost to Martin Kližan, 2–6, 6–1, 3–6)
7 May 2018– 13 May 2018	Madrid Open	Madrid (ESP)	Masters 1000	Clay	SF	360	45	Second round (lost to Kyle Edmund, 3–6, 6–2, 3–6)
14 May 2018– 20 May 2018	Italian Open	Rome (ITA)	Masters 1000	Clay	F	600	360	Semifinals (lost to Rafael Nadal, 6–7(4–7), 3–6)
28 May 2018– 10 June 2018	French Open	Paris (FRA)	Grand Slam	Clay	QF	360	360	Quarterfinals (lost to Marco Cecchinato, 3–6, 6–7(4–7), 6–1, 6–7(11–13))
18 June 2018– 24 June 2018	Queen's Club	London (GBR)	500 Series	Grass	A	N/A	300	Final (lost to Marin Čilić, 7–5, 6–7(4–7), 3–6)
2 July 2018– 15 July 2018	Wimbledon	London (GBR)	Grand Slam	Grass	QF	360	2000	Champion (defeated Kevin Anderson, 6–2, 6–2, 7–6(7–3))
6 August 2018– 12 August 2018	Canadian Open	Toronto (CAN)	Masters 1000	Hard	A	N/A	90	Third round (lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas, 3–6, 7–6(7–5), 3–6)
13 August 2018– 19 August 2018	Cincinnati Masters	Cincinnati (USA)	Masters 1000	Hard	A	N/A	1000	Champion (defeated Roger Federer, 6–4, 6–4)
27 August 2018– 9 September 2018	US Open	New York (USA)	Grand Slam	Hard	A	N/A	2000	Champion (defeated Juan Martín del Potro, 6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–3)
8 October 2018– 14 October 2018	Shanghai Masters	Shanghai (CHN)	Masters 1000	Hard	A	N/A	1000	Champion (defeated Borna Ćorić, 6–3, 6–4)
29 October 2018– 4 November 2018	Paris Masters	Paris (FRA)	Masters 1000	Hard (i)	A	N/A	600	Final (lost to Karen Khachanov, 5–7, 4–6)
11 November 2018– 18 November 2018	ATP Finals	London (GBR)	ATP Finals	Hard (i)	DNQ	N/A	1000	Final (lost to Alexander Zverev, 4–6, 3–6)
Total year-end points						2585	9045	6460 difference

Novak Djokovic has a 53–13 ATP match win–loss record in the 2018 season. His record against players who were part of the ATP rankings Top Ten at the time of their meetings is 15–5. Bold indicates player was ranked top 10 at the time of at least one meeting. The following list is ordered by number of wins:

* Statistics correct as of 18 November 2018^[update].

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Jun 2018	Queen's Club Championships, United Kingdom	500 Series	Grass	Marin Čilić	7–5, 6–7(4–7), 3–6
Win	1–1	Jul 2018	Wimbledon, United Kingdom (4)	Grand Slam	Grass	Kevin Anderson	6–2, 6–2, 7–6(7–3)
Win	2–1	Aug 2018	Cincinnati Masters, United States	Masters 1000	Hard	Roger Federer	6–4, 6–4
Win	3–1	Sept 2018	US Open, United States (3)	Grand Slam	Hard	Juan Martín del Potro	6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–3
Win	4–1	Oct 2018	Shanghai Masters, China (4)	Masters 1000	Hard	Borna Ćorić	6–3, 6–4
Loss	4–2	Nov 2018	Paris Masters, France	Masters 1000	Hard (i)	Karen Khachanov	5–7, 4–6
Loss	4–3	Nov 2018	ATP Finals, United Kingdom	Tour Finals	Hard (i)	Alexander Zverev	3–6, 3–6

• Bold font denotes tournament win

Figures in United States dollars (USD) unless noted.

• source：[1]

• 2018 ATP World Tour
• 2018 Roger Federer tennis season
• 2018 Rafael Nadal tennis season
• 2018 Juan Martín del Potro tennis season

• Official website
• ATP tour profile