Top
Roger Federer wipes brow at US Open 2019

Roger Federer career statistic may be the secret behind his phenomenal success


Has the secret behind the astounding career of Roger Federer now been pinpointed down to a key fact? Probably not, but this recently highlighted statistic has definitely had a bearing on Federer’s ability to keep winning at the age of 39

 

Roger Federer has won more matches in less than 60 minutes than any other active player. In fact, of the players still active that have won more than 600 wins, he has more than double their tally of match wins that lasted less than 1 hour.

Match wins in less than 60 minutes

110 ?? Roger Federer: Total matches 1499, 7%
46 ?? Tomas Berdych: Total matches 982, 4.5%
42 ?? Novak Djokovic: Total matches 1069, 3.9%
21 ?? Andy Murray: Total matches 868, 2.4%
15 ?? Rafa Nadal: Total matches 1163, 1.3%

(Qualification criteria: Active players with 600 wins)

It would be foolish to say that the only reason behind Federer’s continued success is because he can win matches quickly, because Federer has a relatively quick style of play compared to others so his natural pace of play is going to produce a high number of short matches, but the fact that 7% of all matches he’s played have finished in less than 1 hour has surely had a bearing on his ability to avoid the long term injuries that have badly effected the careers of some of his closest rivals.

Federer is also known for his seemingly effortless style of strokes and movement which will also account for less attrition on his body both in the long term and during a match.

To read every issue ever published of the world’s best tennis magazine, tennishead, visit our ‘Magazine Archive’ and you can buy a copy of the latest issue here.To win incredible tennis prizes for free, enter our latest ‘Competitions’. For all the breaking tennis news and exclusive player interviews, visit our ‘News’ section. For the latest racket, ball, shoe and clothing buyers guides plus video play tests, visit our ‘Gear’ section


Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.