Djokovic once again proves why he is the tiebreak king — at Roland-Garros and everywhere else

Novak Djokovic did not make an unforced error in the second-set tiebreak of his 4-6, 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Karen Khachanov in the Roland-Garros quarter-finals on Tuesday.

You simply need to look at the score to figure that out. Of course Djokovic didn’t make an unforced error in the tiebreak. He didn’t even lose a single point!

Thus continues the 36-year-old’s Serb dominance in matches when it matters most. He has played five tiebreaks at the French Open so far this fortnight and has not made one unforced error. That’s right; of 47 points played in tiebreaks, zero have ended in errors by Djokovic.

It’s kind of a mentality of a lockdown

Novak Djokovic

“In the tiebreak the format is such that you serve every two points,” the 22-time Grand Slam champion explained after beating Khachanov. “Every point matters. Really, every point can decide in which direction (a) tiebreak is going to go.

“So I think it’s kind of a mentality of a lockdown. Okay, I’m present; I’m focused only on the next point and I have to really think clearly about what I want to do depending on who you’re facing in a given opponent.

“It worked really well for me (today). I must say I played a perfect tiebreak: 7-0. Every point was perfectly scripted for me, so to say. Yeah, sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t.”

Djokovic the best ever in tiebreaks

It always seems to work for Djokovic. He is now 307-162 lifetime in tiebreakers, giving him the all-time best winning percentage (65.5) in the Open Era of men’s professional tennis. Djokovic is 14-4 in tiebreakers this year, including 8-1 in majors.

“I think I was lucky that throughout my career I have a very good and positive score in the tiebreaks. My opponents know that, and I know that. So I think mentally that serves me well. Coming into every next tiebreak, I know I maybe have that mental edge. So I try to use it.”

Here are the top-10 leaders in tiebreak winning percentages, Open Era men’s singles:

• 1 – Novak Djokovic – 65,5 % (307-162)
• 2 – Roger Federer – 65,4 % (466-247)
• 3 – Arthur Ashe – 65,0 % (165-89)
• 4 – Andrés Gómez – 63,2 % (182-106)
• 5 – Pete Sampras – 62,8 % (328-194)
• 6 – Andy Roddick – 62,1 % (303-185)
• 7 – Guillermo Pérez Roldán – 62,1 % (72-44)
• 8 – John McEnroe – 61,8 % (189-117)
• 9 – Milos Raonic – 61,1 % (231-147)
• 10 – Rafael Nadal – 61,0 % (263-168)

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