Novak Djokovic scored a big win over Grigor Dimitrov, booking his place in the Miami Open final.
Entering the 2025 Miami Open off the back of three consecutive defeats, few predicted the Serb would reach the final.
Proving the doubters wrong, Djokovic beat Rinky Hijikata, Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Lorenzo Musetti, and Sebastian Korda to advance to the semi-finals.
Djokovic then took down Grigor Dimitrov in the last four, setting up an intriguing final with Czech youngster Jakub Mensik.
During his semi-final win over Dimitrov, Djokovic’s serve was impeccable, as he now sheds light on his ‘underrated’ shot.
Novak Djokovic says his serve has always been ‘underrated’ as he reaches the Miami Open final
During his post-match press conference, Djokovic reflected on his impressive serving performance in the semi-finals.
“I missed about five or six serves in the whole match so that is really amazing,” he said.
“It helps that the court is playing pretty quickly here, compared to six years ago, I remember it was much slower.
“It does really work great when you have a big serve, and you get the free points off that first serve.”
| Match | Aces | Double Faults | First serve % | Win % on First serve | Win % on Second serve | Service points won |
| SF v Grigor Dimitrov | 5 | 1 | 87% | 79% | 40% | 33 |
| QF v Sebastian Korda | 11 | 0 | 83% | 84% | 60% | 47 |
| 4R v Lorenzo Musetti | 1 | 1 | 70% | 75% | 62% | 32 |
| 3R v Camilo Ugo Carabelli | 10 | 2 | 77% | 80% | 54% | 46 |
| 2R v Rinky Hijikata | 9 | 1 | 80% | 85% | 89% | 41 |
The Serb then compared his recent serving success to two players who became well-known for their serving talents.
“At times in the last couple of matches, I must say, I was joking with Tim Henman in the post-match interview, now I know how it feels to be [John] Isner or [Reilly] Opelka,” said Djokovic.
“[Making] most of your first serves and maybe [I don’t hit] as many aces as these guys, but it does help tremendously.
“It just releases that unnecessary pressure from all the other shots in your game, and then you can kind of put more pressure in the return games on your opponent.
“Obviously, I am a baseline player, and most of my career [the] return and backhand are probably the shots that have been talked about the most when it comes to my game and success.
“Maybe the serve has been a bit underrated, but I always liked my serve, particularly when it comes to accuracy and precision.”
Djokovic explained in further detail why he pursues precision over speed on his serve.
“I was never really looking to ramp up the miles per hour of the serve,” he said.
“It is great if you can serve 130mph, but I would rather serve 120mph and hit the line and hit the perfect spot in the box because that is what either wins you the point or gives you an easy first shot in the rally.
“We did work on the serve, don’t get me wrong, but we did not only work on that.
“We actually paid more attention to some other shots in the game with Andy [Murray], but [my] serve is very fluent this tournament, I must say.”
Where does Novak Djokovic’s serve rank compared to his ATP rivals?
Djokovic has been impressed by his serving in Miami, but how does the shot stack up against the rest of the ATP Tour?
The most popular measure to compare serves in 2025 is ‘Serve Rating’, as it combines several statistics to give a balanced view of the best servers on tour.
- % First serve
- % First serve points won
- % Second serve points won
- % Service games won
- Average aces/per match
- Average double faults/per match
Djokovic ranks in the top ten for Serve Rating over the past 12 months, in part thanks to his consistent second serve.
| Serve Rating rank | Name | Serve Rating | % First serve | % First serve points won | % Second serve points won | % Service games won | Average aces/per match | Average double faults/per match |
| 1 | Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard | 300.9 | 64.6% | 79.6% | 54.1% | 89.9% | 18.0 | 5.3 |
| 2 | Matteo Berrettini | 299.9 | 69.0% | 77.8% | 54.1% | 90.1% | 10.4 | 1.5 |
| 3 | Alexander Zverev | 298.1 | 70.0% | 77.1% | 54.7% | 89.4% | 9.3 | 2.4 |
| 4 | Jannik Sinner | 296.5 | 61.0% | 80.0% | 58.2% | 91.4% | 7.9 | 2.0 |
| 5 | Taylor Fritz | 294.8 | 62.8% | 79.5% | 54.9% | 89.0% | 10.3 | 1.7 |
| 6 | Ben Shelton | 294.7 | 67.8% | 75.9% | 55.1% | 90.0% | 9.2 | 3.3 |
| 7 | Hubert Hurkacz | 293.3 | 63.3% | 76.9% | 54.0% | 88.1% | 12.5 | 1.5 |
| 8 | Brandon Nakashima | 291.2 | 65.8% | 74.8% | 55.4% | 87.7% | 8.6 | 1.1 |
| 9 | Novak Djokovic | 284.6 | 64.3% | 74.7% | 55.2% | 86.1% | 6.9 | 2.6 |
| 10 | Carlos Alcaraz | 282.4 | 64.6% | 73.0% | 56.8% | 85.2% | 5.3 | 2.5 |
Djokovic ranks just above his rival Carlos Alcaraz with a Serve Rating of 284.6, the ninth best on the ATP Tour.
It remains to be seen if Djokovic can keep up with Mensik’s serving when the pair face off in the Miami Open final on Sunday, March 30.
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