Novak Djokovic is the most complete grass-court player of his generation, a seven-time Wimbledon champion whose return and movement still set the standard at 39. He finished the 2026 season 2nd in the GTC Grass Rankings with a GTC Grass Rating of 130, up from 126 and 3rd before the swing.
Grass at a glance
- GTC Grass Rating: 130, 2nd in the men’s rankings (3rd before the season)
- Pillars: Lawn Form 82, Arsenal 86, Wimbledon 98, Nerve 88
- Nationality: Serbia
- Best Wimbledon result: Champion (2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)
- Grass titles: Wimbledon 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022; Eastbourne 2017
- Plays: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
How Novak plays on grass
Djokovic’s grass game starts with the return. He stands close to the baseline, uses a short, compact swing to block and redirect first serves, and takes away the server’s main weapon earlier than anyone else on tour. On a surface where many players hold serve and wait for one break, that pressure in every return game is the base of his record. His own serve is not the biggest in the draw, but its placement and disguise, particularly the wide serve on the deuce side and the body serve at break point, bring a steady flow of free points.
Movement is the other half of an Arsenal score of 86. He slides on grass as he does on hard courts, which lets him defend the corners and turn defence into attack with one shot. The backhand down the line remains his best rally ball, and he uses the low slice and the drop shot more often on grass than on other surfaces. He comes to the net to finish points rather than to build them, and his volleying is secure rather than spectacular.
His Nerve score of 88 reflects a long record in tie-breaks and deciding sets at Wimbledon, and the 2026 quarter-final, settled in a fifth-set tie-break, was another example. What the surface now exposes is recovery. Long matches cost him more at 39, and against Jannik Sinner in the semi-final the gap in pace and freshness was plain.
Grass record
Djokovic has won Wimbledon seven times: 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. He has also been runner-up three times, losing to Andy Murray in 2013 and to Carlos Alcaraz in 2023 and 2024. His only other grass title came at Eastbourne in 2017. Early in his career he reached grass finals at Queen’s in 2008 and Halle in 2009, losing to Rafael Nadal and Tommy Haas.
In 2025 he reached the semi-final again and lost to Sinner in straight sets, with Sinner going on to take the title. Going into 2026 he had reached the last four in each of his previous Wimbledon appearances since 2017, a run that underpins his Wimbledon pillar of 98.
The 2026 grass season
His rating stood at 126 going into Wimbledon, where he was seeded 7th. The early rounds were not smooth: he dropped five sets across his first five matches. A fourth-round win over Roman Safiullin took him to 107 Wimbledon match wins, past Roger Federer’s men’s record of 105.
The quarter-final against 3rd seed Félix Auger-Aliassime became the longest in Wimbledon history. Djokovic won 7-6(10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(10-4) in 5 hours 15 minutes, finishing six minutes before the 11pm curfew, and reached a record 15th Wimbledon semi-final. Three days later Sinner beat him 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, repeating the 2025 result and levelling their Wimbledon head-to-head at 2-2. The fortnight lifted his rating from 126 to 130. For the other side of that quarter-final, see the Félix Auger-Aliassime profile.
Looking ahead to 2027
Djokovic turns 40 before the 2027 Championships, and the questions are about workload rather than skill. He would benefit from a seeding high enough to avoid Sinner and Alcaraz before the semi-final, and from shorter early rounds than in 2026, when five dropped sets left him short of energy. A warm-up event would give him match play on grass, though he has rarely needed one. On the evidence of the last two years, a semi-final is the realistic target. An eighth title would require beating Sinner over five sets, which he has not managed in their last two Wimbledon meetings.
