For me, the last two days further cemented the age-old view that Novak has the cleanest, most efficient groundstroke mechanics in the game.

Paying close attention to the neutral rallies the past two days, vs. Alcaraz in the semi and Sinner in the final, Djokovic seemed to win those neutral rally points by a startlingly high ratio, and even more lopsided when they were big pressure points. Basically, Novak ate their lunches in the neutral rallies.

On the slower surfaces, players can do perfectly well even when their stroke techniques have the slightest aspect of being a little “busy”. (E.g. they can play way back, use their athleticism to center the ball in their strikezone on just about every shot, and grip and rip.)

Fast indoor hardcourts can be a truth teller. In the neutral rallies, when Djokovic opted to go a little bigger to a fairly safe target, Sinner and Alcaraz looked rushed and late surprisingly often, donating what seemed like routine UEs in bunches. It’s a consequence of Novak’s ball speed, his court position, and the court speed. But when the roles were reversed, rarely did I see Djokovic being rushed on a groundstroke and making the kinds of wild misses or shanks that we were seeing from his opponents.

It’s hard to rush economical technique. And when that technique produces just as high (or higher) ball speed as the biggest hitters in the game, that’s when you know it’s the most efficient technique in the game.