Australia, 29 December 2020 | tennis.com.au

Who won the most matches? Who served the most aces? We have compiled some of the key statistics from another memorable year in Australian tennis …

John Millman won 18 matches

Millman’s 18 match wins were the most of any Australian player at tour-level in 2020. The 31-year-old was also the only Aussie man to win a singles title, claiming his maiden ATP crown in Nur-Sultan in November.

Alex de Minaur was the next best performing Aussie with 13 wins, ahead of Ash Barty and Jordan Thompson on 11 each.

Ash Barty scored four top-20 wins

Barty made a sensational start to the season, winning the inaugural Adelaide International title and advancing to the Australian Open semifinals.

Although the world No.1 only contested four tournaments for the season, she still recorded the most top-20 wins of any Australian player. Her four top-20 victories included a straight-sets win against world No.7 Petra Kvitova in the Australian Open quarterfinals, her first top-10 win at a Grand Slam tournament.

Alex de Minaur recorded three top-20 wins for the season, with Nick Kyrgios recording two. John Millman, Jordan Thompson and Sam Stosur had one each.

Nick Kyrgios served 176 aces

Kyrgios served the most aces of any Australian player at tour-level events in 2020, serving 176 aces in his nine matches.

The 25-year-old Kyrgios served 169 of these aces during the Australian summer, where he was donating $200 per ace to bushfire relief efforts. After a strong serving performance steered Australia into the ATP Cup semifinals and helped Kyrgios reach the Australian Open fourth round, his donation tallied $33,800.

“If anything, (the bushfires) did fuel me and made me play harder,” Kyrgios said.

John Millman finished the season in second place with 133 aces, while Ash Barty served the most aces among Australian women with 79.

Alex de Minaur and Ash Barty were top returners

De Minaur is known for making his opponents fight for every point – and that is certainly true when he is returning. The 21-year-old won 25 per cent of games when returning in 2020, the highest of any Australian man.

Highlights of De Minaur’s season included reaching a first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open and recording two top-20 wins to help Australia reach the ATP Cup semifinals.

Barty also topped the return leaderboard for Australian women, winning 35 per cent of return games in the 14 matches she contested for the season.

READ: Celebrating new ranking highs in 2020

John Peers won three ATP doubles titles

Peers formed a successful new partnership with New Zealand’s Michael Venus in 2020. The duo claimed a tour-leading three ATP doubles titles with victories in Dubai, Hamburg and Antwerp.

These performances helped Peers qualify for the prestigious year-ending ATP Finals for the fifth time in his career. The 32-year-old also finished the season as Australia’s top-ranked man in doubles for a sixth straight year.

Three first-time Grand Slam singles participants

Max Purcell made his Grand Slam main draw debut as a qualifier at the Australian Open. Ranked No.216 at the time, the 21-year-old Purcell defeated two seeded opponents to seal his place in the main draw.

Andrew Harris also was made his Grand Slam debut at Australian Open 2020, receiving a wildcard into the singles main draw.

Aleksandar Vukic made his first major appearance later in the season, qualifying at Roland Garros. The 24-year-old Vukic, who played college tennis in America before turning professional, defeated three higher-ranked opponents in Paris – and saved two match points in his opening qualifying round – to earn his place in the main draw.

Five Australians recorded breakthrough Grand Slam wins

Marc Polmans, Arina Rodionova and Priscilla Hon all scored their first Australian Open main draw singles wins in January.

Christopher O’Connell also celebrated a major breakthrough, recording his first Grand Slam win at the US Open. His first-round victory over world No.81 Laslo Djere in New York also marked the highest-ranked opponent the 26-year-old from Sydney had ever beaten.

Polmans’ outstanding season continued at Roland Garros, where he scored his career-first top-50 win to advance to the second round. Astra Sharma recorded her first main draw singles win in Paris too.

Dylan Alcott won four Grand Slam titles

Alcott is the world’s top-ranked quad wheelchair player and continued his domination of the division in 2020. He claimed the Australian Open and Roland Garros singles titles, as well as winning the Australian Open (with fellow Aussie Heath Davidson) and US Open doubles (with Brit Andy Lapthorne) crowns.

READ: Alcott secures year-end No.1 ranking