Tennis male players statistics

This article is concerned with the major tennis achievements of tennis male players of all tennis history.

Professional tennis before the Open Era

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Before the start of the Open Era and in addition to numerous small tournaments and head-to-head tours between the leading professionals, there were a few major professional tournaments that stood out during different periods:

However these three tournaments were considered retrospectively by some tennis experts[18][19][20] as the three tournaments of the professional Grand Slam (until 1967). Some years as in 1948, only one of them was held, the U.S Pro in this case, and even in 1944 none was organized : this explains why professionals players sometimes have less major titles than those of the modern players but it doesn't mean that the banished players of the pre-Open Era were less great than their Open Era colleagues.

As with any statistics, those of tennis players should be put into the correct context because: a) they are mixing performances of the amateur circuit (until 1967), the professional circuit (until 1967), and the open circuit (since 1968). b) they don't always take into account the greatest events of a given year.

For instance, Ken Rosewall's amateur successes between 1953 and 1956 were achieved without having to compete against world-class professionals like Frank Sedgman and Pancho Gonzales. Likewise, when Rod Laver captured the amateur Grand Slam in 1962, he did not have to face opponents such as Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Pancho Segura and Andrés Gimeno, all professionals. In 1967 Laver won all the greatest pro tournaments that year, Wimbledon Pro (grass), the U.S. Pro (grass), Wembley Pro (indoor wood) and the French Pro (indoor wood). In the official statistics as published by the ITF or ATP, pro events before 1968 are not listed because only the amateur tournaments were taken into account.

Most major singles titles

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The three professional tournaments (Wembley Pro, French Pro, U.S. Pro) until 1967 are sometimes referred as the 'professional Grand Slam tournaments' by tennis historians, such as Robert Geist or Raymond Lee (in his Greatest Player of All time: A Statistical Analysis article).[21] This list comprises winners of three types of titles; Amateur Era and Open Era majors (Australian, French, Wimbledon, and US championships), plus the three Amateur Era professional majors (French Pro, Wembley Pro, and US Pro).

  • As of the 2024 Australian Open (active players in boldface).
Player Total Grand Slam tournaments[a] Pro Slam tournaments
Australian French Wimbledon U.S. French Pro Wembley Pro U.S. Pro
Serbia Novak Djokovic 24 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 2016, 2021, 2023 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 2011, 2015, 2018, 2023
Australia Ken Rosewall[b] 23 1953, 1955, 1971, 1972 1953, 1968 1956, 1970 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 1963, 1965
Spain Rafael Nadal 22 2009, 2022 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 2008, 2010 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019
Switzerland Roger Federer 20 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017, 2018 2009 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2017 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Australia Rod Laver[c] 19 1960, 1962, 1969 1962, 1969 1961, 1962, 1968, 1969 1962, 1969 1967 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 1964, 1966, 1967
United States Bill Tilden[d] 14 1920, 1921, 1930 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1929 1934 1931, 1935
United States Pancho Gonzales 1948, 1949 1950, 1951, 1952, 1956 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961
United States Pete Sampras 1994, 1997 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002
Australia Roy Emerson 12 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 1963, 1967 1964, 1965 1961, 1964
France Henri Cochet[e] 11 1926, 1928, 1930, 1932 1927, 1929 1928 1936
Sweden Björn Borg 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
United Kingdom Fred Perry 10 1934 1935 1934, 1935, 1936 1933, 1934, 1936 1938, 1941
United States Don Budge 1938 1938 1937, 1938 1937, 1938 1939 1939 1940, 1942

^ Only players with 10+ Major titles listed.

  1. ^ Grand Slam tournaments of the Open Era are marked in bold font.
  2. ^ Rosewall's wins at the Wembley Pro in 1968 and the U.S. Pro in 1971 are not included in the list of his "major" titles because those tournaments were not major events after the start of the Open Era in April 1968.
  3. ^ Laver's wins at the Wembley Pro in 1969 and 1970, the U.S. Pro in 1968 and 1969, and the French Pro in 1968 are not included in the list of his "major" titles because those tournaments were not major events after the start of the Open Era.
  4. ^ Tilden's total includes the World Hard Court Championships in 1921 (official clay court world championships). See ILTF World Championships winners.
  5. ^ Cochet's total includes the World Hard Court Championships in 1922 and World Covered Court Championships in 1922 and 1923 (official wood court world championships). See ILTF World Championships winners.

Majors statistics

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The draws of Pro majors were significantly smaller than the traditional Grand Slam tournaments; usually they only had 16 or even fewer professional players. Though they were the top players in the world, this meant only four rounds of play instead of the modern six or seven rounds of play.

Player Slams Pro Era Surface Time Span Win/Loss Win %
Amateur Pro Open Grass Clay Hard Indoor Age Span Years
Serbia Novak Djokovic 24 N/A 24 7 3 14 N/A 20–36 16 2008–2023 375–50 88.23
Australia Ken Rosewall 8 15 4 15 4 8 6 N/A 9 18–37 20 1953–1972 246–46 84.24
Spain Rafael Nadal 22 N/A 22 2 14 6 N/A 19–35 18 2005–2022 314–43 87.96
Switzerland Roger Federer 20 N/A 20 8 1 11 N/A 21–36 16 2003–2018 369–60 86.01
Australia Rod Laver 11 8 6 8 5 12 2 N/A 5 21–31 10 1960–1969 180–36 83.33
United States Bill Tilden 10 3 10 (+1)[a] 3 N/A 11 3 0 0 27–42 16 1920–1935 154–30 83.69
United States Pancho Gonzales 2 12 2 12 0 2 0 N/A 12 20–33 14 1948–1961 103–29 78.03
United States Pete Sampras 14 N/A 14 7 0 7 N/A 19–31 13 1990–2002 203–38 84.23
Australia Roy Emerson 12 12 N/A 0 10 2 N/A N/A 24–30 7 1961–1967 174–39 81.69
France Henri Cochet 8 1 8 (+2)[a] 1 N/A 3 5 0 3 20–34 15 1922–1936 113–20 84.96
Sweden Björn Borg 11 N/A 11 5 6 0 N/A 18–25 8 1974–1981 141–16 89.81
United Kingdom Fred Perry 8 2 8 2 N/A 7 2 0 1 24–32 9 1933–1941 120–22 84.51
United States Don Budge 6 4 6 4 N/A 6 3 0 1 22–27 6 1937–1942 95–18 84.07
  1. ^ a b ILTF majors in parentheses. See ILTF World Championships winners.

World Professional Championship tours winners

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In the years before the Open Era, male professionals often played more frequently in tours than in tournaments because a head-to-head tour between two tennis stars was much more remunerative than a circuit of pro tournaments and the number of professional tournaments was small. For example, Fred Perry earned U.S. $91,000[22] in a 1937 North American tour against Ellsworth Vines but won only U.S. $450[23] for his 1938 victory at the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships. Vines probably never entered a tournament between the London Indoor Professional Championship in October 1935, which he won, and the May 1939 edition of that tournament, which he lost. In 1937, Vines played 70 matches on two tours[24] and no matches in tournaments. Even in the 1950s, some professionals continued to play numerous tour matches. During his first five months as a professional (January through May 1957), Ken Rosewall played 76 matches on a tour against Pancho Gonzales.[25]

The prevalence of head-to-head tours before 1959 and the small number of professional tournaments in many years makes it necessary to consider the tours when comparing male players from before the Open Era with male players during the Open Era. The following lists the pre-Open Era professionals who won the most world professional championship tours.

Winners World Professional Championship tours (1928–63)
Player # Years
United States Pancho Gonzales 7 1954, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61
United States Ellsworth Vines 5 1934, 35, 36, 37, 38
United States Don Budge 4 1939 (Mar), 39 (May), 41, 42
United States Jack Kramer 1948, 50, 51, 53
United States Bill Tilden 3 1931, 32, 33
Czech Republic Karel Koželuh 1 1928
United States Bobby Riggs 1946
Australia Ken Rosewall 1963

Professional tournament ranking series winners

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After World War II, with an increasing number of prominent professional players, there were occasionally tournament series with point systems which created official rankings for the complete field of pros.

In 1946, there was a professional tournament series of 18 events in the U.S. under the organization of the P.P.A.T. (Professional Players Association of Tennis) linked by a points system won by Riggs, which he relied upon as evidence of his mastery of the entire pro field.[26] In 1959, Kramer established a series of 15 tournaments in Australia, North America, and Europe linked by a points system which provided a full field ranking of all the contract professionals, plus a substantial money prize for the top finisher, with Hoad emerging as world No. 1.[27] The 1959 tournament series was officially named the "Ampol Open Trophy", after the principal sponsor of the tournaments, the Ampol oil company, and the trophy awarded to the winner.[28] In 1960, Kramer again established a tournament series with a points system, but both Gonzales and Hoad withdrew from the field and the final results are unknown.

In 1964, under Kramer's advice, the I.P.T.P.A. (International Professional Tennis Players Association) established a series of 17 tournaments in U.S. and Europe with a points system, and a world No. 1 and world champion was named as a result, Rosewall.[29] This system continued in subsequent years, with Laver attaining the No. 1 ranking position for the 1965, 1966, and 1967 pro tournament series.[30] The final points tables of these later tournament series were not published.

In 1968–69, the two professional tennis tours, the NTL and the WCT, each had a tournament series ranking list which contributed four players from each tour to a combined final 8-man tournament at the Madison Square Garden. Roche won the 1968 event,[31] and Laver won the 1969 event.[32]

In 1970, the ILTF authorized Kramer to arrange a year-end championship in which the pros with the highest tournament series points competed for the title of Grand Prix champion. This event was held in various locations and finally remained at Madison Square Garden from 1977 to 1989. In 1990, the ATP took over running the event and started awarding ranking points for the 8 qualifiers based on their results in the tournament. Currently, the championship is known as the "ATP Finals".[33]

Professional tournament ranking series winners

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Series Player Years
4 Australia Rod Laver 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969
1 United States Bobby Riggs 1946
1 Australia Lew Hoad 1959
1 Australia Ken Rosewall 1964
1 Australia Tony Roche 1968

ILTF World Championships winners

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  • World Championships were played between 1912 and 1923.
Year WGCC WHCC WCCC
1912 New Zealand Anthony Wilding Germany Otto Froitzheim tournament not created
1913 New Zealand Anthony Wilding (2/5) New Zealand Anthony Wilding (3/5) New Zealand Anthony Wilding (4/5)
1914 Australia Norman Brookes New Zealand Anthony Wilding (5/5) Not held due to World War I
1915 No competition due to World War I
1916
1917
1918
1919 Australia Gerald Patterson Not held France Andre Gobert
1920 United States Bill Tilden France William Laurentz United Kingdom Gordon Lowe
1921 United States Bill Tilden (2/3) United States Bill Tilden (3/3) France William Laurentz
1922 Australia Gerald Patterson (2/2) France Henri Cochet France Henri Cochet (2/3)
1923 United States Bill Johnston United States Bill Johnston (2/2) France Henri Cochet (3/3)

Year-end Championships winners

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  • Year-end Championships have been played since 1970.
Player ATP Finals WCT Finals Slam Cup Years
Serbia Novak Djokovic 7 N/A N/A 2008–2023
Switzerland Roger Federer 6 N/A N/A 2003–2011
Czech Republic Ivan Lendl 5 2 1981–1987
United States Pete Sampras N/A 2 1991–1999
Romania Ilie Năstase 4 N/A 1971–1975
United States John McEnroe 3 5 1978–1989
Germany Boris Becker 1 1 1988–1996
Sweden Björn Borg 2 1 N/A 1976–1980
United States Jimmy Connors 1 2 N/A 1977–1980

^ Only players with 3+ YEC titles listed.

Masters Series winners

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  • Masters Series has been played since 1990.
Player Titles Years
Serbia Novak Djokovic 40 2007–2023
Spain Rafael Nadal 36 2005–2021
Switzerland Roger Federer 28 2002–2019
United States Andre Agassi 17 1990–2004
United Kingdom Andy Murray 14 2008–2016
United States Pete Sampras 11 1992–2000

^ Only players with 10+ Masters titles listed.

Most years a player was ranked No. 1

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Before 1912, contemporary rankings were national rankings.

  • An undisputed number one player for the year (without another player regarded as co-number one) is shown in bold.
Total World No. 1 Years
12 years United States Pancho Gonzales 1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961
9 years Serbia Novak Djokovic 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023
Australia Rod Laver 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970
United States Bill Tilden 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1931, 1932, 1933
8 years United States Jack Kramer 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953
Australia Ken Rosewall 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1970, 1971, 1972
6 years United States Pete Sampras 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
Spain Rafael Nadal 2008, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2022
United States Ellsworth Vines 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938
United States Jimmy Connors 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982
United States Don Budge 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1942, (1945)
5 years Switzerland Roger Federer 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
United Kingdom Fred Perry 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1941
United States Bobby Riggs 1939, 1941, 1946, 1947, 1949
Czech Republic Ivan Lendl 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990
Sweden Björn Borg 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
4 years United States John McEnroe 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984
France Henri Cochet 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931
Australia John Newcombe 1967, 1970, 1971, 1973
Australia Frank Sedgman 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953
3 years France René Lacoste 1926, 1927, 1929
Australia Norman Brookes 1907, 1912, 1914
Australia Roy Emerson 1961, 1964, 1965,
Australia Lew Hoad 1953, 1956, 1959
United States Tony Trabert 1953, 1954, 1955
Ecuador Pancho Segura 1950, 1951, 1952
2 years Australia Ashley Cooper 1957, 1958
Australia Neale Fraser 1959, 1960
Australia Lleyton Hewitt 2001, 2002
Sweden Stefan Edberg 1990, 1991
United States Bill Johnston 1919, 1922
United States Maurice McLoughlin 1913, 1914
Weimar RepublicNazi GermanyWest Germany Hans Nüsslein 1933, 1934
Ireland James Cecil Parke 1913, 1914
Spain Manuel Santana 1965, 1966
United States Stan Smith 1971, 1972
New Zealand Anthony Wilding 1911, 1913
United States Frank Kovacs (1945), 1951
1 year United States Andre Agassi 1999
United States Jim Courier 1992
Australia Jack Crawford 1933
Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 2000
United Kingdom Andy Murray 2016
United States Andy Roddick 2003
Sweden Mats Wilander 1988
Spain Carlos Alcaraz 2022
United States Arthur Ashe 1975
Germany Boris Becker 1989
France Jean Borotra 1930
Czech Republic Jaroslav Drobný 1954
United States Chuck McKinley 1963
Romania Ilie Năstase 1973
United States Rafael Osuna 1963
United States Frank Parker 1948
Australia Gerald Patterson 1919
United States Budge Patty 1950
France Martin Plaa 1932
United States Ted Schroeder 1949
United States Vic Seixas 1954
Australia Fred Stolle 1966
Argentina Guillermo Vilas 1977

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Karel Koželuh". Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  2. ^ "History of the Pro Tennis Wars, Chapter 2 Part 1: 1927-1928". Tennis Server. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  3. ^ "History of the Pro Tennis Wars, Chapter IV: Tilden and Nusslein, 1932-1933". Tennis Server. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Forgotten Victories: History of the Pro Tennis Wars, Chapter VI: Vines's Second Year: 1935". Tennis Server. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Forgotten victories: A History of Pro Tennis, Chapter XIII - The high war years 1943-1945". Tennis Server. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Gonzales wins tennis title in upset". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 27 March 1950 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Michel Lejard (June 30, 1952). "Ségura, exécutant Budge s'affirme un étonnant champion". L'Equipe (in French). p. 9. Segura vainqueur de ses trois matches a fait mieux que confirmer l'extraordinaire impression de la première journeé [...] Segura (Equat.) b. Budge (USA), 6-3, 6-2. [...] Segura b. Gonzalès, 6-2, 6-1.
  8. ^ "Sedgman takes prize of A£1,400". The West Australian (Perth). 29 November 1954 – via Trove.
  9. ^ "Pancho eyes new title in pro tourney". The Los Angeles Times. 2 June 1959 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Around the world". World Tennis. November 1958 – via Archive.org.
  11. ^ "Sedgman has A£2,000 victory". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 February 1958 – via Google Newspapers.
  12. ^ Don Lawrence (4 January 1960). "Tennis final to Lew Hoad". The Age. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Martin Kane (4 April 1966). "The old game stages a rally". Sports Illustrated – via vault.SI.com.
  14. ^ Sports Illustrated. https://vault.si.com/vault/1966/06/20/a-man-to-lead-the-pros-out-of-the-darkness
  15. ^ "Wimbledon marks 50th anniversary of landmark event". Wimbledon.com. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Forgotten Victories: History of the Pro Tennis Wars, Chapter VI: Vines's Second Year: 1935". Tennis Server. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  17. ^ Herman Nickel (20 November 1961). "The Kramer Cup runneth all over the court". Sports Illustrated – via vault.SI.com.
  18. ^ Tennis Myth and Method (1978), Ellsworth Vines and Gene Vier (ISBN 9780670696659), page 43
  19. ^ Twenty years at the top (1976), Peter Rowley with Ken Rosewall, end pages
  20. ^ The history of professional tennis (2000), Joe McCauley
  21. ^ "Greatest Player Of All Time: A Statistical Analysis". Archived from the original on 2007-11-17. Retrieved 2007-09-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. ^ "History of the Pro Tennis Wars Chapter VIII: Perry and Vines, 1937". Tennis Server. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  23. ^ "History of the Pro Tennis Wars,Chapter IX: Readying for Budge, 1938". Tennis Server. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  24. ^ "History of the Pro Tennis Wars Chapter VIII: Perry and Vines, 1937". Tennis Server. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Ken Rosewall". ATP. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  26. ^ McCauley (2000), p. 41.
  27. ^ McCauley (2000), p. 97.
  28. ^ "'Little Pancho' Segura Eyes Repeat in Round Robin Tourney". The Los Angeles Times. 31 May 1959. p. 83 – via newspapers.com.
  29. ^ McCauley (2000), p. 126.
  30. ^ McCauley (2000), p. 135.
  31. ^ McCauley (2000), pp. 156, 255.
  32. ^ "American tennis tilt set at Garden tonight". The Bryan Times. UPI. May 15, 1969. p. 11.
  33. ^ "History of The ATP Finals". Association of Tennis Professionals. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
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