Who Has the Most Tennis Majors?

We take a look at the men and women who have won the most Grand Slam singles titles in tennis history.

The Big Three

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic have been dominating men’s tennis for over a decade now. They have won a combined 55 Grand Slam titles and are widely considered to be the best players of their generation. But who has the most majors?

Roger Federer

Roger Federer (born August 8, 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He is ranked world No. 4 in men’s singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Many commentators and players regard Federer as the greatest tennis player of all time.

Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles—the most in history for a male player—and has held the world No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for a record total of 310 weeks, including 237 consecutive weeks. After turning professional in 1998, he was continuously ranked in the top ten from October 2002 to November 2016. He re-entered the top ten following his victory at the 2018 Rotterdam Open. In majors, Federer has won a record eight Wimbledon titles, six Australian Open titles, five US Open titles (tied with Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors), and one French Open title. A year after turning pro, he won his first major at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships.

Federer’s records include holding the world No. 1 spot for 302 weeks—the longest continuous period at any ranking—and having won 102 tour-level titles, more than any othermale player except Ivan Lendl (109) and Jimmy Connors (109). He has also won an all-time record 16 Grand Slam doubles titles with fellow Swiss player Stan Wawrinka. Combined with his singles success, this makes him one of only eight men to have achieved a Career Grand Slam in tennis (winning all four major tournaments at least once), and one of only six to have done so multiple times; he is also one of only three to have completed it three or more times along with Rafael Nadal and Rod Laver), and is the only man to do so on three different surfaces (hard courts, grass courts, and clay courts).

He is also notable as being one of only two men (along with Argentine great Guillermo Vilas) to win more than 100 tour-level tournaments before emerging victorious at a major tournament; he finally accomplished this feat by winning Wimbledon in 2003(his 45th victory). In 2009 he set an all-time record by winning four consecutive majors (the Australian Open, Wimbledon Championships, US Open, and French Open), known as the non-calendar year Golden Slam; an accomplishment matched only by Steffi Graf’s Golden Grand Slam earlier that same year; however neither Graf nor Federer achieved their Golden Slams during their careers’ peak as both did it at 26 years of age or younger while most players achieve theirs around 30 years old or later due largely to increased physicality on tour which leads many players’ careers to peak around that time window instead especially given that these tournaments often take place mere weeks apart from each other making it impractical for many players who are not at their physical peak to win all 4 majors consecutively as they would be unable physically recover properly let alone prepare properly in between each tournament if they were to do so leading most players who come close but ultimately fall short such as Novak Djokovic who achieved a Career Golden Masters by winning all 9 masters 1000 tournaments but failed to add a grand slam title that same year thus narrowly missing out on achieving the Career Golden Slam that same year instead) which helped him become just third man ever along with Australian great Rod Laver and American great Andre Agassi to complete a career Super Slam by adding an Olympic gold medal in doubles play later that same year thus becoming just second ever behind Laver alone who remains sole male player ever achieveaing career Super Slam twice let alone multiple times as Laver did it thrice becoming first ever male player achieve career Super Slam thrice throughout history doing so throughout his amateur era career followed suit achieving same thing again after turning professional winning all 4 majors plus Olympic gold medal twice consecutively first time throughout 1954–1955 followed suit doing so again next time around completing second instance doing throughout 1962–1963 joining elite company names like Federer Agassi lavers Frank Sedgman Pancho Gonzales Lew Hoad Ken Rosewall Rod Laver Fred Perry Don Budge Björn Borg John McEnroe Jimmy Connors Ivan Lendl Mats Wilander Stefan Edberg Boris Becker Pete Sampras Andre Agassi Patrick Rafter Roger Federer Rafael Nadal Andy Murray Novak Djokovic Serena Williams Venus Williams Steffi Graf Martina Navratilova Chris Evert Monica Seles Lindsey Davenport Jennifer Capriati Kim Clijsters Amélie Mauresmo Justin Henin Ana Ivanovic Maria Sharapova Caroline Wozniacki Simona Halep Naomi Osaka Sloane Stephens Petra Kvitova Garbiñe Muguruza Victoria Azarenka Ashleigh Barty Serena Williams Bianca Andreescu Naomi Osaka Sofia Kenin Iga Świątek Novak Djokovic Rafael Nadal Dominic Thiem Alexander Zverev Andrey Rublev Stefanos Tsitsipas Denis Shapovalov Karen Khachanov Felix Auger-Aliassime Roberto Bautista Agut Milos RaonicReferences https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Federer

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal has won the second-most men’s singles Grand Slam tournaments with 20, and is the only player in history to win all four Grand Slam tournament titles on three different surfaces (clay, grass, and hardcourt). He has also won an Olympic Gold Medal in singles.

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic has won 16 Grand Slam singles titles, five ATP Finals titles, 32 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles, 12 ATP Tour 500 titles, and has held the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for a total of 279 weeks. He is currently ranked No. 2 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Djokovic has won an all-time record of 83 ATP Tour singles titles. His 16 Grand Slam men’s singles titles include nine Australian Open titles (a record), three Wimbledon titles, two US Open titles, and one French Open title. He is the only player in history to have won all nine of the Masters 1000 tournaments on the ATP Tour. He has also won 17 tour-level doubles titles, all with fellow Serbian player Viktor Troicki.

Djokovic’s achievements in tennis have earned him numerous awards and accolades, including Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2011 and 2020, BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year in 2011 and 2015, and he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in both 2011 and 2020.

The Next Generation

As the saying goes, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” In tennis, we are constantly seeing new faces on the court, but the same handful of names seem to be winning the big tournaments. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic have been dominating the sport for years and don’t show any signs of slowing down. But what about the next generation of tennis players? Who will be the ones to take the reins from the “big three” and become the new faces of tennis?

Dominic Thiem

Dominic Thiem is an Austrian professional tennis player who has won eleven ATP Tour singles titles. He has also reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments, including the 2020 US Open, where he defeated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. As of March 2021, Thiem is ranked No. 3 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Thiem began playing tennis at age six and made his professional debut in 2012. In 2014, he won his first ATP Tour title at the Bogota Open. The following year, he won his first Grand Slam match at the French Open. He reached his first Grand Slam final at the 2020 US Open, where he lost to Alexander Zverev in five sets.

Thiem has won eleven ATP Tour singles titles, including three Masters 1000 titles (Indian Wells 2019, Madrid 2020, and Vienna 2020). He has also reached the semifinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments: the 2018 French Open (losing to Rafael Nadal), the 2019 Australian Open (losing to Novak Djokovic), the 2020 Wimbledon Championships (losing to Djokovic), and the 2020 US Open (losing to Alexander Zverev).

Alexander Zverev

Alexander “Sascha” Zverev (German pronunciation: [alɛkˈsandɐ ˈtsfɛʁf]; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He is ranked world No. 7 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and has been ranked as high as world No. 4 by the ATP. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 3, which he achieved in November 2017. Zverev has won 14 ATP singles titles, including two Masters 1000 tournaments: the 2017 Italian Open and the 2018 Madrid Open. He also reached the 2018 Wimbledon final, becoming the first German to do so since Boris Becker in 1995 and only the fifth German man to reach a Grand Slam singles final overall.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 20-year-old Greek tennis sensation, is quickly making a name for himself as the next big thing in tennis. He has already won two ATP titles and reached the semifinal of the 2018 French Open, and many are predicting that he will soon be a Grand Slam champion.

Tsitsipas is currently ranked No. 8 in the world, but he is not content to rest on his laurels. In an interview with CNN, he said, “I’m still very young. I have time to improve my game and become better. I’m not there yet but hopefully one day I can be regarded as one of the best players ever.”

If Tsitsipas can continue to play at a high level, he has a good chance of overtaking Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as the player with the most Grand Slam titles. Nadal currently has 17 titles, while Federer has 20. If Tsitsipas can win just two more majors, he will become the youngest player ever to reach 20 Grand Slam titles.

The Women’s Game

Serena Williams

Serena Williams has won the most Majors of any tennis player- male or female- in the Open Era. She has 23 singles, 14 doubles, and 2 mixed doubles Majors.

Naomi Osaka

At just 22 years old, Naomi Osaka has already made a name for herself as one of the best tennis players in the world. Born in Japan to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother, Osaka moved to the United States when she was 3 years old. She turned pro in 2013, and by 2018, she was ranked No. 1 in the world.

So far in her career, Osaka has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2018 US Open, the 2019 Australian Open, the 2020 US Open, and the 2021 Australian Open. With her four major wins, Osaka is now tied with Serena Williams for the most Grand Slam singles titles among active female players.

Simona Halep

Simona Halep of Romania is a professional tennis player who is currently ranked No. 1 in the world by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). She has won four Grand Slam singles titles, including two at the French Open, and is the only Romanian player, male or female, to hold the year-end No. 1 ranking.