What Tennis Player Has The Most Grand Slams?
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With the US Open underway, we take a look at which tennis player has the most Grand Slam titles under their belt.
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 3 in men’s singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He 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 310 weeks.
Early life and background
Roger Federer was born on August 8, 1981, in Basel, Switzerland. He is the son of Swiss national Robert Federer and South African-born Lynette Durand. He has one older sister named Diana. Growing up, Federer’s parents wanted him to pursue a career in economics and business. However, his interests lied elsewhere and he was more passionate about tennis. They encouraged him to play the sport as a hobby and eventually agreed to support his professional aspirations after he became the world no. 2 junior player at age 16.
Federer’s father, who was once a tennis player himself, coached young Roger until he turned professional. On February 10, 1998, at the age of just 16 years old, Federer announced his decision to turn pro after being convinced by Swiss Davis Cup captain Marc Rosset that he had what it takes to succeed on the tour. Rosset also persuaded Federer’s parents to allow their son to leave home and be coached full-time at the Swiss National Tennis Centre in Ecublens under Gabriel Markus
Professional career
Federer’s first ATP-level tournament was the Gstaad Open in July 1998, where he was defeated in the second round by World No. 58 Belgian Olivier Rochus in straight sets. In September, Federer joined the Basel Chevrolet Cup which included future multiple Masters 1000 tournaments such as Cincinnati and Madrid. Representing Switzerland in the Junior Davis Cup, he won all three matches as the team triumphantly reached the final where they lost to Australia. In his Davis Cup debut, he recorded a doubles victory partnering with Lorenzo Manta against The Netherlands. At the end of 1998, Federer was ranked World No. 313 in singles and World No.156 in doubles.
Major achievements
Roger Federer (German pronunciation: [ˈrɔdʒər ˈfeːdərər]; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He is ranked world No. 3 in men’s singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). His accomplishments and success in tennis have led many commentators, players and sports writers to regard him as the greatest tennis player of all time. Jetsetter ranked Federer as the 17th-greatest sporting icon of the last 100 years.
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 310 weeks, including 237 consecutive weeks from 2004 to 2008, which is a record streak. In majors, he has won a record eight Wimbledon titles, six Australian Open titles, and five US Open titles. He has reached a record 31 men’s singles Grand Slam finals, including 10 consecutively from 2005 to 2014, and has reached all four finals at least five times each. In Grand Slam tournaments, he also holds numerous records associated with winning: he is one of seven male players to capture both the Wimbledon and US Open singles titles in the same calendar year (2004), part of an elite group to win three consecutive majors (2004 Wimbledon Championships–2006 US Open), and one of only two players ever to win three majors in a single season (2006). Federer holds an all-time ATP-record of 310 weeks at No. 1 and was ranked among the top ten continuously for 14 years and two weeks—from 2 February 2004 until 31 October 2016—when injuries forced him down at No. 17.”
Grand Slam tournament performances
Wins (20)
Finalist (10)
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal has won the most Grand Slams of any tennis player in history. Nadal has won 19 Grand Slams, including 12 French Opens, 3 Wimbledons, and 4 US Opens. Nadal has also won 2 Olympic gold medals.
Early life and background
Rafael Nadal Parera was born in Manacor, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain. His father, Sebastián Nadal, is a businessman who owns an insurance company as well as a glass and window company, Vidres Mallorca, and manages real estate assets. His mother is Ana María Parera. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a retired professional footballer, who played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team. Nadal’s great-uncle Miguel Ángel Nadal played for RCD Mallorca as well.
Professional career
Rafael Nadal has been a professional tennis player since he was 15 years old. In 2005, at the age of 19, he became the first Spaniard to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title, and he is one of only eight men to have won all four Grand Slam singles titles. He has also won a record-tying eleven French Open singles titles, three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, and two Olympic gold medals in singles.
Nadal’s successes have made him one of the most popular sports figures in the world. He has been ranked No. 1 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for a record 209 weeks, as well as being ranked No. 1 in the ATP’s history race singles rankings. In 2010, Forbes ranked Nadal as the second highest-paid athlete in the world with earnings of $32 million dollars.
Major achievements
Rafael Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player ranked world No. 2. He has won 19 Grand Slam singles titles, the second most in history for a male player, as well as 35 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles, 20 ATP Tour 500 titles, and the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles. In majors, Nadal has won a record 13 French Open titles, two Wimbledon titles, four US Open titles, and two Australian Open titles. He was also a member of the winning Spain Davis Cup team in 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2011. In 2010, he became the seventh player in history and youngest of four in the Open Era to achieve the Career Grand Slam at age 24. He is the first male player to win all four Grand Slam tournaments on three different surfaces (clay, grass, and hard court), and is considered one of the Greatest of All Time in men’s tennis (widely regarded as one of the sport’s Big Four alongside Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray).
Novak Djokovic
As of 2021, the player with the most Grand Slams is Novak Djokovic with 18. He is followed by Rafael Nadal with 20 and Roger Federer with 21.
Early life and background
Novak Djokovic was born on May 22, 1987, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), to parents Srdjan, a Montenegrin Serb, and Dijana, a Croatian Serb. He has a younger brother, Marko. His family moved to the mountain resort town of Kopaonik when he was four to open a pizza restaurant. Djokovic began playing tennis at age four and was soon enrolled in the tennis school of Jelena Genčić, where he was teammates with future Wimbledon semifinalist Mirjana Lučić-Baroni and future world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka. In 1990 Genčić started taking students to outdoor courts and pushed Djokovic to enter junior tournaments.
Djokovic cites German great Boris Becker as his tennis idol; they met in person for the first time at an exhibition in Munich in 2001, with Djokovic telling Becker that “it’s my dream to become as successful as you”. At that time Becker was on the German Tennis Federation’s Davis Cup team with firm support from Hitler’s regime (as expressed by Goebbels).
Professional career
Djokovic has won numerous awards, including the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, ESPN’s ESPY Award for Best Male Tennis Player, and the Men’s Tennis Association (MATA) NewsTracker of the Year. In 2011, he was ranked by Forbes as the world’s third most valuable brand among sportspersons, and in 2015 as the 14th most marketable athlete. As of November 2020, Djokovic is ranked world No. 1 by the ATP. He is one of only seven men to have won all nine of the Masters1000 tournaments, and one of only two (joined by Rafael Nadal) to have won each tournament at least four times.
Djokovicbegan playing tennis at age four. In 1993 he moved with his family to Munich and spent four years training at the German Tennis Federation’s academy with Boris Breskvar before relocating in 1999 to Monte Carlo alongside his childhood coach Jelena Genčić-Komljenović on an invitation from Nikola Pilic. In 2003 Djokovic qualified for his first ATP Tour main draw event at clay court Umag where he was drawn against Andre Agassi in his opening round match which he lost despite taking a set off him. The following week he managed to qualify for another tournament in Poland defeating Daniel Vliegen en route to reaching his second career ATP main draw taking on Mario Ančić which he also lost.
Djokovic turned professional in 2003 and joined Wimbledon’s junior training program later that year. His first appearance in a Grand Slam came at Roland Garros in 2005 where he participated in both singles and doubles competitions but failed to progress beyond the second round stage in either event. However, his breakthrough season came soon after as he reached two junior Grand Slam singles finals – losing Wimbledon 2006 final to Andy Murray but winning US Open junior title after beating Baghdatis in straight sets 6–3 6–0 making him just third Serbian player after Vitas Gerulaitis (1973) and Novak Đoković (2007) to win US Open boys’ singles title since tournament commenced under this name in 1975 when Vitas Gerulaitis won it beating Ion Tiriac 6–2 3–6 3–2Retrieved 24 May 2017..
In 2007 Djokovic became only fourth man since Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander since 1983 who managed to win three major titles before turning 20 years old when he conquered Indian Wells Masters defeating Rafael Nadal 6–3 6–2Retrieved 19 November 2019.. The feat earned him comparisons with greats like Lendl himself as well as Bernard Tomic..
