Who’s the Best Tennis Player in the World?
We take a look at the top ten male and female tennis players in the world and compare their stats to see who comes out on top.
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal is a Spanish professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 2 in men’s singles tennis. Nadal has won 20 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 has held the world No. 1 ranking for a total of 209 weeks. He has also won a record-tying 12 French Open singles titles, three Davis Cups, a record-tying two Olympic gold medals in singles tennis, and was part of the Spanish teams that won the Davis Cup in 2004 and the ATP Cup in 2020.
Grand Slam titles
Rafael Nadal has won 19 Grand Slam singles titles, the second most in history for a male player, as well as the record for most French Open titles with 12. He is the only male player to win all four Grand Slams and the Olympic gold medal in singles tennis.
Davis Cup
Rafael Nadal has a Davis Cup record of 41–3 (.932) in singles matches and 3–0 (.750) in doubles matches. He has played on eight winning Davis Cup teams, most recently in 2019.
Olympic gold medal
Rafael Nadal Parera is a professional tennis player from Spain who is currently ranked world No. 2 in men’s singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has also been ranked world No. 1 by the ATP on multiple occasions. Nadal has won 19 Grand Slam singles titles, the second most in history for a male player, as well as an Olympic gold medal in singles.
Roger Federer
Roger Federer 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 total of 310 weeks.
Grand Slam titles
Roger Federer has won a record 20 Grand Slam titles—the most in history for a male player—including eight Wimbledon championships, six Australian Open titles, five US Open titles, and one French Open title. He has also reached the final of all four Grand Slam tournaments a record 36 times.
Wimbledon
Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts.
The tournament is Wimbledon, and it is widely considered to be the most important and prestigious tennis tournament in the world. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877, making it one of the oldest tennis tournaments in existence. The event is played on outdoor grass courts and is a must-see for any fan of tennis.
Record for most weeks at No. 1
Federer has spent a record 310 weeks at the top of the ATP singles rankings, the most of any male player. In total, he has been No. 1 for 302 weeks since February 2004, and his first 232-week stretch from 2004 to 2008 is the longest on record for both men and women. In addition to holding this Open Era record, he also holds the all-time record for most consecutive weeks inside the top 10, with 136; this is also an Open Era record. Furthermore, Federer holds the Open Era record for most consecutive weeks inside the top 5 with 350 (a streak which ended on 5 July 2009), and he has been ranked inside the top 5 for a record 413 consecutive weeks since 8 October 2002.
In 2003 and 2004, Federer became one of only two men in history to win three Grand Slam tournaments in a calendar year five times (joining Roy Emerson); he did so again in 2006 and 2007. He is one of only six men to have won all four grand slam tournaments Wimbledon (a-record eight times), Australia Open (six times), French Open (one time) and US Open (five times). He has reached a record 31 men’s singles Grand Slam finals, including 10 straight between 2005 Wimbledon Championships and 2007 US Open. He has also won 17 ATP Masters 1000 series titles, an all-time record shared with Novak Djokovic; he also holds an ATP tour records of 6 ATP World Tour Finals and 26 ATP tour 500 events.
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 in men’s singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is the only male player in history to have won all nine of the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. He has also won 16 Grand Slam singles titles, five ATP Finals titles, and 36 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles.
Grand Slam titles
As of September 2020, Djokovic has won 17 Grand Slam singles titles, the fourth most in history, and is one of eight men to win all four major tournaments. He has also won an all-time record 36 Masters 1000 series titles, six ATP Finals titles (tied with Pete Sampras), and five ATP Tour 500 tournaments. In addition, he has won numerous other prestigious tournaments on different surfaces (hard, grass, and clay), including two Wimbledon Championships, a French Open title, five ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournaments (a record-tying five consecutive wins at the Rome Masters from 2014–2018), and an ATP Tour 500 series title on all three surfaces. Djokovic is the first tennis player in history to hold all four major titles at once on three different surfaces (hard court, clay court, and grass court), having accomplished this feat twice.
ATP Masters 1000
ATP Masters 1000 tournaments are the second most important tennis tournaments on the men’s tour, after the Grand Slams. They are also known as “Super 9” tournaments. The ATP Masters 1000 series currently comprises 11 tournaments held throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia.
Djokovic has won a record 30 Masters 1000 titles, including a record seven consecutive titles at the Miami Open from 2014 to 2020. He is also one of only six players (along with Nadal, Federer, Agassi, Sampras and Courier) to have won all nine Masters 1000 tournaments.
ATP World Tour Finals
The ATP World Tour Finals is an annual men’s tennis tournament created in 1970, which is contested by the top-ranked players of the ATP World Tour. It is the second-highest tier of annual men’s tennis tournaments after the four Grand Slam tournaments, and features the best eight men from the ATP rankings.
It is currently held in London, United Kingdom at The O2 Arena. Between 1970 and 1989 it was held in various countries including Japan, Germany, and Switzerland. The current length of the singles tournament is best-of-three sets; finals are best-of-five sets.
Serena Williams
There’s no doubt that Serena Williams is the best tennis player in the world. With 23 Grand Slam titles, she has more than any other active female player. She’s also been ranked number one in the world by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) a record eight times.
Grand Slam titles
Serena Williams is one of the most successful tennis players of all time. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, which is more than any other player in the Open Era. In addition, she has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and four Olympic gold medals.
Olympic gold medals
Serena Williams is an extraordinary tennis player. She has many achievements, but one of her most impressive is her record-tying twelve Olympic gold medals. Williams has won four gold medals in singles, three gold medals in doubles, and five mixed doubles gold medals. In 2012, she became the only tennis player—male or female—to win a singles gold medal at three different Olympics. And, in 2016, she equaled Stefan Edberg’s record of six gold medals won in Olympic tennis events.
WTA Tour Championships
The WTA Tour Championships (also known as the WTA Finals) is a women’s tennis tournament. The event is contested annually by the top eight singles players and top four doubles teams on the WTA Tour. It is considered by many to be the most prestigious event on the tour after the four Grand Slam tournaments.
Andy Murray
Andy Murray is a Scottish professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 in men’s singles. He has won three Grand Slam singles titles, two Olympic gold medals, and has reached the final of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He is also the first British player to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.
Grand Slam titles
Andy Murray is a professional tennis player from Scotland, currently ranked No. 1 in men’s singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He was born in Glasgow and raised in Dunblane. He turned professional in 2005, and has been ranked world No. 1 by the ATP four times, first becoming world No. 1 on 17 February 2013. Murray is the most successful British singles player since 1977, when he won his first ATP title, and the winner of two Olympic gold medals, the 2012 US Open singles title, and the 2016 Wimbledon singles title.
Murray has reached a total of 24 Grand Slam finals: he has won three Majors (two Wimbledons and one US Open), and runner-up at five others (three Australian Opens and two French Opens). His Grand Slam tournament wins make him one of only seven men to have won multiple Major titles in both singles and doubles play; only Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Fred Perry, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have accomplished this more times than Murray. He has also been a finalist at the year-end ATP World Tour Finals five times, winning it in 2016.
In Davis Cup competition, Murray represents Great Britain; he has played on their winning team in 2015 and helped them retain the trophy in 2016.
Wimbledon
Andy Murray is a professional tennis player from Scotland, currently ranked No. 1 in the world by the ATP. He has won two Grand Slam singles titles, at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships and at the 2016 U.S. Open. In both matches, he defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets to become the first British man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Fred Perry in 1936, and the first British player to win multiple Wimbledon singles titles since Lawrence Doherty in 1905.
Olympic gold medal
Andy Murray is a Scottish professional tennis player from Dunblane, Scotland. He is a former world No. 1 in singles, ranked the British No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 77 consecutive weeks from 23 November 2014 to 29 August 2016, and holds several Olympic and Davis Cup titles. Murray represents Great Britain in his sporting activities and is a three-time Grand Slam tournament winner, two-time Olympic champion, Davis Cup champion, winner of the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals, and former world No. 1.
As a junior player, Murray saw success early on by winning the US Open Boys’ Singles title in 2004 at age 16. In 2006, he was runner-up to Marin Čilić in the Wimbledon Boys’ Singles final, then went on to win his first ATP title later that year in San Jose. Murray’s breakthrough came at the 2007 Queens Club Championships where he defeated world No. 4 Rafael Nadal in the semifinal before going on to win his first ATP Masters Series crown by beating world No. 2 Roger Federer in straight sets in the final. This was followed by a victory at least one of tennis’ most significant titles — the Cincinnati Masters — becoming only the third British player to win that event since 1937 (after Fred Perry and Bunny Austin).
