In today’s weekend blog, I am writing on the sport of tennis.
Friends, did you know tennis great ROGER FEDERER faced 350 different players during his professional career? Of the 350 players he played against, only 28 have a winning head-to-head record against him, and his two big rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic feature on this list. Sixteen of the 28 players with a winning record against Federer faced him only once, so it would be unfair to include them on the list. Instead, the following compiled list mentions the players with a winning record against Federer who have faced the 22-time Grand Slam winner at least twice during their careers.
1 Nova Djokovic 27-23
Roger Federer won only 46% of his matches against Novak, who was exceptional against the Swiss great during the latter stages of his career. Federer at one time led Djokovic by a 14-9 margin, but in the latter stages, Djokovic won 10 of their last 14 encounters to finish with a 27-23 record. Seventeen of their matches came at Grand Slams with Djokovic winning 100 of those, including the 2019 Wimbledon final and their last-ever clash was in the semi-finals of 2020 Australian Open.
2 Rafael Nadal 24-16
From the early stages of his career Nadal always seemed to have the upper hand over Federer. Nadal was 6-1 up early on and also had an 18-9 and 23-10 advantage at some point. Federer did reduce the deficit to 15-23 but he never really got close to leading head-to-head.
3 Dominic Thiem 5-2
After Djokovic and Nadal, Thiem won the most matches against Federer, and there of the five victories came in his last three matches against the Swiss. Federer won their first ever encounter in Brisbane in 2016, but the Austrian then won the next two before Federer won at the ATP finals in 2018. However, Thiem notched up wins in Indian Wells (2019), Madrid (2019), and the ATP finals (2019) for a pretty dominant record against Federer.
4 Alexander Zverev 4-3
Alexander has won 60% of his matches against Federer, with his 4 wins coming at Halle (2016), Canada (2017), ATP Finals (2018) and Shanghai Masters (2019). Federer, meanwhile claimed wins in Rome (2016), Halle (2017), and the ATP finals (2017).
5 Yevgeny Kafelnikov 4-2
Kafelnikov won their first three matches in Rotterdam (1999), Wimbledon (2000), and Shanghai (2001), these wins came at the time when Federer had just begun his career. Federer got on the scoreboard with a win in Milan (2001). Kafelnikov won again in Marseille (2001) before Federer had the last laugh with victory in Davis Cup in 2002.
6 Pat Rafter 3-0
Rafter along with Franco Squillari are the only two players to have never lost against Federer having played more than one match. Rafter won at French Open (1999), Miami Open (2001) and Halle Open (2001).
7 Tomas Enqvist 3-1
Swede Tomas Enqvist opened a 3-0 head-to-head over Federer as he won in Adelaide (2000), Basel (2000), and Indian Wells (2002). Federer’s only win against him came in Rotterdam in 2003.
8 Alex Corretja 3-2
All three of Corretja’s wins over Federer came on clay as the Spaniard won at the French Open (2000), Gstaad (2000), and French Open (2001). Federer’s wins came on the hard courts in Rotterdam (2001) and Madrid (2003).
9 Franco Squillari 2-0
Franco had a career-high ranking of No. 11, but he had a 2-0 record against Federer, and the great Swiss failed to win any sets against the Argentine. Franco won 6-3, 6-4 at the Hamburg Masters in 2001, and 6-2, 6-3 at the Sydney International in 2003.
10 Gustavo Kuerten 2-1
Federer won his first encounter against Gustav on the clay in Humburg in 2002, but Gustavo hit back with wins at the Indian Wells Masters in 2003 and the French Open in 2004.
11 Wayne Ferreira 2-1
Wayne reached career-high No. 5 rankings in the mid-90s and he was in the latter stages of his career when he faced Federer. The Swiss won in straight sets in Sydney in 2001 before Wayne his back with a two-set win at the Rome Masters and a three-set win at Stuttgart in 2001.
12 Dominik Hrbaty 2-1
Former world No. 12 Dominik beat Federer in three sets at the Paris Masters in Nov 2000 and then made it 2-0 at the Cincinnati Masters 2004. Federer’s only win came against him in Wimbledon in 2008.
Of the twelve players Djokovic, Nadal, Thiem, and Zverev are still active.
In case you are wondering, the 16 players with one win over Federer are Sergi Brugera, Andrei Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jan Siemerink, Andrea Gaudenzi, Francisco Clavet, Byron Black, Pablo Andujar, Kenneth Carlsen, Thanasi Kokkinkis, Evgeny Donsky, Markus Hantschk, Lucas Arnold Ker, James Sekulov and Christophe Garsee.
Of the 16 players with one win against Federer only Rublev, Auger-Aliassime and Kokkinakis are still active.
Waiting for your feedback on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
23rd February 2024