In this weekend’s blog, I am back on tennis.
ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) is responsible for conducting tennis tournaments (other than Grand Slams) for all male players. Friends, have you ever realised that we often hear and learn about the players who have reached the Grand Slam finals and won the same? In today’s blog, I am writing about the top male tennis players who have reached the maximum ATP FINALS.
We all know that Novak Djokovic has won 24 Grand Slams, Rafael Nadal 22. But in the ATP finals list they are not even in top 3.
Recently Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic both increased their totals of single ATP finals reached with their respective runs at the Sweedish Open and Wimbledon. Only three men have played more finals than the legendary duo, with their great rival Roger Federer one such player.
Here is the list of five players who have reached the most ATP finals;
5 Rafael Nadal (Spain) 131 finals
He has played in 131 ATP singles finals during his professional career till date, and has won 92 finals.. The Spaniard has reached 72 cay-court finals where his win/loss record is 63-9, 52 on Hard courts (25-27), and 7 on Grass courts (4-3). Nadal was beaten by Dominik Hrdbaty in his first ATP finals, while he lost to Nuno Borges at the 2024 Sweedish Open in his most recent ATP final.
4 Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 139 finals
He has reached in 139 singles finals during his professional career till date, and has won 98 of these finals. The Serbian holds a 71-21 win-loss record on Hard courts, 33 on Clay courts (19-14) and 14 on Grass courts (8-6). Djokovic defeated Nicolas Massu in his maiden final at the 2006 Dutch Open and was runners-up to Carlos Alcaraz in his most recent final at 2024 Wimbledon.
3 Ivan Lendl (Czechoslovakia/USA) 146 finals
He compiled a 94-52 win/loss record from the 146 ATP finals he played during his professional career spanning from 1978 to 1994. The Czech-American reached 52 Hard-court , with win/loss of 30-22, 38 finals on Clay courts (28-10), and 5 finals on Grass courts (2-3). He lost his first final to Balazs Taroczy at the 1979 Belgian Open, while he fell to Pete Sampras in Sydney in 1994 in his last-ever title match.
2 Roger Federer (Switzerland) 157 finals
He contested 157 ATP singles finals, and compiled a 103-54 win/loss record, during his professional career that started in 1998 and ended in 2022. The Swiss won 71 of the 98 Hard court title matches he played, on Grass courts he contested 27 finals (19-8) and on Clay courts his record is (11-15), and 2-4 on Carpet courts. Federer was beaten by Marc Rosset in his first ATP final at Marseille Open in 2000, while he downed Alex de Minaur in his last at the 2019 Swiss Indoors in Basel.
1 Jimmy Connors (USA) 164 finals
He won 109 of the 164 ATP singles finals he reached-both of which are records-during his professional career spanning from 1971 to 1996.The American secured 55 of his titles indoor on either hard or carpet courts, while he won 31 on outdoor hard courts, 14 on clay, and 9 on grass. He lost his maiden ATP finals in five sets to Tom Gorman at the 1971 Columbus Open, and won his last-ever title match against Gilad Bloom in Tel Aviv in 1989.
One thing is certain none of the active tennis player can ever match the feat of Jimmy Connors. Only player who came near his record was Roger Federer, whose win/loss record in ATP finals was 103-54, against Connors’ feat of 109-55.
Waiting for your feedback on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
16th August 2024