Blog Archives
Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and All the No. 1 Tennis Players, by Number of Weeks
Roger Federer, No. 1 Tennis Player in the World, Again
Twenty-six different ATP tennis players have held the No. 1 ranking since the Open Era began in 1968.
Current No. 1 player in the world, Roger Federer, recently passed Pete Sampras as the longest reigning No. 1 player over the course of a career, 291 weeks and counting.
Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the active men on the list who can each still add to their accumulated week totals as the best player in the world.
Tomorrow, we’ll check out the ladies.
Follow me on Twitter @VinGetz.
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | TOTAL CAREER WEEKS AT NO. 1 | |
| 1. | Roger Federer | Switzerland | 291 (Current No. 1) |
| 2. | Pete Sampras | USA | 286 |
| 3. | Ivan Lendl | Czechoslovakia | 270 |
| 4. | Jimmy Connors | USA | 268 |
| 5. | John McEnroe | USA | 170 |
| 6. | Björn Borg | Sweden | 109 |
| 7. | Rafael Nadal | Spain | 102 |
| 8. | Andre Agassi | USA | 101 |
| 9. | Lleyton Hewitt | Australia | 80 |
| 10. | Stefan Edberg | Sweden | 72 |
| 11. | Jim Courier | USA | 58 |
| 12. | Novak Djokovic | Serbia | 53 |
| 13. | Gustavo Kuerten | Brazil | 43 |
| 14. | Ilie Nastase | Romania | 40 |
| 15. | Mats Wilander | Sweden | 20 |
| 16. | Andy Roddick | USA | 13 |
| 17. | Boris Becker | Germany | 12 |
| 18. | Marat Safin | Russia | 9 |
| 19. | John Newcombe | Australia | 8 |
| 19. | Juan Carlos Ferrero | Spain | 8 |
| 21. | Thomas Muster | Austria | 6 |
| 21. | Marcelo Ríos | Chile | 6 |
| 21. | Yevgeny Kafelnikov | Russia | 6 |
| 21. | Marat Safin | Russia | 6 |
| 25. | Carlos Moyà | Spain | 2 |
| 26. | Patrick Rafter | Australia | 1 |
Photo: telegraph.co.uk
Greatest Australian Open Champions of the Open Era (Men)
Roger Federer Is Going for a Record Fifth Australian Open Title (sportige.com)
The Australian Open always feels a bit out of place here in the USA. In the short, dark, damn cold days of mid-January, and in the midst of all these winter sports – football, basketball and hockey – suddenly, we’re talking major outdoor tennis and reminded of a spring that seems as far away as Australia itself.
As of the date of this post, the Open is cruising through its third round with the three major contenders – defending champ Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal – still alive.
For a look at the current brackets, click here. Federer is going for a record fifth Australian Open title, Djokovic his third and Nadal his second.
Here’s a look at tennis players with multiple Australian Open championships. The major began accepting professionals in 1969, a year after the other three majors did the same.
Thirteen players have won multiple Australian Open titles. That’s more than any of the other three majors in the open era.
And what about those other majors? Sports List of the Day already has you covered…
Greatest U.S. Open Champions of the Open Era
Greatest Wimbledon Champions of the Open Era
Top 10 French Open Winners of All Time
Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the ladies.
Follow me on Twitter @VinGetz.
| 1. | Roger Federer | SUI | 4 | 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010 |
| 1. | Andre Agassi | USA | 4 | 1995, 2000, 2001, 2003 |
| 3. | Mats Wilander | SWE | 3 | 1983, 1984, 1988 |
| 4. | Novak Djokovic | SRB | 2 | 2008, 2011 |
| 4. | Pete Sampras | USA | 2 | 1994, 1997 |
| 4. | Boris Becker | GER | 2 | 1991, 1996 |
| 4. | Jim Courier | USA | 2 | 1992, 1993 |
| 4. | Ivan Lendl | CZE | 2 | 1989, 1990 |
| 4. | Stefan Edberg | SWE | 2 | 1985, 1987 |
| 4. | Johan Kriek | RSA | 2 | 1981, 1982 |
| 4. | Guillermo Vilas | ARG | 2 | 1978, 1979 |
| 4. | John Newcombe | AUS | 2 | 1973, 1975 |
| 4. | Ken Rosewall | AUS | 2 | 1971, 1972 |
Novak Djokovic Wins 2011 US Open, His Third Major of Year: Tennis Grand Slam and 3-Major Winners
Novak Djokovic Sporting the 2011 US Open Trophy and an FDNY Cap (Getty)
Novak Djokovic won the 2011 US Open over defending champion Rafael Nadal Monday night in four sets. It looked like a runaway, with Djokovic taking the first two sets (6-2, 6-4) and leading the third 5-3, but Nadal fought back taking the third set 7-6 in a tiebreaker.
Djokovic took over again in the fourth, though, clearing the court of Nadal, who often looked overmatched and fatigued throughout the evening, 6-1.
With the US Open victory, Novak Djokovic took three of the year’s majors: the US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Rafael Nadal took, and pretty much owns, the French Open title. Nadal has won six of the last seven French Opens and is the primary reason Roger Federer never won the single-season grand slam.
In fact, only three tennis players have won the single-season grand slam during the open era (1968-present): one man and two women.
More have held all four major titles at the same time (over two years). Just one more though.
More still have the career grand slam – winning at least one of every major over the course of their career. Ten players have achieved that.
Finally, as for three majors in a single season, that’s happened 20 times.
Today’s list covers all of those major, major winners (singles events, open era):
| Single-Season Grand Slams | |||||||
| 1. | Rod Laver | Australia | 1969 | ||||
| 2. | Margaret Court | Australia | 1970 | ||||
| 3. | Steffi Graf | Germany | 1988 | ||||
| Multiple-Season Grand Slams | |||||||
| 1. | Margaret Court | Australia | 1969-70, 1970-1971 | ||||
| 2. | Martina Navratilova | Czechoslovakia | 1983-1984 | ||||
| 3. | Steffi Graf | Germany | 1988-1989, 1993-1994 | ||||
| 4. | Serena Williams | U.S.A. | 2002-2003 | ||||
| Career Grand Slam (in order of achievement & including the above) | |||||||
| 1. | Rod Laver | Australia | |||||
| 2. | Margaret Court | Australia | |||||
| 3. | Billie Jean King | U.S.A. | |||||
| 4. | Chris Evert | U.S.A. | |||||
| 5. | Martina Navratilova | Czechoslovakia | |||||
| 6. | Steffi Graf | Germany | |||||
| 7. | Andre Agassi | U.S.A. | |||||
| 8. | Serena Williams | U.S.A. | |||||
| 9. | Roger Federer | Switzerland | |||||
| 10. | Rafael Nadal | Spain | |||||
| Three of Four Majors in One Year | AUS | FRE | WIM | US | |||
| 1. | Margaret Court | Australia | 1969 | * | * | * | |
| 2. | Billie Jean King | U.S.A | 1972 | * | * | * | |
| 3. | Margaret Court | Australia | 1973 | ||||
| 4. | Jimmy Connors | U.S.A | 1974 | * | * | * | |
| 5. | Martina Navratilova | Czechoslovakia | 1983 | * | * | * | |
| 6. | Martina Navratilova | Czechoslovakia | 1984 | * | * | * | |
| 7. | Mats Wilander | Sweden | 1988 | * | * | * | |
| 8. | Steffi Graf | Germany | 1989 | * | * | * | |
| 9. | Monica Seles | Serbia | 1991 | * | * | * | |
| 10. | Monica Seles | Serbia | 1992 | * | * | * | |
| 11. | Steffi Graf | Germany | 1993` | * | * | * | |
| 12. | Steffi Graf | Germany | 1995 | * | * | * | |
| 13. | Steffi Graf | Germany | 1996 | * | * | * | |
| 14. | Martina Hingis | Switzerland | 1997 | * | * | * | |
| 15. | Serena Williams | U.S.A | 2002 | * | * | * | |
| 16. | Roger Federer | U.S.A | 2004 | * | * | * | |
| 17. | Roger Federer | U.S.A | 2006 | * | * | * | |
| 18. | Roger Federer | U.S.A | 2007 | * | * | * | |
| 19. | Rafael Nadal | Spain | 2010 | * | * | * | |
| 20. | Novak Djokovic | Serbia | 2011 | * | * | * | |
