Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
Every tennis player and fan knows that the Grand Slam tournaments—the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open—are the events that shape the careers of legends, and are where records are set. These records from men’s tennis are some of the most impressive in the world of sports.
From outstanding winning streaks to unbelievable career accomplishments. With that in mind, here are 10 records that have shaped the history of tennis and inspire players and fans today.
Pete Sampras is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He has achieved 14 grand slam singles titles, out of which seven were at Wimbledon. Although he was unbeatable on grass and hard courts, he could not win the French Open, so he could not complete the Career grand slam. His powerful serving and volleying game was not as productive on clay and he struggled at Roland Garros. His best accomplishment there was getting to the semifinals in 1996.
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Ken Rosewall won the Australian Open in 1972. The victory achieved a rare feat in the history of tennis grand clams. At the age of 37 years and 62 days, his Aussie Open win made him the oldest male player to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Michael Chang became the youngest male player to win a Grand Slam singles title when he captured the French Open in 1989 at just 17 years and 110 days old.
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The 2012 finals of the Australian Open between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal was the longest final match in history. The battle took 5 hours and 53 minutes and concluded at 1:37 AM. It ended 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7(5), 7–5 for Djokovic who had triumphed to take his third Australian Open trophy. This epic match had taken a lot out of both players because they actually needed chairs during the trophy ceremony.
Roger Federer holds the highest record for Grand Slam singles match wins, with 369 wins out of 429 matches played in 81 Grand Slam events. The time spent on the circuit and his standard of play in the four biggest tournaments are hard to match.
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The calendar year Grand Slam has been achieved only a handful of times but Rod Laver is the only player in history to do it twice, in 1962 and 1969. The one in 1969 is considered special because it was during the Open Era. This is a testament to Laver as one of the all-time great tennis players.
Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg share the record of having won five consecutive Wimbledon titles. Borg did it from 1976 to 1980, while Federer did it from 2003 to 2007. It is a major reason why both have some of the most respected legacies in the sport’s history.
The Swiss maestro was able to reach 10 successive finals from the Wimbledon Championship in 2005 to the US Open in 2007. It was a peak period for Federer and is why he is seen as, arguably, the greatest tennis player of all time.
Rafael Nadal’s 14 French Open titles are the most singles titles won by any player at a single event as he owned those clay courts for the majority of his career. No player has dominated on a clay court in tennis as much as the legend known as “Rafa.”
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As of June 2024, Novak Djokovic is the most successful tennis player in history with 24 Grand Slam titles. Which is two more than Rafael Nadal and four more than Roger Federer. This outstanding record strengthens his stand in the GOAT debate.