Comparing modern tennis greats
There is a lot of speculation in the tennis community about who is the best player ever, especially considering Roger Federer's recent exploits.
While I personally think that Pete Sampras is the best player to date, it's interesting to look at the statistics to see who else might be given the title of "Greatest Tennis Player of All Time," although because of various factors, we're really discussing the greatest tennis player of the open era.
These data are updated as of the end of 2007.
Totals
|
Connors |
Lendl |
McEnroe |
Agassi |
Sampras |
Federer |
| Turned pro |
1972 |
1978 |
1978 |
1986 |
1988 |
1998 |
| Singles wins |
1222 |
1070 |
867 |
870 |
762 |
551 |
| Singles losses |
269 |
238 |
192 |
274 |
222 |
134 |
| Total matches |
1,491 |
1,308 |
1,059 |
1,144 |
984 |
685 |
| Singles titles |
105 |
94 |
76 |
60 |
64 |
53 |
| Singles Majors |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
14 |
12 |
| Doubles titles |
15 |
6 |
69 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
| Doubles Majors |
2 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Prize money |
$8,641,040 |
$21,262,417 |
$12,539,622 |
$31,152,975 |
$43,280,489 |
$38,707,078 |
Per-year calculations based on years on the tour
|
Connors |
Lendl |
McEnroe |
Agassi |
Sampras |
Federer |
| Per year ending |
1988 |
1994 |
1992 |
2006 |
2002 |
2007 |
| Years on tour |
16 |
16 |
14 |
20 |
14 |
9 |
| Singles wins |
76.4 |
66.9 |
61.9 |
43.5 |
54.4 |
61.2 |
| Singles losses |
16.8 |
14.9 |
13.7 |
13.7 |
15.9 |
14.9 |
| Won/loss |
4.54 |
4.50 |
4.52 |
3.18 |
3.43 |
4.11 |
| Matches |
93.2 |
81.8 |
75.6 |
57.2 |
70.3 |
76.1 |
| Singles titles |
6.6 |
5.9 |
5.4 |
3.0 |
4.6 |
5.9 |
| Singles Majors |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
1.0 |
1.3 |
| Doubles titles |
0.94 |
0.38 |
4.93 |
0.05 |
0.14 |
0.78 |
| Doubles Majors |
0.13 |
0.00 |
0.64 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
| Prize money |
$540,065 |
$1,328,901 |
$895,687 |
$1,557,649 |
$3,091,464 |
$4,300,786 |
| Notes: |
$1.00 in 1972 equals $4.98 in 2007. |
| |
$1.00 in 1978 equals $3.19 in 2007. |
| |
$1.00 in 1986 equals $1.90 in 2007. |
| |
$1.00 in 1988 equals $1.76 in 2007. |
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