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List of tennis rivalries

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In tennis history there have been a number of notable rivalries. This list reflects some of the great rivalries.[1][2][3][4]

For the pre-open era, complete statistics on all matches is somewhat difficult to obtain in definitive form. In many years there were significant numbers of minor events and exhibition matches outside the designated tours, some of which were not reported in newspapers or recorded by the respective amateur or professional tour management. The approximate nature of these results should be understood and kept in mind while reading this data.

For the purpose of this article only, the criteria for inclusion are (all must be met):

  • Both players must have a career high ranking of world No. 3 or better, and at least one of them must have reached No. 1.
  • Both must have met multiple times in semifinal or final stages of Grand Slam events (or Pro Slam and also WCCC and WHCC count).
  • At least 12 of the career match-ups between them must be in main (regular) tour or circuit series of tournaments.

Men

Open Era

* Active rivalries indicated in bold.
More information Rivalry, Period ...
Rivalry[5] Period All tournaments Grand Slam tournaments Ref
All rounds Finals All rounds Finals
Matches Won–Lost Matches Won-Lost Matches Won-Lost Matches Won-Lost
Djokovic–Nadal 2006–2024 60 31–29 28 15–13 18 7–11 9 4–5 [6]
Djokovic–Federer 2006–2020 50 27–23 20* 13–6 17 11–6 5 4–1 [7]
Federer–Nadal 2004–2019 40 16–24 24 10–14 14 4–10 9 3–6 [8]
Lendl–McEnroe 1980–1992 36 21–15 18* 7–10 10 7–3 3 2–1 [9]
Djokovic–Murray 2006–2017 36 25–11 19 11–8 10 8–2 7 5–2 [10]
Connors–Lendl 1979–1992 35 13–22 7* 4–2 7 3–4 2 2–0 [11]
Becker–Edberg 1984–1996 35 25–10 16 11–5 4 1–3 3 1–2 [12]
Connors–McEnroe 1977–1991 34 14–20 15* 7–7 9 3–6 2 1–1 [13]
Agassi–Sampras 1989–2002 34 14–20 16 7–9 9 3–6 5 1–4 [14]
Ferrer–Nadal 2004–2019 32 6–26 8 0–8 7 2–5 1 0–1 [15]
Edberg–Lendl 1984–1992 27 14–13 7 3–4 9 5–4 1 0–1 [16]
Federer–Hewitt 1999–2014 27 18–9 5 3–2 8 8–0 1 1–0 [17]
Djokovic–Wawrinka* 2006– 27 21–6 5 2–3 9 5–4 2 0–2 [18]
Federer–Wawrinka 2005–2019 26 23–3 2 1–1 8 7–1 0 0 [19]
Federer–Murray 2005–2015 25 14–11 8 5–3 6 5–1 3 3–0 [20]
Federer–Del Potro 2007–2018 25 18–7 6 2–4 7 5–2 1 0–1 [21]
Federer–Roddick 2001–2012 24 21–3 7 7–0 8 8–0 4 4–0 [22]
Murray–Wawrinka 2005–2024 24 13–10 2 2–0 8 3–5 0 0–0 [23]
Murray–Nadal 2007–2016 24 7-17 4 3-1 9 2-7 0 0 [24]
Borg–Vilas 1973–1980 23 18–5 10* 8–1 3 3–0 2 2–0 [25]
Borg–Connors 1973–1981 23 15–8 13 8–5 8 5–3 4 2–2 [26]
Lendl–Wilander 1982–1994 22 15–7 9 6–3 9 5–4 5 2–3 [27]
Agassi–Chang 1988–2003 22 15–7 4 3–1 5 3–2 0 0 [28]
Nadal–Wawrinka 2007–2019 22 19–3 4 3–1 4 3–1 2 1–1 [29]
Connors–Gerulaitis 1974–1985 21 17–4 5* 4–0 3 2–1 0 0 [30]
Becker–Lendl 1985–1993 21 10–11 13 7–6 6 5–1 3 3–0 [31]
Chang–Edberg 1988–1996 21 9–12 4 3–1 5 1–4 1 1–0 [32]
Davydenko–Federer 2002–2013 21 2–19 2 0–2 6 0–6 0 0 [33]
Djokovic–Ferrer 2004–2015 21 16–5 3 3–0 5 5–0 0 0 [34]
Edberg–Wilander 1983–1995 20 9–11 5 3–2 5 2–3 1 1–0 [35]
Courier–Sampras 1988–1999 20 4–16 4 0–4 8 2–6 1 0–1 [36]
Chang–Sampras 1989–2001 20 8–12 3 0–3 5 1–4 1 0–1 [37]
Becker–Ivanišević 1990–1998 19 10–9 3 3–0 3 1–2 0 0 [38]
Becker–Sampras 1990–1997 19 7–12 7 1–6 3 0–3 1 0–1 [39]
Djokovic–Del Potro 2007–2019 19 15–4 2 2–0 5 5–0 1 1–0 [40]
Ivanišević–Sampras 1990–1999 18 6–12 4 1–3 5 1–4 2 0–2 [41]
Newcombe–Rosewall 1970–1974 17 8–9 6 3–3 6 3–3 1 1–0 [42]
Borg–Gerulaitis 1974–1981 17 17–0 7 7–0 5 5–0 1 1–0 [43]
Nadal–Del Potro 2007–2018 17 11–6 1 1–0 7 5–2 0 0 [44]
Alcaraz–Sinner* 2021– 17 10–7 9 5–4 6 4–2 3 2–1 [45]
Nadal–Thiem 2014–2024 16 10–6 4 4–0 6 5–1 2 2–0 [46]
Borg–Năstase 1972–1980 15 10–5 5 2–3 3 3–0 1 1–0 [47]
Ashe–Laver 1959–1976 15 2–13 2 0–2 4 0–4 0 0 [48]
Agassi–Rafter 1993–2001 15 10–5 0 0 7 4–3 0 0 [49]
Djokovic–Medvedev* 2017– 15 10–5 4 3–1 4 3–1 3 2–1 [50]
Medvedev–Tsitsipas* 2018– 15 10–5 0 0 4 3–1 0 0 [51]
Djokovic–Tsitsipas* 2018– 15 13–2 6 6–0 4 4–0 2 2–0 [52]
Sinner–Zverev* 2020– 15 11–4 4 4–0 5 3–2 2 2–0 [53]
Laver–Roche 1968–1972 14 9–5 9 5–4 3 3–0 2 2–0 [54]
Borg–McEnroe 1978–1981 14 7–7 9 4–5 4 1–3 4 1–3 [55]
Gerulaitis–McEnroe 1979–1984 14 3–11 5 1–4 2 0–2 1 0–1 [56]
Agassi–Becker 1988–1999 14 10–4 1 1–0 5 4–1 0 0 [57]
Edberg–Sampras 1990–1995 14 6–8 1 1–0 2 2–0 1 1–0 [58]
Federer–Raonic 2012–2018 14 11–3 3 2–1 4 3–1 0 0 [59]
Djokovic–Zverev* 2017– 14 9–5 2 0–2 5 4–1 0 0 [60]
McEnroe–Wilander 1982–1989 13 7–6 3 1–2 5 2–3 0 0 [61]
Murray–Raonic 2012–2020 13 9–4 2 2–0 3 3–0 1 1–0 [62]
Alcaraz–Zverev* 2021– 13 7–6 2 2–0 5 3–2 1 1–0 [63]
Agassi–Courier 1989–1996 12 5–7 2 0–2 6 2–4 1 0–1 [64]
Courier–Stich 1990–1997 12 5–7 0 0 4 2–2 0 0 [65]
Agassi–Kafelnikov 1994–2003 12 8–4 2 2–0 5 4–1 1 1–0 [66]
Federer–Safin 2001–2009 12 10–2 3 3–0 5 4–1 1 1–0 [67]
Djokovic–Thiem 2014–2020 12 7–5 1 1–0 4 2–2 1 1–0 [68]
Djokovic–Sinner* 2021– 12 5–7 2 1–1 7 3–4 0 0 [69]
Close

* Including walkovers or abandoned matches (not counted in head to heads, same as the official ATP head to heads).

Amateur Era

More information Rivalry, Period ...
RivalryPeriodMeetingsGrand SlamPro SlamILTF MajorAll matchesAll finalsRef
Gonzales–Rosewall 1957–1970 204 2–3 117–87 6–6 [70]
Gonzales–Hoad 1957–1971 181 3–2 104-77 [71]
Laver–Rosewall 1963–1976 164 1–1 4–6 89–75 36–20 [72]
Vines–Perry 1937–1938 154 1–0 84–70 [70]
Gonzales–Kramer 1949–1954 140 1–0 40–100 [70]
Hoad–Rosewall 1953–1967 135 2–2 0–5 51-84 [73]
Gonzales–Segura 1951–1965 134 8–3 96–38 [70]
Budge–Riggs 1935–1955 119 4–4 65–55 [74]
Kramer–Sedgman 1953–1956 110 61–49 [75]
Nüsslein–Tilden 1931–1939 104 7–2 39–65 [76]
Gimeno–Laver 1960–1971 96 0–1 0–5 31–65 [77]
Vines–Tilden 1927–1940 73 2–1 47–26 [78]
Emerson–Laver 1958–1975 72 2–7 21–51 10–22
Anderson–Cooper 1955–1962 68 1–3 0–2 25–43 [79]
Gonzales–Laver 1964–1970 65 0–1 0–2 22–43 7–14 [80]
Hoad–Laver 1963-1966 60 22-38
Budge–Tilden 1939–1945 50 3–0 41–9 [81]
Laver–Stolle 1956–1974 48 2–0 3–0 39–9 [82]
Cochet–Tilden 1926–1939 35 4–1 0–2 12–23 2–2 [83]
Laver–Olmedo 1959–1971 30 0–1 3–0 26–4 [84]
Crawford–Quist 1933–1950 25 2–3 9–16 [85]
Laver–Sedgman 1963–1965 20 3–0 18–2 [86]
Mahony–Pim 1888–1898 18 0–3 3–15 2–7 [87]
H. L. Doherty–Mahony 1896–1904 18 3–0 0–1 14–4 6–2 [88]
Johnston–Tilden 1919–1926 17 1–6 6–12 [89]
Decugis–Wilding 1907–1914 17 0–2 3–14 [90]
Borotra–Lacoste 1921–1929 17 3–5 5–12 [91]
Crawford–Perry 1930–1936 17 2–5 6–11 [92]
Larned–Wright 1899–1908 16 4–1 12–4 [93]
Borotra–Cochet 1922–1949 16 3–3 0–1 8–8 [94]
Gore–Wilding 1905–1912 14 2–2 9–5 5–3 [95]
Close

Women

Open Era

* Active rivalries indicated in bold.
More information Rivalry, Period ...
Rivalry[96] Period All tournaments Grand Slam tournaments Ref
All rounds Finals
Matches Won–Lost Matches Won–Lost Matches Won–Lost
Evert–Navratilova[97] 1973–1988 80 37–43 22 8–14 14 4–10 [98]
Evert–Wade 1971–1982 46 40–6 3 2–1 0 0 [99]
Navratilova–Shriver 1978–1992 43 40–3 9 7–2 0 0 [100]
Goolagong–Wade 1970–1983 40 30–10 6 5–1 1 0–1 [101]
Graf–Sabatini 1985–1995 40 29–11 12 11–1 3 2–1 [102]
Evert–Goolagong[97] 1972–1983 39 26–13 10 6–4 5 3–2 [103]
Mandlikova–Navratilova 1980–1989 36 7–29 10 4–6 3 2–1 [104]
Graf–Sánchez Vicario 1988–1996 36 28–8 13 9–4 7 5–2 [105]
Navratilova–Turnbull 1973–1988 34 29–5 4 2–2 0 0 [106]
Court–Casals 1967–1977 33 30–3 6 6–0 1 1–0 [107]
Austin–Navratilova 1977–1983 33 13–20 4 2–2 1 1–0 [108]
Graf–Novotná 1987–1999 33 29–4 11 10–1 1 1–0 [109]
King–Wade 1968–1981 31 22–9 6 5–1 1 0–1 [110]
S. Williams–V. Williams 1998–2020 31 19–12 16 11–5 9 7–2 [111]
Goolagong–Navratilova 1973–1982 27 12–15 4 2–2 1 1–0 [112]
Davenport–V. Williams 1997–2005 27 14–13 9 4–5 3 0–3 [113]
Evert–King[97] 1971–1983 26 19–7 9 6–3 1 0–1 [114]
Evert–Mandlikova 1980–1989 26 19–7 13 10–3 3 3–0 [115]
Davenport–Hingis 1995–2006 25 14–11 4 3–1 2 2–0 [116]
Clijsters–Henin 1998–2010 25 13–12 8 3–5 3 0–3 [117]
Sabatini–Sánchez Vicario 1986–1995 23 12–11 5 2–3 0 0 [118]
Sánchez Vicario–Seles 1989–2002 23 3–20 5 1–4 3 1–2 [119]
Azarenka–S. Williams 2008–2020 23 5–18 11 1–10 2 0–2 [120]
Court–Goolagong[97] 1968–1975 22 17–5 8 6–2 4 3–1 [121]
Evert–Turnbull 1976–1987 22 21–1 6 6–0 2 2–0 [122]
Sharapova–S. Williams 2004–2019 22 2–20 9 1–8 4 1–3 [123]
Evert–Shriver 1978–1988 21 18–3 2 2–0 1 1–0 [124]
Navratilova–Sabatini 1986–1994 21 15-6 4 4–0 0 0 [125]
Novotná–Sánchez Vicario 1987–1998 21 11–10 5 2–3 0 0 [126]
Martínez–Seles 1989–2002 21 1–20 4 0–4 0 0 [127]
Hingis–V. Williams 1997–2006 21 11–10 6 4–2 1 1–0 [128]
Evert–Jaeger 1980–1984 20 17–3 5 4–1 0 0 [129]
Hingis–Seles 1996–2002 20 15–5 7 5–2 0 0 [130]
Henin–Kuznetsova 2003–2011 19 16–3 6 5–1 2 2–0 [131]
Graf–Navratilova 1985–1994 18 9–9 9 4–5 6 4–2 [132]
Martínez–Sánchez Vicario 1992–2002 18 4–14 3 1–2 0 0 [133]
Rybakina–Sabalenka* 2019– 18 8–10 4 2–2 3 2–1 [134]
Austin–Evert 1977–1982 17 8–9 4 1–3 1 1–0 [135]
Navratilova–Seles 1989–1993 17 7–10 2 0–2 1 0–1 [136]
Clijsters–Davenport 2000–2005 17 9–8 6 1–5 0 0 [137]
Hingis–Pierce 1994–2000 16 10–6 4 3–1 1 1–0 [138]
Gauff–Świątek* 2021– 16 5–11 3 0–3 1 0–1 [139]
Goolagong–King 1971–1980 15 4–11 6 1–5 4 0–4 [140]
Jaeger–Navratilova 1980–1983 15 4–11 2 0–2 2 0–2 [141]
Graf–Seles 1989–1999 15 10–5 10 6–4 6 3–3 [142]
Li–Sharapova 2005–2014 15 5–10 5 2–3 0 0 [143]
Azarenka–Sharapova 2007–2015 15 7–8 3 2–1 1 1–0 [144]
Evert–Graf 1985–1989 14 6–8 3 1–2 1 0–1 [145]
Sabatini–Seles 1988–1996 14 3–11 3 0–3 0 0 [146]
Graf–Martínez 1989–1996 14 13–1 6 6–0 0 0 [147]
Capriati–Seles 1990–2002 14 5–9 6 1–5 0 0 [148]
Hingis–Martínez 1995–2001 14 11–3 2 2–0 1 1–0 [149]
Davenport–S. Williams 1997–2005 14 4–10 5 1–4 1 0–1 [150]
Henin–Mauresmo 1999–2007 14 8–6 3 0–3 2 0–2 [151]
Kuznetsova–Safina 2000–2009 14 6–8 3 2–1 1 1–0 [152]
Henin–S. Williams 2001–2010 14 6–8 7 4–3 1 0–1 [153]
Ivanovic–Sharapova 2006–2015 14 4–10 2 1–1 1 0–1 [154]
Pegula–Sabalenka* 2020– 14 4–10 4 0–4 1 0-1 [155]
Court–Evert[a] 1970–1977 13 4–9 3 2–1 1 1–0 [166]
Hingis–S. Williams 1998–2002 13 6–7 3 1–2 1 0–1 [167]
Clijsters–V. Williams 2001–2010 13 7–6 5 3–2 0 0 [168]
Sabalenka–Świątek* 2021– 13 5–8 2 1–1 0 0–0 [169]
Gauff–Sabalenka* 2020– 13 6–7 3 2–1 2 2-0 [170]
Graf–Shriver 1985–1993 12 9–3 6 5–1 0 0 [171]
Hingis–Novotná 1995–1999 12 9–3 4 3–1 1 1–0 [172]
Capriati–Davenport 1997–2003 12 3–9 4 1–3 0 0 [173]
Mauresmo–S. Williams 1999–2008 12 2–10 6 1–5 0 0 [174]
Dementieva–S. Williams 2003–2010 12 5–7 3 0–3 0 0 [175]
Li–S. Williams 2006–2014 12 1–11 4 0–4 0 0 [176]
Close
  1. Evert – Court head-to-head: 1970:,[156] 1972:,[157][158] 1973:,[159] 1975:[160][161][162] 1977[163][164][165]

≈ minimum confirmed (early records are incomplete)

Amateur Era

More information Rivalry, Period ...
RivalryPeriodMeetingsGrand SlamAll matches
Brough Clapp–duPont 1942–1956 40 3–1 25–15
King–Jones[97] 1959–1971 35 7–2 26–9
Court–King[97][177] 1962–1973 32 6–4 22–10
Bingley–Cooper 1893–1901 26 4–1 19–6–1
Court–Bueno[97] 1960–1969 24 5–3 17–6
Lenglen–Ryan 1914–1925 21 5–0 21–0
McKane-Godfree–Ryan 1919–1927 21 2–3 11–10
Mathieu–Sperling 1931–1939 15 0–5 1–14
Jacobs–Round 1929–1939 14 1–3 9–5
Mallory–Wills 1922–1929 13 1–3 6–7
Jacobs–Wills 1925–1933 12 1–6 1–11
Close

See also

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