Nole recently became the first player to spend 400 weeks as the world number one.
GOAT stands for “Greatest Of All Time,” an acronym that pundits often use to describe athletes at the peak of their abilities in various sports. It’s a way of expressing the feeling that comes with watching something extraordinary on the field. Especially in an individual sport, as opposed to a team sport, the athlete who emerges victorious from the field can easily be called the “GOAT.”
As tennis is the most popular individual sport in the world, the word “GOAT” is often used to describe him. Even more so in the last 20 years, as the world has seen an increase in the number of outstanding athletes in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. In the men’s division, it was known as the era of the “Big Three” due to the dominance of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer.
The most coveted titles on the ATP Tour calendar each year are the Masters, the Grand Slam events and the year-ending event, the ATP Finals. These are collectively known as the “Major Titles”, along with the Summer Olympics held every four years.
In this article, we will take a closer look at the numbers to see who has the most championship titles among tennis greats: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer.
Grand Slam Titles
Novak Djokovic – 24
Rafael Nadal – 22
Roger Federer – 20
The Grand Slam tournaments are the most important tournaments in tennis. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have won 65 of the 80 Grand Slam singles finals that have taken place since Federer’s first Grand Slam victory.
The tennis community is well aware that Nadal is a completely different animal on the clay courts of Roland Garros. The Spaniard holds the record for most Grand Slam wins, with 14 French Open titles. His aggressive style of play has made him injury-prone, which is why he has only won two and four hard-court championships in Australia and the US. In addition to his two consecutive Wimbledon championships, the left-handed player has 22 Grand Slam titles to his name.
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One of the most beautiful spectacles was Federer’s perseverance and love for the grass courts of Wimbledon. The Swiss champion has won eight Wimbledon titles. Clay courts have been a long-standing obstacle for Federer, who won his only title in 2009. Fans at the Australian Open and US Open were treated to his victory, taking his total to 11 titles.
The hard courts of Kangaroo Land became Djokovic’s first love, where he won a record ten Australian Open titles. The Serb won multiple Grand Slams each year in the second half of the last decade. With three French Open titles, seven Wimbledon Championships and five US Open titles, the 36-year-old leads the rankings with 24 titles.
ATP 1000 Champion
Novak Djokovic – 40
Rafael Nadal – 36
Roger Federer – 28
Since its introduction in 1990, the ATP Masters 1000 has been an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the highest-ranked players on the ATP Tour. Most Masters finals were played in best-of-five sets until 2007, when all events were decided in best-of-five sets from 2008 onwards.
Djokovic has won the most titles with 40. In 2018, he became the first player to complete the Career Golden Masters, which refers to a player who has won all nine Masters singles titles. The Cincinnati Masters was an elusive title, which he won by defeating Roger Federer. He also completed a second Career Golden Masters in 2020.
Rafael Nadal is second with 36 titles, most of which have come on clay courts. But no disrespect to the left-handed player, he has been just as competitive on other courts around the world. If he had avoided injury, the world would have seen more “Bit The Title” celebrations during post-match ceremonies. His arch-rival, Federer, with his unique and elegant style, has won 28 ATP Masters 1000 titles. That may seem like a small number, but he has played some of the best matches.
ATP Finals
Novak Djokovic – 7
Rafael Nadal – 0
Roger Federer – 6
The season-ending ATP Tour Championships are called the ATP Finals. After the four majors, it is the most important tournament on the men’s tennis calendar, with the top eight singles players and top eight doubles players competing based on their season results. Nadal has never won a title, losing to Federer and Djokovic once in the two finals he has played in as many years.
Roger Federer has had some historic clashes with legends like Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbadian in the past. With six titles to his name, he led the table until 2023. “Juggernaut” Djoker overtook “Fedex Express” to become the first man to win seven ATP Finals titles, beating Jannik Sinner on home soil in Turin.
The 2023 finals showed once again that Djokovic can take his game to the next level when the pressure is on.
Olympics
Novak Djokovic – 1
Rafael Nadal – 1
Roger Federer – 0
While Nadal may not win any ATP finals, he did win a coveted singles gold medal that neither of his counterparts had in their lockers ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. It was the yellow Olympic metal that the Spaniard won in Beijing in 2008. He then went on to win the men’s doubles gold medal in 2016, a feat that Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka achieved in Beijing. However, a singles medal eluded the Swiss maestro.
Roger Federer came close to winning one in 2012, when the tournament was held on his favorite grass courts of Wimbledon. He was stopped by Andy Murray, who was determined to win on his home court. On the other hand, Novak Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Olympic Games in Paris, winning the prestigious gold medal.
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