List of tennis rivalries
In tennis history there have been a number of famous rivalries. This is a list of some of the greatest rivalries.[1][2][3][4]
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 one of them must have reached No. 1.
- The players must have met multiple times in semi-finals or finals of a Grand Slam (in pre-Open era also, Pro Slam counts).
- They must have at least a total of 12 career meetings in main tour matches.
Men
| Active rivalries are | highlighted |
Pre-Open Era
| Rivalry | Period | Meetings | Grand Slam | Pro Slam | All Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnston–Tilden | 1919–1927 | 1–6 | 0–0 | ||
| Gonzales–Rosewall | 1957–1970 | 182 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 107–75 |
| Laver–Rosewall | 1963–1976 | 142 [5] | 1–1 | 4–6 | 80–63 |
| Gonzales-Kramer | 1949–1954 | 139 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 38-101 |
| Hoad–Rosewall | 1953–1967 | 70 | 2–2 | 0–5 | 25–45 |
| Emerson–Laver | 1958–1975 | 67 | 2–7 | 0–0 | 18–49 |
| Gonzales–Segura | 1951–1965 | 61 | 0–0 | 8–3 | 38–23 |
| Gonzales–Laver | 1964–1970 | 59 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 21–38 |
Open Era
| Rivalry | Period | All | Grand Slam events | Grand Slam event finals | All finals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meetings | Matches | Meetings | Matches | Meetings | Matches | Meetings | Matches | ||
| Djokovic–Nadal | 2006– | 43 | 20–23 | 12 | 3–9 | 7 | 3–4 | 22 | 12–10 |
| Djokovic–Federer | 2006– | 39* | 18–20 | 12 | 6–6 | 2 | 1–1 | 13 | 7–5* |
| Lendl–McEnroe ** | 1980–1992 | 37 | 21–15 | 10 | 7–3 | 3 | 2–1 | 18 | 7–10 |
| Connors–Lendl | 1979–1992 | 36* | 13–22 | 7 | 3–4 | 2 | 2–0 | 7 | 4–2* |
| Becker–Edberg | 1984–1996 | 35 | 25–10 | 4 | 1–3 | 3 | 1–2 | 16 | 11–5 |
| Connors–McEnroe | 1977–1991 | 35* | 14–20 | 9 | 3–6 | 2 | 1–1 | 15 | 7–7* |
| Agassi–Sampras | 1989–2002 | 34 | 14–20 | 9 | 3–6 | 5 | 1–4 | 16 | 7–9 |
| Federer–Nadal | 2004– | 33 | 10–23 | 11 | 2–9 | 8 | 2–6 | 20 | 6–14 |
| Ferrer–Nadal | 2004– | 29 | 6–23 | 6 | 2–4 | 1 | 0–1 | 8 | 0–8 |
| Edberg–Lendl | 1984–1992 | 27 | 14–13 | 9 | 5–4 | 1 | 0–1 | 7 | 3–4 |
| Federer–Hewitt | 1999– | 27 | 18–9 | 8 | 8–0 | 1 | 1–0 | 5 | 3–2 |
| Djokovic–Murray | 2006– | 26 | 18–8 | 7 | 5–2 | 5 | 3–2 | 11 | 6–5 |
| Federer–Roddick | 2001–2012 | 24 | 21–3 | 8 | 8–0 | 4 | 4–0 | 7 | 7–0 |
| Borg–Connors | 1973–1981 | 23 | 15–8 | 8 | 5–3 | 4 | 2–2 | 13 | 8–5 |
| Connors–Gerulaitis | 1974–1985 | 23 | 17–6 | 3 | 2–1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4–1 |
| Federer–Murray | 2005– | 23 | 12–11 | 5 | 4–1 | 3 | 3–0 | 8 | 5–3 |
| Borg–Vilas | 1973–1980 | 23* | 17–5 | 3 | 3–0 | 2 | 2–0 | 10 | 8–1* |
| Lendl–Wilander | 1982–1994 | 22 | 15–7 | 9 | 5–4 | 5 | 2–3 | 9 | 6–3 |
| Agassi–Chang | 1988–2003 | 22 | 15–7 | 5 | 3–2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3–1 |
| Becker–Lendl | 1985–1993 | 22* | 10–11 | 6 | 5–1 | 3 | 3–0 | 13 | 7–6 |
| Chang–Edberg | 1988–1996 | 21 | 9–12 | 5 | 1–4 | 1 | 1–0 | 4 | 3–1 |
| Davydenko–Federer | 2002–2013 | 21 | 2–19 | 6 | 0–6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0–2 |
| Murray–Nadal | 2007– | 21* | 5–15 | 9 | 2–7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2–1 |
| Edberg–Wilander | 1983–1995 | 20 | 9–11 | 5 | 2–3 | 1 | 1–0 | 5 | 3–2 |
| Courier–Sampras | 1988–1999 | 20 | 4–16 | 8 | 2–6 | 1 | 0–1 | 4 | 0–4 |
| Chang–Sampras | 1989–2001 | 20 | 8–12 | 5 | 1–4 | 1 | 0–1 | 3 | 0–3 |
| Djokovic–Wawrinka | 2006– | 20 | 17–3 | 5 | 4–1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2–1 |
| Becker–Ivanišević | 1990–1998 | 20* | 10–9 | 3 | 1–2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3–0 |
| Becker–Sampras | 1990–1997 | 19 | 7–12 | 3 | 0–3 | 1 | 0–1 | 7 | 1–6 |
| Djokovic–Ferrer | 2004– | 19 | 14–5 | 5 | 5–0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3–0 |
| Ivanišević–Sampras | 1990–1999 | 19* | 6–12 | 5 | 1–4 | 2 | 0–2 | 4 | 1–3 |
| Newcombe–Rosewall | 1970–1974 | 17 | 8–9 | 6 | 3–3 | 1 | 1–0 | 6 | 3–3 |
| Borg–Gerulaitis | 1974–1981 | 17* | 16–0 | 5 | 5–0 | 1 | 1–0 | 7 | 7–0 |
| Rafter–Sampras | 1993–2001 | 16 | 4–12 | 3 | 1–2 | 1 | 0–1 | 5 | 1–4 |
| Borg–Năstase | 1972–1980 | 16* | 10–5 | 3 | 3–0 | 1 | 1–0 | 5 | 2–3 |
| Ashe–Laver | 1959–1976 | 15 | 2–13 | 4 | 0–4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0–2 |
| Connors–Orantes | 1972–1979 | 15 | 12–3 | 3 | 2–1 | 1 | 0–1 | 2 | 0–2 |
| Agassi–Rafter | 1993–2001 | 15 | 10–5 | 7 | 4–3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Laver–Roche | 1968–1972 | 14 | 9–5 | 3 | 3–0 | 2 | 2–0 | 9 | 5–4 |
| Borg–McEnroe | 1978–1981 | 14 | 7–7 | 4 | 1–3 | 4 | 1–3 | 9 | 4–5 |
| Gerulaitis–McEnroe | 1979–1984 | 14 | 3–11 | 2 | 0–2 | 1 | 0–1 | 5 | 1–4 |
| Agassi–Becker | 1988–1999 | 14 | 10–4 | 5 | 4–1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Edberg–Sampras | 1990–1995 | 14 | 6–8 | 2 | 2–0 | 1 | 1–0 | 1 | 1–0 |
| McEnroe–Wilander | 1982–1989 | 13 | 7–6 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1–2 |
| Agassi–Courier | 1989–1996 | 12 | 5–7 | 6 | 2–4 | 1 | 0–1 | 2 | 0–2 |
| Courier–Stich | 1990–1997 | 12 | 5–7 | 4 | 2–2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Agassi–Kafelnikov | 1994–2003 | 12 | 8–4 | 5 | 4–1 | 1 | 1–0 | 2 | 2–0 |
| Federer–Safin | 2001–2009 | 12 | 10–2 | 5 | 4–1 | 1 | 1–0 | 3 | 3–0 |
* – Including walkover or abandoned match (not counted in H2H, same as in the official ATP H2H)
** – Lendl and McEnroe have played two other "finals" (World Team Cup 1984 and 1985), which are team finals. Both matches are counted in their overall H2H. Their finals (and overall meetings) count includes an unfinished final at Stratton mountain in 1987 (not counted in the H2H).
- Source: ATP [6]
Women
| Active rivalries are | highlighted |
Pre-Open Era
| Rivalry | Period | Meetings | Grand Slam | All Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brough Clapp–duPont | 1942–1956 | 40 | 3–1 | 25–15 |
| Court–King | 1962–1973 | 32 | 6–4 | 22–10 |
| Bingley–Cooper | 1893–1901 | ≈ 26 | 4–1 | 19–6–1[7][8] |
| Court–Bueno | 1960–1969 | 24 | 5–3 | 17–6 |
| Wills–Jacobs | 1925–1938 | 12 | 7–1 | 11–1 |
≈ (approximately – early records are incomplete)
Open Era
| Rivalry | Period | All | Grand Slam events | Grand Slam event finals | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meetings | Matches | Meetings | Matches | Meetings | Matches | ||
| Evert–Navratilova | 1973–1988 | 80 | 37–43 | 22 | 8–14 | 14 | 4–10 |
| Evert–Wade | 1971–1982 | 46 | 40–6 | 3 | 2–1 | 0 | 0 |
| Navratilova–Shriver | 1978–1992 | 43 | 40–3 | 9 | 7–2 | 0 | 0 |
| Goolagong–Wade | 1970–1983 | 40 | 30–10 | 6 | 5–1 | 1 | 0–1 |
| Graf–Sabatini | 1985–1995 | 40 | 29–11 | 12 | 11–1 | 3 | 2–1 |
| Evert–Goolagong | 1972–1983 | 39 | 26–13 | 10 | 6–4 | 5 | 3–2 |
| Mandlikova–Navratilova | 1980–1989 | 36 | 7–29 | 10 | 4–6 | 3 | 2–1 |
| Graf–Sánchez-Vicario | 1988–1996 | 36 | 28–8 | 13 | 9–4 | 7 | 5–2 |
| Navratilova–Turnbull | 1973–1988 | 34 | 29–5 | 4 | 2–2 | 0 | 0 |
| Court–Casals | 1967–1977 | 33 | 30–3 | 6 | 6–0 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Austin–Navratilova | 1977–1983 | 33 | 13–20 | 4 | 2–2 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Graf–Novotná | 1987–1999 | 33 | 29–4 | 11 | 10–1 | 1 | 1–0 |
| King–Wade | 1968–1981 | 31 | 22–9 | 6 | 5–1 | 1 | 0–1 |
| Goolagong–Navratilova | 1973–1982 | 27 | 12–15 | 4 | 2–2 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Davenport–V. Williams | 1997–2005 | 27 | 14–13 | 9 | 4–5 | 3 | 0–3 |
| Evert–King | 1971–1983 | 26 | 19–7 | 9 | 6–3 | 1 | 0–1 |
| Evert–Mandlikova | 1980–1989 | 26 | 19–7 | 13 | 10–3 | 3 | 3–0 |
| Davenport–Hingis | 1995–2006 | 25 | 14–11 | 4 | 3–1 | 2 | 2–0 |
| S. Williams–V. Williams | 1998– | 25 | 14–11 | 12 | 7–5 | 8 | 6–2 |
| Clijsters–Henin | 1998–2010 | 25 | 13–12 | 8 | 3–5 | 3 | 0–3 |
| Sabatini–Sánchez-Vicario | 1986–1995 | 23 | 12–11 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 |
| Sánchez-Vicario–Seles | 1989–2002 | 23 | 3–20 | 5 | 1–4 | 3 | 1–2 |
| Court–Goolagong | 1968–1975 | 22 | 17–5 | 8 | 6–2 | 5 | 3–2 |
| Evert–Turnbull | 1976–1987 | 22 | 21–1 | 6 | 6–0 | 2 | 2–0 |
| Evert–Shriver | 1978–1988 | 21 | 18–3 | 2 | 2–0 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Navratilova–Sabatini | 1986–1994 | 21 | 16–5 | 4 | 4–0 | 0 | 0 |
| Novotná–Sánchez-Vicario | 1987–1998 | 21 | 11–10 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 |
| Martínez–Seles | 1989–2002 | 21 | 1–20 | 4 | 0–4 | 0 | 0 |
| Hingis–V. Williams | 1997–2006 | 21 | 11–10 | 6 | 4–2 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Evert–Jaeger | 1980–1984 | 20 | 17–3 | 5 | 4–1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hingis–Seles | 1996–2002 | 20 | 15–5 | 7 | 5–2 | 0 | 0 |
| Henin–Kuznetsova | 2003–2011 | 19 | 16–3 | 6 | 5–1 | 2 | 2–0 |
| Sharapova–S. Williams | 2004– | 19 | 2–17 | 6 | 1–5 | 4 | 1–3 |
| Graf–Navratilova | 1985–1994 | 18 | 9–9 | 9 | 4–5 | 6 | 4–2 |
| Martínez–Sánchez-Vicario | 1992–2002 | 18 | 4–14 | 3 | 1–2 | 0 | 0 |
| Austin–Evert | 1977–1982 | 17 | 9–8 | 4 | 1–3 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Navratilova–Seles | 1989–1993 | 17 | 7–10 | 2 | 0–2 | 1 | 0–1 |
| Clijsters–Davenport | 2000–2005 | 17 | 9–8 | 6 | 1–5 | 0 | 0 |
| Azarenka–S. Williams | 2008– | 17 | 3–14 | 8 | 0–8 | 2 | 0–2 |
| Davenport–Mauresmo | 1998–2006 | 16 | 12–4 | 2 | 1–1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hingis–Pierce | 1994–2000 | 16 | 10–6 | 4 | 3–1 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Goolagong–King | 1971–1980 | 15 | 4–11 | 6 | 1–5 | 4 | 0–4 |
| Jaeger–Navratilova | 1980–1983 | 15 | 4–11 | 2 | 0–2 | 2 | 0–2 |
| Graf–Seles | 1989–1999 | 15 | 10–5 | 10 | 6–4 | 6 | 3–3 |
| Li–Sharapova | 2005–2014 | 15 | 5–10 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 |
| Sabatini–Seles | 1988–1996 | 14 | 3–11 | 3 | 0–3 | 0 | 0 |
| Graf–Martínez | 1989–1996 | 14 | 13–1 | 6 | 6–0 | 0 | 0 |
| Capriati–Seles | 1990–2002 | 14 | 5–9 | 6 | 1–5 | 0 | 0 |
| Hingis–Martínez | 1995–2001 | 14 | 11–3 | 2 | 2–0 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Davenport–S. Williams | 1997–2005 | 14 | 4–10 | 5 | 1–4 | 1 | 0–1 |
| Henin–Mauresmo | 1999–2007 | 14 | 8–6 | 3 | 0–3 | 2 | 0–2 |
| Kuznetsova–Safina | 2000–2009 | 14 | 6–8 | 3 | 2–1 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Henin–S. Williams | 2001–2010 | 14 | 6–8 | 7 | 4–3 | 1 | 0–1 |
| Ivanovic–Sharapova | 2006– | 14 | 4–10 | 2 | 1–1 | 1 | 0–1 |
| Azarenka–Sharapova | 2007– | 14 | 7–7 | 3 | 2–1 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Evert–Court[lower-alpha 1] | 1970–1977 | 13 | 9–4 | 3 | 1–2 | 1 | 0–1 |
| Evert–Graf | 1985–1989 | 13 | 6–7 | 3 | 1–2 | 1 | 0–1 |
| Hingis–S. Williams | 1998–2002 | 13 | 6–7 | 3 | 1–2 | 1 | 0–1 |
| Clijsters–V. Williams | 2001–2011 | 13 | 7–6 | 5 | 3–2 | 0 | 0 |
| Graf–Shriver | 1985–1993 | 12 | 9–3 | 6 | 5–1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hingis–Novotná | 1995–1999 | 12 | 9–3 | 4 | 3–1 | 1 | 1–0 |
| Capriati–Davenport | 1997–2003 | 12 | 3–9 | 4 | 1–3 | 0 | 0 |
| Mauresmo–S. Williams | 1999–2008 | 12 | 2–10 | 6 | 1–5 | 0 | 0 |
| Dementieva–S. Williams | 2003–2010 | 12 | 5–7 | 3 | 0–3 | 0 | 0 |
| Li–S. Williams | 2006–2014 | 12 | 1–11 | 4 | 0–4 | 0 | 0 |
- Source: WTA[19]
See also
Notes
References
- ↑ Gerald Marzorati (August 23, 2011). "The Fierce Intimacy of Tennis Rivalries". The New York Times.
- ↑ "Ten great tennis rivalries". www.independent.ie. Independent.ie. 8 July 2008.
- ↑ Thomas Golianopoulos (June 20, 2011). "Tennis's 10 Greatest Rivalries". GQ.com.
- ↑ "Two to tango". www.guardian.com. The Observer. 28 June 2009.
- ↑ "'Rafa' and the 'Djoker': the new great rivalry of tennis". 2 February 2012. Sydney Morning Herald Newspaper. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ↑ "ATP Tour – Head to head". www.atpworldtour.com. ATP.
- ↑ "Pastime magazines". 1893–1895.
- ↑ "Lawn Tennis and Badminton magazines". 1896–1901.
- ↑ "Excerpts from Chrissie: My Own Story by Chris Evert Lloyd with Neil Amdur, 1982, Simon and Schuster, NY, Early Years Pages 19-25". tennis.quickfound.net. quickfound.net. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ "Evert Goolagong Battle to Final". 13 August 1972. The Lowell Sun Newspaper. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ "Bonny Rematch For Two Belles". 7 August 1972. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ "Courts Grand Slam hopes shattered". 5 July 1973. Beckley Post Herald Newspaper. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ "Chris Evert beats Margaret Court". 10 February 1975. Montreal Gazette Newspaper. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ "Margaret Court and Evert Compete". 15 March 1975. The Gallup Independent from Gallup, New Mexico · Page 5. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ "WTA tournament archive – 1975 New York draws" (PDF). www.wtatennis.com. WTA.
- ↑ "Tennis-List of French Open women's singles champions". 24 May 2014. Reuters. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ "Chris Evert beats Margaret Court". 14 February 1977. Sarosta Hearld News Paper. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ "Chris Evert vs Margaret Court Head To Head Evert H2H Stats & Matches". stevegtennis.com. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ "WTA Tour – Head to head". www.wtatennis.com. WTA.
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