The 7 men with the best tie-break records: Novak Djokovic with 66.3%, John Isner with most tie-breaks won
John Isner has played and won the most tie-breaks in men’s tennis history while Novak Djokovic has the best winning percentage.
Of those who have played a minimum of 200 tie-breakers in their careers, 11 players have a winning percentage of 60% and above with Rafael Nadal (60.6%), Ivan Lendl (60.4%), Milos Raonic (60.4%) and David Nalbandian (60%) missing out on the top seven spots.
Argentine Guillermo Perez-Roldan also has a winning record above 60%, but the former world No 9 played only 116 tie-breakers with his record 72-44.
Of course, some greats from yesteryear are impacted by the fact that the tie-breakers were only introduced years after the sport turned professional.
Of the current crop, Carlos Alcaraz has a 61.1% record in tie-breaks with a career record of 69-44 while Jannik Sinner sits on 60.9% with a win-loss record of 81-52.
The 7 men with the best tie-break records:
7. John McEnroe – 61.8%
Seven-time Grand Slam winner John McEnroe had a singles career win-loss of 883–198, but ATP history books show he only played 306 tie-breakers during his illustrious career.
He finished his career with a record of 189-117 in tie-breakers.
6. Andy Roddick – 62.1%
Andy Roddick was known for getting out of trouble by sending down some big serves and unsurprisingly he had an excellent record in tie-breakers.
The 2003 US Open champion won 303 of the 488 tie-breakers he played during his 12-year singles career. In case you were wondering, his overall win-loss record was 612–213 (74.2%).
Facts & Stats Features
The 8 men with 200+ Grand Slam match wins: Novak Djokovic with 377, Rafael Nadal 3rd
5. Pete Sampras – 62.8%
Pete Sampras was also the master of getting out of tight situations by using one of his biggest weapons: his serve.
The 14-time Grand Slam winner played exactly 522 tie-breakers and he won 328 of them.
4. Andres Gomes – 63.2%
Ecuadorian legend Andres Gomez dominated on the clay courts with his only Grand Slam coming at the 1990 French Open when he beat Andre Agassi in the final. Interestingly, he played only three tie-breakers en route to the title with all three coming in the first two rounds.
Gomez finished with a 182-106 win-loss record in tie-breakers.
3. Arthur Ashe – 65%
The legendary Arthur Ashe is one of three players to win 65% of their tie-breakers with the American’s record standing at 165-89.
Three-time Grand Slam winner Ashe is one of those impacted by the tie-breakers only being introduced later.
2. Roger Federer – 65.4%
Roger Federer missed out on 500 tie-breaker wins as he finished his career with a 466–247 win-loss record.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner, though, is second behind Isner for most tie-breakers played with 713.
1. Novak Djokovic – 66.3%
Yet another feather in the cap of Novak Djokovic as he has won 334 of his 504 tie-breakers, which says a lot of his mental strength when the heat is on.
Here is one bonus stat for you that has nothing to do with tie-breakers, but everything about the Serbian’s mentality.
Djokovic also has the best record in five-set matches as he has a 78.4% (40–11) winning record.
