The 8 men with the most ATP titles after their first 20 finals: Only Rafael Nadal ahead of Jannik Sinner

Shahida Jacobs
Rafael Nadal, Jannik Sinner and Lleyton Hewitt
From left to right: Rafael Nadal, Jannik Sinner and Lleyton Hewitt

Rafael Nadal leads the way for most ATP Tour titles won in his first 20 top-level finals, but do you know how many of those finals he won?

Besides Nadal, tennis’ new superstars Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz also feature on the list for most titles won after 20 finals.

However, both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are missing from the list as the two tennis greats were 12–8 from their first 20 ATP Tour finals

The 8 men with the most ATP titles after 20 finals:

=5. John McEnroe, Gustavo Kuerten, Nikolay Davydenko, Carlos Alcaraz – 15 titles

John McEnroe

American great McEnroe lost his first-ever top-level final as he lost against Tony Roche at Queen’s Club in June 1978. Just over 17 months later McEnroe had played in 20 finals as he won 15 of them, including the 1979 US Open.

His 15th title in his 20th final was in November 1979 on the carpet in London. Astonishingly, he went on to play in another 89 finals and finished his career with 77 titles from 109 finals.

Gustavo Kuerten

Three-time French Open winner Kuerten played in only 29 finals and he won 20 of them. His first ever top-level final was the 1997 French Open, which he won, and he won six of his first 10 finals.

The Brazilian then won nine of his next 10 finals, including titles at Roland Garros in 2000 and 2001.

Nikolay Davydenko

Davydenko peaked at No 3 in the ATP Rankings and he is the only player on the list not to reach a Grand Slam final.

The Russian won his maiden title at the Adelaide International in January 2003 and he reached his 20th final in July 2009 with his best results being two ATP Masters 1000 titles. Davydenko ended up playing in 28 finals, winning 21 trophies.

Carlos Alcaraz

Aged just 21, Alcaraz has already played in 20 finals, winning 15 of them.

In July 2021, he reached and won his maiden ATP Tour final at the Croatia Open and he went on to win his next four finals, including Masters 1000 events in Miami and Madrid in early 2022 to find himself 5-0 in finals. He then lost consecutive finals in Hamburg and Croatia before winning the US Open.

Since then the Spaniard has won two Wimbledon titles and one French Open crown. His 20th final was the Olympic gold medal match against Novak Djokovic, which he lost.

ATP Facts & Stats

The 8 men with 200+ Grand Slam match wins: Novak Djokovic with 377, Rafael Nadal 3rd

The 8 men to pass 10,000 ATP Ranking points as Jannik Sinner joins elite 11,000-point club: Novak Djokovic at No 1

=2. Tomas Enqvist, Lleyton Hewitt, Jannik Sinner – 16 titles

Tomas Enqvist

The Swede won 16 of his first 20 ATP Tour finals and then won only another two tournaments as he finished his career with 19 titles from 26 events.

Enqvist won his first five finals before losing in the Los Angeles final in August 1995. His 20 finals spanned from October 1992 until November 1999 with his toughest defeat the 1999 Australian Open final against Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Lleyton Hewitt

The Australian enjoyed a lot of success as a teenager as he was the youngest world No 1 aged of 20 years, 8 months and 26 days in November 2001, although that record has since been broken by Alcaraz.

Hewitt was 2-3 in his first five finals, but he won 14 of the next 15, including the 2001 US Open and Wimbledon in 2002 with the latter his 16th title in his 20th final.

Jannik Sinner

The Italian was 10-4 in finals at the end of the 2023 season as he lost three finals – including the ATP Finals – last year.

But he started the 2024 season with his maiden Grand Slam at the Australian Open and followed it up with titles in Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati and, finally the US Open.

=1. Rafael Nadal – 17 titles

Interestingly, Rafael Nadal lost his first-ever ATP Final as he finished runner-up to Dominik Hrbaty in the Auckland Open final in January 2004.

He went on to win 16 of his next 17 finals – including French Open titles in 2005 and 2006 – as he was 17–2 before his 20th final.

Final No 20 was against Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2006 and he lost in four sets against the Swiss great.

In case you were wondering, Nadal is 92–39 in finals.