Jannik Sinner’s current hard-court run compared with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic’s best streaks
It is nearly a full year since Jannik Sinner last lost a match on a hard-court surface so how does his current streak compare to Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray’s longest unbeaten runs on the surface?
The Italian continued his hot streak at the Cincinnati Open as he defeated Gabriel Diallo 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) in the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament to take his winning run to 23 matches on hard courts.
The last time the world No 1 lost on the surface was in the final of the China Open last September when Carlos Alcaraz beat him 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to lift the trophy.
Since then, the four-time Grand Slam winner has notched up 23 consecutive wins with the unbeaten run starting at the Shanghai Masters in October as he won six matches in a row – including the final against Djokovic.
That was followed by the ATP Finals title run as he won five matches in a row, defeating Taylor Fritz in the final, to take his unbeaten tally to 11 before he finished the 2024 season with three wins at the Davis Cup finals as he steered Italy to the successful defence of their title.
Fourteen unbeaten matches became 21 as he won seven matches during his Australian Open title run on the hard courts of Melbourne Park in January.
Sinner was then banned from February until the start of May due to his two failed doping tests in March 2024 and, as a result, he missed the hard-court Sunshine Double at Indian Wells and Miami.
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After the clay and grass-court seasons, it is back to hard courts in North America and Sinner kicked off his Cincinnati Open campaign with a win over Daniel Elahi Galan before beating Diallo to go 23 not out.
So how does his record stack up when compared to the Big Four of Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and Murray?
Roger Federer – 56
Sinner will need to win a few more hard-court tournaments if he is to come close to Federer’s record of 56 match wins in a row, with that particular run starting at the 2005 Rotterdam Open and ending at the 2006 Dubai Tennis Championships.
Federer won eight consecutive titles – including the 2005 US Open and 2006 Australian Open – before his run was ended by Rafael Nadal in February 2006 in the Dubai final.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner’s two other hard-court streaks are also longer than Sinner’s current 23 as he won 36 in a row from the 2006 US Open until the 2007 Dubai Tennis Championships while he also enjoyed a 26-match winning run between 2004 and 2005.
Novak Djokovic – 35
Federer’s fellow great, Djokovic, had his longest unbeaten run on hard courts from December 2010 until August 2011.
His first win of the streak started at the Davis Cup as he steered Serbia to the title with victory over France and in 2011 he won the Australian Open, Dubai Tennis Championships, Indian Wells Open, Miami Open and Canada Open before losing in the final of the Cincinnati Open against Andy Murray.
His other long streaks on hard courts are 29, 26 and 23.
Rafael Nadal – 30
Despite being known as the King of Clay, Nadal was quite good on hard courts as he went unbeaten on the surface from March 2012 until October 2013.
The Spaniard won the 2012 Miami Open and then didn’t play again on hard courts until March the following year due to injury, returning with a title run at the Indian Wells Open. That was followed by trophies at the Canadian Open, Cincinnati Open and US Open.
He reached the final of the China Open, but was beaten by Djokovic.
Andy Murray – 28
The three-time Grand Slam winner’s streak also started at the Davis Cup as he secured a singles win during the semi-final victory against Argentina in 2016.
That was followed by titles at the China Open, Shanghai Masters, in Vienna, at the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals in an incredible finish to the 2016 season.
Murray kicked his 2017 campaign with a run to the final in Doha, but his winning streak was ended by Djokovic in the final.
