The 7 men with the worst win rate in ATP Tour finals: ft. Frenchman with a 0-10 record
There are seven men in the Open Era who hold a win rate of 25% or lower having contested at least 10 finals on the ATP Tour.
Here are the players with the worst records in title matches on the men’s tour.
7. Xavier Malisse – 25% (3-9)
Xavier Malisse reached all 12 of his career finals at the equivalent of ATP 250 level and finished with a 3-9 record.
The Belgian’s losses came in: Mexico City (1998), Delray Beach (1999, 2001 and 2006), Atlanta (2001), St. Polten (2004), Lyon (2004), Adelaide (2006) and Chennai (2011).
Malisse overcame Jiri Novak (Delray Beach, 2005), Stefan Koubek (Chennai, 2007) and James Blake (Delray Beach, 2007) to win his three titles.
His finals record by surface is: 3-4 on hard, 0-4 on clay and 0-1 on carpet.
Malisse reached the last four at Wimbledon in 2002 and peaked at 19th in the world in August 2002.
=5. Olivier Rochus – 20% (2-8)
Olivier Rochus compiled a 2-8 record from the 10 ATP singles finals he reached, which were all at ATP 250 level.
The Belgian tasted defeat in: Copenhagen (2002 and 2003), Auckland (2005 and 2012), Mumbai (2007), Stockholm (2009) and Newport (2010 and 2011).
Rochus defeated Diego Nargiso to win his maiden title in Palermo in 2000 and saw off Kristof Vliegen to collect his second in Munich in 2006.
His finals record by surface is: 2-0 on clay, 0-2 on grass and 0-6 on hard.
Rochus’ best Grand Slam results are making the last 16 at the Australian Open (2005), Wimbledon (2003) and the US Open (2004), while he reached his highest ranking of 29th in July 2004.
=5. Byron Black – 20% (2-8)
Byron Black won two of his eight ATP Tour championships matches. Two of his defeats came at the equivalent of ATP 500 level against Andrei Pavel at the 1998 Japan Open and Magnus Larsson at the 2000 Memphis Open.
The Zimbabwean lost six 250 level finals: Adelaide (1996), New Dehli (1996), Hong Kong (1998), Nottingham (1998 and 2000) and Moscow (1999).
He secured his two titles at 250 level, downing Martin Damm to win the 1996 Seoul Open and Rainer Schuttler to win the 1999 Chennai Open.
His finals record by surface is: 2-5 on hard, 0-2 on grass and 0-1 on carpet.
Black was ranked as high as 22nd in April 1996, while he was a quarter-finalist at the US Open (1995) and Wimbledon (2000).
Facts & Stats Features
The 7 men with the best win rate in ATP Tour finals: Novak Djokovic on 69.7%, Rafael Nadal 6th
The 5 greatest men’s Grand Slam duopolies: Alcaraz & Sinner with 7 straight majors
4. Karl Meiler – 17.6% (3-14)
Karl Meiler finished his career with a 3-14 record from the 17 finals he contested (he reached 18 finals and claimed four titles but received a walkover from Manuel Orantes in the 1977 Manilla final, so this does not count towards the statistics).
The German’s final defeats were in: Salisbury (1973), Berlin (1973), Hamburg (1973), Raonoke (1974), Little Rock (1974), Jackson (1974), Washington (1974), Oslo (1974), Nassau (1975), Munich (1975 and 1976), Gstaad (1975), Brussels (1977) and Florence (1979).
Meiler won his finals in Buenos Aires (1972), Omaha (1974) and Calgary (1974), beating Guillermo Vilas, Jimmy Connors and Byron Bertram respectively.
His finals record by surface is: 2-4 on hard, 1-7 on clay and 0-3 on carpet
Meiler reached the semi-finals of the 1973 Australian Open and peaked at 20th in the rankings in August 1973.
3. Jarkko Nieminen – 15.38% (2-11)
Jarkko Nieminen reached all 13 of his finals at ATP 250 level and amassed a 2-11 record, with his losses coming in: Stockholm (2001, 2006 and 2011), Estoril (2002), Mallorca (2002), Munich (2003), Basel (2007), Adelaide (2008), Sydney (2009), Bangkok (2010) and Dusseldorf (2013).
The Finn claimed his titles by beating Mario Ancic in the 2006 Auckland final and Julien Benneteau in the 2012 Sydney final.
His finals record by surface is: 2-7 on hard and 0-4 on clay.
Nieminen was a quarter-finalist at the US Open (2005), Wimbledon (2006) and the Australian Open (2008) and reached a career-best ranking of 13th in July 2006.
2. Pat Dupre – 10% (1-9)
Pat Dupre lost his first nine finals, winning only four sets in the process, with his defeats coming in: Mexico City (1978), Tulsa (1978), Tokyo (1978 and 1979), Hong Kong (1978 and 1979), Lafayette (1979) and Taipei (1979 and 1981).
The American claimed his only singles title in his last-ever final at the 1982 Hong Kong Classic, beating Morris Strode 6-3, 6-3.
His finals record by surface is: 1-4 on hard, 0-2 on clay and 0-3 on carpet.
Dupre was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 1979 and reached a career-high ranking of 14th in June 1980.
1. Julien Benneteau – 0% (0-10)
Julien Benneteau holds the unwanted distinction of being the only man to play 10 tour level finals and finish their career without securing a title.
In his biggest career final, Benneteau lost to Juan Martin del Potro at the 2013 Rotterdam Open, an ATP 500 event.
The Frenchman lost his other nine finals at ATP 250 level: Casablanca (2008), Lyon (2008), Kitzbuhel (2009), Marseille (2010), Winston-Salem (2011), Sydney (2012) and Kuala Lumpur (2012, 2013 and 2014).
Benneteau held a match point against against Joao Sousa in the 2013 Kuala Lumpur final before agonisingly losing 6-2, 5-7, 4-6.
His finals record by surface is: 0-7 on hard, 0-2 on clay and 0-1 on carpet.
Benneteau’s best Grand Slam result was reaching the French Open quarter-finals in 2006, while he peaked at 25th in the world in November 2014.