13 players with the longest-winning streaks in men’s tennis: Roger Federer 6th

The best of the best in men’s tennis all feature on the list of players with the longest unbeaten runs in the Open Era, but who holds the overall record?

Six players on the list have managed to win 40+ matches in a row, four have managed 30+ matches and three have a winning streak of more than 20 matches.

DISCLAIMER: Players feature only once with their longest-winning streak taken into account. Example: Bjorn Born has six winning streaks of 19+ matches, but only his longest run is used.

= 12. Jose Luis Clerc and Andy Murray – 28 matches

José Luis Clerc

Batata – as José Luis Clerc was known – is the only player on the list who didn’t win a Grand Slam with his best performances a couple of runs to the semi-final of the French Open.

The former world no 4’s 28-match run started at the Davis Cup in July 1981 and he won titles at Boston, Washington, North Conway and Indianapolis before losing in the fourth round of the US Open.

Andy Murray

Three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray emulated Clerc’s 28-match run across the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Murray kicked off his streak with a couple of wins at the 2016 Davis Cup semi-finals in September and followed it up with titles at the China Open, Shanghai Masters, Vienna Open, Paris Masters and the ATP Finals.

His run at the backend of the 2016 season helped him to pip Novak Djokovic to the year-end No 1 run, but it was the same Serbian who ended his unbeaten streak in Doha in January 2016.

11. Rod Laver – 29 matches

The great Rod Laver’s best-ever season was in 1969 as he won the Calendar Grand Slam and unsurprisingly that was also the year during which he enjoyed a 29-match winning streak.

But his unbeaten run only contains two of the Grand Slams as the streak started at Wimbledon when he beat Nicola Pietrangeli in the first round.

After winning Wimbledon, he also won titles in Boston, St Louis, New York and Maryland before wrapping up the title run at the 1969 US Open.

Raymond Moore was the man to end his run as he defeated the Australian in Los Angeles in September 1969.

READ MORE: Seven tennis facts that sound fake, but are real: Novak Djokovic hasn’t won a set on grass against Andy Murray

10. Rafael Nadal – 32 matches

22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal’s streak started on the clay in Hamburg in May 2008 and finished on the hard courts in Cincinnati in June.

The Spaniard kicked off his run with a straight-set win over Potito Starace in Germany and he followed up his Hamburg Masters title with trophies at Roland Garros, Queen’s Club, Wimbledon and Canada.

It is worth mentioning that he defeated Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in the French Open final and backed it up with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-7 (8-9), 9-7 win in an epic Wimbledon final.

9. Ilie Nastase – 33 matches

Former world No 1 Illie Nastase – one of 10 players to have won more than 100 total ATP titles across both singles and doubles – set his record in 1972.

The Romanian kicked off his stint in the Davis Cup qualifiers in July and he won the Düsseldorf Grand Prix, Rothmans Canadian Open, South Orange Open, US Open and the Rainier International Tennis Classic.

His run was ended by Roscoe Tanner at the Los Angeles WCT in September 1972.

Nastase also had a 30-match winning streak in 1973.

8. Thomas Muster – 35 matches

The 1995 tennis season was a truly memorable one for Thomas Muster as he won his only Grand Slam title at the French Open.

The Austrian’s 35-match winning streak started at Estoril in April and he also won titles at Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Rome before going all the way at Roland Garros.

He followed up his major title with another trophy at St. Poelten before losing in the opening round in Gstaad against Alex Corretja.

7. Jimmy Connors – 37 matches

The Jimmy Connors 37-match unbeaten run started at the Arkansas International Tennis Tournament in February 1974 and ended in Nottingham in June.

The American won four consecutive titles on carpet, two hard-court titles and one grass-court tournament before he came unstuck against Stan Smith.

The following year Connors went on another crazy run, this time he won 36 matches between January and June.

6. Roger Federer – 41 matches

Swiss Maestro Federer just missed out on the joint-fifth place for the longest winning streak with Guillermo Guillermo Canas the man to deny him at the 2007 Indian Wells Open.

After losing against the 21st-ranked Andy Murray in the second round of the 2006 Cincinnati Open, Federer went on a glorious 41-match unbeaten run.

His first win was a straight-set victory over Jimmy Wang at the US Open – a tournament he went on to win. He then won a couple of Davis Cup matches, the Japan Open, the Madrid Open, the Swiss Indoors Basel, the Shanghai Masters, the 2007 Australian Open and the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Federer’s second-best streak is 35 matches, which started in June 2005 and ended in November of that year.

5. John McEnroe – 42 matches

John McEnroe finished his career with a match record of 875–198 (81.55%) and 42 of those wins came consecutively between January and May 1984.

The American won the Volvo Masters in New York in 1984 (technically it was the 1983 Masters, but it was played in January the following year). He also won titles in Philadelphia, Richmond, Madrid, Brussels and Forest Hills.

His run ended in the final at Roland Garros as Ivan Lendl defeated him 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5.

4. Novak Djokovic – 43 matches

Novak Djokovic started his incredible run at the 2010 Davis Cup final as he helped Serbia to defeat France to win their first and only title date.

Gilles Simon is the first name on the list of players Djokovic beat during his run with another Frenchman in Richard Gasquet victim No 43.

The tennis great’s unbeaten streak was ended by Roger Federer in the semi-final of the 2011 French Open. Besides the 2010 Davis Cup, Djokovic also won the Australian Open, Dubai Tennis Championships, Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Serbia Open, Madrid Open and Italian Open during his run.

He also has two 28-match winning streaks which came across the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and the 2015 campaign.

3. Ivan Lendl – 44 matches

Czech-American Ivan Lendl’s record stretches across the 1981 and 1982 tennis seasons.

The first win of the streak came in September 1981 as he went on to win the Madrid title. Trophies in Barcelona, Basel, Vienna and Cologne followed before he was beaten in the semi-final in Buenos Aires by Pedro Rebolledo.

The former world No 1 also has a 31-match win streak (1985), a 29-match streak (1985-86), a 26-match streak (1986), a 25-match streak (1985), a 21-match streak (1990) and a 20-match streak (1985).

2. Guillermo Vilas – 46 matches

Four-time Grand Slam winner Guillermo Vilas achieved his feat during the 1977 season.

The Argentine started his streak against Alvin Gardiner in July at Kitzbuhel and he won seven consecutive titles before his run was ended at Aix en Provence in November when he retired from the final against Guillermo Vilas.

Vilas’ unbeaten run also included the 1977 US Open title when he beat Jimmy Connors 2–6, 6–3, 7–6 (7–4), 6–0 in the final.

After his 46-match run came to an end, Vilas went on another 28-match streak later in the year.

1. Bjorn Borg – 49 matches

The legendary Bjorn Borg started his winning streak in March 1978 during the Davis Cup preliminary rounds and his unbeaten streak was ended in the US Open final that year as he won 4–6, 2–6, 2–6 against Jimmy Connors.

During that spell, he won six titles – including the French Open, Wimbledon and Italian Open – defeating top players like Connors, Vitas Gerulaitis and Guillermo Vilas.

The “Ice Man” also holds the official record for the second-longest winning streak as he won 48 matches in a row between 1979 and 1980. He also has two spells of 31 (1977 and 1979) and one 26-match winning streak (1977), a 21-match winning streak (1980) and a 19-match winning streak (1976).