The 10 best ATP Tour players of the 21st Century – ranked!
Who is the best ATP Tour player of the 21st Century?
It is a debate that will likely continue to evolve over the next 70+ years, but with a quarter of the century done, it has once again gained significant traction.
Here, we tackle the subject head on – by ranking our 10 best ATP Tour players of the century, which we are taking as 2000 onwards.
We are only factoring achievements completed since the start of the 2000 season, looking at a variety of factors.
Grand Slam success is a significant factor, though we also include other factors, including overall titles, ranking, the strength and depth of a player’s era, and overall impact.
10) Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev is probably best remembered for his stunning US Open triumph in 2021, though the Russian has put together an impressive career even outside of that victory.
The 29-year-old has spent 16 weeks as the world No 1 and has won 20 career ATP titles overall, including six Masters 1000 triumphs and an ATP Finals victory in 2020.
With five further Grand Slam finals, and two Wimbledon semi-finals to his name, Medvedev is undoubtedly one of the leading players of his era.
9) Stan Wawrinka
Almost out of nowhere, ATP stalwart Wawrinka took the tour by storm with a string of stunning results in the mid-2010s, highlighted by three Grand Slam titles.
The Swiss triumphed at the 2014 Australian Open but proved he was no ‘one-hit wonder’ with victories at the 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open, with a further Roland Garros runner-up finish to his name.
Wawrinka reached a career-high of world No 3 in one of the most challenging eras of men’s tennis, and has won 16 ATP Tour titles overall.
8) Lleyton Hewitt
Hewitt’s peak saw him dominate the ATP Tour for a significant spell in the early 2000s, highlighted by the Australian’s impressive 80 overall weeks as the world No 1.
The Australian triumphed at the US Open in 2001 and at Wimbledon in 2002, with further Grand Slam runner-up finishes to his name in New York, and at his home Grand Slam Down Under.
Twenty-eight of Hewitt’s ATP titles came from the start of 2000, including two Masters 1000 titles, and back-to-back ATP Finals triumphs in 2001 and 2002.
7) Jannik Sinner
Sinner will likely surge up this countdown in the years to come, though the Italian’s on-court prowess is already impressive.
Despite his three-month ban, the 23-year-old has spent 60 weeks (and counting) atop the ATP Rankings, with four Grand Slam titles – and a further runner-up finish – to his name since the start of 2024.
Alongside his US Open, Wimbledon, and two Australian Open titles, he has four Masters 1000 titles and an ATP Finals crown to his name, with an impressive 20 ATP Tour titles already in his trophy cabinet.
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6) Andre Agassi
Though most of his success came in the 1990s, tennis icon Agassi still found huge success across the early-to-mid 2000s, before his retirement in 2006.
Agassi won Australian Open titles in 2000, 2001, and 2003, alongside a further two US Open runner-up finishes, and two Wimbledon semi-finals at the turn of the century.
The American won 16 titles from the start of the 2000 season, including seven Masters 1000 crowns, and was ranked as the world No 1 across three separate spells in the early part of the decade.
5) Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz is only 22 years of age, but has already forged a career for the ages in recent years, highlighted by an impressive five Grand Slam titles.
The Spaniard has two Wimbledon titles, two French Open titles, and a US Open title to his name, alongside a further runner-up finish at Wimbledon this summer.
He is already the winner of 21 ATP Tour titles, including seven at Masters 1000 level, and has so far spent an impressive 36 weeks atop the ATP Rankings.
4) Andy Murray
Murray is often sighted as a player who could have won more major titles in a different era, though that conversation often diminishes his still-remarkable achievements.
The Brit lifted the US Open title in 2012 and won Wimbledon in both 2012 and 2016, alongside eight further Grand Slam runner-up finishes, and won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in London and Rio.
Murray claimed a strong haul of 46 ATP Tour titles overall, including 14 at Masters level and the ATP Finals in 2016, while also reigning as the world No 1 for 41 weeks.
3) Roger Federer
Few have dominated the sport quite like Federer did during the mid-2000s, and the Swiss has undoubtedly sealed his place as an all-time great of the sport.
Federer won 20 Grand Slam singles titles in total, including eight at Wimbledon and six at the Australian Open, and his 310 weeks as the world No 1 is the second-most in ATP Rankings history.
The Swiss won a staggering 103 ATP Tour titles overall, including 28 Masters 1000 titles and six ATP Finals titles, and helped usher in arguably the greatest era of men’s tennis history.
2) Rafael Nadal
‘King of Clay’ Nadal is so often defined by his dominance on the dirt, with the Spaniard winning 14 French Open titles and 63 clay-court titles overall across his career.
However, the Spaniard won a staggering 22 Grand Slam titles overall – completing the Career Grand Slam – and spent an impressive 209 weeks as the ATP world No 1 across his career.
With a total of 92 ATP titles won, including Olympic gold in Beijing and 36 Masters 1000 titles, Nadal’s place as one of the greatest tennis players of all time is more than secured.
1) Novak Djokovic
With so many records to his name, Djokovic has cemented his place as not only the greatest male player of the 21st century, but probably of all time.
The Serbian is the only man to ever win 24 Grand Slam titles, including an Open Era record of 10 Australian Open titles, and is one of just three men in the Open Era to win 100 ATP titles.
Djokovic holds a record 428 weeks as the world No 1 and a record 40 Masters 1000 titles, and is the only man to win every Grand Slam event three times.
With countless other records not even mentioned in this list, Djokovic is the clear No 1 on our countdown.
Honourable mentions
Andy Roddick: Former world No 1 Roddick won an impressive 32 ATP Tour titles overall, with his 2003 US Open win followed by four further Grand Slam runner-up finishes.
Marat Safin: Safin won the 2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open titles, with a further five Masters 1000 titles to his name across the early 2000s.
Juan Martin del Potro: The ‘Tower of Tandil’ overcame relentless injury issues to reach world No 3 and win the 2009 US Open, winning 22 ATP Tour titles overall.
Pete Sampras: Sampras only won three titles post-2000, though that includes triumphs at Wimbledon in 2000 and at the 2002 US Open, the final tournament of his career.
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