John McEnroe’s 96.47% record still stands. Can Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner eclipse it?
John McEnroe’s 1984 season remains statistically the best-ever in tennis and the likes of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have tried and failed to break that record.
So, what are the chances that current ATP stars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will better the American’s incredible feat in the near future? Renowned coach Patrick Mouratoglou has shared his thoughts.
McEnroe dominated the men’s circuit in 1984 as he finished the year with an incredible 82-3 win-loss record for a 96.47% winning percetange, bettering Jimmy Connors’ previous mark of 95.96% (95-4 win loss).
The American’s record is safe for another year with Alcaraz on 90.5% (67-7) so far this season while Sinner is 43-6 (87.8%) although the Italian did come close last year he finished with a 92.41% winning percentage (73–6).
But Mouratoglou – who has coached tennis great Serena Williams – feels the Spaniard and Italian could go better than McEnroe, but they need certain cards to fall into place.
In an Instagram video, the Frenchman said: “The percentage of matches won by John McEnroe in 1984 is unbelievable, I don’t know if you guys remember, but he was so dominant and out of the three defeats of 1984, I think there’s only one that is crazy painful, and he still remembers that day.
“It was the final of Roland Garros against Ivan Lendl. John McEnroe was two sets up, 6-3, 6-2. So close to winning, but he did not.
“I think this record is beatable. When you see the dominance of Carlos and Jannik at the moment, I think that if one year, one of those two is injured in the near future and the other one is extremely focused, I think they can beat that record.”
A look at McEnroe, Federer and Djokovic’s great seasons…
McEnroe’s Magical 1984
The American won 13 titles that year – including Wimbledon, the US Open, the Masters Grand Prix and the WTC Finals – while he also finished runner-up at the French Open.
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Besides losing to Ivan Lendl, who came from two sets to love down in the Roland Garros final, McEnroe’s other defeats were against Henrik Sundstrom from Sweden in the Davis Cup final and against Vijay Amritraj in the first round of the Cincinnati Open.
Federer Comes Close Twice
More than two decades after McEnroe’s feat, Federer had a 95.29% winning percentage in 2005 after finishing the season with an 81-4 win-loss record as he won 11 of the tournaments he played in.
That year he won Wimbledon and the US Open and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and French Open with his two other defeats coming in the final of the ATP Finals and quarter-final of the Cincinnati Open.
A year later and he again came close, this time ending with a 94.85% record (92-5) as he only lost in the finals at the French Open, Monte Carlo Masters, Italian Open and Dubai Tennis Championships – all against Rafael Nadal – and the second round of the Cincinnati Open.
Djokovic Gives It A Go
In 2015, Djokovic also had McEnroe’s record in his sights, but came up short as he finished with a 93.33% winning percentage (84-6).
He won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open with Stan Wawrinka denying him the Calendar Grand Slam by winning the French Open. The Serbian also won six ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and the ATP Finals.
His only other defeats were in the finals in Dubai, Canada and Cincinnati, and the quarter-final in Doha and the round-robin phase of the ATP Finals.
