The 7 men to defend a Grand Slam title this century: Federer & Nadal share record as Sinner joins list

Ewan West
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic & Jannik Sinner
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic & Jannik Sinner celebrate Grand Slam title defences

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal share the record for the most successful Grand Slam title defences, while Jannik Sinner became the latest player to achieve the feat at the 2025 Australian Open.

Here, we look at the seven different men who have successfully defended major singles titles since the year 2000.

Gustavo Kuerten

Having won the French Open in 1997, Gustavo Kuerten secured his second Roland Garros title in 2000, beating Magnus Norman in the final.

The Brazilian saw off Alex Corretja in the 2001 French Open championship match to defend his title for his third and final major win.

Andre Agassi

Andre Agassi won the sixth of his eight Grand Slams at the 2000 Australian Open, where he defeated Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the final.

The American cruised past Arnaud Clement in the 2001 title match at Melbourne Park to successfully defend a major title for the only time in his career and secure the third of his four Australian Open crowns.

Roger Federer

Roger Federer successfully defended a Grand Slam title on 10 occasions, having first achieved the feat at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships and last accomplished it at the 2018 Australian Open.

The Swiss defended titles at both Wimbledon (in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007) and the US Open (in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008) on four occasions, while he also defended two of his Australian Open crowns (in 2007 and 2018).

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Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal defended major titles 10 times, with all of these defences accomplished at the French Open — which is a record at a single Grand Slam event.

The Spaniard’s successful Roland Garros title defences were in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic has successfully defended Grand Slam titles on nine occasions, having first achieved it at the 2012 Australian Open, while his most recent title defence was his 2022 Wimbledon win.

The Serbian has defended titles at the Australian Open five times (2012, 2013, 2016, 2020, 2021) and Wimbledon four times (2015, 2019, 2021, 2022).

Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz won his second major title and maiden crown at Wimbledon at the 2023 edition of the Championships by holding off Djokovic in a thrilling final.

The Spaniard accomplished his first successful major title defence with a more comfortable win over Djokovic in the 2024 Wimbledon title match.

Jannik Sinner

Jannik Sinner lifted his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2024 Australian Open, where he came back from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in the championship match.

The Italian made it back-to-back titles at Melbourne Park to take his major tally to three with a convincing win over Alexander Zverev in the 2025 final.

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