Tennis players with most matches played: Where do Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic rank?

Tennis Top 10
Jimmy Connors Wimbledon trophy

Jimmy Connors currently leads the list of men’s tennis players who have played the most professional matches, but how close is the player in second place to his record? What about the Big Three of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic?

10. John McEnroe – 1079 matches
The American’s professional career spanned from 1978 until 1994 and of his 1079 matches, he won 881 and only lost 198.

Of course, he finished his career with seven Grand Slams and 77 singles titles.

And in case you wanted to know, he earned $12,552,132 in prize money during his career.

9. Novak Djokovic – 1098 matches
Reigning world No 1 Djokovic moved up to No 9 on this list at the start of the 2020 season and you expect him to jump up a few more places in the next few years.

He may well end top of the list when he eventually decides to hang up his racket.

Incredibly, 17-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic has won 911 of his 1098 matches for a win percentage ratio of 83.0

Novak Djokovic with Australian Open trophy

8. David Ferrer – 1011 matches
Spaniard Ferrer, who retired in 2019 after nearly two decades on the ATP Tour, is the only player in this top 10 who doesn’t have a Grand Slam title to his name.

The closest he came to a major was when he finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the 2013 French Open.

Ferrer reached a career-high of No 3 in the world, won 27 singles titles and finished with a win-loss record of 734-377.

7. Andre Agassi – 1144 matches
The American turned professional in 1986 and retired 20 years later, finishing his career with eight Grand Slam titles and 60 singles trophies.

His win-lose ratio was 76.0% (870–274) while he earned $31,152,975 in prize money.

Andre Agassi 2001 Australian Open champion

6. Ilie Nastase – 1179 matches
The Romanian, whose active career spanned from 1966 until 1985, was bumped out of the top five by Rafael Nadal earlier in 2020.

Former world No 1 Nastase won 60 singles titles, including the 1972 US Open and 1973 French Open, while his career win-loss ratio was 930–354.

5 Rafael Nadal – 1190
The Spaniard slots in at No 5 and you expect him to move up at least two more places before he calls it a day.

The 19-time Grand Slam winner has won 85 singles titles to date, which puts him fourth in the Open Era all-time list, while he has won 990 of his 1190 matches for a win-loss ratio of 83.2% (first in the Open Era list).

Nadal currently sits on $120,955,904 in career prize money.

Rafael Nadal hugging US Open trophy

4 Guillermo Vilas – 1240
The Argentine competed from 1968 to 1992 and during that time he won 62 singles titles, including four Grand Slams.

Villas accumulated a lot of his wins during his brilliant 1977 season when he won 130 matches, which ended up with him winning 16 of the 31 tournaments he entered.

3 Ivan Lendl – 1310
The Czech-born American won eight-time Grand Slam titles and finished his career with 94 singles titles. He also spent an incredible 270 weeks atop the world rankings.

He may have had a few more singles wins to his name if he wasn’t forced to retire due to a chronic back problem in 1994.

Lendl is also third on the Open Era list of most matches won as he won 1068 of his 1310 for an 81.5% win-loss ratio.

2 Roger Federer – 1513
The big question is whether or not Federer will usurp Connors from No 1 on the list as he is only 44 match wins away from the American’s tally. A year ago you would have backed Federer to reach it quite comfortably, but following knee surgery and with the 2020 season shortened, it’s a case of wait and see.

Federer, of course, has 20 Grand Slam titles to his name while he also closing in on Connors’ record for most titles as he is on 103 with the American on 109.

Roger Federer with 2017 Wimbledon trophy

1 Jimmy Connors – 1557
The American’s career spanned from 1970 until 1996 and, as mentioned above, he won 109 singles titles and spent 268 weeks as the world No 1.

Connors won eight Grand Slam titles with his peak years from 1974 until 1978 when he reached five consecutive US Open finals and four Wimbledon finals.

His last singles victory came in June 1995 when he beat Martin Sinner at the Halle Open to reach the quarter-final, where he lost to Marc Rosset.

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Novak Djokovic Rafael Nadal Roger Federer

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