In today's world, List of tennis rivalries is a topic that has gained great relevance in different areas. Whether on a personal, professional or social level, List of tennis rivalries has captured the attention of millions of people around the world. Its impact and significance have generated a continuous debate and a constant interest in understanding its implications. From its origins to its current evolution, List of tennis rivalries has been a source of study, analysis and reflection. In this article, we will explore the different dimensions of List of tennis rivalries and its influence on contemporary society.
In tennis history there have been a number of notable rivalries. This list reflects some of the great rivalries.
For the pre-1991 eras, complete statistics on all matches is difficult to obtain in definitive form. In many years there were significant numbers of minor events and exhibition matches outside the designated tours, some of which were not reported in newspapers or recorded by the respective amateur or professional tour management. The approximate nature of these results should be understood and kept in mind while reading this data.
For the purpose of this article only, the criteria for inclusion are (all must be met):
Rivalry | Period | Meetings | Grand Slam | Pro Slam | ILTF Major | All matches | All finals | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gonzales–Rosewall | 1957–1970 | 204 | 2–3 | 117–87 | 6–6 | |||
Gonzales–Hoad | 1957–1967 | 182 | 3–2 | 104-78 | ||||
Laver–Rosewall | 1963–1976 | 164 | 1–1 | 4–6 | 89–75 | 36–20 | ||
Vines–Perry | 1937–1938 | 154 | 1–0 | 84–70 | ||||
Gonzales–Kramer | 1949–1954 | 140 | 1–0 | 40–100 | ||||
Hoad–Rosewall | 1953–1967 | 135 | 2–2 | 0–5 | 51-84 | |||
Gonzales–Segura | 1951–1965 | 134 | 8–3 | 96–38 | ||||
Budge–Riggs | 1935–1955 | 119 | 4–4 | 65–55 | ||||
Kramer–Sedgman | 1953–1956 | 110 | 61–49 | |||||
Nüsslein–Tilden | 1931–1939 | 104 | 7–2 | 39–65 | ||||
Gimeno–Laver | 1960–1971 | 96 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 31–65 | |||
Kramer–Segura | 1948–1954 | 92 | 64–28 | |||||
Vines–Tilden | 1927–1940 | 73 | 2–1 | 47–26 | ||||
Emerson–Laver | 1958–1975 | 72 | 2–7 | 21–51 | 10–22 | |||
Anderson–Cooper | 1955–1962 | 68 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 25–43 | |||
Gonzales–Laver | 1964–1970 | 65 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 22–43 | 7–14 | ||
Hoad–Laver | 1963-1966 | 60 | 22-38 | |||||
Budge–Tilden | 1939–1945 | 50 | 3–0 | 41–9 | ||||
Laver–Stolle | 1956–1974 | 48 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 39–9 | |||
Cochet–Tilden | 1926–1939 | 35 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 12–23 | 2–2 | ||
Laver–Olmedo | 1959–1971 | 30 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 26–4 | |||
Crawford–Quist | 1933–1950 | 25 | 2–3 | 9–16 | ||||
Laver–Sedgman | 1963–1965 | 20 | 3–0 | 18–2 | ||||
Mahony–Pim | 1888–1898 | 18 | 0–3 | 3–15 | 2–7 | |||
H. L. Doherty–Mahony | 1896–1904 | 18 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 14–4 | 6–2 | ||
Johnston–Tilden | 1919–1926 | 17 | 1–6 | 6–12 | ||||
Decugis–Wilding | 1907–1914 | 17 | 0–2 | 3–14 | ||||
Borotra–Lacoste | 1921–1929 | 17 | 3–5 | 5–12 | ||||
Crawford–Perry | 1930–1936 | 17 | 2–5 | 6–11 | ||||
Larned–Wright | 1899–1908 | 16 | 4–1 | 12–4 | ||||
Borotra–Cochet | 1922–1949 | 16 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 8–8 | |||
Gore–Wilding | 1905–1912 | 14 | 2–2 | 9–5 | 5–3 |
Rivalry | Period | All tournaments | Grand Slams | Ref | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All rounds | Finals | All rounds | Finals | |||||||
Matches | Won–Lost | Matches | W-L | Matches | W-L | Matches | W-L | |||
Djokovic–Nadal | 2006– | 59 | 30–29 | 28 | 15–13 | 18 | 7–11 | 9 | 4–5 | |
Djokovic–Federer | 2006–2020 | 50 | 27–23 | 20* | 13–6 | 17 | 11–6 | 5 | 4–1 | |
Federer–Nadal | 2004–2019 | 40 | 16–24 | 24 | 10–14 | 14 | 4–10 | 9 | 3–6 | |
Lendl–McEnroe | 1980–1992 | 36 | 21–15 | 18* | 7–10 | 10 | 7–3 | 3 | 2–1 | |
Djokovic–Murray | 2006– | 36 | 25–11 | 19 | 11–8 | 10 | 8–2 | 7 | 5–2 | |
Connors–Lendl | 1979–1992 | 35 | 13–22 | 7* | 4–2 | 7 | 3–4 | 2 | 2–0 | |
Becker–Edberg | 1984–1996 | 35 | 25–10 | 16 | 11–5 | 4 | 1–3 | 3 | 1–2 | |
Connors–McEnroe | 1977–1991 | 34 | 14–20 | 15* | 7–7 | 9 | 3–6 | 2 | 1–1 | |
Agassi–Sampras | 1989–2002 | 34 | 14–20 | 16 | 7–9 | 9 | 3–6 | 5 | 1–4 | |
Ferrer–Nadal | 2004–2019 | 32 | 6–26 | 8 | 0–8 | 7 | 2–5 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Edberg–Lendl | 1984–1992 | 27 | 14–13 | 7 | 3–4 | 9 | 5–4 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Federer–Hewitt | 1999–2014 | 27 | 18–9 | 5 | 3–2 | 8 | 8–0 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Djokovic–Wawrinka | 2006– | 27 | 21–6 | 5 | 2–3 | 9 | 5–4 | 2 | 0–2 | |
Federer–Wawrinka | 2005–2019 | 26 | 23–3 | 2 | 1–1 | 8 | 7–1 | 0 | 0 | |
Federer–Murray | 2005–2015 | 25 | 14–11 | 8 | 5–3 | 6 | 5–1 | 3 | 3–0 | |
Federer–Del Potro | 2007–2018 | 25 | 18–7 | 6 | 2–4 | 7 | 5–2 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Federer–Roddick | 2001–2012 | 24 | 21–3 | 7 | 7–0 | 8 | 8–0 | 4 | 4–0 | |
Murray–Nadal | 2007– | 24 | 7-17 | 4 | 3-1 | 9 | 2-7 | 0 | 0 | |
Borg–Vilas | 1973–1980 | 23 | 18–5 | 10* | 8–1 | 3 | 3–0 | 2 | 2–0 | |
Borg–Connors | 1973–1981 | 23 | 15–8 | 13 | 8–5 | 8 | 5–3 | 4 | 2–2 | |
Murray–Wawrinka | 2005– | 23 | 13–10 | 2 | 2–0 | 7 | 3–4 | 0 | 0–0 | |
Lendl–Wilander | 1982–1994 | 22 | 15–7 | 9 | 6–3 | 9 | 5–4 | 5 | 2–3 | |
Agassi–Chang | 1988–2003 | 22 | 15–7 | 4 | 3–1 | 5 | 3–2 | 0 | 0 | |
Nadal–Wawrinka | 2007– | 22 | 19–3 | 4 | 3–1 | 4 | 3–1 | 2 | 1–1 | |
Connors–Gerulaitis | 1974–1985 | 21 | 17–4 | 5* | 4–0 | 3 | 2–1 | 0 | 0 | |
Becker–Lendl | 1985–1993 | 21 | 10–11 | 13 | 7–6 | 6 | 5–1 | 3 | 3–0 | |
Chang–Edberg | 1988–1996 | 21 | 9–12 | 4 | 3–1 | 5 | 1–4 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Davydenko–Federer | 2002–2013 | 21 | 2–19 | 2 | 0–2 | 6 | 0–6 | 0 | 0 | |
Djokovic–Ferrer | 2004–2015 | 21 | 16–5 | 3 | 3–0 | 5 | 5–0 | 0 | 0 | |
Edberg–Wilander | 1983–1995 | 20 | 9–11 | 5 | 3–2 | 5 | 2–3 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Courier–Sampras | 1988–1999 | 20 | 4–16 | 4 | 0–4 | 8 | 2–6 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Chang–Sampras | 1989–2001 | 20 | 8–12 | 3 | 0–3 | 5 | 1–4 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Becker–Ivanišević | 1990–1998 | 19 | 10–9 | 3 | 3–0 | 3 | 1–2 | 0 | 0 | |
Becker–Sampras | 1990–1997 | 19 | 7–12 | 7 | 1–6 | 3 | 0–3 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Djokovic–Del Potro | 2007–2019 | 19 | 15–4 | 2 | 2–0 | 5 | 5–0 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Ivanišević–Sampras | 1990–1999 | 18 | 6–12 | 4 | 1–3 | 5 | 1–4 | 2 | 0–2 | |
Newcombe–Rosewall | 1970–1974 | 17 | 8–9 | 6 | 3–3 | 6 | 3–3 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Borg–Gerulaitis | 1974–1981 | 17 | 17–0 | 7 | 7–0 | 5 | 5–0 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Nadal–Del Potro | 2007–2018 | 17 | 11–6 | 1 | 1–0 | 7 | 5–2 | 0 | 0 | |
Nadal–Thiem | 2014– | 16 | 10–6 | 4 | 4–0 | 6 | 5–1 | 2 | 2–0 | |
Borg–Năstase | 1972–1980 | 15 | 10–5 | 5 | 2–3 | 3 | 3–0 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Ashe–Laver | 1959–1976 | 15 | 2–13 | 2 | 0–2 | 4 | 0–4 | 0 | 0 | |
Agassi–Rafter | 1993–2001 | 15 | 10–5 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4–3 | 0 | 0 | |
Djokovic–Medvedev | 2017– | 15 | 10–5 | 4 | 3–1 | 4 | 3–1 | 3 | 2–1 | |
Laver–Roche | 1968–1972 | 14 | 9–5 | 9 | 5–4 | 3 | 3–0 | 2 | 2–0 | |
Borg–McEnroe | 1978–1981 | 14 | 7–7 | 9 | 4–5 | 4 | 1–3 | 4 | 1–3 | |
Gerulaitis–McEnroe | 1979–1984 | 14 | 3–11 | 5 | 1–4 | 2 | 0–2 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Agassi–Becker | 1988–1999 | 14 | 10–4 | 1 | 1–0 | 5 | 4–1 | 0 | 0 | |
Edberg–Sampras | 1990–1995 | 14 | 6–8 | 1 | 1–0 | 2 | 2–0 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Federer–Raonic | 2012–2018 | 14 | 11–3 | 3 | 2–1 | 4 | 3–1 | 0 | 0 | |
McEnroe–Wilander | 1982–1989 | 13 | 7–6 | 3 | 1–2 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 | |
Djokovic–Tsitsipas | 2018– | 13 | 11–2 | 6 | 6–0 | 3 | 3–0 | 2 | 2–0 | |
Medvedev–Tsitsipas | 2018– | 13 | 9–4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3–1 | 0 | 0 | |
Agassi–Courier | 1989–1996 | 12 | 5–7 | 2 | 0–2 | 6 | 2–4 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Courier–Stich | 1990–1997 | 12 | 5–7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2–2 | 0 | 0 | |
Agassi–Kafelnikov | 1994–2003 | 12 | 8–4 | 2 | 2–0 | 5 | 4–1 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Federer–Safin | 2001–2009 | 12 | 10–2 | 3 | 3–0 | 5 | 4–1 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Murray–Raonic | 2012– | 12 | 9–3 | 2 | 2–0 | 3 | 3–0 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Djokovic–Thiem | 2014– | 12 | 7–5 | 1 | 1–0 | 4 | 2–2 | 1 | 1–0 |
* Including walkovers or abandoned matches (not counted in head to heads, same as the official ATP head to heads).
Rivalry | Period | Meetings | Grand Slam | All matches |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bingley–Cooper | 1893–1901 | 26≈ | 4–1 | 19–6–1 |
Lenglen–Ryan | 1914–19?? | 18 | 5–0 | 17–1 |
Brough Clapp–duPont | 1942–1956 | 40 | 3–1 | 25–15 |
King–Jones | 1959–1971 | 35 | 7–2 | 26–9 |
Court–King | 1962–1973 | 32 | 6–4 | 22–10 |
Court–Bueno | 1960–1969 | 24 | 5–3 | 17–6 |
Rivalry | Period | All tournaments | Grand Slams | Ref | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All rounds | Finals | |||||||
Matches | Won–Lost | Matches | Won–Lost | Matches | Won–Lost | |||
Evert–Navratilova | 1973–1988 | 80 | 37–43 | 22 | 8–14 | 14 | 4–10 | |
Evert–Wade | 1971–1982 | 46 | 40–6 | 3 | 2–1 | 0 | 0 | |
Navratilova–Shriver | 1978–1992 | 43 | 40–3 | 9 | 7–2 | 0 | 0 | |
Goolagong–Wade | 1970–1983 | 40 | 30–10 | 6 | 5–1 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Graf–Sabatini | 1985–1995 | 40 | 29–11 | 12 | 11–1 | 3 | 2–1 | |
Evert–Goolagong | 1972–1983 | 39 | 26–13 | 10 | 6–4 | 5 | 3–2 | |
Mandlikova–Navratilova | 1980–1989 | 36 | 7–29 | 10 | 4–6 | 3 | 2–1 | |
Graf–Sánchez Vicario | 1988–1996 | 36 | 28–8 | 13 | 9–4 | 7 | 5–2 | |
Navratilova–Turnbull | 1973–1988 | 34 | 29–5 | 4 | 2–2 | 0 | 0 | |
Court–Casals | 1967–1977 | 33 | 30–3 | 6 | 6–0 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Austin–Navratilova | 1977–1983 | 33 | 13–20 | 4 | 2–2 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Graf–Novotná | 1987–1999 | 33 | 29–4 | 11 | 10–1 | 1 | 1–0 | |
King–Wade | 1968–1981 | 31 | 22–9 | 6 | 5–1 | 1 | 0–1 | |
S. Williams–V. Williams | 1998–2020 | 31 | 19–12 | 16 | 11–5 | 9 | 7–2 | |
Goolagong–Navratilova | 1973–1982 | 27 | 12–15 | 4 | 2–2 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Davenport–V. Williams | 1997–2005 | 27 | 14–13 | 9 | 4–5 | 3 | 0–3 | |
Evert–King | 1971–1983 | 26 | 19–7 | 9 | 6–3 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Evert–Mandlikova | 1980–1989 | 26 | 19–7 | 13 | 10–3 | 3 | 3–0 | |
Davenport–Hingis | 1995–2006 | 25 | 14–11 | 4 | 3–1 | 2 | 2–0 | |
Clijsters–Henin | 1998–2010 | 25 | 13–12 | 8 | 3–5 | 3 | 0–3 | |
Sabatini–Sánchez Vicario | 1986–1995 | 23 | 12–11 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 | |
Sánchez Vicario–Seles | 1989–2002 | 23 | 3–20 | 5 | 1–4 | 3 | 1–2 | |
Azarenka–S. Williams | 2008–2020 | 23 | 5–18 | 11 | 1–10 | 2 | 0–2 | |
Court–Goolagong | 1968–1975 | 22 | 17–5 | 8 | 6–2 | 4 | 3–1 | |
Evert–Turnbull | 1976–1987 | 22 | 21–1 | 6 | 6–0 | 2 | 2–0 | |
Sharapova–S. Williams | 2004–2019 | 22 | 2–20 | 9 | 1–8 | 4 | 1–3 | |
Evert–Shriver | 1978–1988 | 21 | 18–3 | 2 | 2–0 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Navratilova–Sabatini | 1986–1994 | 21 | 15-6 | 4 | 4–0 | 0 | 0 | |
Novotná–Sánchez Vicario | 1987–1998 | 21 | 11–10 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 | |
Martínez–Seles | 1989–2002 | 21 | 1–20 | 4 | 0–4 | 0 | 0 | |
Hingis–V. Williams | 1997–2006 | 21 | 11–10 | 6 | 4–2 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Evert–Jaeger | 1980–1984 | 20 | 17–3 | 5 | 4–1 | 0 | 0 | |
Hingis–Seles | 1996–2002 | 20 | 15–5 | 7 | 5–2 | 0 | 0 | |
Henin–Kuznetsova | 2003–2011 | 19 | 16–3 | 6 | 5–1 | 2 | 2–0 | |
Graf–Navratilova | 1985–1994 | 18 | 9–9 | 9 | 4–5 | 6 | 4–2 | |
Martínez–Sánchez Vicario | 1992–2002 | 18 | 4–14 | 3 | 1–2 | 0 | 0 | |
Austin–Evert | 1977–1982 | 17 | 8-9 | 4 | 1–3 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Navratilova–Seles | 1989–1993 | 17 | 7–10 | 2 | 0–2 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Clijsters–Davenport | 2000–2005 | 17 | 9–8 | 6 | 1–5 | 0 | 0 | |
Davenport–Mauresmo | 1998–2006 | 16 | 12–4 | 2 | 1–1 | 0 | 0 | |
Hingis–Pierce | 1994–2000 | 16 | 10–6 | 4 | 3–1 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Goolagong–King | 1971–1980 | 15 | 4–11 | 6 | 1–5 | 4 | 0–4 | |
Jaeger–Navratilova | 1980–1983 | 15 | 4–11 | 2 | 0–2 | 2 | 0–2 | |
Graf–Seles | 1989–1999 | 15 | 10–5 | 10 | 6–4 | 6 | 3–3 | |
Li–Sharapova | 2005–2014 | 15 | 5–10 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 | |
Azarenka–Sharapova | 2007–2015 | 15 | 7–8 | 3 | 2–1 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Evert–Graf | 1985–1989 | 14 | 6–8 | 3 | 1–2 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Sabatini–Seles | 1988–1996 | 14 | 3–11 | 3 | 0–3 | 0 | 0 | |
Graf–Martínez | 1989–1996 | 14 | 13–1 | 6 | 6–0 | 0 | 0 | |
Capriati–Seles | 1990–2002 | 14 | 5–9 | 6 | 1–5 | 0 | 0 | |
Hingis–Martínez | 1995–2001 | 14 | 11–3 | 2 | 2–0 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Davenport–S. Williams | 1997–2005 | 14 | 4–10 | 5 | 1–4 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Henin–Mauresmo | 1999–2007 | 14 | 8–6 | 3 | 0–3 | 2 | 0–2 | |
Kuznetsova–Safina | 2000–2009 | 14 | 6–8 | 3 | 2–1 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Henin–S. Williams | 2001–2010 | 14 | 6–8 | 7 | 4–3 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Ivanovic–Sharapova | 2006–2015 | 14 | 4–10 | 2 | 1–1 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Court–Evert | 1970–1977 | 13 | 4–9 | 3 | 2–1 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Hingis–S. Williams | 1998–2002 | 13 | 6–7 | 3 | 1–2 | 1 | 0–1 | |
Clijsters–V. Williams | 2001–2010 | 13 | 7–6 | 5 | 3–2 | 0 | 0 | |
Graf–Shriver | 1985–1993 | 12 | 9–3 | 6 | 5–1 | 0 | 0 | |
Hingis–Novotná | 1995–1999 | 12 | 9–3 | 4 | 3–1 | 1 | 1–0 | |
Capriati–Davenport | 1997–2003 | 12 | 3–9 | 4 | 1–3 | 0 | 0 | |
Mauresmo–S. Williams | 1999–2008 | 12 | 2–10 | 6 | 1–5 | 0 | 0 | |
Dementieva–S. Williams | 2003–2010 | 12 | 5–7 | 3 | 0–3 | 0 | 0 | |
Li–S. Williams | 2006–2014 | 12 | 1–11 | 4 | 0–4 | 0 | 0 |
≈ minimum confirmed (early records are incomplete)