The ATP official tier list: the best and the next of today’s top ATP players

Tier 1: The Hall-of-Famers 

The current age of men’s tennis is absolutely incredible. Three players are locks for the Tennis Hall of Fame and are regarded as the three best tennis players who ever lived. Adding to that, at least 2 or 3 more players could be joining the Big 3 at the top once their careers end. As of now in 2020, four players make this top tier: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray. 

There’s no question that the Big 3 of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic make this tier. They have revolutionized tennis in a way no group of players have ever done before. They’ve ushered in the biggest following of tennis in the Open Era and have dominated the sport ever since entering the professional ranks in the early 2000s. They’ve also still been able to play at an extremely high level to this day. They’ve won the last 13 major championships in a row, while all being over 30!

Federer turned pro first, in 1998, and quickly mad his way to the top of the rankings by 2004. He’s won more major championships than any other male player ever and has had one of the best and most prolonged stretches of greatnest that the sport has ever seen. His pure grace on the tennis court was simply better than everyone else’s and has brought him too many titles to count. He’s the only active player to have more than 100 singles titles (with more than a quarter of them coming at Masters Series event and another 20 in Grand Slams).

Nadal, of course, isn’t far behind at all. He’s collected 19 major championships, 12 of which coming in Roland Garros, which is the reasoning behind his well-earned “King of Clay” nickname. Nadal came into the pros right around the time Federer was starting to make the climb to the top. Federer was crowned as the king of tennis during this time, with Nadal being the one fly in the air over Federer winning the French Open.

All opinions changed when Nadal finally broke through at Wimbledon in 2008, beating Federer in his third attempt in one of the greatest tennis matches in history. Nadal surged to #1 that year and has possibly been more dominant since then. Nadal has collected more Masters 1000’s than Federer and has turned from a dirt rat to an all-around beast on the tennis court.

Of course, Djokovic needs to be on this list. Although not crowned as great as Federer and Nadal, Djokovic has been the most dominant player of the last decade. All 17 of his major championships have come in the last 13 years since 2010, with 12 of those happening in the last 10. His case for the “GOAT” title started in 2011, as he collected 10 titles (with 3 major championships and 5 Masters 1000’s) and finished with a 70-6 record. This gave him the #1 ranking and has led to one of the most prolific careers in tennis history.

Djokovic has also received the most prize money by any player in his career, only cementing his pure dominance of the 2010’s. He still reigns supreme over the tour today, as he’s still the #1 player in the world.

Murray is the fringe entry onto this list. He’s been behind the aforementioned three in virtually every aspect: major wins, Masters 1000 wins, prize money, time spent at number 1, etc. With only 3 major championships and 14 1000 Series wins, he doesn’t have the accoldes to stand up to the other three. A bonus goes to him, however, for winning the gold medal in the last two Olympic events in 2012 ans 2016.

Murray makes this tier because of his impact on British tennis. HE singlehandedly brought the country out of the gutter and made fans fall in love with the sports again. His 2013 win in Wimbledon was one of the most watched matches ever and truly captured the essence of tennis. Murray has dealt with injuries since 2017, however, but he’s hoping to return to his previous form to compete at a high level soon enough.