Ranking the five best players on the ATP tour of the Open era
By Lee Vowell
Best player on the ATP tour in the Open era – Novak Djokovic
OK, as I previously mentioned, I lied and am just going to overwhelm you with statistics here. So get ready. Here we go.
Novak Djokovic has the most all-time weeks ranked number (389) one by 79 weeks. He has the most Grand Slams with 23 and could add another at Wimbledon which starts next week. He has been in the most Grand Slam finals with 34, three more than anyone else. He trails Federer in the number of Grand Slam semifinal appearances by one (he might catch up at Wimbledon) though he has appeared in 11 fewer Grand Slams total.
He has won the career Grand Slam three times, more than any other player. He has won three majors in a season three times, tied for most with Federer and if Djokovic wins Wimbledon he will even pass Federer in this category. Djokovic has won at least two titles in a year seven times, most ever. Djokovic owns the Australian Open having won 10 Aussies (he’s never lost a final at the Aussie) with the next closest player having six titles. But Djokovic has won at least three times at every other major as well, which no other player can say.
Next. Three dark horses who could win Wimbledon this year. dark
Sure, Nadal is better on clay, but of the three losses that Nadal has at the French Open, two of them are to Djokovic. Djokovic has the best winning percentage at the Australian Open ever, but he has the third-best winning percentage at every other major (he only trails Nadal and Borg at the French). Yes, that’s a lot of numbers, and you can find more, but Novak Djokovic is the best ATP player in the Open era or likely of any other era.