What if I told you Rafael Nadal didn’t have the most dominant performances in French Open history?
The most dominant career in French Open history? Yes. Nadal hoisted the Coupe des Mousquetaires championship trophy 14 times, far and away the most in tournament history.
However, if we look at the most dominant single-tournament performances, Rafa cracks the top five, but he isn’t No. 1 for once.
Who were the five most dominant French Open men's champions?
Without further adieu, as the 2025 version of Roland Garros gets underway, here are the five most dominant French Open championship runs of all time.
A few ground rules: We’re only listing players once – otherwise, this entire article would include only two players. Our main criteria are the fewest sets lost and the highest percentage of games won.
No. 5 – Ivan Lendl, 1986
The second of Lendl’s three French Open titles was his most impressive. Lendl ripped through the draw, losing just one set and winning 70.7 percent of his games. Lendl avenged his lone lost set – against Andres Gomez in the quarterfinals – by winning the last two sets 6-0, 6-0.
He demolished two-time major champion Johan Kriek by a 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 scoreline in the semifinals. He left no doubt in the final with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory against unseeded Mikael Pernfors.
No. 4 – Guillermo Vilas, 1977
Vilas won 74.8 percent of his games, including a 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 demolition of Brian Gottfried in the final, to claim the first of the two majors he won in 1977. Vilas dropped just one set – the first set of his second-round match against Belus Prajoux. He posted at least one 6-0 set in the last three rounds.
(As impressive as Vilas’ performance was, this ranking comes with a bit of an asterisk because Bjorn Borg, whom we’ll meet later on this list, missed the event due to his contract with World Team Tennis.)
No. 3 – Ilie Nastase, 1973
Nastase claimed his only French Open title in 1973, and he did so as the first player to win Roland Garros without dropping a set.
(Full disclosure: The first two rounds at the French Open were only best-of-three sets in the mid-1970s, so Nastase’s path to his second major title required just 19 sets won instead of the usual 21).
Nastase saved his most one-sided win for last. He dominated Nikola Pilic 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the final.
No. 2 – Rafael Nadal, 2017
Out of Nadal’s 14 French Open titles, his 2017 title run was the most impressive. Nadal didn’t drop a set – the second of three times he won Roland Garros without dropping a set – and won 76.8 percent of his games. Nadal barely missed a triple bagel in the third round against Nikoloz Basilashvili, winning 6-0, 6-1, 6-0. Nadal cruised to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 win against Stan Wawrinka in the final.
(Interesting note: Wawrinka was seeded third and Nadal fourth, even though Nadal was a -500 betting favorite.)
No. 1 – Bjorn Borg, 1978
Borg won the third of his eventual six French Open titles in what is still the most dominant performance in tournament history. Borg didn’t lose a set and won 79.8 percent of his games, dropping just 32 total games. That works out to an average match score of 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 for the entire tournament.
His closest match was a 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 victory against big-serving Roscoe Tanner in the fourth round. Borg crushed reigning champion Guillermo Vilas – one year removed from his entry on this list – by a 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 score in the final. Borg’s 1978 performance wasn’t a fluke.
Borg also won the 1980 French Open without dropping a set. His percentage of games won in 1980 – 76.8, but a fraction of a fraction better than Nadal’s 2017 performance, is the second-best percentage among the players who won Roland Garros without losing a set.