In tennis history there have been a number of notable rivalries. This list reflects some of the great rivalries. [1] [2] [3] [4]
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 | [5] | ||
Gonzales–Hoad | 1957–1967 | 182 | 3–2 | 104-78 | [6] | |||
Laver–Rosewall | 1963–1976 | 164 | 1–1 | 4–6 | 89–75 | 36–20 | [7] | |
Vines–Perry | 1937–1938 | 154 | 1–0 | 84–70 | [5] | |||
Gonzales–Kramer | 1949–1954 | 140 | 1–0 | 40–100 | [5] | |||
Hoad–Rosewall | 1953–1967 | 135 | 2–2 | 0–5 | 51-84 | [8] | ||
Gonzales–Segura | 1951–1965 | 134 | 8–3 | 96–38 | [5] | |||
Budge–Riggs | 1935–1955 | 119 | 4–4 | 65–55 | [9] | |||
Kramer–Sedgman | 1953–1956 | 110 | 61–49 | [10] | ||||
Nüsslein–Tilden | 1931–1939 | 104 | 7–2 | 39–65 | [11] | |||
Gimeno–Laver | 1960–1971 | 96 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 31–65 | [12] | ||
Kramer–Segura | 1948–1954 | 92 | 64–28 | |||||
Vines–Tilden | 1927–1940 | 73 | 2–1 | 47–26 | [13] | |||
Emerson–Laver | 1958–1975 | 72 | 2–7 | 21–51 | 10–22 | |||
Anderson–Cooper | 1955–1962 | 68 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 25–43 | [14] | ||
Gonzales–Laver | 1964–1970 | 65 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 22–43 | 7–14 | [15] | |
Hoad–Laver | 1963-1966 | 60 | 22-38 | |||||
Budge–Tilden | 1939–1945 | 50 | 3–0 | 41–9 | [16] | |||
Laver–Stolle | 1956–1974 | 48 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 39–9 | [17] | ||
Cochet–Tilden | 1926–1939 | 35 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 12–23 | 2–2 | [18] | |
Laver–Olmedo | 1959–1971 | 30 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 26–4 | [19] | ||
Crawford–Quist | 1933–1950 | 25 | 2–3 | 9–16 | [20] | |||
Laver–Sedgman | 1963–1965 | 20 | 3–0 | 18–2 | [21] | |||
Mahony–Pim | 1888–1898 | 18 | 0–3 | 3–15 | 2–7 | [22] | ||
H. L. Doherty–Mahony | 1896–1904 | 18 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 14–4 | 6–2 | [23] | |
Johnston–Tilden | 1919–1926 | 17 | 1–6 | 6–12 | [24] | |||
Decugis–Wilding | 1907–1914 | 17 | 0–2 | 3–14 | [25] | |||
Borotra–Lacoste | 1921–1929 | 17 | 3–5 | 5–12 | [26] | |||
Crawford–Perry | 1930–1936 | 17 | 2–5 | 6–11 | [27] | |||
Larned–Wright | 1899–1908 | 16 | 4–1 | 12–4 | [28] | |||
Borotra–Cochet | 1922–1949 | 16 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 8–8 | [29] | ||
Gore–Wilding | 1905–1912 | 14 | 2–2 | 9–5 | 5–3 | [30] |
Rivalry [31] | 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– | 60 | 31–29 | 28 | 15–13 | 18 | 7–11 | 9 | 4–5 | [32] |
Djokovic–Federer | 2006–2020 | 50 | 27–23 | 20* | 13–6 | 17 | 11–6 | 5 | 4–1 | [33] |
Federer–Nadal | 2004–2019 | 40 | 16–24 | 24 | 10–14 | 14 | 4–10 | 9 | 3–6 | [34] |
Lendl–McEnroe | 1980–1992 | 36 | 21–15 | 18* | 7–10 | 10 | 7–3 | 3 | 2–1 | [35] |
Djokovic–Murray | 2006–2017 | 36 | 25–11 | 19 | 11–8 | 10 | 8–2 | 7 | 5–2 | [36] |
Connors–Lendl | 1979–1992 | 35 | 13–22 | 7* | 4–2 | 7 | 3–4 | 2 | 2–0 | [37] |
Becker–Edberg | 1984–1996 | 35 | 25–10 | 16 | 11–5 | 4 | 1–3 | 3 | 1–2 | [38] |
Connors–McEnroe | 1977–1991 | 34 | 14–20 | 15* | 7–7 | 9 | 3–6 | 2 | 1–1 | [39] |
Agassi–Sampras | 1989–2002 | 34 | 14–20 | 16 | 7–9 | 9 | 3–6 | 5 | 1–4 | [40] |
Ferrer–Nadal | 2004–2019 | 32 | 6–26 | 8 | 0–8 | 7 | 2–5 | 1 | 0–1 | [41] |
Edberg–Lendl | 1984–1992 | 27 | 14–13 | 7 | 3–4 | 9 | 5–4 | 1 | 0–1 | [42] |
Federer–Hewitt | 1999–2014 | 27 | 18–9 | 5 | 3–2 | 8 | 8–0 | 1 | 1–0 | [43] |
Djokovic–Wawrinka | 2006– | 27 | 21–6 | 5 | 2–3 | 9 | 5–4 | 2 | 0–2 | [44] |
Federer–Wawrinka | 2005–2019 | 26 | 23–3 | 2 | 1–1 | 8 | 7–1 | 0 | 0 | [45] |
Federer–Murray | 2005–2015 | 25 | 14–11 | 8 | 5–3 | 6 | 5–1 | 3 | 3–0 | [46] |
Federer–Del Potro | 2007–2018 | 25 | 18–7 | 6 | 2–4 | 7 | 5–2 | 1 | 0–1 | [47] |
Federer–Roddick | 2001–2012 | 24 | 21–3 | 7 | 7–0 | 8 | 8–0 | 4 | 4–0 | [48] |
Murray–Wawrinka | 2005–2024 | 24 | 13–10 | 2 | 2–0 | 8 | 3–5 | 0 | 0–0 | [49] |
Murray–Nadal | 2007–2016 | 24 | 7-17 | 4 | 3-1 | 9 | 2-7 | 0 | 0 | [50] |
Borg–Vilas | 1973–1980 | 23 | 18–5 | 10* | 8–1 | 3 | 3–0 | 2 | 2–0 | [51] |
Borg–Connors | 1973–1981 | 23 | 15–8 | 13 | 8–5 | 8 | 5–3 | 4 | 2–2 | [52] |
Lendl–Wilander | 1982–1994 | 22 | 15–7 | 9 | 6–3 | 9 | 5–4 | 5 | 2–3 | [53] |
Agassi–Chang | 1988–2003 | 22 | 15–7 | 4 | 3–1 | 5 | 3–2 | 0 | 0 | [54] |
Nadal–Wawrinka | 2007– | 22 | 19–3 | 4 | 3–1 | 4 | 3–1 | 2 | 1–1 | [55] |
Connors–Gerulaitis | 1974–1985 | 21 | 17–4 | 5* | 4–0 | 3 | 2–1 | 0 | 0 | [56] |
Becker–Lendl | 1985–1993 | 21 | 10–11 | 13 | 7–6 | 6 | 5–1 | 3 | 3–0 | [57] |
Chang–Edberg | 1988–1996 | 21 | 9–12 | 4 | 3–1 | 5 | 1–4 | 1 | 1–0 | [58] |
Davydenko–Federer | 2002–2013 | 21 | 2–19 | 2 | 0–2 | 6 | 0–6 | 0 | 0 | [59] |
Djokovic–Ferrer | 2004–2015 | 21 | 16–5 | 3 | 3–0 | 5 | 5–0 | 0 | 0 | [60] |
Edberg–Wilander | 1983–1995 | 20 | 9–11 | 5 | 3–2 | 5 | 2–3 | 1 | 1–0 | [61] |
Courier–Sampras | 1988–1999 | 20 | 4–16 | 4 | 0–4 | 8 | 2–6 | 1 | 0–1 | [62] |
Chang–Sampras | 1989–2001 | 20 | 8–12 | 3 | 0–3 | 5 | 1–4 | 1 | 0–1 | [63] |
Becker–Ivanišević | 1990–1998 | 19 | 10–9 | 3 | 3–0 | 3 | 1–2 | 0 | 0 | [64] |
Becker–Sampras | 1990–1997 | 19 | 7–12 | 7 | 1–6 | 3 | 0–3 | 1 | 0–1 | [65] |
Djokovic–Del Potro | 2007–2019 | 19 | 15–4 | 2 | 2–0 | 5 | 5–0 | 1 | 1–0 | [66] |
Ivanišević–Sampras | 1990–1999 | 18 | 6–12 | 4 | 1–3 | 5 | 1–4 | 2 | 0–2 | [67] |
Newcombe–Rosewall | 1970–1974 | 17 | 8–9 | 6 | 3–3 | 6 | 3–3 | 1 | 1–0 | [68] |
Borg–Gerulaitis | 1974–1981 | 17 | 17–0 | 7 | 7–0 | 5 | 5–0 | 1 | 1–0 | [69] |
Nadal–Del Potro | 2007–2018 | 17 | 11–6 | 1 | 1–0 | 7 | 5–2 | 0 | 0 | [70] |
Nadal–Thiem | 2014– | 16 | 10–6 | 4 | 4–0 | 6 | 5–1 | 2 | 2–0 | [71] |
Borg–Năstase | 1972–1980 | 15 | 10–5 | 5 | 2–3 | 3 | 3–0 | 1 | 1–0 | [72] |
Ashe–Laver | 1959–1976 | 15 | 2–13 | 2 | 0–2 | 4 | 0–4 | 0 | 0 | [73] |
Agassi–Rafter | 1993–2001 | 15 | 10–5 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4–3 | 0 | 0 | [74] |
Djokovic–Medvedev | 2017– | 15 | 10–5 | 4 | 3–1 | 4 | 3–1 | 3 | 2–1 | [75] |
Laver–Roche | 1968–1972 | 14 | 9–5 | 9 | 5–4 | 3 | 3–0 | 2 | 2–0 | [76] |
Borg–McEnroe | 1978–1981 | 14 | 7–7 | 9 | 4–5 | 4 | 1–3 | 4 | 1–3 | [77] |
Gerulaitis–McEnroe | 1979–1984 | 14 | 3–11 | 5 | 1–4 | 2 | 0–2 | 1 | 0–1 | [78] |
Agassi–Becker | 1988–1999 | 14 | 10–4 | 1 | 1–0 | 5 | 4–1 | 0 | 0 | [79] |
Edberg–Sampras | 1990–1995 | 14 | 6–8 | 1 | 1–0 | 2 | 2–0 | 1 | 1–0 | [80] |
Federer–Raonic | 2012–2018 | 14 | 11–3 | 3 | 2–1 | 4 | 3–1 | 0 | 0 | [81] |
Djokovic–Tsitsipas | 2018– | 14 | 12–2 | 6 | 6–0 | 3 | 3–0 | 2 | 2–0 | [82] |
McEnroe–Wilander | 1982–1989 | 13 | 7–6 | 3 | 1–2 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 | [83] |
Medvedev–Tsitsipas | 2018– | 13 | 9–4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3–1 | 0 | 0 | [84] |
Murray–Raonic | 2012–2020 | 13 | 9–4 | 2 | 2–0 | 3 | 3–0 | 1 | 1–0 | [85] |
Agassi–Courier | 1989–1996 | 12 | 5–7 | 2 | 0–2 | 6 | 2–4 | 1 | 0–1 | [86] |
Courier–Stich | 1990–1997 | 12 | 5–7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2–2 | 0 | 0 | [87] |
Agassi–Kafelnikov | 1994–2003 | 12 | 8–4 | 2 | 2–0 | 5 | 4–1 | 1 | 1–0 | [88] |
Federer–Safin | 2001–2009 | 12 | 10–2 | 3 | 3–0 | 5 | 4–1 | 1 | 1–0 | [89] |
Djokovic–Thiem | 2014– | 12 | 7–5 | 1 | 1–0 | 4 | 2–2 | 1 | 1–0 | [90] |
* 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 [91] | 1959–1971 | 35 | 7–2 | 26–9 |
Court–King [91] [92] | 1962–1973 | 32 | 6–4 | 22–10 |
Court–Bueno [91] | 1960–1969 | 24 | 5–3 | 17–6 |
Rivalry [93] | Period | All tournaments | Grand Slams | Ref | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All rounds | Finals | |||||||
Matches | Won–Lost | Matches | Won–Lost | Matches | Won–Lost | |||
Evert–Navratilova [91] | 1973–1988 | 80 | 37–43 | 22 | 8–14 | 14 | 4–10 | [94] |
Evert–Wade | 1971–1982 | 46 | 40–6 | 3 | 2–1 | 0 | 0 | [95] |
Navratilova–Shriver | 1978–1992 | 43 | 40–3 | 9 | 7–2 | 0 | 0 | [96] |
Goolagong–Wade | 1970–1983 | 40 | 30–10 | 6 | 5–1 | 1 | 0–1 | [97] |
Graf–Sabatini | 1985–1995 | 40 | 29–11 | 12 | 11–1 | 3 | 2–1 | [98] |
Evert–Goolagong [91] | 1972–1983 | 39 | 26–13 | 10 | 6–4 | 5 | 3–2 | [99] |
Mandlikova–Navratilova | 1980–1989 | 36 | 7–29 | 10 | 4–6 | 3 | 2–1 | [100] |
Graf–Sánchez Vicario | 1988–1996 | 36 | 28–8 | 13 | 9–4 | 7 | 5–2 | [101] |
Navratilova–Turnbull | 1973–1988 | 34 | 29–5 | 4 | 2–2 | 0 | 0 | [102] |
Court–Casals | 1967–1977 | 33 | 30–3 | 6 | 6–0 | 1 | 1–0 | [103] |
Austin–Navratilova | 1977–1983 | 33 | 13–20 | 4 | 2–2 | 1 | 1–0 | [104] |
Graf–Novotná | 1987–1999 | 33 | 29–4 | 11 | 10–1 | 1 | 1–0 | [105] |
King–Wade | 1968–1981 | 31 | 22–9 | 6 | 5–1 | 1 | 0–1 | [106] |
S. Williams–V. Williams | 1998–2020 | 31 | 19–12 | 16 | 11–5 | 9 | 7–2 | [107] |
Goolagong–Navratilova | 1973–1982 | 27 | 12–15 | 4 | 2–2 | 1 | 1–0 | [108] |
Davenport–V. Williams | 1997–2005 | 27 | 14–13 | 9 | 4–5 | 3 | 0–3 | [109] |
Evert–King [91] | 1971–1983 | 26 | 19–7 | 9 | 6–3 | 1 | 0–1 | [110] |
Evert–Mandlikova | 1980–1989 | 26 | 19–7 | 13 | 10–3 | 3 | 3–0 | [111] |
Davenport–Hingis | 1995–2006 | 25 | 14–11 | 4 | 3–1 | 2 | 2–0 | [112] |
Clijsters–Henin | 1998–2010 | 25 | 13–12 | 8 | 3–5 | 3 | 0–3 | [113] |
Sabatini–Sánchez Vicario | 1986–1995 | 23 | 12–11 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 | [114] |
Sánchez Vicario–Seles | 1989–2002 | 23 | 3–20 | 5 | 1–4 | 3 | 1–2 | [115] |
Azarenka–S. Williams | 2008–2020 | 23 | 5–18 | 11 | 1–10 | 2 | 0–2 | [116] |
Court–Goolagong [91] | 1968–1975 | 22 | 17–5 | 8 | 6–2 | 4 | 3–1 | [117] |
Evert–Turnbull | 1976–1987 | 22 | 21–1 | 6 | 6–0 | 2 | 2–0 | [118] |
Sharapova–S. Williams | 2004–2019 | 22 | 2–20 | 9 | 1–8 | 4 | 1–3 | [119] |
Evert–Shriver | 1978–1988 | 21 | 18–3 | 2 | 2–0 | 1 | 1–0 | [120] |
Navratilova–Sabatini | 1986–1994 | 21 | 15-6 | 4 | 4–0 | 0 | 0 | [121] |
Novotná–Sánchez Vicario | 1987–1998 | 21 | 11–10 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 | [122] |
Martínez–Seles | 1989–2002 | 21 | 1–20 | 4 | 0–4 | 0 | 0 | [123] |
Hingis–V. Williams | 1997–2006 | 21 | 11–10 | 6 | 4–2 | 1 | 1–0 | [124] |
Evert–Jaeger | 1980–1984 | 20 | 17–3 | 5 | 4–1 | 0 | 0 | [125] |
Hingis–Seles | 1996–2002 | 20 | 15–5 | 7 | 5–2 | 0 | 0 | [126] |
Henin–Kuznetsova | 2003–2011 | 19 | 16–3 | 6 | 5–1 | 2 | 2–0 | [127] |
Graf–Navratilova | 1985–1994 | 18 | 9–9 | 9 | 4–5 | 6 | 4–2 | [128] |
Martínez–Sánchez Vicario | 1992–2002 | 18 | 4–14 | 3 | 1–2 | 0 | 0 | [129] |
Austin–Evert | 1977–1982 | 17 | 8-9 | 4 | 1–3 | 1 | 1–0 | [130] |
Navratilova–Seles | 1989–1993 | 17 | 7–10 | 2 | 0–2 | 1 | 0–1 | [131] |
Clijsters–Davenport | 2000–2005 | 17 | 9–8 | 6 | 1–5 | 0 | 0 | [132] |
Davenport–Mauresmo | 1998–2006 | 16 | 12–4 | 2 | 1–1 | 0 | 0 | [133] |
Hingis–Pierce | 1994–2000 | 16 | 10–6 | 4 | 3–1 | 1 | 1–0 | [134] |
Goolagong–King | 1971–1980 | 15 | 4–11 | 6 | 1–5 | 4 | 0–4 | [135] |
Jaeger–Navratilova | 1980–1983 | 15 | 4–11 | 2 | 0–2 | 2 | 0–2 | [136] |
Graf–Seles | 1989–1999 | 15 | 10–5 | 10 | 6–4 | 6 | 3–3 | [137] |
Li–Sharapova | 2005–2014 | 15 | 5–10 | 5 | 2–3 | 0 | 0 | [138] |
Azarenka–Sharapova | 2007–2015 | 15 | 7–8 | 3 | 2–1 | 1 | 1–0 | [139] |
Evert–Graf | 1985–1989 | 14 | 6–8 | 3 | 1–2 | 1 | 0–1 | [140] |
Sabatini–Seles | 1988–1996 | 14 | 3–11 | 3 | 0–3 | 0 | 0 | [141] |
Graf–Martínez | 1989–1996 | 14 | 13–1 | 6 | 6–0 | 0 | 0 | [142] |
Capriati–Seles | 1990–2002 | 14 | 5–9 | 6 | 1–5 | 0 | 0 | [143] |
Hingis–Martínez | 1995–2001 | 14 | 11–3 | 2 | 2–0 | 1 | 1–0 | [144] |
Davenport–S. Williams | 1997–2005 | 14 | 4–10 | 5 | 1–4 | 1 | 0–1 | [145] |
Henin–Mauresmo | 1999–2007 | 14 | 8–6 | 3 | 0–3 | 2 | 0–2 | [146] |
Kuznetsova–Safina | 2000–2009 | 14 | 6–8 | 3 | 2–1 | 1 | 1–0 | [147] |
Henin–S. Williams | 2001–2010 | 14 | 6–8 | 7 | 4–3 | 1 | 0–1 | [148] |
Ivanovic–Sharapova | 2006–2015 | 14 | 4–10 | 2 | 1–1 | 1 | 0–1 | [149] |
Court–Evert [lower-alpha 1] | 1970–1977 | 13 | 4–9 | 3 | 2–1 | 1 | 1–0 | [160] |
Hingis–S. Williams | 1998–2002 | 13 | 6–7 | 3 | 1–2 | 1 | 0–1 | [161] |
Clijsters–V. Williams | 2001–2010 | 13 | 7–6 | 5 | 3–2 | 0 | 0 | [162] |
Graf–Shriver | 1985–1993 | 12 | 9–3 | 6 | 5–1 | 0 | 0 | [163] |
Hingis–Novotná | 1995–1999 | 12 | 9–3 | 4 | 3–1 | 1 | 1–0 | [164] |
Capriati–Davenport | 1997–2003 | 12 | 3–9 | 4 | 1–3 | 0 | 0 | [165] |
Mauresmo–S. Williams | 1999–2008 | 12 | 2–10 | 6 | 1–5 | 0 | 0 | [166] |
Dementieva–S. Williams | 2003–2010 | 12 | 5–7 | 3 | 0–3 | 0 | 0 | [167] |
Li–S. Williams | 2006–2014 | 12 | 1–11 | 4 | 0–4 | 0 | 0 | [168] |
Gauff–Świątek | 2021– | 12 | 1–11 | 3 | 0–3 | 1 | 0-1 | [169] |
≈ minimum confirmed (early records are incomplete)
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