Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The 50 Most Accomplished Players of the Open Era

This is an attempt to come up with an "objective" ranking of player accomplishments, i.e., without resorting to judgement. The scoring system is explained below. The ranking captures only achievements at the Grand Slams, and for players with significant successes in the open era. Active players - whose score can still improve - are bolded


The 50 Most Accomplished Players of the Open Era
  Men Career Rank Score     Women Career RankScore
                 
1 Novak Djokovic Dai-Y 824  1 Serena Williams Dai-Y745
2 Rafael Nadal Dai-Y 699   2Margaret Court Dai-Y712
3 Roger Federer Dai-Y 695  3 Steffi Graf Dai-Y698
4 Ken Rosewall  Dai-Y 551  4 Chris Evert Dai-Y686
5 Pete Sampras Dai-Y 435   5 Martina Navratilova Dai-Y657
6 Rod Laver Dai-Y 431   6 Billie Jean King Dai-Y416
7 Bjorn Borg Dai-Y 349   7 Monica Seles Dai-Y307
8 Ivan Lendl Y 348   8 Venus Williams Y307
9 Jimmy Connors Y 337   9 Evonne Goolagong Y304
10 Andre Agassi Y 322   10 Justine Henin Y251
               
11 John McEnroe Y 256  11 Martina Hingis Y224
12 Mats Wilander Y 240   12 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario Y223
13 Stefan Edberg Y 238   13 Maria Sharapova Y214
14 Boris Becker   Y 227   14 Anne Haydon-Jones O180
15 John Newcombe Y 208   15 Iga Swiatek Y175
16 Andy Murray Y 192   16 Hana Mandlikova Y171
17 Carlos Alcaraz Y 181   17 Kim Clijsters Y171
18 Guillermo Vilas O163   18 Lindsay DavenportY163
19 Jim Courier Y151   19  Aryna Sabalenka Y154
20 Jannik Sinner Y137   20Jennifer Capriati Y121
               
21 Arthur Ashe O 127   21 Nancy Richey O
116
22 Stan Wawrinka O 114 22 Virginia WadeO113
23Jan KodesO 106 23 Naomi Osaka Y111
24 Lleyton Hewitt O 91  24 Angelique Kerber O
105
25 Ilie Nastase O 90  25 Viktoria Azarenka O102
26 Andy Roddick O 87   26 Simona Halep O
100
27 Gustavo Kuerten O 86   27 Gabriela Sabatini O
100
28 Marat Safin O 83  28 Mary Pierce O
98
29 Daniil Medvedev O 83   29 Amelie Mauresmo O
87
30Pat Rafter O 81   30 Ashleigh Barty O
86
               
31 Yevgeni Kafelnikov O 79   31 Svetlana Kuznetsova O
86
32 Stan Smith O 74   32Kerry Melville ReedO 85
33Tony RocheO 74  33 Conchita Martinez O 84
34 Michael Chang O 71  34 Na Li O
82
35 Goran Ivanisevic S 70  35 Jana Novotna O
82
36 Johan Kriek O69   36 Petra Kvitova O
81
37 Sergi Bruguera O 66   37 Garbine Murguruza O
78
38 Vitas Gerulaitis O 63   38 Coco Gauff O 73
39 Dominic Thiem O 62   39 Tracy Austin O
71
40Marin Cilic O 62  40Caroline Wozniacki S 60
               
41 Michael StichO 58   41 Barbora Krejcikova O
57
42 Juan Carlos Ferrero O 57   42 Mima JausovecO 56
43Pat CashO 55  43 Madison Keys O 56
44 Juan Martin del Potro O 55  44 Helena Sukova O
56
45 Roscoe Tanner O 53   45 Ana Ivanovic O 54
46 Alexander Zverev O 51  46 Mary Joe Fernandez O
53
47 Manuel Orantes S 47  47 Rosemary Casals O
50
48 Carlos Moya O44   48 Samantha Stosur O
47
49 Andres Gimeno S43   49 Virginia Ruzici O
47
50Richard Krajicek O 41   50 Wendy Turnbull S 46

Thomas Muster (tied) S41


For players whose careers falls entirely into the open era - the vast majority - the score is computed as follows: one point for a grand slam quarter-final participation, 3 points for a semifinal, 9 points for a final, and 27 points for a title. Hence every win in the later stages of a slam triples the score. 

For players who split their careers between the pre-open era and the open era - including Margaret Court, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Billie Jean King, John Newcombe Anne Haydon-Jones - adjustments are made to give credit to achievements during both periods. In the men's ranking, points accumulated on the pro tour have a weight of 2/3 per tournament (note: there were only three pro slams), points accumulated on the amateur tour have a weight of 1/2. This ensures that the total points per year remain the same as in the open era. In the ladies' game, there was only the amateur tour, hence pre-open era points count fully. 

In case of points equality, the number of tournament victories/finals/semifinals (in this order) serve as tiebreaker. Players who had most their successes before the open era are not included, for example Ray Emerson, Pancho Gonzalez or Maria Bueno.

Updated: September 7, 2025

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