Who has the most tennis grand slams

The race continues for the most grand slam titles in men’s tennis, with Rafael Nadal narrowly ahead of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

The trio have been the dominant forces for well over a decade, and it remains a hotly-debated topic when it comes to deciding which one of them is the greatest of their era, if not of all time, given they each hold various records.

At 40, Federer is the elder statesman. He was the first male player to reach 20 major singles titles, and has also reached the most grand slam semi-finals (46) and quarter-finals (58) of any male player in the Open era.

In 2020, 36-year-old Nadal pulled level with Federer on 20 grand slams when winning the French Open once more. It was his 13th title at Roland Garros, and no player has been as dominant at one major event as the Spaniard has in Paris.

Indeed, after adding the 2022 Australian Open title, Nadal pulled further clear in the “GOAT” [greatest of all time] race when winning No 14 on the red dirt.

However, Djokovic remains in hot pursuit. The 35-year-old is used to playing catch-up with Federer and Nadal, and had levelled the pair on 20 titles in 2021 by winning the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon.

He was unable to complete the Calendar Grand Slam when losing to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final, and now with Nadal holding the outright lead, Djokovic is back to closing the Spaniard down.

How the grand slam race has unfolded

By the time Djokovic won his first grand slam title in 2008, at the Australian Open, Federer already had 12 to his name and Nadal three.

The age gap made Federer the player to beat in the earlier stages of Nadal and Djokovic’s careers, and in 2009 he surpassed Pete Sampras’ record of 14 slams to become the outright men’s record-holder – though come the 2010s he found himself being tracked down.

Regular triumphs for Nadal in France and Djokovic in Australia helped them both tick the scoreboard over nicely, but Federer stalled on 17 after his Wimbledon 2012 win, for it would be five years before he won another grand slam at the 2017 Australian Open.

Along with Serena Williams, Federer has helped redefine the age in which top players are typically expected to retire, and despite going on to win his 20th slam at the Australian Open in 2018 he has not given up hope of adding to his tally.

This desire to keep going has also motivated Nadal and Djokovic, and should the pair play for as long as Federer has managed then there is every chance the latter will be left trailing in the overall race for grand slam titles.

There are of course a few factors which will define the eventual outcome come the occasion when all three have retired.

Nadal’s stranglehold on the French Open means he looks capable of winning titles in Paris for years to come, however there are question marks around whether he will play there again after playing through the pain to win in 2022.

That could make it advantage Djokovic - who won Wimbledon to win slam No 21 - although Carlos Alcaraz, Medvedev and Alexander Zverev are among the players hoping to end this era of dominance once and for all.

One thing seems certain - the race will not end Nadal 22-21 Djokovic, while if Federer could win No 21, it would be a triumph for the ages.

Follow i sport on Facebook for more tennis news, interviews and features, or listen to the Love Tennis Podcast presented by i‘s own James Gray on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts

To help personalize content, Ultimate Tennis Statistics uses cookies. By navigating this website, you agree to use cookies.

{point.key}<\><\><\><\><\>","pointFormat":"•<\> {point.y}<\><\>","footerFormat":"<\>"},"plotOptions":{"series":{"cursor":"pointer","lineWidth":4,"borderWidth":0,"groupPadding":0.12,"pointPadding":0.05,"marker":{"symbol":"circle","radius":4,"fillColor":null,"lineColor":null},"shadow":false,"stacking":null,"dataLabels":{"shadow":false,"style":{"textShadow":null,"color":"#4f4f4f"},"enabled":true,"zIndex":3,"rotation":0}},"pie":{"allowPointSelect":true,"minSize":280,"dataLabels":{"enabled":true,"useHTML":true,"overflow":"justify","crop":true,"connectorPadding":20,"padding":5,"distance":20,"style":{"fontWeight":"normal","fontSize":"12px"},"format":"•<\> {point.name}<\> {point.y:,.f}"}},"line":{"dataLabels":{"y":8,"x":24,"format":"{y:,.f}","useHTML":false,"crop":false}},"bar":{"dataLabels":{"crop":false,"overflow":"none","allowOverlap":true,"format":"{y:,.f}","useHTML":false}},"column":{"dataLabels":{"crop":false,"overflow":"none","allowOverlap":true,"format":"{y:,.f}","useHTML":false}},"area":{"stacking":"normal","lineColor":"#666666","lineWidth":1,"marker":{"lineWidth":1,"lineColor":"#666666"}},"annotations":[],"labelunit":""},"colors":["#2876dd","#0f283e","#bababa","#a60b0b","#87bc24","#ebb523","#5d2b76","#c271da","#76a5e3","#099676","#919191","#c85a79","#468d02","#c8640c","#927eb7","#aaa9d6"],"series":[{"name":" ","data":[{"y":23},{"y":22},{"y":18},{"y":18},{"y":11},{"y":9},{"y":8},{"y":7},{"y":7},{"y":7},{"y":5},{"y":5}],"index":1,"legendIndex":0}],"navigation":{"buttonOptions":{"enabled":false}},"exporting":{"url":"https:\/\/highcharts.statista.com","allowHTML":true,"filename":"statistic_id280390_female-tennis-players-by-number-of-grand-slam-tournament-titles-won-1968-2022"}}>

WTA. (July 11, 2022). Female tennis players with the most Grand Slam tournament titles as of July 2022 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved August 16, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/280390/female-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/

WTA. "Female tennis players with the most Grand Slam tournament titles as of July 2022." Chart. July 11, 2022. Statista. Accessed August 16, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/280390/female-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/

WTA. (2022). Female tennis players with the most Grand Slam tournament titles as of July 2022. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: August 16, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/280390/female-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/

WTA. "Female Tennis Players with The Most Grand Slam Tournament Titles as of July 2022." Statista, Statista Inc., 11 Jul 2022, https://www.statista.com/statistics/280390/female-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/

WTA, Female tennis players with the most Grand Slam tournament titles as of July 2022 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/280390/female-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/ (last visited August 16, 2022)

{point.key}<\><\><\><\><\>","pointFormat":"•<\> {point.y}<\><\>","footerFormat":"<\>"},"plotOptions":{"series":{"cursor":"pointer","lineWidth":4,"borderWidth":0,"groupPadding":0.12,"pointPadding":0.05,"marker":{"symbol":"circle","radius":4,"fillColor":null,"lineColor":null},"shadow":false,"stacking":null,"dataLabels":{"shadow":false,"style":{"textShadow":null,"color":"#4f4f4f"},"enabled":true,"zIndex":3,"rotation":0}},"pie":{"allowPointSelect":true,"minSize":280,"dataLabels":{"enabled":true,"useHTML":true,"overflow":"justify","crop":true,"connectorPadding":20,"padding":5,"distance":20,"style":{"fontWeight":"normal","fontSize":"12px"},"format":"•<\> {point.name}<\> {point.y:,.f}"}},"line":{"dataLabels":{"y":8,"x":24,"format":"{y:,.f}","useHTML":false,"crop":false}},"bar":{"dataLabels":{"crop":false,"overflow":"none","allowOverlap":true,"format":"{y:,.f}","useHTML":false}},"column":{"dataLabels":{"crop":false,"overflow":"none","allowOverlap":true,"format":"{y:,.f}","useHTML":false}},"area":{"stacking":"normal","lineColor":"#666666","lineWidth":1,"marker":{"lineWidth":1,"lineColor":"#666666"}},"annotations":[],"labelunit":""},"colors":["#2876dd","#0f283e","#bababa","#a60b0b","#87bc24","#ebb523","#5d2b76","#c271da","#76a5e3","#099676","#919191","#c85a79","#468d02","#c8640c","#927eb7","#aaa9d6"],"series":[{"name":" ","data":[{"y":22},{"y":21},{"y":20},{"y":14},{"y":12},{"y":11},{"y":11},{"y":10},{"y":8},{"y":8},{"y":8},{"y":8},{"y":8},{"y":8},{"y":8}],"index":1,"legendIndex":0}],"navigation":{"buttonOptions":{"enabled":false}},"exporting":{"url":"https:\/\/highcharts.statista.com","allowHTML":true,"filename":"statistic_id263034_male-tennis-players-with-most-grand-slam-wins-2022"}}>

ATP. (July 11, 2022). Male tennis players with the most Grand Slam tournament titles won as of July 2022 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved August 16, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/263034/male-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/

ATP. "Male tennis players with the most Grand Slam tournament titles won as of July 2022." Chart. July 11, 2022. Statista. Accessed August 16, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/263034/male-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/

ATP. (2022). Male tennis players with the most Grand Slam tournament titles won as of July 2022. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: August 16, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/263034/male-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/

ATP. "Male Tennis Players with The Most Grand Slam Tournament Titles Won as of July 2022." Statista, Statista Inc., 11 Jul 2022, https://www.statista.com/statistics/263034/male-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/

ATP, Male tennis players with the most Grand Slam tournament titles won as of July 2022 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/263034/male-tennis-players-with-the-most-victories-at-grand-slam-tournaments/ (last visited August 16, 2022)