Big Titles: Djokovic Closes In On Federer's Haul

For the majority of players winning a Grand Slam, a Barclays ATP World Tour Finals or ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title remains just a dream. For a handful of players, who become serial winners, they become giants of the sport.

On Sunday, Novak Djokovic added to his ‘Big Titles’ haul. The World No. 1 etched his name in the history books with his first Roland Garros title, to become only the third player – after Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962, 1969) – to hold all four major championships at the same time. He is also the eighth player to complete the career Grand Slam.

By capturing his 12th Grand Slam championship crown, Djokovic is now just one trophy behind record-holder Roger Federer with 46 ‘Big Titles’. A five-time Barclays ATP World Tour Finals champion, Djokovic has by the far the best conversion rate of any player, past or present, winning one Big Title for every 3.15 events played at this level.

While Federer still leads the field with 47 Big Titles, including 17 Grand Slams and six Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (both records), he is third all-time with 24 Masters 1000 crowns. The Swiss has played 203 tournaments at this level, averaging one title for each 4.3 events played.

Rafael Nadal, who is currently sidelined by a wrist injury, also boasts an exceptional strike rate, winning one Big Title for every 3.5 appearances. He is joint second all-time (with Pete Sampras) for most Grand Slam titles won with 14, and outright second all-time for most Masters 1000 titles won with 28 crowns, just one behind Djokovic’s record haul.

Andy Murray, who lost to Djokovic in the Roland Garros final, has won 14 Big Titles – 12 Masters 1000s, including at last month’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia (d. Djokovic), and two majors. Murray, who has competed in the same era as Djokovic, Federer and Nadal, wins one Big Title for every 9.7 tournaments played.

Since the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series launched in 1990, Sampras has been the only player to rival the ‘Big Titles’ strike rates of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. A winner of 14 Grand Slam titles and five Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, the six-time year-end World No. 1 averaged one Big Title per 4.9 tournaments played.

One other player whose strike rate is in single figures is Andre Agassi, who at one time was the record Masters 1000 title holder with 17 titles, including six Miami crowns. Agassi also won eight majors and one season finale. His 26 ‘Big Titles’ from 164 tournaments played came at an average of one title per 6.3 events played.

Those historical averages put in perspective the utter dominance Djokovic has displayed in his past 22 outings at this level dating back to the 2014 BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. During that time the Serb has won one Big Title for every 1.29 events he’s played, going 5 of 6 at Grand Slams, 10 of 14 at Masters 1000s and 2 for 2 at Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

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