Novak Djokovic
Billie Jean King
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Dead even across the measured categories. Our all-time ranking places Novak Djokovic at #1 and Billie Jean King at #12.
Head-to-head FAQ
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The case for Novak Djokovic
Every major record that can be counted now points the same way. Djokovic's 24 Grand Slam singles titles are the most ever, tied with Margaret Court and achieved entirely against open, global, 128-draw fields. His 428 weeks at No.1 are over 50 more than anyone in history; his eight year-end No.1 finishes are unmatched; his 40 Masters 1000 titles are 4 clear of Nadal; and he is the only man to win every Slam, every Masters event and the ATP Finals — most of them multiple times, including a record 10 Australian Opens. The rivalry ledger is decisive: winning career head-to-heads against both Federer (27-23) and Nadal (31-29), the two other greatest players of his own era, at their peaks. His 2024 Paris Olympic gold at age 37, beating Alcaraz in the final, completed the career Golden Slam and removed the last box left unticked. He built the record on the era's hardest task — beating prime Federer and prime Nadal — and the numbers now stand alone.
The case for Billie Jean King
King won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 39 majors across all disciplines, including a record 20 Wimbledon titles counting singles, doubles and mixed. But her importance dwarfs even those totals. In 1973 she founded the WTA, threatened to boycott the US Open until it became the first major to pay women and men equally, and beat 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in the 'Battle of the Sexes' before an estimated 90 million television viewers — a victory that reshaped public attitudes toward women's sport far beyond tennis. An aggressive serve-and-volley player and ferocious competitor, she reached world No.1 and won titles across grass, clay and hard courts over two decades. No player has done more to build the professional women's game or to win its economic and cultural battles, which is why her place among the immortals rests on a foundation the pure title-counters miss. The tour's premier team competition, the Billie Jean King Cup, now carries her name.