Novak Djokovic
Serena Williams
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Novak Djokovic leads 3 of 3 categories. Our all-time ranking places Novak Djokovic at #1 and Serena Williams at #2.
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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 Serena Williams
Serena Williams won her first major at the 1999 US Open at age 17 and her 23rd — the Open Era record for any player, man or woman — at the 2017 Australian Open while roughly eight weeks pregnant. Between those bookends lies the most sustained excellence in women's sports history: 23 Slam finals won from 33 contested, 319 weeks at No.1 including a 186-week consecutive run that tied Steffi Graf's record, four Olympic gold medals, and two separate 'Serena Slams' (holding all four majors at once) completed eleven years apart, in 2002-03 and 2014-15. She won majors as a teenager and in her mid-thirties, beat No.1-ranked opponents across three different decades, and returned from a 2011 pulmonary embolism to compile arguably her best stretch, going 3.5 seasons from 2012 with a match record above 90 percent. Her serve is widely considered the greatest shot in the history of women's tennis. On dominance relative to field, she has a case for the top spot on any list.