The likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, among others, have all-time tennis records to their name and while some of these could be broken, there are others that even top players like Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Iga Świątek, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff may not be able to better. On that note, let us take a look at some tennis records that would be difficult to break.
5 Tennis Records That Will be Difficult to Break, Including Novak Djokovic
Longest Tennis Match Ever
John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played the longest match in tennis history in the opening round of Wimbledon 2010. Isner triumphed 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 70-68 after 11 hours and five minutes.
Since then, there have been a few changes in the rules, most notably, the presence of a final-set tiebreak, which means that matches cannot go to sudden death, like it did in the Isner-Mahut match in 2010 and other fixtures. Hence, it seems highly unlikely that the duration of this fixture will ever be surpassed, even if we have immensely long tiebreaks across five sets.
Martina Navratilova’s 9 Wimbledon Titles
Martina Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles throughout her illustrious career. Nine of these came at Wimbledon, and it is the most number of singles tournaments a player, male or female has ever won at the grass-court Major.
The likes of Roger Federer, Djokovic, Serena Williams, and Steffi Graf have come close to equaling Navratilova’s record, with the former winning the tournament eight times. However, no one has surpassed the Czech-American yet.
While Djokovic is still active, he needs to win another two titles to level Navratilova, which seems farfetched given that he is well into the twilight of his career. In men’s tennis, Alcaraz and Sinner have won Wimbledon twice and once, respectively, and while they are expected to dominate the sport for a long time, clinching another eight-nine tournaments will be a daunting task, not to forget that others could also challenge them.
The field is quite stacked on the WTA Tour and right now, it seems difficult to tell who out of Świątek, Sabalenka, Gauff, Pegula, or Rybakina stands a chance of coming close to nine titles at Wimbledon. Hence, there is a good chance of Navratilova’s record standing for several decades.
Novak Djokovic’s Record of 428 Weeks as World No. 1
Djokovic’s impressive run in 2023 saw him break Steffi Graf’s record of most number of weeks for a singles player at the top of the rankings. The Serb lost the ranking to Sinner in 2024 and it seems very unlikely that he will reclaim it again.
Djokovic has been World No. 1 for a total of 428 weeks and while Alcaraz and Sinner are bound to challenge for that spot for several years, being on top for that long will no doubt be a long, long mountain to climb. In women’s tennis, Świątek has already had 125 weeks as the World No. 1 and Sabalenka, 66. However, reaching 428 will require a Herculean effort, particularly with the likes of other players present.
So, the odds of Djokovic holding the record for most weeks at World No. 1 for a singles player seem very high at present.
Roger Federer’s 237 Weeks at a Stretch as World No. 1
Federer first became World No. 1 in 2004 by dethroning Andy Roddick, and he did not lose the ranking for over four years. The Swiss thus stayed at the top for 237 succcessive weeks, a feat that has not been surpassed yet.
Both Nadal and Djokovic have been World No. 1 for several weeks but neither have come close to breaking Federer’s record, with the Serb’s longest run at the top being 122 weeks while the same is 56 for the Spaniard. Given the competition between Alcaraz and Sinner, the chance of either of the two having an insanely long run at World No. 1 seems low at present.
In women’s tennis, one out of the likes of Świątek, Sabalenka, Gauff, Rybakina, Pegula, Andreeva, and others will need to produce a remarkable run to come close to breaking Federer’s record. However, that seems quite unlikely for the time being.
Rafael Nadal’s French Open Tally
No player has dominated a Grand Slam like Nadal has at the French Open. The Spaniard has cemented his status as the clay-court Major’s greatest-ever competitor, having won it 14 times throughout his extraordinary career. Djokovic has won the tournament thrice and it seems highly unlikely he will win it again.
Alcaraz has won the French Open twice so far but still has a long, long way to go. Sinner hasn’t won the tournament yet and while he could challenge his rival, there are other players like Casper Ruud, Lorenzo Musetti, and Alexander Zverev, who could contend.
The one person who maybe stands a ghost of a chance of equaling Nadal’s French Open tally is Świątek, who has won it four times already. However, with the presence of players like Sabalenka and Gauff, she is bound to have a hard time getting to 14.
