Players with Winning Records Over the Big 4

Whether you believe there’s a Big 3 or a Big 4, it’s hard to deny that a very small group of players have been ridiculously dominant over the last decade and a half. Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray all have exceptional winning records and consistently beat almost every player they come across. Every player has their weaknesses though, and even against such quality player’s they’ll have their rivals that seem to always come out a little bit ahead.

I’ve gone ahead and compiled all the players that have a winning record against the Big 4. All information based on at least three matches being played.

Roger Federer:

Surprising for some and perhaps not surprising for others but Federer actually has the most players with winning records against him out of the four. Nine players have managed to win all or most of their matches against, arguably, the greatest player of the open era. Five players have also managed to maintain an equal record with him. Worth noting though is that each player on his list outside of Nadal and Djokovic won their last match against him pre-2005.

Stats of note:

• Djokovic is the only player with a winning record over Federer on Grass.
• Nadal, Djokovic, and Jiri Novak are the only players with winning records against Federer in best-of-five set matches.
• Federer has a losing record with all three players he’s played on carpet at least three times (Henman, Hewitt and Nalbandian).

Losing Record: 10 | Equal Record: 4 | Winning Record: 129

• Pat Rafter (0-3)
• Thomas Enquist (1-3)
• Yevgeny Kafelnikov (2-4)
• Gustavo Kurten (1-2)
• Wayne Ferreira (1-2)
• Dominik Hrbaty (1-2)
• Rafael Nadal (15-23)
• Alex Corretja (2-3)
• Novak Djokovic (22-25)
• Dominic Thiem (2-3)

Rafael Nadal:

With the second highest overall match win percentage, behind only Bjorn Borg, it’s no surprise that only three players have manage a positive win record over Rafael Nadal. Although Djokovic and Nadal have one of the biggest rivalries of all time, and Hrbaty managed to get in all of his wins before Nadal won his first slam, the real stand-out on this list is Davydenko who managed to continue to compete with Nadal, even throughout the peak of Nadal’s career, including a four match winning streak from 2009-2011.

Stats of note:

• No one has a winning record against Nadal on clay. One player (Gaston Gaudio) has an equal record with him.
• No one has a winning record against Nadal in best-of-five set matches. One player (Gilles Muller) has an equal record with him.

Losing Record: 3 | Equal Record: 2 | Winning Record: 116

• Dominik Hrbaty (1-3)
• Nikolay Davydenko (5-6)
• Novak Djokovic (25-28)

Novak Djokovic:

Novak Djokovic sits third on the all-time win percentage list behind Borg and Nadal, and his dominance in recent years has helped achieve narrow margins over Nadal and Federer. Ivo Karlovic stands out on this list as someone who has been able to maintain a lead over Djokovic through his prime, including being one of only four players to have a win over the Serb in 2015. Nick Kyrgios will also be joining this list upon their next meeting as he is undefeated against Djokovic after just two meetings.

Stats of Note:

• Djokovic has a winning record over each player he’s played 10+ games against.
• The only player with a winning record over Djokovic in best-of-five set matches is Nadal.
• Three players, Mikhail Youzhny, David Ferrer, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have winning records against Djokovic when playing Indoors.

Losing Record: 3 | Equal Record: 4 | Winning Record: 89

• Fernando Gonzalez (1-2)
• Ivo Karlovic (1-2)
• Andy Roddick (4-5)

Andy Murray:

Though it’s often debated whether or not Andy Murray can be mentioned in the same sentence as the previous three players, his results speak for themselves and, once he hit his peak, he consistently beat anyone that wasn’t named Nadal, Federer or Djokovic. A few players were able to get ahead of Murray earlier in his career, though seemingly not as many as Federer.

Stats of note:

• No one aside from Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have a winning record against Murray in indoor matches.
• Federer and Nadal are the only players with winning margins over Murray on Grass.

Losing Record: 6 | Equal Record: 2 | Winning Record: 87

• Rafael Nadal (7-17)
• Novak Djokovic (11-25)
• Fernando Gonzalez (1-2)
• Arnaud Clement (1-2)
• Mario Ancic (2-3)
• Roger Federer (11-14)

Overall:

With a combined 55 grand slam titles, 105 Masters 1000 titles, 12 Tour Finals wins, and 3 Olympic gold medals, these four players have dominated the last fifteen years of tennis, so it’s no surprise that only a few key players manage to secure winning records over them.

Overall stats of note:

• Hrbaty and Gonzalez are the only non-Big 4 players to appear more than once.
• Federer is the only player on this list to have played at least three matches against a player and lose all of them, he never defeated Pat Rafter.
• Seven current or former world number ones have winning records over members of the Big 4: Pat Rafter, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Gustavo Kurten, Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
• Federer has played the most opponents three times or more.
• Djokovic is the only player to have a winning percentage over every player he’s played ten or more times.