Top 15 longest Winning streaks in tennis

Having a long winning streak in Tennis is highly coveted and challenging, as is in all other sports. But it is still easier to achieve a good streak as compared to team sports as it entirely depends on how one individual plays. Whereas team sports it relies on how the whole team performs collectively on a given day. At times when a tennis player has his or her mojo on, they can go on winning multiple titles, thereby winning all the matches in its course.

Till the time one player puts a pause on that winning streak. The winning streak always comes to an end almost as certainly as the sun rises. As Daniil Medvedev recently said in an interview recently “No one can win 100 matches at a stretch. Someone will put water on that fire“.

Winning streaks also come to a quick end when the surface changes from a preferred to a not-so-preferred surface for a player. Moving from hard court to Clay court or Clay court to Grass court could really impact a player’s winning chances. And even if the player is on a roll it might be the cause of their ultimate fall.

The sport is also becoming so competitive these days that, players are just upping the ante and defeating the most invincible-looking players on the court. So it’s a thing of marvel, these winning streaks in tennis. And all the players listed below deserve honor because winning streaks are just a remarkable thing.

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Top 15 longest winning streaks in both Men’s and Women’s tennis combined

1. Martina Navratilova – 74

Martina Navratilova has the world record for the longest winning streak in tennis. In 1984, the American player won 74 consecutive matches and 6 titles on the way to set this record. The winning haul finally came to a pause when Czech player Helena Sukova defeated her in the Australian Open semi-final. This record of 74 matches has not been broken by anyone and it feels like it might never be broken.

2. Steffi Graf – 66

Steffi Graff remained undefeated in 1989 and 1990 for a stretch of 11 months. She began this epic run with French Open in 1989, winning all four grand slam titles and several other titles in between. Ultimately she was dethroned by the young Yugoslavian Monica Seles. She defeated the unstoppable force of Graff in the German Open final in 1990. Had Steffi Graf won the match it would be her 5th German Open title.

3. Martina Navratilova – 58

Martina Navratilova’s name is going to appear more than once on this coveted list. In 1987, Navratilova went on to win 58 consecutive matches, when another Czech player proved to be her kryptonite. Hana Mandikova ended World no. 1’s winning streak of 58 matches at the Australian Open 87 final match.

4. Margaret Court – 57

Way back in 1972, the highest number of Grand Slam titles winner Margaret Court seemed like a force to reckon with. But her 57 matches winning run was halted by none other than Billie Jean King. It was a dramatic match at Indianapolis, where BJK saved 3 match points of Margaret Court to ultimately win the match.

5. Chris Evert – 55

American tennis sensation in 1974, Chris Evert set her own record for longest winning haul at 55. She lost to Evonne Goolagong in the semi-finals of the US Open which she was a favorite for winning

6. Martina Navratilova – 54

Another time Czech’s Hana Mandiklova toyed with Martina Navratilova’s winning streak is in 1984. Navratilova surpassed the previous year’s record in 1984. In January 1984, Hana defeated Martina in Oakland.

7. Guillermo Vilas – 46

Make space for the ATP because the men’s have arrived in this list of longest streaks. Back in 1977, Argentine Guillermo Vilas kept winning title after title and match after match. He also held the record of a 53-match winning streak on clay courts, which was broken by Rafael Nadal in 2006. His 1977 winning run came to a halt when he abandoned the match against Romanian Ilie Nastase. He protested against the player’s use of spaghetti strung racquet and left the match. So technically he didn’t lose a match. Post this match he won another 28 matches continuously.

8. Steffi Graff – 46

Another name to re-appear on this list several times is Steffi Graf. Graf won 46 continuous matches but met her fall against fellow American Pam Shriver in the semi-final match of the Virginia Slims Championship

9. Steffi Graff – 45

In 1987, Steffi Graf produced a run of 45 wins in succession. Martina Navratilova put an end to the streak, in the Wimbledon final.

10. Ivan Lendl – 44

It seems the 40s is a sweet spot for men’s winning streak as the next few names are from different men in the open Era. Between 1981 and 1982 Ivan Lendl made a record for the longest winning streak of 44 matches. In 1981 Ivan won 6 consecutive titles. The year 1982, also started out well for him as he won the title at Masters Tournament. He finally lost in a clay tournament to Yannick Noah at La Quinta.

11. Bjorn Borg – 43

Bjorn Borg had a record run of winning 43 matches in a row. In the process to do so he defeated names like Rod Laver, Tony Roche, Cliff Drysdale, and Vitus Gerulaitis. He won titles in Milan and Rome and later he was coined champion at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He ultimately lost to Jimmy Connors in 1978 at the US Open Finals.

12. Novak Djokovic – 43

Novak Djokovic has six winning streaks of 20 matches. He broke Federer’s longest winning streak with his 43 wins which is the third longest men’s winning in ATP. His streak started in 2010 with two Davis Cup Matches. Onward in 2011, he got seven titles back-to-back, including the Australian Open. He also won four Masters 1000 crowns at Rome, Miami, Madrid, and Indian Wells. Finally in the semifinal at the French Open 2011, Rodger Federer dented his streak in an epic 4-set battle.

13. John McEnroe – 42

In 1984 John McEnroe won the Volvo Masters tournament which started his winning streak. He then won 5 tournaments in a row with a couple of Davis Cup matches. After that, he won the Forest Hills and the World Team Cup ultimately losing to Ivan Lendl in the 1985 French Open Final in a 5-setter.

14. Chris Evert – 41

Chris Evert also put together a 41-match undefeated run, doing so over the course of 1975 and 1976. It was Navratilova who ultimately ended this sequence in Houston.

15. Martina Navratilova – 41

Martina Navratilova put together a 41-match winning streak in 1982, with her run ended by Pam Shriver at the 1982 US Open in the quarterfinals.

16. Roger Federer – 41

It seems like ending this list without Roger Federer’s name would be a travesty. Federer’s longest winning streak of 41 matches came in 2006-2007. He won five titles continuously at the end of 2006, including the US Open and the ATP Finals. In 2007, he won the Australian Open and Dubai Open. His run came to an end when Guillermo Canas defeated him at Indian Wells in Roger’s first match 

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