#1 Seed and Performance of Greats in Open Era

M

McEnroeisanartist

Hall of Fame
Looking at how the greats (6 or more slams won in the open era) performed in Grand Slams that they were seeded #1. When seeded #1, what percentage of slams did they go on to win.


Federer 11/23 - 47.83%
Sampras 9/23 - 39.13%
Nadal 3/9 - 33.33%
Borg - 8/14 - 57.14%
Connors - 2/9 - 22.22%
Agassi - 1/7 - 14.28%
Lendl - 5/17 - 29.41%
McEnroe - 3/10 - 30.00%
Wilander 0/1 0.00%
Becker - 0/2 - 0.00%
Djokovic - 3/8 - 37.50%
Edberg - 0/6 - 0.00%

I think a couple of things stand out. 1. How many Slams Federer won when he was seeded #1/expected to as the pressure was on him. 2. Djokovic rises above his tier 3 great level with success as a #1 seed.
 
McEnroeisanartist said:
Looking at how the greats (6 or more slams won in the open era) performed in Grand Slams that they were seeded #1. When seeded #1, what percentage of slams did they go on to win.


Federer 11/23 - 47.83%
Sampras 9/23 - 39.13%
Nadal 3/9 - 33.33%
Borg - 8/14 - 57.14%
Connors - 2/9 - 22.22%
Agassi - 1/7 - 14.28%
Lendl - 5/17 - 29.41%
McEnroe - 3/10 - 30.00%
Wilander 0/1 0.00%
Becker - 0/2 - 0.00%
Djokovic - 3/8 - 37.50%
Edberg - 0/6 - 0.00%

I think a couple of things stand out. 1. How many Slams Federer won when he was seeded #1/expected to as the pressure was on him. 2. Djokovic rises above his tier 3 great level with success as a #1 seed.
Click to expand...
Wow edberg has a terrible record
 
Federer has been the most dominating and successful as the No.1!
Nothing new here.
 
McEnroeisanartist said:
Looking at how the greats (6 or more slams won in the open era) performed in Grand Slams that they were seeded #1. When seeded #1, what percentage of slams did they go on to win.


Federer 11/23 - 47.83%
Sampras 9/23 - 39.13%
Nadal 3/9 - 33.33%
Borg - 8/14 - 57.14%
Connors - 2/9 - 22.22%
Agassi - 1/7 - 14.28%
Lendl - 5/17 - 29.41%
McEnroe - 3/10 - 30.00%
Wilander 0/1 0.00%
Becker - 0/2 - 0.00%
Djokovic - 3/8 - 37.50%
Edberg - 0/6 - 0.00%

I think a couple of things stand out. 1. How many Slams Federer won when he was seeded #1/expected to as the pressure was on him. 2. Djokovic rises above his tier 3 great level with success as a #1 seed.
Click to expand...

Is that including or excluding the weak era?
 
McEnroeisanartist said:
Looking at how the greats (6 or more slams won in the open era) performed in Grand Slams that they were seeded #1. When seeded #1, what percentage of slams did they go on to win.


Federer 11/23 - 47.83%
Sampras 9/23 - 39.13%
Nadal 3/9 - 33.33%
Borg - 8/14 - 57.14%
Connors - 2/9 - 22.22%
Agassi - 1/7 - 14.28%
Lendl - 5/17 - 29.41%
McEnroe - 3/10 - 30.00%
Wilander 0/1 0.00%
Becker - 0/2 - 0.00%
Djokovic - 3/8 - 37.50%
Edberg - 0/6 - 0.00%

I think a couple of things stand out. 1. How many Slams Federer won when he was seeded #1/expected to as the pressure was on him. 2. Djokovic rises above his tier 3 great level with success as a #1 seed.
Click to expand...

That's atrocious from Edberg, sheesh!
 
McEnroeisanartist said:
Agassi - 1/7 - 14.28%
Click to expand...


Agassi was seeded number 1 at 8 majors, winning 1 of those:

1995 French Open
1995 Wimbledon
1995 US Open
2000 Australian Open
2000 French Open
2000 Wimbledon
2000 US Open
2003 US Open

Edit: Mistake made by me. Sampras seeded number 1 at 2000 Wimbledon.
 
Last edited:
Mustard said:
Nadal is 3/8, unless you count 2009 Wimbledon that he didn't play.

2008 US Open
2009 Australian Open
2009 French Open
2010 US Open
2011 Australian Open
2011 French Open
2011 Wimbledon
2014 Australian Open
Click to expand...

Knowing McEnroeartist he probably counts Wimbledon 2009 as a first round loss lol.
 
Mustard said:
Agassi was seeded number 1 at 8 majors, winning 1 of those:

1995 French Open
1995 Wimbledon
1995 US Open
2000 Australian Open
2000 French Open
2000 Wimbledon
2000 US Open
2003 US Open
Click to expand...

Sampras was seeded #1 at 2000 Wimbledon. As he should have been, winning the tournament 6 out of the 7 previous years.
 
Mustard said:
Nadal is 3/8, unless you count 2009 Wimbledon that he didn't play.

2008 US Open
2009 Australian Open
2009 French Open
2010 US Open
2011 Australian Open
2011 French Open
2011 Wimbledon
2014 Australian Open
Click to expand...

Yes, I counted 2009 Wimbledon, just as I counted 1999 US Open for Sampras.
 
McEnroeisanartist said:
Sampras was seeded #1 at 2000 Wimbledon. As he should have been, winning the tournament 6 out of the 7 previous years.
Click to expand...

Ah, so he was. That peculiar system of Wimbledon's of not always seeding the world number 1 at #1.

Do you also think Nadal should have been seeded number 1 at last year's French Open instead of seeded at number 3? After all, Nadal had won the tournament 7 out of the 8 previous years.
 
Last edited:
Mustard said:
Ah, so he was. That peculiar system of Wimbledon's of not always seeding the world number 1 at #1.

Do you also think Nadal should have been seeded number 1 at last year's French Open instead of seeded at number 3? After all, Nadal had won the tournament 7 out of the 8 previous years.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think most would agree that Nadal should have been seeded #1 at the French Open in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

2006 is debatable.

It is stupid that the player most dominant at one Grand Slam ever has only been expected (seeded #1) to win the tournament twice.

Props to Sampras for winning Wimbledon as the #1 seed 6 out of 8 times.

It will be interesting to see how many more #1 seeds Nadal earns. At the moment, the top 4 players with the most #1 seeds (Federer, Sampras, Lendl, and Borg), were all considered the best players of the 00s, 90s, 80s, and 70s.

It is a bit odd that Nadal has only been seeded once more than Djokovic but has 7 more Grand Slams.
 
Open era:
  • Novak Djokovic = 15/33 (45.45%)
  • Roger Federer = 11/24 (45.83%)
  • Pete Sampras = 9/23 (39.13%)
  • Ivan Lendl = 5/18 (27.78%)
  • Rafael Nadal = 6/16 (37.50%)
  • Bjorn Borg = 8/14 (57.14%)
  • Rod Laver = 5/11 (45.45%)
  • John McEnroe = 3/10 (30.00%)
  • Jimmy Connors = 2/9 (22.22%)
  • Lleyton Hewitt = 1/7 (14.29%)
  • Andre Agassi = 1/7 (14.29%)
  • Stefan Edberg = 0/6 (0.00%)
  • Guillermo Vilas = 2/5 (40.00%)
  • Jim Courier = 2/5 (40.00%)
  • Stan Smith = 1/4 (25.00%)
  • John Newcombe = 0/4 (0.00%)
  • Ilie Nastase = 0/4 (0.00%)
  • Jannik Sinner = 2/3 (66.67%)
  • Gustavo Kuerten = 1/3 (33.33%)
  • Carlos Alcaraz = 1/3 (33.33%)
  • Andy Murray = 0/3 (0.00%)
  • Jan Kodes = 1/2 (50.00%)
  • Ken Rosewall = 0/2 (0.00%)
  • Boris Becker = 0/2 (0.00%)
  • Vitas Gerulaitis = 1/1 (100.0%)
  • Johan Kriek = 1/1 (100.0%)
  • Tony Roche = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Arthur Ashe = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Mats Wilander = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Marcelo Rios = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Yevgeny Kafelnikov = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Andy Roddick = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Daniil Medvedev = 0/1 (0.00%)
 
Jezza94 said:
Open era:
  • Novak Djokovic = 15/33 (45.45%)
  • Roger Federer = 11/24 (45.83%)
  • Pete Sampras = 9/23 (39.13%)
  • Ivan Lendl = 5/18 (27.78%)
  • Rafael Nadal = 6/16 (37.50%)
  • Bjorn Borg = 8/14 (57.14%)
  • Rod Laver = 5/11 (45.45%)
  • John McEnroe = 3/10 (30.00%)
  • Jimmy Connors = 2/9 (22.22%)
  • Lleyton Hewitt = 1/7 (14.29%)
  • Andre Agassi = 1/7 (14.29%)
  • Stefan Edberg = 0/6 (0.00%)
  • Guillermo Vilas = 2/5 (40.00%)
  • Jim Courier = 2/5 (40.00%)
  • Stan Smith = 1/4 (25.00%)
  • John Newcombe = 0/4 (0.00%)
  • Ilie Nastase = 0/4 (0.00%)
  • Jannik Sinner = 2/3 (66.67%)
  • Gustavo Kuerten = 1/3 (33.33%)
  • Carlos Alcaraz = 1/3 (33.33%)
  • Andy Murray = 0/3 (0.00%)
  • Jan Kodes = 1/2 (50.00%)
  • Ken Rosewall = 0/2 (0.00%)
  • Boris Becker = 0/2 (0.00%)
  • Vitas Gerulaitis = 1/1 (100.0%)
  • Johan Kriek = 1/1 (100.0%)
  • Tony Roche = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Arthur Ashe = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Mats Wilander = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Marcelo Rios = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Yevgeny Kafelnikov = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Andy Roddick = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Daniil Medvedev = 0/1 (0.00%)
Click to expand...
33 slams as number 1 seed and would likely be 37 if not for pandemic. Next best is 24.
 
nolefam_2024 said:
33 slams as number 1 seed and would likely be 37 if not for pandemic. Next best is 24.
Click to expand...
33 includes the 2022 Australian Open, even though he was subsequently kicked out of Australia.

Wimbledon 2020 (cancelled) and US Open 2022 (denied entry) are the two most obvious ones where he would have been #1. Possibly 2023 Australian Open as well given he didn't play in the AO or UO in 2022.
 
Djokovic as the #1 seed:
  1. US Open 2011
  2. Australian Open 2012
  3. French Open 2012
  4. Wimbledon 2012
  5. Australian Open 2013
  6. French Open 2013
  7. Wimbledon 2013
  8. US Open 2013
  9. Wimbledon 2014
  10. US Open 2014
  11. Australian Open 2015
  12. French Open 2015
  13. Wimbledon 2015
  14. US Open 2015
  15. Australian Open 2016
  16. French Open 2016
  17. Wimbledon 2016
  18. US Open 2016
  19. Australian Open 2019
  20. French Open 2019
  21. Wimbledon 2019
  22. US Open 2019
  23. US Open 2020
  24. French Open 2020
  25. Australian Open 2021
  26. French Open 2021
  27. Wimbledon 2021
  28. US Open 2021
  29. Australian Open 2022 (deported)
  30. French Open 2022
  31. Wimbledon 2022
  32. Australian Open 2024
  33. French Open 2024
 
UPDATE.

Open era:
  • Novak Djokovic = 15/33 (45.45%)
  • Roger Federer = 11/24 (45.83%)
  • Pete Sampras = 9/23 (39.13%)
  • Ivan Lendl = 5/18 (27.78%)
  • Rafael Nadal = 6/16 (37.50%)
  • Bjorn Borg = 8/14 (57.14%)
  • Rod Laver = 5/11 (45.45%)
  • John McEnroe = 3/10 (30.00%)
  • Jimmy Connors = 2/9 (22.22%)
  • Lleyton Hewitt = 1/7 (14.29%)
  • Andre Agassi = 1/7 (14.29%)
  • Stefan Edberg = 0/6 (0.00%)
  • Jannik Sinner = 3/5 (60.00%)
  • Guillermo Vilas = 2/5 (40.00%)
  • Jim Courier = 2/5 (40.00%)
  • Stan Smith = 1/4 (25.00%)
  • John Newcombe = 0/4 (0.00%)
  • Ilie Nastase = 0/4 (0.00%)
  • Gustavo Kuerten = 1/3 (33.33%)
  • Carlos Alcaraz = 1/3 (33.33%)
  • Andy Murray = 0/3 (0.00%)
  • Jan Kodes = 1/2 (50.00%)
  • Ken Rosewall = 0/2 (0.00%)
  • Boris Becker = 0/2 (0.00%)
  • Vitas Gerulaitis = 1/1 (100.0%)
  • Johan Kriek = 1/1 (100.0%)
  • Tony Roche = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Arthur Ashe = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Mats Wilander = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Marcelo Rios = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Yevgeny Kafelnikov = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Andy Roddick = 0/1 (0.00%)
  • Daniil Medvedev = 0/1 (0.00%)
 
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