Roger Federer records that may never be broken: The 65-match grass-court winning streak

It’s the longest tour-level grass-court winning streak for a man in the Open Era—by a lot.

Published Sep 17, 2022

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Every day until the final event of his career—the Laver Cup next week—we’ll be highlighting one of Roger Federer’s records that may never be broken.

Yesterday we kicked things off with him being the only tennis player ever, male or female, to win two different Grand Slams five years in a row each.

Today, it’s another one of his historic runs:

The 65-match grass-court winning streak

For 65 grass-court matches in a row between 2003 and 2008, Federer sliced, diced, served and volleyed his way through opponent after opponent, winning 10 straight titles—five at Wimbledon, five at the lead-up event in Halle—and building what would become the longest tour-level grass-court winning streak for a man in the Open Era.

It took a Herculean effort from Rafael Nadal to finally snap the streak: after four hours and 48 grueling minutes, the Spaniard finally ended the Swiss’ record grass-court reign in the 2008 Wimbledon final, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7.

FEDERER’S 65-MATCH GRASS-COURT WINNING STREAK:

5-0 to win 2003 Halle
7-0 to win 2003 Wimbledon
5-0 to win 2004 Halle
7-0 to win 2004 Wimbledon
5-0 to win 2005 Halle
7-0 to win 2005 Wimbledon
5-0 to win 2006 Halle
7-0 to win 2006 Wimbledon
6-0 to win 2007 Wimbledon
5-0 to win 2008 Halle
6-0 to reach 2008 Wimbledon final (l. to Nadal)

Not only does Federer have by far the longest tour-level grass-court winning streak for a man in the Open Era, he also has the most tour-level titles (19) and wins (192) for a man on grass in the Open Era. And as of now he also has the most Wimbledon titles for a man in history with eight—though Novak Djokovic could tie him for Wimbledon titles next year as he goes for his own eighth career title at the All England Club.

Federer's 192 career wins on grass are the most for a man in the Open Era. He's 192-29 overall, a .869 winning percentage.

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The next-longest tour-level grass-court winning streak for a man in the Open Era belongs to Bjorn Borg, who won 41 in a row on the surface between 1976 and 1981.

LONGEST TOUR-LEVEL GRASS-COURT WINNING STREAKS (men, Open Era):

65: Roger Federer (2003 Halle to 2008 Wimbledon F - l. to Nadal)
41: Bjorn Borg (1976 Wimbledon to 1981 Wimbledon F - l. to McEnroe)
28: Novak Djokovic (2018 Wimbledon to present)
24: Rod Laver (1969 Wimbledon to 1970 Bristol F - l. to Pilic)
23: John McEnroe (1980 Brisbane to 1982 Queen’s Club F - l. to Connors)
23: Pete Sampras (1994 Wimbledon to 1996 Wimbledon QFs - l. to Krajicek)
23: Pete Sampras (1998 Wimbledon to 2000 Queen’s Club F - l. to Hewitt)

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