With thousands of players competing in the top echelons of the sport, professional tennis is a tough old game. Ask
Patrick Mufumbila, a young man from Zambia who turned pro in 2015 but has battled to make an impact.
To be really good at tennis you have to be blessed with speed, agility and talent. You also have to be completely dedicated to the sport. The best players are not only naturally skilled at what they do, they are prepared to put in hours and hours of practice.
Let’s take a look at a few remarkable tennis records in both the men’s and women’s game:
Longest winning streak - Swede Bjorn Borg holds the ATP record for the most consecutive match wins. At the height of his prowess in 1978 the former number one racked up 49 back to back victories.
Borg’s winning streak pales in significance when compared to the great Martini Navratilova. The feisty American won 74 matches in quick succession in 1984. Her closest rival? Germany’s Steffi Graf who clinched 66 matches in a row between 1989 and 1990.
Highest-ever tiebreak rate - the incomparable Roger Federer is the tiebreak king. To date he has won 452 tiebreaks out of 694. His 65.1 percent success rate is the highest in the history of the game.
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Most ATP tournaments won more than five times - 9. Roger Federer has claimed 10 titles on the grass of Halle, 8 titles at Wimbledon, The Dubai Tennis Championships and the Cincinnati Master; 6 Australian Open and ATP World Tour Finals titles and 5 at the US Open and Indian Wells.
Most WTA tournaments won more than five times - 14. Martina Navratilova has recorded 12 wins at Chicago, 11 at Eastbourne, 9 at Wimbledon, Washington DC and Dallas; 7 in Orlando, 6 in Houston and Filderstadt and Stuttgart and 5 in Boston, Sydney and California.
Most ATP titles at a single tournament - 12. Rafael Nadal has won the French Open a record 12 times. He has also won on the red clay of Monte Carlo and Barcelona 11 times.
Most ATP titles - 102. Roger Federer has won more ATP titles than anyone else. He has also contested 156 ATP finals, the most in the history of the game. Federer’s 102 - 53 win - loss record generates an overall win percentage of 65.81 percent.
Highest ever singles career win rate - 91.37 percent. Australia’s Margaret Court was dominant in the 1960s. She won 24 grand slam titles and is one of only three players to have claimed the Grand Slam Boxed Set. At the end of her career Court’s win - loss record was an incredible 593 - 56.
Most consecutive women’s major’s finals - 13. Steffi Graf played in 13 back to back grand slam finals and recorded a 9 - 4 win - loss record. Over her career Graf won 22 grand slams - 4 in Melbourne, 6 at Roland Garros, 7 at Wimbledon and 5 at the US Open.
The fastest ATP match - 28 minutes and 20 seconds. Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen made short work of Australia’s rising star Bernard Tomic. It took him less than half an hour to send Tomic packing at the 2014 Miami Masters.
The youngest-ever ATP player - Lleyton Hewitt. Five-time majors’ winner Lleyton Hewitt was 16 years of age when he played his maiden ATP tournament in Adelaide.
The oldest player in the ATP - Roger Federer, Ivo Karlovic, Feliciano Lopez. The trio were - or are - active at the age of 37.
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