US Open: Top 5 Male Tennis Players

US Open tennis is just around the corner, with the sport’s best players set to battle it out for the last Grand Slam of the year.

Taking place each year on the final Monday of August, across 22 outdoor courts, the US Open has served up some fantastic champions.

The most recent US Open male singles champion was Dominic Thiem, who won his first Major singles title at Flushing Meadows in 2020, and he is 7/1 to repeat the trick this time around.

Ahead of the 2021 US Open, we’ve put together a list of the most successful US Open men’s singles tennis players of the Open era.

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Jimmy Connors – 5 titles

Jimmy Connors graced the courts for 24 years and was number one in the world tennis rankings, holding top spot from 1974 to 1977 – a then-record of 160 consecutive weeks. Connors still holds three Open Era men’s singles records – he won 109 titles, played 1,557 matches, and had 1,274 match wins. Given his success on the court, it’s not surprising that he won the US Open title a record five times in 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982 and 1983, seeing off both Björn Borg and Ivan Lendl in finals twice, with his 1983 triumph setting a new US Open tennis record that has still yet to be bettered.

Pete Sampras – 5 titles

Pete Sampras won the US Open singles title in 1990, 1993, 1995 and 1996, before securing a fifth title in 2002 to equal Connors’ record. He beat his long-time rival Andre Agassi in that final, having also defeated him in the 1990 and 1995 finals. In doing so he became the only male tennis player of the Open era to have won the final US Open that he competed in. His US Open titles make up five of his 14 Grand Slam singles titles in all, while he also sat at number one in the world rankings for a total of 286 weeks, which is the third longest period of all time.

Roger Federer – 5 titles

Also sitting joint-top of our US Open tennis men’s singles winners list with five titles is Roger Federer, who claimed a stunning five consecutive titles in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. As well as beating long-term rivals Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in two of the finals, Federer also saw off Agassi in 2005, with the American losing four US Open finals in total. Of Federer’s 20 Grand Slam men’s single titles, a quarter of them have come at the US Open. One of the best tennis players of all time, Federer has odds of 12/1 to win another title at Flushing Meadows this year in the US Open tennis betting odds, which would take him to a record six titles.

John McEnroe – 4 titles

Before Sampras and Federer’s more recent ascents in this list, it was only John McEnroe that was trailing Connors on four US Open titles. McEnroe won his titles in 1979, 1980, 1981 and finally in 1984. Two of the American’s victories in the finals came against Borg in 1980 and 1981, with the Swede another player to lose four US Open finals, while he never actually tasted victory at Flushing Meadows. McEnroe attained world number one status in both singles and doubles, playing 77 singles matches and 78 doubles matches, which is still the highest combined total of the Open era.

Rafael Nadal – 4 titles

The last player to make the top five on this list is Rafael Nadal, who sits alongside McEnroe on four titles. Nadal has won the US Open men’s single title a total of four times in 2010, 2013, 2017 and most recently in 2019, including two final victories over Djokovic. The 35-year-old left hander, who is currently ranked third in the world rankings, is the third favourite in the betting market for this year’s US Open with odds of 13/2 and will be looking to win a record 21 Grand Slam men’s singles titles to move past rivals Federer and Djokovic.