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Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

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    Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

    Currently active singles players on the men's side hold 51 slam singles titles between them: Federer 17, Nadal 14, Djokovic 12, Murray 3, Wawrinka 3, Del Potro 1, Cilic 1.

    It's possible that they might all be injury free in January and so able to enter the Aussie Open. I suspect that a collective 51 titles would be a record for a men's R1 line up. I've done a bit of research on the stats for the last 15 calendar years to see what the average is, which I'll share in a moment. (Not seeking to avoid the embarrassment of a nil thread, just don't want to type a full length novel and then lose it to an internet connection or other glitch as I so often do, so I'm spreading this over a few posts.)

    #2
    Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

    The highest point in the last 15 calendar years (i.e. from the start of 2002) was this year's Aussie (the only slam this year with both Federer and Nadal in it), where the R1 line up boasted 48 titles between them. (F17, N14, D10, M2, W2, Cilic 1, Hewitt 2).

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      #3
      Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

      The number reached a "local" high of 32 in Sampras's last tournament, the US Open 2002 (of which S accounted for 13 not 14 as his last title was won in that, his final, tournament).

      Full details for US 2002: Sampras 13, Agassi 7, Kuerten 3, Hewitt 2, Kafelnikov 2, and 1 each for Moya, Safin, Costa, Chang and Krajicek.

      Sampras's retirement caused a plunge in the number, which did not go as high as 32 again until Wimbledon 2011.

      Full detail for Wimb 2011: F16, N10, Djok 2, Hewitt 2, DelP 1, Roddick 1

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        #4
        Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

        The lowest number of men's singles titles represented in a R1 line up over that 15 year period was at Wimbledon 2004, a total of 11, from which both Agassi and Kuerten were absent (a combined absence which lowered the number by 11, so halving what it would have been).

        Details for Wimbledon 2004: Federer 2, Hewitt 2, and 1 each for Roddick, Ferrero, Moya, Safin, Johansson, Costa and Ivanisevic.

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          #5
          Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

          And here are the totals for all tourneys, spread over a few posts. For each calendar year, the reference is to the four slams in chronological order:

          2002: 23, 30, 27, 32
          2003: 18, 18, 15, 20
          2004: 19, 20, 11, 23
          2005: 21, 23, 12, 25
          2006: 13, 17, 25, 27

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            #6
            Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

            2007: 20. 21, 21, 22
            2008: 23, 26, 24, 23
            2009: 24, 27, 21, 28
            2010: 28, 27, 28, 29
            2011: 30, 28, 32, 32

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              #7
              Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

              Nice work EEG – I love this kind of thing (see your managerial turnover thread passim), so hope you go on to do the women's side next!

              Most startling titbit from the above is the realisation that early bloomer Hewitt was already on his final tally of 2 majors by the 2002 US Open (just as he was at the 2016 Aussie) – i.e. although he's only just retired this summer, he won the last of his Slam titles longer ago than Sampras won the last of his.

              (Edit: Oops, sorry to interrupt the sequence of new posts...)

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                #8
                Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                2012: 35, 36, 37, 26
                2013: 26, 36, 39, 40
                2014: 41, 41, 42. 29
                2015: 43, 43, 46, 47
                2016: 48, 30, 35, 33

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                  #9
                  Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                  Thanks VA!

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                    #10
                    Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                    I've started assembling data for a similar report on the corresponding women's stats. For the moment, I'll offer the observation that currently active women players boast a collective total of 41 singles majors, though that number would be 46 if Drugscheat hadn't been found out and suspended.

                    Current actives:

                    S Williams 22, V Williams 7, 2 each for Kerber, Kvitova, Azarenka and Kuznetsova and 1 each for Muguruza, Stosur, Schiavone and Ivanovic.

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                      #11
                      Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                      I expect the previous peak in the men's came around 1991, or 1992, when McEnroe, Connors, Wilander and Lendl were all still active, while Edberg, Becker, Courier and Sampras had already become multiple slam winners?

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                        #12
                        Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                        I agree that seems likely. I'll look into it when I've finished doing some analysis of the stats from the recent women's singles.

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                          #13
                          Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                          If there was going to be a "Pointless" answer about slam winners in the last 20 years, it would have been Thomas Johansson.

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                            #14
                            Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                            OK, I've researched the stats for the women now, but going back over the last 20 calendar years instead of just 15.

                            In general, the patterns are a lot messier and more random than on the men's side, with loads of large fluctuations, such as sharp dips due to active players with large title counts being briefly absent, sometimes simultaneously, or a sharp spike in 2004 due to Navratilova, who had not played slam singles since 1994, suddenly returning in her late 40s to play singles at two events (F04 and W04).

                            But the headline high is no surprise: the highest slam count of the last 20 years was in Steffi Graf's very last tournament, Wimbledon 1999, at which there were 44 major titles in the R1 draw:

                            Graf 22, Seles 9, Hingis 5, Sanch-Vic 4 and 1 each for Davenport, Pierce, Martinez and Novotna.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                              ... and the women's slam singles with fewest titles represented in the last 20 years were: :

                              Aussie 1998, at which the absence of both Graf and Seles lowered the total by 30 to a mere 9 titles (Hingis and Sanch-Vic on 3 each, Pierce, Martinez and Majoli on 1 each); and

                              Aussie 2004, at which the absence of Serena, Capriati and Pierce lowered the number by a total of 11 to a mere 10 titles (Venus 4, Davenport 3, Henin 2 and Martinez 1). Strikingly, the return of those 3 absentees at the very next slam (French 2004) with their 11 credits, plus Navratilova's blast from the past (18 titles), plus the 1 extra Henin title from the Aussie 04 meant that immediately after a 10 title draw there was a 40 title draw.

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                                #16
                                Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                                .. and finally an advance footnote before I post the bare stats in full: I'm saying 36 for this year's Aussie rather than the 41 it would be if I included 5 for Drugscheat. I think that's officially correct: she was retrospectively disqualified and her results notionally erased from the record, so I don't think she counts as a R1 participant.

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                                  #17
                                  Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                                  Women:

                                  1997: 26, 36, 16, 17
                                  1998: 9, 19, 41, 42
                                  1999: 42, 43, 44, 24
                                  2000: 14, 24, 25, 26
                                  2001: 24, 15, 19, 28

                                  worth noting that Graf accounted for 21 of that 26 figure at the 1997 Aussie.

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                                    #18
                                    Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                                    Women:

                                    2002: 28, 25, 22, 35
                                    2003: 27, 28, 20, 11
                                    2004: 10, 40, 38, 24
                                    2005: 19, 16, 24, 25
                                    2006: 30, 19, 20, 27

                                    The jump from 22 at the 02 Wimb to 35 at the 02 US was because all of Davenport, Hingis and Sanchez-Vicario were at the latter and not the former.

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                                      #19
                                      Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                                      Women:

                                      2007: 18, 24, 29, 28
                                      2008: 29, 20, 24, 22
                                      2009: 20, 24, 25, 27
                                      2010: 33, 32, 35, 16
                                      2011: 24, 11, 28, 29

                                      Note 2010 US missed both Serena and Henin, while 2011 French missed both Serena and Venus, and was just after Henin retired.

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                                        #20
                                        Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                                        Women:

                                        2012: 27, 31, 36, 35
                                        2013: 34, 35, 27, 32
                                        2014: 37, 36, 39, 38
                                        2015: 39, 40, 41, 37
                                        2016: 36*,38, 37, 38

                                        * see previous comment.

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                                          #21
                                          Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                                          So the current era is anomalously high in both men's and women's tennis?

                                          Which kind of suggests that there are a lot of very veteran players on the tours at the moment. Are people just not retiring as young as they used to? Bodies are more able to cope?

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                                            #22
                                            Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                                            When Serena, Venus, Federer and Nadal* retire there's going to be quite a slump.

                                            *I mention the two ladies by their first names because they're both really good friends of mine, as regular tennis thread readers are aware. Nothing to do with them both having the same surname of course.

                                            Gerontophile wrote: If there was going to be a "Pointless" answer about slam winners in the last 20 years, it would have been Thomas Johansson.
                                            I had to Google him (I've liked watching tennis for ages but only really started to pay attention in the last few years since moving here). His Wikipedia photo is in black and white, which itself seems a bit obscure for someone who won a Grand Slam in the current century.

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                                              #23
                                              Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                                              So the current era is anomalously high in both men's and women's tennis?
                                              Not anomalously in the case of the women's, I think: it's still a few below the final Graf tournament peak of 1999, though to be fair if Drugscheat wins her appeal and can play in the next Aussie (please God no) and others are all fit, that peak would be slightly exceeded then.

                                              In the men's, I strongly suspect that this year's Aussie of 48, never mind the potential 51 at the next tourney, is likely to be an all-time record so far (I'm going to check Rogin's beginning of the 1990s suggestion), so I suppose it might be seen as anomalous. But it's made up of factors none of which are individually unprecedented:

                                              - the coincidence of a small number of all-time superstars who monopolise the titles for a decade, probably a bit more comprehensively than has been done before, meaning you don't need that many individuals to have the age/timing fit;

                                              - the very close age fit between Nadal and Djokovic (and Murray and - a bit older - Wawrinka), meaning they are all around in late career with significant hauls at the same time; and

                                              - the fact that the guy 5 years older than them with a record 17 singles majors has prolonged his career so he's still active in their late career: but he's still not as old as Rosewall was....

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                                                #24
                                                Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                                                When Serena, Venus, Federer and Nadal* retire there's going to be quite a slump.
                                                On the men's side, it's possible that Fed, Nad and Djok will all retire close in time to each other, in which case there would be a colossal slump as those 3 account for 43 singles majors between them and counting (well, counting in D's case anyway). But on the other hand I suppose that Djokovic, if not badly afflicted by wear and tear, may be driven to push himself into a longer career to aim for Federer's record, [edit] in particular because the crop of current youngsters is not so impressive that he'd give up hope of winning majors against them in his 30s.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Slam title holders in slam R1 draws

                                                  OK, quiz question for anyone who's up for it. I'm extending my research on the men's side back to the beginning of 1988. In the course of that, I've learnt that the US Open 1994 was the last time that the R1 draw included 5 men who could boast* 5 or more singles slam titles each.

                                                  * at the time I mean, not any subsequent wins

                                                  So, without googling of course, who can name those 5 in one go (giving only 5 names of course)?

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