6 active tennis players with the best win-loss record in finals

Roger Federer won a record-extending 10th title at his hometown tournament of Basel in 2019 to become the first player to win 10 titles at a hardcourt tournament and also the first player to win 10 titles at a tournament on two different surfaces. Earlier in the season, Federer lifted his 'La Decima' on the grasscourts of Halle.

With the Basel triumph, Federer lifted the 103rd singles title of his illustrious career, trailing only American Jimmy Connors' tally of 109. The 38-year-old, in the process, moved to 103-54 lifetime in career singles finals, which places him inside the top 20 of the all-time list in terms of success in tournament finals.

As is perhaps expected, Federer's Big 3 peers Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic also make the top 20 in the all-time list. On that note, let us have a look at six active players (minimum of six titles) with the best record in career singles finals:

#5 Roger Federer (103-54; 65.6%)

Roger Federer.

Federer's career singles record of 103-54 over a 22-year ongoing professional career translates to roughly two titles won in every three finals contested. That is an impressive success rate for anyone who has been in the game for as long as Federer has.

The Swiss maestro has had more than his fair share of miseries and heartbreaks in tournament finals though. Federer squandered match points in a titanic five-hour tussle with Rafael Nadal for the 2006 Rome title. The 38-year-old has lost two more Rome finals after that missed opportunity of 2006, to remain win-less in four title matches in the Italian capital.

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In the 2018 final against Juan Martin del Potro at Indian Wells, Federer had three match points on serve late in the third set, but he went on to lose the match in a tiebreak. The win would have made the Swiss the first player to win six titles at the tournament.

There was bigger final heartbreak in store for Federer. In the 2019 Wimbledon final against Djokovic, Federer delivered successive aces to arrive at 8-7 40-15 late in the fifth set to arrive at consecutive championship points for a record-extending 9th Wimbledon title. But it was not to be as he blinked with the finish line in touching distance and came out second-best in the first ever Wimbledon match to feature a fifth-set tiebreak.

On the flip side, Federer came closest to winning a title after saving championship points in 2008 when he did so in the fourth set tiebreak of the pair's epic Wimbledon final. The Swiss maestro came within two points of victory at 5-4 30-30 on Nadal's serve in the fifth set, before going down 7-9 in one of the most epic Wimbledon finals in the Open Era.

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#4 Andy Murray (46-22; 67.6%)

Andy Murray lifts his 46th career singles title at the 2019 European Open in Antwerp

Two and a half years after winning his last singles title at 2017 Dubai, Andy Murray stood on the winner's podium after beating Stan Wawrinka in three sets in the 2019 European Open final in Antwerp.

The 32-year-old Scot is also a winner of three Grand Slam and 14 Masters 1000 titles, and is the only player to win two Olympic singles gold medals (2012 and 2016).

Murray saved five championship points apiece against Tommy Robredo to win the 2014 Valencia and Shenzhen Open titles respectively, while he also came back from a championship point down to beat another Spaniard David Ferrer in the 2013 Miami Masters final.

At the other end of the spectrum, Murray has squandered championship points on two occasions during his career - Sam Querrey in the 2010 Los Angeles Open (1 Championship point) and Novak Djokovic in the 2012 Shanghai Masters (5 Championship points).

#3 Rafael Nadal (85-38; 69.1%)

Rafael Nadal sits on the 2020 Acapulco winners' podium

With his win over American Taylor Fritz in the final of the 2020 Acapulco Open, Rafael Nadal lifted his 85th singles title and 22nd on hardcourt to extend his record of consecutive title-winning seasons to 17.

The 19-time Grand Slam champion has only squandered championship points in a final once in his career, when he couldn't convert two match points against Nikolay Davydenko in the 2010 Doha final.

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Nadal won the 2006 Rome Masters after saving two championship points against Federer. That marked the only time the Spaniard lifted a singles title after being down match point in the final.

The 33-year-old, who is the all-time title-leader in Masters 1000 tournaments with 35 titles, has won a title in the tournament category in a record 14 different seasons.

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#2 Novak Djokovic (79-34; 70%)

Djokovic hoists aloft his 5th Dubai Open title in 2020.

Continuing his fine start to the season which saw him win all six singles matches for Team Serbia at the inaugural ATP Cup followed by a record-extending 8th Australian Open title, Novak Djokovic won his 5th Dubai Open title last week.

In the process of lifting his 79th career singles title, Djokovic extended his perfect start to the 2020 season to 18-0.

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One of the mentally toughest players on tour, the 32-year-old Serb has won two titles after saving championship points in the final. Djokovic saved five championship points against Murray to win the 2012 Shanghai Masters and saved two consecutive championship points on his opponent's serve to down Federer and win his 5th Wimbledon title in 2019.

During the course of his career, Djokovic has squandered match points in a final only thrice, the latest such occurrence happening against Marin Cilic in the 2018 London Queens final.

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#T1 Ernests Gulbis (6-1; 85.7%)

Ernests Gulbis (left) lifts his 6th singles title at 2014 Nice

Ernests Gulbis beat Argentinian Federico Delbonis in straight sets to win his first claycourt title at the 2014 Nice Open.

The win, which lifted the Latvian to a career-best 17th in the world, extended his perfect record in tournament finals to 6-0, making him the first player in the Open Era to win each of his first six title matches.

Gulbis's 5 other titles have come at 2010 Delray Beach, 2011 Los Angeles, 2013 Delray Beach, 2013 St. Petersburg and 2014 Marseille. However, his perfect record in tournament finals came to an end at the 2018 Stockholm Open where Stefanos Tsitsipas won his first career singles title, in the process also becoming the first player to beat Gulbis in a tournament final.

#T1 Martin Klizan (6-1; 85.75)

Martin Klizan lifts his 6th singles title at 2018 Kitzbuhel

Qualifier Martin Klizan conceded just four games against Denis Istomin to lift his 6th career singles title at the 2018 Kitzbuhel Open, in the process joining Gulbis as the only players in the Open Era to win their first six tournament finals.

Klizan's other titles have come at 2012 St. Petersburg, 2014 Munich, 2015 Casablanca, 2016 Rotterdam and 2016 Hamburg.

But like Gulbis, Klizan also failed in his pursuit of extending his perfect tournament record when he lost to Dominic Thiem in straight sets in the 2018 St. Petersburg Open final.

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