Meet the 50-win club of the 2019 ATP season

The 2019 season officially drew to a close with the conclusion of the historic single-week Davis Cup Finals in Madrid.

Year-end World No. 1 Rafael Nadal pulled off double duty by reeling off five singles win and three doubles wins in five days to win Spain their 6th Davis Cup title. In the process, the Spaniard recorded his 29th singles win in the Davis Cup and also improved his stunning winning streak in the competition to 29, having gone unbeaten since his loss to Jiri Novak in 2004.

The season saw the world's top two ranked players Nadal and Novak Djokovic sweep all the four Grand Slam tournaments for the first time since 2011, as the drought for a first-time Slam winner extended to five years (Marin Cilic at 2014 US Open). In the Masters 1000 category, Dominic Thiem (Indian Wells), Fabio Fognini (Monte Carlo) and Daniil Medvedev (Cincinnati, Shanghai) became the newest players to triumph since it was introduced in 1990.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the players who ended the season with 50 (or more) match wins all finished in the top 10 of the year-end rankings. Let us find out who they are.

#5 Roger Federer (53-10)

Roger Federer

A 38-year-old Roger Federer is still breaking records at an age most tennis players are well into their retirement. After a disappointing Australian Open fourth-round defeat to young Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas which ended Federer's title defence, the Swiss maestro became the first player since Jimmy Connors to win 100 singles title by beating Tsitsipas in the Dubai final.

Although Federer fell short in a three-set Indian Wells final for a second-straight year (this time to Dominic Thiem), the Swiss maestro became the oldest player to win a Masters 1000 tournament when he dethroned defending champion John Isner in the Miami final to win his 28th Masters 1000 title - and his first since 2017 Shanghai.

Federer proceed to play on clay for the first time since 2016 and reached consecutive quarterfinals at the Madrid and Rome Masters before reaching his first Roland Garros semifinal in seven years, where he lost to eventual winner Rafael Nadal in straight sets.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion then became the first player to win 10 titles on grass when he beat David Goffin in the Halle final.

Weeks later, Federer beat Nadal in the Wimbledon semis to become the oldest Grand Slam finalist since Ken Rosewall in 1974. In the final, the Swiss maestro arrived on the cusp of a record-extending 9th Wimbledon and 21st Grand Slam title, only to squander consecutive championship points on serve at 8-7 40-15 in the fifth set.

Djokovic went on to triumph in a historic first-ever Wimbledon deciding set tiebreak to become the tournament's first winner in 71 years to have saved multiple championship points.

Federer endured an early exit in Cincinnati before a first-ever loss in eight matches to Grigor Dimitrov in the US Open quarterfinals ended the Swiss' hopes of a Grand Slam title for the year.

The 38-year-old regrouped quickly and led Team Europe to a third-straight Laver Cup title in the home environs of Geneva, before becoming the first player to win 10 titles on multiple surfaces when he beat Alex De Minaur at his hometown tournament in Basel.

Federer's semifinal win over Tsitsipas in Basel marked a record-extending 16th time that the Swiss maestro registered 50 match wins in a season.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion marked his record-extending 17th appearance at the season-ending ATP Finals by beating Djokovic for the first time in six matches to reach a record-extending 16th semifinal at the tournament. There, he went down in straight sets to eventual winner Stefanos Tsitsipas.

#4 Stefanos Tsitsipas (54-25)

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas dethroned two-time defending champion Roger Federer in the fourth round of the Australian Open and went on to become the youngest Grand Slam semifinalist in over a decade (since Novak Djokovic) before losing to Rafael Nadal.

The young Greek won his second career title in Marseille before losing to Federer in the Dubai final. Tsitsipas then won his first clay-court title in Estoril and beat Rafael Nadal in the Madrid semifinals to reach a second Masters 1000 final, where he lost to Djokovic.

Following a five-set defeat in an epic five-hour Round of 16 clash with Stan Wawrinka at Roland Garros, Tsitsipas endured first-round exits at Wimbledon, Montreal, Cincinnati and the US Open.

The young Greek stemmed the rot with a run to the Beijing final, where he lost to Dominic Thiem. He then beat defending champion and then World No. 1 Djokovic in the Shanghai quarterfinals to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals.

Tsitsipas lost to eventual winner Federer in the Halle semifinals before beating Alex De Minaur in the Paris second-round to register his 50th win of the season, and the 100th of his career.

The young Greek marked his debut at the ATP Finals with a semifinal win over 6-time champion Federer before following up with a deciding set tiebreak win over Thiem in the final to become the first player since Grigor Dimitrov (2017) to win the season-ending tournament on his debut.

#3 Novak Djokovic (57-11)

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic opened the season with a straight-sets win over Rafael Nadal to become the first seven-time winner at the Australian Open. On the clay of Madrid, Djokovic overcame Nadal's semifinal conqueror Stefanos Tsitisipas in the semis to win his 33rd Masters 1000 title, before losing to Nadal in a three-set Rome final a week later.

Djokovic's five-set defeat to Dominic Thiem in the Roland Garros semis ended the Serb's hopes of winning a non-calendar year Slam for the second time in his career.

Djokovic then proceeded to the grasscourts of Wimbledon, where he beat first-time Slam finalist Roberto Bautista Agut in four sets to reach his sixth final at the grass-court major.

In the longest-ever Wimbledon final, Djokovic led Federer by a set on two occasions before staring down two consecutive championship points on the Swiss maestro's serve at 8-7 40-15 in the fifth. Federer missed the first on a forehand error and when the Swiss served down the T and rushed the net, Djokovic laced an inch-perfect cross-court pass which tantalisingly eluded Federer's racquet.

Djokovic broke back and survived break points at 11-11 before beating the 20-time Grand Slam in a historic first-ever Wimbledon deciding set tiebreak. In the process, he became the first player in 71 years to win the tournament after saving multiple championship points.

Djokovic's title defence at the Cincinnati Masters ended in a three-set semifinal defeat to eventual winner Daniil Medvedev. Then another title defence, this time at the US Open, ended in the fourth-round where the Serb retired against Stan Wawnrika.

The 16-time Grand Slam winner won his first-ever title in Tokyo before losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Shanghai quarterfinals. Djokovic registered his 50th win of the season at the Paris Masters en route to winning his 34th Masters 1000 title at the Paris Masters, slashing his deficit to Nadal in the race for the year-end no. 1 to 640 points.

However, at the season-ending ATP Finals, the Serb lost to Dominic Thiem in an epic third-set tiebreak before losing to Federer for the first time in four years to make a group-stage exit. Djokovic's defeat confirmed Nadal as the 2019 year-end no. 1.

#2 Rafael Nadal (58-7)

Rafael Nadal hoists aloft his record-extending 12th Roland Garros title

Rafael Nadal started the season with a run to a fifth Australian Open final. But the Spaniard endured his first-ever straight sets final loss, going down to Novak Djokovic in a lopsided title match.

Following an early exit in Acapulco (lost to Nick Kyrgios), Nadal withdrew from his semifinal with Roger Federer at Indian Wells. The Spaniard then endured a trio of semifinal exits in Monte Carlo (Fabio Fognini), Barcelona (Dominic Thiem) and Madrid (Stefanos Tsitsipas) on his favourite turf, before beating Djokovic in a three-set final to win his 9th Rome title.

A rejuvenated Nadal overcame Dominic Thiem in a repeat of the pair's 2018 title match, to win a record-extending 12th Roland Garros title. He then made the semis of Wimbledon where he lost to Roger Federer in four sets.

Nadal recorded his first-ever successful title defence on hardcourt when he beat first-time Masters 1000 finalist Daniil Medvedev to win a record-equaling 5th title at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal and a record-extending 35th Masters 1000 title.

Four weeks later, the pair met in the title match of the US Open, where Nadal squandered a lead of two sets a break and almost squandered a double break lead in the fifth before winning his 4th US Open and 19th Grand Slam title. Nadal's triumph marked the first time in eight years that the Spaniard and Djokovic had swept all four Grand Slam titles in a year.

Nadal recorded his 50th match win of the season at the Paris Masters before withdrawing from his semifinal against Denis Shapovalov. At the ATP Finals, Nadal saved a match point at 1-5 on his serve in the third set of his round-robin match win against Medvedev to remain in contention for a semifinal spot.

Nadal ultimately couldn't reach the semis, but Djokovic's defeat against Federer confirmed the Spaniard as the oldest year-end No. 1. Nadal's fifth year-end No.1 finish also took him level with Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the all-time list.

The Spaniard was not done for the season though. At the revamped Davis Cup Finals in Madrid, Nadal registered five singles wins and three doubles wins in eight matches across five days to seal a sixth Davis Cup title for Spain.

In the process, Nadal recorded his 29th singles match win at the Davis Cup and extended his winning streak in the competition to 29, with his only loss coming on his tournament debut against Czech Jiri Novak in 2004.

#1 Daniil Medvedev (59-21)

Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev's early season form was hardly an indication of what was in store for the young Russian later in the season.

Medvedev reached the Brisbane final (lost to Kei Nishikori) before reaching his first fourth-round at a Grand Slam tournament, where he took a set off eventual winner Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. A first title of the season, and fourth of his career, followed in Sofia - where Medvedev beat Marton Fucsovics in the title match.

A first career final on clay materialized in Barcelona, but ended in a straight sets loss to Dominic Thiem. The defeat in Spain kick-started a debilitating five-match losing streak which encompassed successive opening-round losses in Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros and Stuttgart, which threatened to derail a promising start to the season.

To his credit though, Medvedev managed to arrest the rot with a win over Fernando Verdasco in the opening round at Queens. A run to the semifinal at the grass-court tournament propelled the Russian to a debut in the top 10 of the ATP rankings.

Medvedev matched his best run at Wimbledon from a year ago with another third-round showing at the grass-court major. He recovered from a two-set deficit against Pierre Hugues Herbert, only to be edged out in the decider.

The youngster embarked on his North American sojourn with a run to the Washington final, where he lost to Nick Kyrgios. A week later, Medvedev reached his maiden Masters 1000 final at the Coupe Rogers, only to lose to Rafael Nadal in a lopsided title match.

In action for a third straight week, Medvedev beat defending champion Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati semis before overcoming David Goffin in the final to become the third first-time Masters 1000 winner of 2019 (69th overall).

Earmarked as one of the dark horses for the US Open title, the young Russian lived up to the hype by beating Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. In his maiden Slam semifinal, Medvedev beat Roger Federer's quarterfinal conqueror Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets to reach his first Grand Slam final.

Staring at a straight-sets defeat against Nadal at two sets and a break down, Medvedev fought back to force a fifth set. He squandered multiple break points at the start of the decider before Nadal sealed a hard-fought win for his 4th US Open and 19th Grand Slam title.

Medevedev won his maiden title on home soil by winning in St. Petersburg, and then reached a sixth straight tournament final where he beat Alexander Zverev in Shanghai to win his second Masters 1000 title.

The young Russian eventually ran out of steam as he suffered an opening round defeat at the Paris Masters. He went on to squander a match point and a double break lead in the deciding set of the round-robin match against Nadal at the ATP Finals, and ended up losing all three matches.

However, that takes nothing away from a fine season for the young Russian, whose 59 match wins and nine finals were season-leading marks.