Does Fedex really need to win nine more ATP titles to establish his supremacy ?

Out of Federer’s 101 titles, 54 could be classified as quality titles: 20 Grand Slams, 28 Masters  titles and six year-ending tournament wins. On the contrary, Connors won 8 Grand Slams and three year-ending tournament.

Monaco : Only tennis players to have surpassed 100+ title wins on ATP circuit since Open era are Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors. But does Federer need to surpass the American legend to be considered the greatest tennis player ever? How do Federer’s 101 titles match against Connors’ 109? Let's take a glance by breaking up the championships according to the quality of titles, tournaments and the opponents.

Jimmy Connors

Out of Federer’s 101 titles, 54 could be classified as quality titles: 20 Grand Slams, 28 Masters titles and six year-ending tournament wins. On the contrary, Connors won 8 Grand Slams and three year-ending tournament. But the Masters tournaments wasn't recognised till 1990, when ATP chose to rebrand nine top Grand Prix Super Series events. Connors won 17 Grand Prix Championship Series events, widely considered to be at par with today’s Masters, taking his tally of key titles to 28.It is to be noted that Connors, whose 24-year long career stretched from 1972 to 1996, largely played in an era when Grand Slams weren’t the last word of a tennis player’s resume. Connors, skipped the Australian Open on many occasions, going Down Under only twice: winning it in 1974 and getting to the final in 1975. He was also banned from playing the 1974 French Open due to his association with ITF’s rival tour World Team Tennis which prevented him of becoming the first male player to win all four majors in a single calendar year since Rod Laver . Connors didn’t feature at Roland Garros for four more years. Indifference towards Grand Slams led to Connors playing 35 Grand Slams while Fedex already played 75.

Federer’s 47 titles have come at ATP 500 and 250 events in a tournment of 32 or fewer players . Majority of his title wins (58 of 101) have also came by playing best-of-five setters.

On the other hand, Connors won 65 tournaments consisting of 32 of fewer competitors, and 31 playing five-setters. 75 of his titles came in the US, which also brings us to the bone of contention.

Connors , at the initial stages of his career , decided to not join the newly formed ATP in 1972 and featured selectively on the competitive WCT tour . This attitude of his led to fans calling him either a maverick or a dodger.

Most male pros were part of ATP, but Connors decided to dominate the minor leagues such as the USLTA Indoor Circuit, organised by his promoter and manager, Bill Riordan. As a result, Connors played in cities such as Little Rock, Roanoke, Salt Lake City, Omaha and Birmingham, amassing 16 titles in a 16 (or eight)-men field (He would often get first-round byes too).

Only 18 of Connors’ 109 final wins came against a top-five player, whereas Federer had to overcome a top-five player for 30 titles. Overall, Connors’ record against top-five players is 51-78, while Federer has an enviable record 102-69.