Another Australian Open is upon us, and the world’s best have descended on Melbourne for the first Grand Slam of 2021. Of course, these are strange times, and the quarantine measures put in place ahead of the tournament have grated on some players, but the main thing is that the tournament is going ahead, and tennis fans will be licking their lips at two weeks of high-class Grand Slam tennis.
As far as the men’s singles goes, all eyes are on defending champion Novak Djokovic, who is the favourite to win the competition in the odds on tennis Australian Open. The Serb is gunning for a ninth Aussie Open crown, and having won it in each of the last two years, he’ll be eager to make it a hat-trick of consecutive triumphs.
Djokovic’s eight titles make him the most successful player at the Australian Open in the open era, but there are a few other men who have excelled in Melbourne over the years. Read on, as we look at the four players with the most Australian Open titles.
Novak Djokovic (Eight)
The scale of Djokovic’s achievement in reaching a total of eight Australian Open titles cannot be underestimated. Given Nadal’s dominance at the French Open with 13 titles, which is an astonishing feat, Djokovic’s success in Melbourne doesn’t get much attention even though it is an amazing total of victories for one player in a single Grand Slam.
It all started in 2008, where in winning the Australian Open Djokovic claimed the first Grand Slam title of his career. But it was in the 2010s that the Serb truly established his supremacy in the competition. Since 2011, Djokovic has won seven of the 10 Australian Opens held. He’ll take some stopping this year, that’s for sure.
Roger Federer (Six)
It’s no surprise to see tennis legend Roger Federer make the list, and his consistency across the Grand Slams is represented by six titles in Melbourne. Federer first won the Australian Open in 2004, and his most recent Grand Slam title came in Melbourne in 2017, proof of his enduring class over a span of many years.
At the moment, Federer is still recovering from surgery and will miss this year’s Australian Open. But he is set to return to the sport in March, and who’s to say he won’t rack up another couple of big wins before he retires.
Andre Agassi (Four)
American tennis supremo Andre Agassi enjoyed a fine career in the 1990s and 2000s, picking up eight Grand Slam titles, half of which came at the Australian Open. The Melbourne event was certainly Agassi’s speciality, having won it first in 1995, and last in 2003. He produced some fine matches all throughout his four tournament triumphs, and was hugely popular Down Under.
Agassi had some great rivalries throughout his career, and many hard-fought matches were played out in the confines of the Australian Open, and he is more than deserving of his place among the tournament’s greats.
Mats Wilander (Three)
Another player who enjoyed some memorable moments Down Under was Mats Wilander. The Swede racked up three Australian Open titles in his career, including two in a row in 1983 and 1984. His third victory came in 1988, in what would prove to be a sensational year for Wilander, as he won three of the four Grand Slams – the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open.
There are a whole host of players who have recorded two Australian Open wins in the open era, but Wilander sneaks into our list having made it to that magic number of three.
