TENNISGOAT

Upsets & giant-killers

Measured by pre-match Elo gap, so "upset" means the ratings truly disagreed — not just seedings. Players with fewer than 20 career matches at the time are excluded (their ratings are still provisional).

The biggest upset on record is Charlie Fancutt's win over Ivan Lendl at Wimbledon 1981, a gap of 849 Elo points (1487 against 2336). Ranking upsets by rating gap rather than by seeding captures how unlikely each result truly was.

Biggest upsets

#WinnerElo BeatGapMatchScore
1 🇦🇺 Charlie Fancutt 1487 🇺🇸 Ivan Lendl (2336) 849 Wimbledon 1981 R128 Grass 4-6 6-3 6-4 1-6 6-3
2 Roger Smith 1655 🇺🇸 Ivan Lendl (2466) 811 Stratton Mountain 1988 R32 Hard 6-2 6-3
3 🇨🇿 Jiri Vesely 1779 🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic (2570) 791 Monte Carlo Masters 2016 R32 Clay 6-4 2-6 6-4
4 🇦🇺 Chris Kachel 1385 🇺🇸 Arthur Ashe (2161) 776 Sydney-2 1976 R64 Grass 7-5 7-6
5 🇺🇸 Bruce Manson 1726 🇸🇪 Bjorn Borg (2495) 769 Rancho Mirage 1979 R64 Hard 6-7 7-5 6-2
6 🇩🇪 Alexander Waske 1580 🇪🇸 Rafael Nadal (2348) 768 Halle 2005 R32 Grass 4-6 7-5 6-3
7 🇫🇷 Edouard Roger-Vasselin 1622 🇦🇷 Juan Martin del Potro (2373) 751 Tokyo 2009 R32 Hard 6-4 6-4
8 🇨🇱 Alvaro Fillol 1634 🇺🇸 Jimmy Connors (2383) 749 Bogota 1980 R16 Clay 0-6 4-5 RET
9 🇺🇸 Luke Jensen 1610 🇺🇸 Andre Agassi (2351) 741 Memphis 1996 R32 Hard 6-2 6-4
10 🇯🇵 Taro Daniel 1675 🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic (2416) 741 Indian Wells Masters 2018 R64 Hard 7-6(3) 4-6 6-1
11 🇦🇷 Juan Manuel Cerundolo 1763 🇮🇹 Jannik Sinner (2487) 724 Roland Garros 2026 R64 Clay 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1
12 🇺🇸 Doug Flach 1590 🇺🇸 Andre Agassi (2308) 718 Wimbledon 1996 R128 Grass 2-6 7-6(1) 6-4 7-6(6)
13 🇺🇿 Denis Istomin 1794 🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic (2512) 718 Australian Open 2017 R64 Hard 7-6(8) 5-7 2-6 7-6(5) 6-4
14 🇺🇸 Frances Tiafoe 1564 🇩🇪 Alexander Zverev (2270) 706 Cincinnati Masters 2017 R32 Hard 4-6 6-3 6-4
15 🇫🇷 Jean-Francois Caujolle 1740 🇺🇸 Jimmy Connors (2444) 704 Monte-Carlo WCT 1980 R16 Clay 7-6 6-2
16 🇸🇪 Thomas Hogstedt 1687 🇸🇪 Bjorn Borg (2391) 704 Washington 1992 R64 Hard 6-4 7-6(5)
17 🇺🇸 Keith Richardson 1501 🇺🇸 Eddie Dibbs (2203) 702 Stockholm 1977 R64 Hard 7-6 3-6 7-5
18 🇷🇺 Evgeny Donskoy 1678 🇨🇭 Roger Federer (2378) 700 Dubai 2017 R16 Hard 3-6 7-6(7) 7-6(5)
19 🇸🇪 Hans Simonsson 1620 🇦🇷 Guillermo Vilas (2316) 696 Indianapolis 1982 R32 Clay 6-4 6-1
20 🇺🇸 Erik Van Dillen 1676 🇺🇸 John McEnroe (2371) 695 Toronto 1980 R32 Hard 3-4 RET
21 🇺🇸 William Brown 1489 🇷🇴 Ilie Nastase (2177) 688 Toronto-2 1974 R64 Clay 6-1 6-1
22 🇻🇪 Jorge Andrew 1331 🇺🇸 Brian Gottfried (2017) 686 Caracas 1974 RR Hard 6-4 6-4
23 🇫🇷 Jean-Baptiste Chanfreau 1525 🇺🇸 Arthur Ashe (2203) 678 Milan WCT 1973 R32 Carpet 4-6 6-4 6-2
24 🇺🇸 Sherwood Stewart 1765 🇸🇪 Bjorn Borg (2441) 676 Oviedo 1977 R16 Carpet 6-1 7-6
25 🇨🇿 Pavel Slozil 1802 🇺🇸 Ivan Lendl (2478) 676 Delray Beach WCT 1983 R32 Clay 3-6 7-6 7-5
26 🇩🇪 Michael Berrer 1717 🇪🇸 Rafael Nadal (2390) 673 Doha 2015 R32 Hard 1-6 6-3 6-4
27 🇲🇦 Karim Alami 1650 🇺🇸 Pete Sampras (2315) 665 Doha 1994 R32 Hard 3-6 6-2 6-4
28 🇺🇸 MaliVai Washington 1777 🇺🇸 Ivan Lendl (2440) 663 New Haven 1990 R32 Hard 6-2 6-3
29 🇦🇷 Horacio Zeballos 1751 🇪🇸 Rafael Nadal (2408) 657 Vina del Mar 2013 F Clay 6-7(2) 7-6(6) 6-4
30 Dustin Brown 1809 🇪🇸 Rafael Nadal (2465) 656 Halle 2014 R16 Grass 6-4 6-1
31 🇨🇦 Chris Pridham 1721 🇸🇪 Bjorn Borg (2374) 653 Los Angeles 1992 R32 Hard 6-4 6-2
32 🇮🇳 Vijay Amritraj 1881 🇺🇸 John McEnroe (2533) 652 Cincinnati 1984 R64 Hard 6-7 6-2 6-3
33 🇺🇸 John Whitlinger 1764 🇺🇸 Jimmy Connors (2414) 650 Boca Raton 1976 QF Clay 2-6 RET
34 🇫🇷 Thierry Guardiola 1558 🇺🇸 Jim Courier (2208) 650 Rome Masters 1995 R64 Clay 3-6 6-3 7-6(3)
35 🇺🇸 Sam Querrey 1920 🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic (2567) 647 Wimbledon 2016 R32 Grass 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 7-6(5)
36 🇨🇿 Jiri Vesely 1745 🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic (2392) 647 Dubai 2022 QF Hard 6-4 7-6(4)
37 🇧🇷 Thiago Seyboth Wild 1649 🇷🇺 Daniil Medvedev (2296) 647 Roland Garros 2023 R128 Clay 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 2-6 6-3 6-4
38 🇷🇺 Andrei Olhovskiy 1711 🇺🇸 Jim Courier (2355) 644 Wimbledon 1992 R32 Grass 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4
39 🇬🇧 Colin Dowdeswell 1740 🇦🇷 Guillermo Vilas (2383) 643 Johannesburg-1 1978 SF Hard 6-1 6-7 6-4
40 🇵🇹 Joao Cunha-Silva 1652 🇸🇪 Bjorn Borg (2294) 642 Zaragoza 1993 R32 Carpet 6-1 5-7 7-5

Most giant-kills

Career wins over opponents rated 100+ Elo higher.

  1. 🇪🇸 Feliciano Lopez 75
  2. 🇫🇷 Fabrice Santoro 72
  3. 🇫🇷 Adrian Mannarino 69
  4. 🇨🇭 Marc Rosset 68
  5. 🇿🇦 Raymond Moore 68
  6. 🇺🇸 Jeff Borowiak 66
  7. 🇮🇹 Andreas Seppi 65
  8. 🇪🇸 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 61
  9. 🇫🇷 Julien Benneteau 59
  10. 🇷🇸 Dusan Lajovic 57
  11. 🇭🇷 Ivo Karlovic 57
  12. 🇪🇬 Ismail El Shafei 57
  13. 🇪🇸 Francisco Clavet 57
  14. 🇮🇹 Gianluca Pozzi 56
  15. 🇮🇹 Fabio Fognini 56

Best underdog record

Win rate when the lower-rated player (min. 80 such matches).

  1. 🇩🇪 Boris Becker 54.7% (47–39)
  2. 🇳🇱 Richard Krajicek 49.6% (65–66)
  3. 🇩🇪 Michael Stich 49.5% (47–48)
  4. 🇷🇺 Yevgeny Kafelnikov 49.4% (79–81)
  5. 🇪🇸 Albert Costa 49.0% (98–102)
  6. 🇨🇦 Felix Auger-Aliassime 48.9% (65–68)
  7. 🇧🇷 Gustavo Kuerten 48.6% (52–55)
  8. 🇸🇰 Miloslav Mecir Sr. 47.6% (40–44)
  9. 🇫🇷 Ugo Humbert 46.2% (67–78)
  10. 🇺🇸 Taylor Fritz 46.1% (82–96)
  11. 🇨🇭 Roger Federer 46.1% (47–55)
  12. 🇫🇷 Arnaud Boetsch 45.6% (72–86)
  13. 🇺🇸 Arthur Ashe 45.6% (57–68)
  14. 🇦🇷 Alberto Mancini 45.6% (41–49)
  15. 🇺🇸 Andre Agassi 45.4% (44–53)
Methodology

An upset is a win by the player with the lower pre-match Elo; the gap is the rating difference at that moment. Matches where either player had fewer than 20 prior career matches are excluded, since early ratings are provisional. Giant-kills count career wins over opponents rated 100+ Elo higher; underdog records count all matches entered as the lower-rated player (minimum 80).