By Bob Stockton
Winning!
It’s not only Charlie Sheen who can make this claim, but, for real, Novak Djokovic who can beat his chest and exclaim these words.
The Serbian tennis icon won his 34th straight match with his 7-5, 6-4 win over Rafael Nadal in the final of the Madrid Open in Spain on Sunday.
Where does Djokovic’s win streak stack up all time?
As documented in THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS ($35.95, New Chapter Press, www.NewChapterMedia.com), the all-time record belongs to Suzanne Lenglen who won an incredible 182 matches from 1921 to 1926. Among men, the record goes to Bill Tilden, who won 98 straight matches during a stretch in 1924 and 1925.
The following are the all-time records for consecutive singles match victories, as documented in THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS.
Men
98 Bill Tilden 1924-1925
92 Don Budge 1937-1938
55 Roy Emerson 1964
* 50 Guillermo Vilas 1977
44 Ivan Lendl 1981-1982
42 John McEnroe 1984
41 Roger Federer 2006-2007
41 Bjorn Borg 1978
* Includes four wins at an even in Rye, NY not recognized by the ATP
Women
182 Suzanne Lenglen 1921-1926
158 Helen Wills Moody 1926-1933
116 Suzanne Lenglen 1919-1921
111 Alice Marble 1938-1940
74 Martina Navratilova 1984
66 Steffi Graf 1990