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Sporting rivalries are the most interesting part of any sport, but for an individual sport like Tennis, that's even more of a truism. Rivalries play a huge role in gathering crowds for tennis; they are the soul of any tournament.
The tennis world has seen some tremendous rivalries in Federer-Nadal, Sampras-Agassi, Nadal-Djokovic, Federer-Djokovic. However, there have been some lopsided rivalries too, with one player showing complete domination over the other.
There have been seven occasions where one player has completely dominated the other without losing a single match in the Open Era (minimum qualification: 15 matches played). Here is the list:
#7 Rafael Nadal vs Richard Gasquet (16-0)
This rivalry was forged when both men were in their younger days. The two talented youngsters joined the ATP tour in 2002 as the biggest prospects of the tennis world at that point in time.
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However, their careers went in opposite directions. Nadal became one of the greatest players to have played the game with 17 Grand Slam Titles, but Gasquet's quest to cement himself as a top player never ended.
The Frenchman has not been able to solve the puzzle named Rafael Nadal even once in the 16 attempts he has had so far. The pair's first meeting came in Estoril in 2004 and the latest was at this year's Roland Garros, where the World No. 1 dispatched Gasquet in straight sets (6-3, 6-2, 6-2).
#6 Ivan Lendl vs Brad Gilbert (16-0)
Nine years, 16 matches and the same result; Lendl def. Gibert.
This rivalry began at the 1982 Hartford WCT (USA) tournament where Lendl dispatched Gilbert in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 without breaking a sweat. Such was the domination of Lendl over Gilbert that he lost only four sets in totality throughout their rivalry, and handed the embarrassment of a bagel four times.
The pair's last meeting was in the semifinal round in the year 1991 at Philadelphia (USA), where Gilbert did give a scare to Lendl. But he just couldn't cross the line with Lendl prevailing in three sets (6-4, 3-6, 6-4).
#5 Ivan Lendl vs Scott Davis (16-0)
Ivan Lendl features on the list again, having dominated Scott Davis for 11 long years and winning all 16 matches the pair played against each other. But unlike his rivalry against Gilbert, Scott often gave Lendl a run for his money; they played six tie-breakers over the course of their rivalry.
An interesting thing to note here is that no matter how close Scott got, he could only manage to win five sets overall, two of which came in an epic five-set Wimbledon showdown where Lendl prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in the round of 16.
The rivalry, which started in Los Angeles in 1980, ended in Tokyo where Lendl dispatched Scott easily in straight sets for a 6-2, 6-3 win.
#4 Ivan Lendl vs Tim Mayotte (17-0)
Ivan Lendl just didn't give an inch to his opponents, did he? Making his third appearance on the list, Lendl had an even better record of 17 wins against a player named Tim Mayotte.
The players were actually pitted against each other 18 times, but Lendl got a walkover in the final of Philadelphia (USA) in 1986, so that match is not counted. Mayotte got very close to the line many times but just didn't know how to cross it.
The pair played out 11 tie-breakers, with Lendl winning them all, and two epic five-setters: one at the US Open (1982) in which Lendl won 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, and the other in the quarterfinal of Wimbledon in 1986 where Lendl scrapped through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 9-7.
The pair first met in the 1st round of the US Open in 1980, and ended their rivalry in the 1990 Toronto Indoor (Canada) final. If not for Lendl, Mayotte may well have reached greater heights; he lost to Lendl in five finals (including the W/O) in addition to suffering several quarterfinal and semifinal losses.
#3 Roger Federer vs Mikhail Youzhny (17-0)
Arguably the Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T), Roger Federer not making it to this list was just not possible.
The Federer-Youzhny rivalry began with a lot of expectations in the year 2000 in Stockholm (Sweden), where the Swiss prevailed over Youzhny in three sets for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win. The rivalry has produced some hard-fought matches, but lady luck has always smiled on Federer.
The closest Youzhny came to beating Federer was in the round of 64 at the 2017 US Open where he led two sets to one, before Federer came back to win the match 6-1, 6(3)-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Such has been the mastery of Federer that Youzhny has not been able to find a solution in 18 long years.
#2 Bjorn Borg vs Vitas Gerulaitis (17-0)
One-sided rivalries started way back in the 70s, with Bjorn Borg making Vitas Gerulaitis his bunny for seven long years. The latter just couldn't find an answer to the questions asked by the former.
The pair were pitted against each other 18 times, with Borg winning 17 of them. The Swede did concede a match to Gerulaitis, in Dallas, WCT (USA) in 1978, but that was through a walkover - which doesn't count in the head-to-head.
No matter the type of court (grass, clay, hard or carpet) they played on, Borg had the better of his good friend every single time. Their rivalry included an epic Wimbledon semifinal too, where Borg again won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 8-6.
The pair played their last match at Wimbledon in 1981 where the 11-time Slam champion won in straight sets 7-6, 7-5, 7-6.
#1 Roger Federer vs David Ferrer (17-0)
This is the most unexpected one-sided rivalry of them all, with the master taming one of the best players outside the Big 4 on 17 consecutive occasions.
David Ferrer, a former World No. 3 who has won 27 ATP Titles including one Masters 1000, has just not been able to find a way to beat the Swiss Maestro since their first match in 2003.
The pair has mostly met in the quarters or semis or finals of tournaments, highlighting the fact that if not for Federer, Ferrer could have achieved a lot more than what he has in his career.
Interestingly, Ferrer couldn't even take advantage of his preferred surface i.e. clay to score at least one win over Federer; five matches out of the 17 that the two have played, have been on clay.
The pair last met in the Round of 16 at the 2017 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Canada, where Federer won in a hard-fought battle 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
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