Top 4 players with the most 5-set wins in the 2019 Grand Slam season

The four Grand Slams - Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open - are the blue riband events on the tour. These are the tournaments where the winners get the most 'value' for their wins, both in terms of ranking points and prize money.

These are the only tournaments where the male singles players slug it out over a 'best-of-five' set format, in an ultimate test of skill as well as endurance. The ethereal beauty of five-set matches lies in the fact that they take a lot of time and thus have the potential to acquire an epic status.

Many epic men's singles Grand Slam matches over the years have fallen short of true greatness only because they didn't go five sets.

Among active players, the trio of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic has 30 five-set wins apiece. That win tally is matched or surpassed by only seven other players, led by Ilie Nastase (39) in the all-time list.

Ilie Nastase has the most five-set wins in the Open Era

With the conclusion of the 2019 US Open, the Grand Slam season has drawn to a close. There were a total of 96 singles matches which went the distance. Wimbledon had 21 five-set matches, the Australian Open and Roland Garros registered 24 each, while the US Open witnessed 27 such matches.

Here is a pick of players who have won the most five-set Grand Slam matches this year.

Thomas Fabbiano - 3

The diminutive Italian followed up his first match win at the Australian Open with a five-set defeat of the 6'11" giant American Reilly Opelka 6-7 6-2 6-4 3-6 6-4 en route to the third round where his run was ended by Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov.

In his third appearance in the Wimbledon main draw, Fabbiano beat young Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-7(8) 6-3 for the first top 10 win of his career. The Italian was then stretched the distance in the next round by Ivo Karlovic before emerging a 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 6-7(4) 6-4 victor.

With the victory over Karlovic, Fabbiano improved his unbeaten five-set record to 5-0.

At the last Grand Slam of the year, Fabbiano registered the second top 10 win of his career by knocking out Dominic Thiem in the first round. The Italian looked on course for a sixth five-set win of his career when he led Alexander Bublik in the second round by two sets, only to lose the next three sets and see his perfect five-set record come to an end.

Roberto Bautista Agut - 4

Roberto Bautista Agut kicked off his career-best season with a 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-7 6-4 five-set over five-time finalist Andy Murray in the first round of the Australian Open. Bautista Agut then beat Australian John Millman in another five-setter 6-3 6-1 3-6 6-7 6-4 to reach the third round.

A straight-set win over Karen Khachanov took the Spaniard to his fourth fourth-round match in Melbourne where he downed the previous year's finalist Marin Cilic 6-7 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4 to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. There, he lost to another first-time quarterfinalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The win over Cilic made Bautista Agut the first player to win three five-set matches at the Australian Open since Roger Federer in 2017. In the process, the Spaniard became the third player in 12 months, after Ernests Gulbis (2018 Wimbledon) and Alexander Zverev (2018 Roland Garros), to notch up three five-set wins at the same Slam.

Following his debut in the top 10 after a run to the Wimbledon semis and the Montreal quarterfinals, Bautista Agut played his fourth five-set match of the year in the first round of the US Open, where he went down to Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin.

Kei Nishikori - 5

Kei Nishikori stared at a disappointing first-round exit at the Australian Open when he trailed Polish qualifier Kamil Majchrzak by two sets. But the Japanese quickly regrouped and reeled off the next two sets for the loss of just two games en route to sealing a 3-6 6-7 6-0 2-0 3-0 victory when Majchrzak retired.

The tables were almost turned on Nishikori in the next round when Croatian veteran Ivo Karlovic recovered from a two-set deficit to force a fifth set. However, Nishikori regrouped in time to triumph in a historic 'first to 10' fifth-set tiebreak to reach the third round.

A straight-set win over Joao Sousa carried the Japanese to the fourth-round where Pablo Carreno Busta led by two sets, only for Nishikori to win the match in another 'first to 10' fifth set breaker.

In the process, Nishikori emulated Roberto Bautista Agut as the only other player at the 2019 Australian Open to win three five-set matches. However, the exertions took a toll as Nishikori retired down 1-6 1-4 against eventual winner Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

In the third round of the French Open, Nishikori trailed Serbia's Laslo Djere by two breaks in the fifth set. But incredibly, the Japanese recouped both of the breaks and prevailed 8-6 to reach the fourth round where he faced Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Nishikori led Paire by two sets to one and saw match points in the fourth set tiebreak come and go as the Frenchman forced a fifth. Nishikori trailed 3-5 in the decider but reeled off the final four games of the match to reach his fourth Roland Garros quarterfinal (lost to Rafael Nadal).

The victory over Paire was Nishikori's fifth five-set win of the year. In the process, the Japanese improved his incredible fifth set-record to 23-6 (0.79), which is the best fifth-set win % for any player with at least 20 five-set wins in the Open Era - behind Bjorn Borg's 0.82 (27-6).

Since his last five set-defeat (against Federer in the fourth round of the 2017 Australian Open), Nishikori is on an eight-match five-set win streak.

Alexander 'Sascha' Zverev - 5

Alexander Zverev recorded his first five-set win of the season by beating Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-6 6-4 5-7 6-7 6-1 in the second round of the Australian Open.

Fresh off a first title of the season in Geneva, Zverev was taken the distance by gritty Australian John Millman in the first round of Roland Garros before the young German prevailed 7-6 6-3 2-6 6-7 6-3.

Two rounds later, it was Serbian Dusan Lajovic's turn to force a fifth set against Zverev, but like Millman, he couldn't complete a comeback from two sets down. Zverev eventually closed out a 6-4 6-2 4-6 1-6 6-2 win for his fifth five-set win at Roland Garros.

At the last Grand Slam of the year in New York, Zverev squandered a two-set lead against Moldovan Radu Albot in the first round before winning 6-1 6-3 3-6 4-6 6-2. In the next round. it was American Frances Tiafoe's turn to take two sets off the young German, but like four other players earlier in the season, he couldn't force a win as Zverev prevailed 6-3 3-6 6-2 2-6 6-3.

With the win over Tiafoe, Zverev emulated Nishikori to become the only other player to win five five-set Grand Slam matches in the season, as the young German improved his career five-set record to 13-6 (0.69).

Edited by Musab Abid