Top 5 active tennis players with the most 5th set wins

#2 Marin Cilic (30-17)

Along with Federer and one other player, Marin Cilic holds the record for most fifth-set wins by an active player.

Cilic has lost his last two fifth-set matches. In the second round of this year's Roland Garros, the Croat squandered a set lead on two occasions against Grigor Dimitrov before losing 3-6 in the fifth. In the fourth round of the Australian Open, Cilic lost to Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.

The big-serving Croatian's last win in a fifth-set match came in the match before the Bautista Agut match, in the 2019 Australian Open fourth round. Cilic fought back from two sets down to beat another Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3 in the fifth. That marked the 7th time in his career that Cilic had won a match from a two-set deficit.

#1 Novak Djokovic (30-10)

Novak Djokovic is the epitome of grit, resilience and never-say-die attitude. With a 30-10 career win-loss record in fifth-set matches, Djokovic's success rate of 75% in matches which go the distance is only bettered by 10 players in the all-time list.

Only one active player - Kei Nishikori (23-6; 79.3%) has a superior win percentage to Djokovic's in fifth-set matches.

Some of Djokovic's most famous wins have come in matches which went the distance. Thrice Djokovic saved multiple match points in a match against Roger Federer (2010 US Open semis, 2011 US Open semis, 2019 Wimbledon final), the last two instances being match points down on his opponent's serve.

Djokovic's 5-hour 53-minute win over Rafael Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open final is the longest Grand Slam final in the Open Era. The Serb's last defeat in a fifth-set match came in the semifinals of Roland Garros this year, when he went down to Dominic Thiem.

The Serb has had five comebacks from two sets down, the last one being against Kevin Anderson in the 2015 Wimbledon fourth round.

About the author

Bhargav is a veteran sports journalist and editor at Sportskeeda, with a rich professional experience of 17 years, working for the likes of Siemens and Bombay Dyeing. An avid football and tennis follower for over three decades, Bhargav uses his vast knowledge and experience, attention to detail, an unbiased yet interesting writing style, and thorough research to craft insightful articles, which have raked in over 18 million reads so far.

Bhargav supports Italy at national level, a team steeped in tradition and history according to him. He still harbors the heartbreak from the Azzurri’s 1994 FIFA World Cup final defeat against Brazil, and protagonist-turned-antagonist from the game, ‘Divine Ponytail’ Roberto Baggio is his all-time favorite player. His favorite manager is Marcelo Lippi, who ended Italy’s 24-year wait for the World Cup trophy, winning it in 2006.

Outside Europe’s top five leagues, he follows the MLS following Lionel Messi’s move in 2023 but favors Cristiano Ronaldo in the G.O.A.T. debate. During his free time, Bhargav enjoys driving off to new places and singing.

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