The Top 10 yearly match wins of all time

Another pointless but diverting statistic, this one, and it shows how far the young players have to go to catch up with the previous generation's exploits:

1. Lendl, Ivan 106-9 (1982: 40-0 record on indoor carpet)
2. Lendl, Ivan 105-28 (1980)
3. Lendl, Ivan 96-14 (1981)
4. McEnroe, John 87-12 (1979)
5. Muster, Thomas 86-18 (1995: 65-2 record on clay. Not bad, that)
6. Sampras, Pete 85-16 (1993)
7. Lendl, Ivan 84-7 (1985)
8.= McEnroe, John 82-3 (1984: the best win-loss ratio of all time?)
8.= Connors, Jimmy 82-6 (1976)
8.= Wilander, Mats 82-11 (1983)

And here are the first few just outside the Top 10, including three active players:
11.= Hewitt, Lleyton 80-18 (2001: the most wins of any of the New Balls in a single season)
11.= Kafelnikov, Yevgeny 80-25 (1996)
13. Lendl, Ivan 79-7 (1989)
14.= Connors, Jimmy 78-10 (1982)
14.= Edberg, Stefan 78-12 (1987)
14.= McEnroe, John 78-15 (1980)
14.= Federer, Roger 78-17 (2003)

the biggest thing glaring at me is that they just play less matches now, for the most part.

You also have the question of depth... i'd venture to say that there's much more depth now than there used to be, so the top players are more easily and more often beat, so they won't win as much.

Oh yes, the depth issue is certainly big - nobody is ever going to have the kind of incredible season that Lendl had in 1982 where he won 15 tournaments and embarked on a 44-match winning streak (I think it was that year, but it could have been any of the other four on that list - incredible consistency from him). No Grand Slam, of course, unlike every other player there who won at least one Slam during their career year.

Thanks for that, sjengster. interesting stats. regarding McEnroe 1984, I think such a record will never be beaten in the ATP.

If you happen to have the continuation of the list handy, I'd be interested to see it. (but only if it's easy for you...) :)

Thanks. I love these kind of stats. I'd also like to see the continuation of that list if possible. :)