Measuring Masters Dominance

Last May, I looked at a new way of measuring how much players from different eras dominated at the grand slams in their various eras. In this piece, I am using a similar method to measure player's dominance a the nine Masters 1000 level tournaments, which have existed since 1990. Those nine events have changed over the years, but every year there are nine events on the schedule that are the most important outside of the grand slams.

The process is almost identical to the method used for the grand slam comparisons. I found the sum total of ranking points earned by all of the top players since 1990 at each of the Masters Series events that they played in. The totals were based on the current ranking system: W-1000, RU-600, SF-360, QF-180, R16-90, R32-45, R64-20, and all first round losses were worth 10 points unless it entrance was based on a wildcard.

Keep in mind that players who started their peak years before 1990 could be drastically underrated in categories that have to do with totals, and could be very overrated in categories that have to do with averages.

Let's get started with the lists that came out of this study:

Career Total Masters Ranking Points Earned:
1. Rafael Nadal 47,190
2. Roger Federer 47,085
3. Novak Djokovic 44,880
4. Andy Murray 27,920
5. Andre Agassi 27,745
6. Pete Sampras 24,420
7. Tomas Berdych 16,285
8. Andy Roddick 15,755
9. Michael Chang 15,405
10. David Ferrer 15,400
11. Thomas Muster 12,810
12. Stefan Edberg 12,695
13. Boris Becker 12,671
14. Jim Courier 12,600
15. Gustavo Kuerten 12,150
16. Lleyton Hewitt 11,865
17. Carlos Moya 11,570
18. Marcelo Rios 11,370
19. Goran Ivanisevic 11,360
20. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 11,185
21. Marat Safin 11,000
22. Juan Carlos Ferrero 10,845
23. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 10,620
24. Stan Wawrinka 10,040
25. Tommy Haas 9555
26. Richard Krajicek 9220
27. Nikolay Davydenko 9145
28. Thomas Enqvist 9055
29. Sergi Bruguera 8970
30. Tommy Robredo 8570

Average Ranking Points Earned per Masters Tournament: (as of April 3, 2017)
1. Novak Djokovic 482.6
2. Rafael Nadal 471.9
3. Roger Federer 379.7
4. Andy Murray 300.2
5. Andre Agassi 298.3
6. Pete Sampras 294.2
7. Stefan Edberg 275
8. Boris Becker 248
9. Thomas Muster 241
10. Andy Roddick 212
11. Marcelo Rios 199
12. Michael Chang 181
12. Gustavo Kuerten 181
14. Jim Courier 177
15. Lleyton Hewitt 160
16. Patrick Rafter 159
17. Milos Raonic 151.2
18. Tomas Berdych 150.8
19. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 149.6
20. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 145.3

Federer and Nadal closed the gap with Djokovic early in the 2017 season, putting Nadal within striking distance going into the clay portion of the calendar. Federer will be skipping the clay events, which will ruin his chances of catching Nadal in total points. Meanwhile, Murray has justified his position as a member of the Big Four by moving into the top four all-time in both total points and average points. He surpassed Andre Agassi on both lists.

Most Points Earned at one tournament
1. Rafael Nadal 10,230 (Monte Carlo)
2. Rafael Nadal 8390 (Rome)
3. Andre Agassi 8220 (Miami)
4. Roger Federer 7660 (Indian Wells)
5. Roger Federer 7570(Cincinnati)
6. Rafael Nadal 7025 (Madrid)
7. Novak Djokovic 6730 (Miami)
8. Novak Djokovic 6690 (Indian Wells)
9. Rafael Nadal 5760 (Indian Wells)
10. Novak Djokovic 5740 (Rome)


Rafael Nadal has dominated Monte Carlo more than any player has ever dominated any singles 1000-level tournament, becoming the first player to earn at least 10,000 ranking points at one singles event outside of the majors. The king of clay has also dominated Madrid and Rome to a level that few players have dominated any tournament.

Federer is also the leader of three different tournaments, collecting the most points at Indian Wells, Cincinnati and Hamburg, which has since been lowered to a 500. Djokovic owns two tournaments, Shanghai and Paris, but both tournaments are relatively new, so Djokovic had a big advantage in both of them. The Serb, however, could steal Indian Wells from Federer this year and Canada from Agassi. Miami is also within reach further down the line, meaning Djokovic could retire as the leader at five of the nine active Masters 1000 events.

Murray has not yet become the leader at a tournament, but he could become the leader at Canada or Shanghai as soon as 2017 depending on what Djokovic does.

Career Points Earned at Indian Wells
1. Roger Federer 7660
2. Novak Djokovic 6690
3. Rafael Nadal 5760
4. Michael Chang 3760
5. Pete Sampras 3655
6. Andre Agassi 3410
7. Lleyton Hewitt 3345
8. Jim Courier 2750
9. Andy Roddick 2275
10. Stefan Edberg 2135

Career Points Earned at Miami
1. Andre Agassi 8220
2. Novak Djokovic 6730
3. Roger Federer 5340
4. Pete Sampras 5050
5. Rafael Nadal 4235
6. Andy Murray 3825
7. Andy Roddick 3265
8. Tomas Berdych 2815
9. Jim Courier 2635
10. David Ferrer 2305

Career Points Earned at Monte Carlo
1. Rafael Nadal 10,230
2. Novak Djokovic 4390
3. Thomas Muster 4215
4. Roger Federer 3365
5. Juan Carlos Ferrero 3315
6. Carlos Moya 3080
7. Sergi Bruguera 3060
8. David Ferrer 2330
9. Gustavo Kuerten 2185
10. Marcelo Rios 2105

Career Points Earned at Madrid
1. Rafael Nadal 7025
2. Roger Federer 5560
3. Andy Murray 3500
4. Novak Djokovic 3180
5. Tomas Berdych 2340
6. David Ferrer 2020
7. Kei Nishikori 1510
8. Juan Carlos Ferrero 1365
9. Andre Agassi 1360
10. Juan Martin del Potro 1225

Career Points Earned at Rome
1. Rafael Nadal 8390
2. Novak Djokovic 5740
3. Roger Federer 3655
4. Thomas Muster 3380
5. Gustavo Kuerten 2625
6. Jim Courier 2605
7. Alex Corretja 2200
8. Marcelo Rios 1890
9. David Ferrer 1855
10. Goran Ivanisevic 1830

Career Points Earned at Canada
1. Andre Agassi 4935
2. Novak Djokovic 4770
3. Roger Federer 4460
4. Rafael Nadal 4190
5. Andy Murray 3495
6. Andy Roddick 3020
7. Patrick Rafter 2240
8. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 1910
9. Michael Chang 1875
10. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1645

Career Points Earned at Cincinnati
1. Roger Federer 7570
2. Pete Sampras 5190
3. Michael Chang 4570
4. Andre Agassi 4280
5. Andy Murray 4185
6. Andy Roddick 3650
7. Novak Djokovic 3515
8. Stefan Edberg 2795
9. Lleyton Hewitt 2750
10. Rafael Nadal 2470

Career Points Earned at Shanghai
1. Novak Djokovic 4440
2. Andy Murray 4050
3. Roger Federer 2060
4. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 1600
5. Rafael Nadal 1520
6. Gilles Simon 1385
7. Feliciano Lopez 1360
8. Tomas Berdych 1270
9. David Ferrer 1025
10. Nikolay Davydenko 1010

Career Points Earned at Paris
1. Novak Djokovic 4840
2. Andy Murray 3770
3. Marat Safin 3925
4. Pete Sampras 3760
5. Tomas Berdych 2935
6. David Ferrer 2820
7. Boris Becker 2715
8. Roger Federer 2650
9. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2600
10. Andre Agassi 2380

Career Points Earned at Hamburg
1. Roger Federer 4710
2. Andrei Medvedev 3155
3. Marcelo Rios 1865
4. Gustavo Kuerten 1695
5. Rafael Nadal 1690
6. Tommy Robredo 1685
7. Alex Corretja 1635
8. Marat Safin 1570
9. Lleyton Hewitt 1395
10. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1370

Career Points Earned at Stockholm
1. Boris Becker 3270
2. Goran Ivanisevic 2560
3. Stefan Edberg 1830
4. Pete Sampras 1270
5. Jim Courier 675
6. Petr Korda 640
7. Arnaud Boetsch 450
8. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 405
9. MaliVai Washington 380
10. Sergi Bruguera 290

Career Points Earned at Stuttgart
1. Richard Krajicek 2335
2. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1430
3. Thomas Enqvist 1325
4. Pete Sampras 1230
5. Tommy Haas 1155
6. Boris Becker 1135
7. Petr Korda 1010
8. Marcelo Rios 990
9. Lleyton Hewitt 970
10. Andre Agassi 740

Career Points Earned at Essen
1. Thomas Muster 1000
2. MaliVai Washington 600
3. Pete Sampras 360
3. Arnaud Boetsch 360
5. Richard Krajicek 180
5. Thomas Enqvist 180
5. Jim Courier 180
5. Sergi Bruguera 180
9. 8 more with... 90

There is one more way of looking at the numbers presented in this form. The first two categories dealt with totals and averages. Averages are good for looking at how good a player is in the tournaments that they played. Total is good for looking at the longevity of that success in tournaments.

This final list looks at a combination of the two. It takes the total amount of points won and subtracted from that is the number of Masters Series tournaments played multiplied by 171, which was the average amount of points won per tournament of the players that were researched. That means that an average score on this list would be zero for the 46 players that were researched.

Career Points Earned Adjusted
1. Rafael Nadal 30,090
2. Novak Djokovic 28,977
3. Roger Federer 25,881
4. Andy Murray 12,017
5. Andre Agassi 11,842
6. Pete Sampras 10,227
7. Stefan Edberg 4829
8. Boris Becker 3950
9. Thomas Muster 3747
10. Andy Roddick 3101
11. Marcelo Rios 1623
12. Michael Chang 870
13. Gustavo Kuerten 693
14. Jim Courier 459
15. Patrick Rafter -543
16. Lleyton Hewitt -789
17. Milos Raonic -969
18. Juan Martin del Potro -1340
19. Kei Nishikori -1343
20. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga -1521

There is a lot to analyze here, and combined with the data from the piece on dominance at majors, you can get a pretty good sense of who the best tennis players have been in the last 25 years. Like the piece on majors, what surprised me about this one is how well Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer do on these lists. Both are represented in the top 10 for total and top 20 for average despite never really having much success in the later stages of tournaments. However, their ability to constantly reach quarter and semifinals is what allows them to do so well on these lists. Neither of them will likely end up in the Hall-of-Fame, but if I had a vote, I would give them both very serious consideration.

Murray is still playing catch-up to the other three members of the Big Four, but he is finally ranked inside the top four in all three of the main categories, surpassing Agassi in total points, average points and points adjusted. There is still a big dropoff between Federer and Murray on all three of these lists, however.