The Top 10 Men's Tennis Players' Worst Surfaces

The best men's tennis players in the world aren't always at their best.

Some surfaces confound them.

Novak Djokovic barely wins 78 percent of the time on his least desired environment.  Andy Murray only wins 60 percent on his.

These two are the top-ranked tennis players on the ATP Tour.  For the others in the top 10, the records are predictably even worse.

From No. 10 Stanislas Wawrinka to No. 1 Djokovic, here are where the best are at their worst. 

No. 10 Stanislas Wawrinka

Despite nearly winning a thriller against Andy Murray at Wimbledon 2009, Stanislas Wawrinka rarely rises to the challenge on grass.

His best memory just may be of that encounter, which was the first-ever gentlemen's singles match played under the closed roof of Centre Court.  The Swiss has played 32 matches on grass courts during his career and has only managed to win 14 of them.  That is a .438 winning percentage.

Barely a coin toss.

Things are getting brighter for Wawrinka, however.  Though he is known this year for losing to Lleyton Hewitt earlier than his seeding indicated, he has actually enjoyed unusual success.  His four wins this year out of six give him a .667 winning percentage for the 2013 tour.

At least it's better than a coin toss.

No. 9 Richard Gasquet

Richard Gasquet is a consistent player.

Unfortunately, that means it is difficult to determine just where he plays his worst tennis.

It is truly a toss-up, as he does not win 70 percent of his clashes on any surface.  Clay, however, is his nadir.  He has played 158 tour-level matches on the various incarnations of terre battue.  There are only 98 wins on his record, so his percentage is .620.

For a player once ranked No. 7 in the world, that is not good.

It doesn't make it any better that he is now "only" No. 9.  Gasquet is probably wishing for the good old days of 2010 when he actually won in Nice, his only title on clay.

Maybe he should have stopped there.

No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

It is a fairly good bet that French players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet won't be vacationing in Paris together soon.

They both are appalled by clay.

It is the ultimate irony.  Tsonga's winning percentage over his career on the dirt is .636.  It is barely above his compatriot's average.  It is also, clearly, not very good.  He has no titles and has never even appeared in a final.

Somewhat shocking, no?

The good news is that in 2013, Tsonga has 12 wins versus four losses for a .750 winning percentage.  Here's hoping for the future at Roland Garros.

No. 7 Juan Martin Del Potro

Power players have long loved the cement.

So, is Juan Martin Del Potro not a power player?

His .702 winning percentage on hard courts would seem to indicate that, strangely enough.  Though Mark Hodgkinson of The Telegraph claimed the Argentinian's power "can turn the Australian Open upside down," it hasn't turned out to be true.  In Melbourne he has never advanced past the quarterfinals.

Perhaps things are turning around.  This year, Del Potro did win Rotterdam which, though indoors, is a hard-court tournament.  Granted, Roger Federer lost in the quarterfinals, leaving only Julien Benneteau to defeat, but a win is a win.

Especially when that win is a title.

No. 6 Tomas Berdych

For a player who occasionally gives Roger Federer fits, Tomas Berdych owns some poor stats.

His record on hard courts exemplifies that.

Berdych has only managed to win 63 percent of the time on this surface.  That stat can't be excused by a small sampling; he has played 373 times over 11 years.  He just isn't that successful, ultimately.  Then again, the Czech native did well in reaching the quarters in this year's Australian Open.  So far, he has a .778 winning percentage in 2013.

A good run in New York City this fall could change things for Tomas.  Then he could concentrate on clay.

After all, he owns nearly a 64 percent record there.

No. 5 Roger Federer

Guess what is Roger Federer's worst surface?

Clay.  Big surprise.

Apparently, the Swiss star hates clay even worse when it is blue.  That is really splitting hairs, but it does represent his ongoing frustrations with this surface.  Over his career, Federer has a winning percentage of .770 on clay.  Looking at that statistic, it is some wonder that he did win the French Open in 2009.  It is quite telling that he described that win as "the greatest victory of my career."

Will there be more great moments for Federer on clay?  Looking at his history, probably not.  His winning percentages on other surfaces are around .800, while he is only trending downward on clay.

Losing in quarterfinal rounds sure doesn't help.

No. 4 Rafael Nadal

It is still somewhat strange to think of Rafael Nadal as No. 4 in the world.

It is stranger yet to discover that he wins fewer than 80 percent of his matches on two different surfaces.

The hard courts around the world are still a sore point for Rafa and his knees.  The sheer fact that the Mallorcan owns 12 titles on cement is only testament to just how many times he has lost, when his percentage of .768 is considered.  He has 85 defeats.

That is over four times as many as he has on any other surface.

Is there hope for more glory, or even another U.S. Open title?  Probably not.  The numbers just aren't there.

No. 3 David Ferrer

David Ferrer's record on the hard-court surface is unbelievable.

That, by the way, is not in a good way.

At only a .637 winning percentage over his career, it is a wonder he even walks on cement sidewalks.  He just may lose his footing and take a tumble.  What is a conundrum is that the Spaniard has won eight titles on hard courts.  His 127 match-losses stand out as a pointer to his inconsistency.

What is it about the surface that Ferrer can't handle?  Some bloggers have suggested it is because he doesn't have the big weapons that other top players have.  According to tennis writer Jesse Pentecost, however, Ferrer is performing much better as of the spring hard-court season. In fact, the No. 3 player is headed in the right direction.

With an .800 winning percentage so far this year for Ferrer, unbelievable may finally become a good thing.

No. 2 Andy Murray

Andy Murray, champion of Wimbledon, is a great player.

Especially when he is not on clay.

Over his career, the Scot has amassed a 50-33 record on that surface.  For statisticians, that is a .602 percentage.  Though he may be able to blame his losses this year on a bad back that forced him to withdraw from the French Open, that only accounts for three of his professional defeats.  What about the other 47?

Simply put, Murray is bad on clay.

Ivan Lendl is wrong when he argues that his protege can overcome his problems with the surface, as reported by The Telegraph.  There is just no data to support that claim.  At least when Lendl made a statement about himself and grass courts, there was the matter of two finals and five semifinals in his past.

Murray has one semifinal under his belt.

No. 1 Novak Djokovic

Even the best has his worst.

It's just that for Novak Djokovic, "worst" is a relative term.

The Serb's worst percentage is .771, on clay.  That means that his lowest ratio is higher than the other players in the Top 10.  It isn't such a surprise, given that he is the No. 1 player in the world.  Additionally, Djokovic is getting stronger on the surface, amassing an .813 winning percentage this year.

This is hardly a weakness.

The news doesn't get any better for his fellow competitors.  At the end of last year, a certain former star described the No. 1 as an "all-surface champion" who can be the top player for years.  That former star?

Pete Sampras.