Novak Djokovic came close to winning a record-tying eighth Wimbledon title but lost to Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz in five sets in Sunday's final.
It was a big opportunity missed for Djokovic, who ended up bagging the unwanted accolade of the most Grand Slams finals lost of any man in tennis with 12. However, it is pertinent to note that Djokovic has made more major finals in that regard and has won more Grand Slams by a male player and only trails Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 titles.
Djokovic was playing in his 35th Grand Slam final on Sunday - again another record, which is four more than Roger Federer in second place and five more than Rafael Nadal among the men. His victory over Jannik Sinner saw him overtake Chris Evert who jointly held the record of most Slam final appearances with Djokovic at 34.
Prior to his defeat in the 2023 Wimbledon final, Djokovic, Federer, and Ivan Lendl shared that undesirable record of the most defeats in a Grand Slam final with 11. In the case of Lendl, he is the only among these man with a negative win-loss record in Slam finals, having won fewer titles than finals lost (8-11).
Djokovic (23-12) and Federer (20-11), both have healthy positive records. Nadal, however, has a slightly better success rate, winning 22 of his 30 final appearances. On the women's, Australian great Margaret Court is well clear, winning 24 of 29 Slams finals (however, half of that success was before the Open Era).
But Djokovic lags behind two former WTA stars for the most Grand Slam finals lost. Martina Navratilova has lost 14 finals, while Chris Evert holds the overall record with an astonishing 16 losses!
It would take some undoing for the Serbian star to eclipse that number, considering that he's averaged just one defeat in a Grand Slam since 2020 (outside his default in the 2020 US Open).
