Top 15 Tallest Men’s Tennis Players – These Are the Most Successful

Share Your Love!

Being tall in tennis means having a big serve, both powerful and precise, which is quite useful to win free points in the serving game, especially on fast surfaces.

However, it has its holdbacks like low reaction times, not enough speed, and difficulties to hit low balls.

When we look at the statistics of the most successful tennis players, the Big 3 have an average height of 6’1”. Perhaps this is the optimal height to achieve the perfect balance between having an effective serve & volley and a top-notch all-around game.

The tallest men’s tennis players, which we’ll discuss further in the article, didn’t achieve big titles historically, but there are some exceptions like Medvedev, Cilic, and Del Potro who have been particularly hard to beat having a complete playstyle.

Now, let’s dive into the Top 15 tallest male tennis players who have been successful in their careers.

To make it to the list, a player must at least:

  • Have won one title in his career (singles or doubles)
  • Or Have had a career-high ranking inside the Top 100
PlayerCountryUS sizeEU size
1. Reilly OpelkaUnited States6’11”2.11m
2. Ivo KarlovicCroatia6’11”2.11m
3. John IsnerUnited States6’10”2.10m
4. Jerzy JanowiczPoland6’8″2.04m
5. Kevin AndersonSouth Africa6’8″2.03m
6. Dick NormanBelgium6’8″2.03m
7. Marc RossetSwitzerland6’7″2.01m
8. Chris GuccioneAustralia6’7″2.01m
9. Daniil MedvedevRussia6’6″1.98m
10. Marin CilicCroatia6’6″1.98m
11. Juan Martin Del PotroArgentina6’6″1.98m
12. Sam QuerreyUnited States6’6″1.98m
13. Victor HanescuRomania6’6″1.98m
14. Milos RaonicCanada6’5″1.96m
15. Tomáš BerdychCzech Republic6’5″6’6″

What Tall Men’s Tennis Players Are the Most Successful?

We will take the previous list and figure out the most successful ones.

What Tall Male Tennis Players Have the Highest Career Ranking?

PlayerCountryUS sizeEU sizeHighest ATP Ranking
Daniil MedvedevRussia6’6″1.98m1
Marin CilicCroatia6’6″1.98m3
Juan Martin Del PotroArgentina6’6″1.98m3

All of the three players above have played in a very competitive era, distinguished by Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic eating titles for breakfast and leaving almost nothing for the others.

Yet, they all managed to get a Grand Slam title and Daniil Medvedev is still going stronger and not done yet.

Juan Martin Del Potro

Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro entered the Top 5 after his incredible success in US Open in 2009. Still, he reached his highest career ranking of world no.3 in 2018 after winning in Indian Wells his first Masters 1000 and attaining the Miami Open final.

Marin Čilić

A 2017 Wimbledon final followed by a 2018 Australian Open final helped Croatian Marin Čilić to reach his highest career ranking of world no.3.

Cilic benefited from the hip injury of Murray and the elbow injury of Djokovic to climb the ladder, and if not for the strong comeback of both Nadal and Federer, Marin Cilic could’ve become the World no. 1 in 2017.

Daniil Medvedev

The Russian sensation became the talk of tennis media after a breakthrough 2019 season, during which he won 2 Masters 1000 and reached his maiden Grand Slam final in New York.

However, following his first-ever Grand Slam title in the US Open 2021 over Djokovic in straight sets, he played another Major final in Melbourne losing this time to Nadal in an epic five-setter.

Medvedev celebration in US Open 2021 winmarca.com

This contributed to Medvedev clinching the world no. 1 spot in Mexico, a sensational achievement for a player of his height.

What Short Male Tennis Players Have Won the Most Titles?

PlayerCountryUS sizeEU sizeSingles TitlesDoubles TitlesGrand Slams
Juan Martin Del PotroArgentina6’6″1.98m2211
Marin ČilićCroatia6’6″1.98m2001
John IsnerUnited States6’10”2.10m1680

Juan Martin Del Potro

Del Potro is considered one of the most successful and impactful Argentinian tennis players. In his superb career, he won 22 Single titles, counting a Grand Slam and a Masters 1000.

He also helped his team win the Davis Cup in 2016.

Ultimately, injuries took the better of him leading him to retire in 2022.

Marin Čilić

Like Del Potro, Marin Čilić has won 1 Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati 2016 and 1 Grand Slam in the US Open 2014.

The total titles he’s achieved is 20, which is quite a good achievement considering the fact that he’s played all his career in the Big 3 era.

John Isner

The American giant has been successful in tennis. Even though he turned pro late, he still managed to win 16 Single and 8 Double titles.

John Isner was always a challenging player for the top dogs, but his powerful serve was not always enough to make it to the late stage of the Major tournaments.

However, Isner accomplished the unthinkable when he claimed a maiden Masters 1000 title in Miami by defeating Alexander Zverev in the final.

Overall, Isner’s career is not bad by any means. In terms of titles, he is among the “Giants” who won the most titles in tennis.

What Tall Male Tennis Players Have Won the Most Prize Money?

To begin with, we must address the fact that tennis pays a lot more over the years. For example:

  • The US Open 1990 prize money for the winner was $350,000.
  • In 2000, it was $800,000 for the winner.
  • In 2010, it was $1.7 million for the winner.
  • And in 2021, the winner took home $2.5 million before taxes.

This is a 714% increase in prize money in just 30 years! And pretty much the same happened to Masters 1000, 500, and 250 tournaments. Tennis has become very lucrative over the years.

PlayerCountryUS sizeEU sizePrize Money (US$)
Marin ČilićCroatia6’6″1.98m$30 468 623
Tomáš BerdychCzech Republic6’5”1.96m$29 491 328
Juan Martin Del PotroArgentina6’6″1.98m$25 896 046
Daniil MedvedevRussia6’6″1.98m$23 829 470

6’6” seems like the height limit for achieving higher prize money, which means being consistent throughout the season tournament after tournament.

Berdych and Del Potro are now retired players while Čilić is at the edge of his fruitful career.

Daniil Medvedev would definitely be the one with the most titles and the highest prize money by the end of his career knowing that he’s still young and going stronger each day.

To Sum It Up

Overall, this is what the list of the tallest men’s tennis players looks like adding the highest ATP ranking, the titles, and the prize money of each one’s career.

PlayerCountryUS sizeEU sizeHighest ATP RankingSingles TitlesDoubles TitlesSingles Grand SlamsPrize Money
Reilly OpelkaUnited States6’11”2.11m14820$10 160 232
Ivo KarlovicCroatia6’11”2.11m17410$3 915 111
John IsnerUnited States6’10”2.10m81680$21 121 427
Jerzy JanowiczPoland6’8″2.04m14000$3 762 321
Kevin AndersonSouth Africa6’8″2.03m5710$17 728 382
Dick NormanBelgium6’8″2.03m85040$2 019 581
Marc RossetSwitzerland6’7″2.01m91580$6 812 693
Chris GuccioneAustralia6’7″2.01m67050$1 761 876
Daniil MedvedevRussia6’6″1.98m32001$30 468 623
Marin CilicCroatia6’6″1.98m32211$25 896 046
Juan Martin Del PotroArgentina6’6″1.98m11301$23 829 470
Sam QuerreyUnited States6’6″1.98m111050$13 436 353
Victor HanescuRomania6’6″1.98m26120$4 297 051
Milos RaonicCanada6’5″1.96m3800$20 218 982
Tomáš BerdychCzech Republic6’5″1.96m42320$29 491 328

Read Also: Top 10 Tallest Women’s Tennis Players – These Are the Most Successful

Share Your Love!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *