He won more Paris Masters titles than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal but retired without a Grand Slam

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were unable to achieve as much success at the Paris Masters as they did at other tournaments.

Federer and Nadal are two of the greatest ATP players of all time, having won a combined 42 Grand Slams and 64 Masters 1000 titles.

Despite their success at ATP 1000 tournaments, they only won one Paris Masters title between them, with Federer winning his sole title at the event in 2011, while Nadal never won the Paris Masters in his career.

Federer and Nadal may not have found too much success at the Paris Masters in their careers, but Dutch player Tom Okker won more titles at the event than both players combined.

Tom Okker has more Paris Masters titles than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal combined

Okker won the inaugural Paris Masters in 1969, which was then held on carpet instead of hard courts, without dropping a single set.

The Dutchman did not have a successful title defence in 1970, as Okker was beaten in the first round of the Paris Masters, but he did come close to winning the title in 1973 after reaching the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion Ilie Nastase.

Okker would then win his second title at the Paris Masters in 1975, which culminated in a dramatic five-set final victory over Arthur Ashe, in a match where he was two-sets-to-one down. It has been over 50 years since Okker’s second Paris Masters victory, but he is still one of only seven players to have won multiple singles titles at the tournament.

While Federer and Nadal have only won one title at the event, their biggest rival Novak Djokovic has dominated the Paris Masters, winning a record seven titles. This is four more than the next two best players at the Paris Masters, with both Boris Becker and Marat Safin winning three titles at the event.

Okker is one of four players who has won two titles at the Paris Masters, joining Brian Gottfried, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. Okker only made one more appearance at the Paris Masters in 1976, where he reached the quarter-finals.

Tom Okker’s Grand Slam record after failing to win a title

Although Okker achieved success at the Paris Masters, he was never able to transition this into winning a Grand Slam singles title, despite coming close.

Okker reached at least the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments in his career, and he even reached the final of the US Open in 1968. Okker won a five-set final against the aforementioned Ashe at the Paris Masters, but he was beaten by the American in this US Open final.

Although he was never able to win a Grand Slam singles title, Okker did claim two Grand Slam doubles titles at Roland Garros in 1973 and the US Open in 1976, which he won alongside John Newcombe and Marty Riessen, respectively, and he was also doubles world number one in 1979.

Okker did also have a singles career to be proud of, winning 35 ATP titles, including two Paris Masters, and reaching a career-high ranking of world number three before he retired from tennis in 1981.