H2H data updated: 2026-09-01 00:00 UTC

John James vs Syd Ball H2H: 2-2

John James and Syd Ball are tied 2–2 in their ATP head-to-head. Across 4 main-draw meetings, they are tied 2–2 on grass. Most recently, John James won the 1979 Brisbane International round of 32 6-2 6-2.

Want to explore more matchups? Advanced rivalry search lets you browse current and historical rivalries, unbeaten records, or every matchup for a player.

John James
AUS Age 75 Right-Handed 183 cm / 6'0"
H2H
2 – 2
4 main draw meetings
Syd Ball
AUS Age 76 Right-Handed 188 cm / 6'2"

H2H Match Log

PlayerScorePlayerMatch DataDateRoundTournamentCategorySurface
John James 6-2 6-2 Syd Ball Match data Oct 12, 1979* R32 Brisbane International ATP 250 Grass
Syd Ball #116 4-6 6-3 8-6 John James #135 Match data Dec 24, 1975* R32 Sydney International ATP 250 Grass
Syd Ball 6-0 6-7 6-2 John James Match data Dec 16, 1974 R16 Sydney International ATP 250 Grass
John James 6-3 5-7 7-5 7-5 Syd Ball Match data Dec 30, 1971* R64 Australian Open Grand Slam Grass

Estimated match date where the exact historical date is unavailable. Arrows show an edition's recorded category and documented modern equivalent; unresolved editions keep their recorded category. Asterisked totals include editions mapped from documented historical predecessor categories. Mapping details.

Career Comparison

Player Current Peak Pts Elo W L Win % GS 1000 including documented historical predecessor categories Finals 500 including documented historical predecessor categories 250 including documented historical predecessor categories Titles
John James #808 #81 28 1,682 98 144 40.5% 0 0 0 0 0 0
Syd Ball #748 #63 0 1,726 125 181 40.8% 0 0 0 0 0 0

Career Progression by Age

Seasons are aligned by the age each player spent most of that calendar year. GS and Titles are cumulative career totals through that season.

Age John James Syd Ball
YrW-LWin %RankEloGSTitles YrW-LWin %RankEloGSTitles
17 1968 3–3 50.0% — 1,516 0 0 — — — — — — —
18 — — — — — — — 1968 1–3 25.0% — 1,491 0 0
19 1970 1–1 50.0% — 1,513 0 0 1969 5–5 50.0% — 1,466 0 0
20 — — — — — — — 1970 6–8 42.9% — 1,450 0 0
21 1972 7–4 63.6% — 1,570 0 0 1971 8–13 38.1% — 1,455 0 0
22 1973 0–5 0.0% — 1,514 0 0 1972 7–9 43.8% — 1,510 0 0
23 1974 2–3 40.0% #249 1,517 0 0 1973 14–13 51.9% #155 1,595 0 0
24 1975 5–10 33.3% #135 1,517 0 0 1974 34–35 49.3% #104 1,649 0 0
25 1976 6–14 30.0% #146 1,512 0 0 1975 13–27 32.5% #116 1,593 0 0
26 1977 16–23 41.0% #97 1,583 0 0 1976 8–19 29.6% #89 1,547 0 0
27 1978 20–27 42.6% #102 1,629 0 0 1977 3–10 23.1% #168 1,511 0 0
28 1979 19–22 46.3% #91 1,644 0 0 1978 2–5 28.6% #294 1,492 0 0
29 1980 12–25 32.4% #209 1,493 0 0 1979 3–5 37.5% #368 1,518 0 0
30 1981 3–4 42.9% — 1,490 0 0 1980 12–13 48.0% #146 1,560 0 0
31 1982 4–3 57.1% — 1,559 0 0 1981 8–12 40.0% — 1,547 0 0
32 — — — — — — — 1982 1–4 20.0% — 1,512 0 0

Surface Results by Age

Seasons are aligned by the age each player spent most of that calendar year. Results cover completed main-draw matches. Bold green marks the higher win percentage when both players have at least 5 matches on that surface at the aligned age.

Age John James Syd Ball
Yr HardClayGrassCarpet Yr HardClayGrassCarpet
W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win % W L M Win %
17 1968 — — — — — — — — 3 3 6 50.0% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
18 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1968 — — — — — — — — 1 3 4 25.0% — — — —
19 1970 — — — — — — — — 1 1 2 50.0% — — — — 1969 0 2 2 0.0% — — — — 5 3 8 62.5% — — — —
20 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1970 0 1 1 0.0% — — — — 6 7 13 46.2% — — — —
21 1972 0 1 1 0.0% — — — — 7 3 10 70.0% — — — — 1971 1 1 2 50.0% 0 4 4 0.0% 7 8 15 46.7% — — — —
22 1973 — — — — — — — — 0 5 5 0.0% — — — — 1972 2 2 4 50.0% — — — — 5 7 12 41.7% — — — —
23 1974 — — — — — — — — 2 3 5 40.0% — — — — 1973 1 2 3 33.3% 4 3 7 57.1% 9 8 17 52.9% — — — —
24 1975 0 1 1 0.0% 2 4 6 33.3% 2 3 5 40.0% 1 2 3 33.3% 1974 4 9 13 30.8% 3 7 10 30.0% 23 11 34 67.6% 4 8 12 33.3%
25 1976 1 4 5 20.0% 1 6 7 14.3% 4 3 7 57.1% 0 1 1 0.0% 1975 3 5 8 37.5% 2 9 11 18.2% 3 5 8 37.5% 5 8 13 38.5%
26 1977 1 3 4 25.0% 8 8 16 50.0% 4 6 10 40.0% 3 6 9 33.3% 1976 4 4 8 50.0% 1 3 4 25.0% 2 4 6 33.3% 1 8 9 11.1%
27 1978 7 8 15 46.7% 2 8 10 20.0% 9 6 15 60.0% 2 5 7 28.6% 1977 0 3 3 0.0% — — — — 2 6 8 25.0% 1 1 2 50.0%
28 1979 5 6 11 45.5% 4 6 10 40.0% 8 7 15 53.3% 2 3 5 40.0% 1978 0 1 1 0.0% 0 1 1 0.0% 2 2 4 50.0% 0 1 1 0.0%
29 1980 4 7 11 36.4% 5 10 15 33.3% 3 5 8 37.5% 0 3 3 0.0% 1979 — — — — 0 1 1 0.0% 3 3 6 50.0% 0 1 1 0.0%
30 1981 2 2 4 50.0% 1 1 2 50.0% 0 1 1 0.0% — — — — 1980 2 1 3 66.7% 1 4 5 20.0% 7 5 12 58.3% 2 3 5 40.0%
31 1982 — — — — 1 2 3 33.3% 3 1 4 75.0% — — — — 1981 1 5 6 16.7% 0 1 1 0.0% 7 5 12 58.3% 0 1 1 0.0%
32 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1982 — — — — — — — — 1 4 5 20.0% — — — —
Career — 20 32 52 38.5% 24 45 69 34.8% 46 47 93 49.5% 8 20 28 28.6% — 18 36 54 33.3% 11 33 44 25.0% 83 81 164 50.6% 13 31 44 29.5%

Advanced Statistics Comparison by Age

Seasons are aligned by the age each player spent most of that calendar year. Metrics are precomputed from eligible main-draw results; point-stat values use the available detailed sample. Bold green marks the stronger value when both underlying samples are sufficient. Lower is better for Schedule because a negative value means a tougher schedule. Career Schedule is normalized per 100 matches.

Age John James Syd Ball
Yr Elo P+ Serve+ Return+ PD TPW% Hard Elo Clay Elo Grass Elo Set Win % Set Margin Dec. Set Tiebreak Pressure+ Schedule Yr Elo P+ Serve+ Return+ PD TPW% Hard Elo Clay Elo Grass Elo Set Win % Set Margin Dec. Set Tiebreak Pressure+ Schedule
17 1968 1517 105.8 — — — — — — +24 56.5% +0.69 1–2 (33%) — — +0.22 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
18 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1968 1491 101.0 — — — — — — +18 33.3% -0.89 — — — 0.00
19 1970 1514 99.8 — — — — — — — 50.0% 0.00 — — — +0.23 1969 1467 103.9 — — — — — — +73 48.0% -0.24 2–0 — — +1.21
20 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1970 1450 101.5 — — — — — — +38 43.8% -0.47 0–3 (0%) — — +1.37
21 1972 1570 111.6 — — — — — — +66 56.7% +0.27 1–1 3–0 (100%) — +0.69 1971 1456 110.8 — — — — — +18 +55 41.4% -0.31 2–4 (33%) 1–1 — +2.04
22 1973 1514 96.4 — — — — — — -5 23.1% -1.54 0–1 0–1 — -0.23 1972 1511 114.2 — — — — -4 — +40 47.6% -0.14 0–1 — — +0.82
23 1974 1518 116.6 — — — — — — -4 30.0% -2.20 0–1 1–0 — -0.43 1973 1596 110.6 — — — — -85 -49 -17 56.1% +0.32 4–7 (36%) 5–3 (63%) — +1.84
24 1975 1517 115.0 — — — — +32 +20 -4 35.3% -1.26 0–2 2–0 — +0.66 1974 1649 131.7 — — — — -143 -127 +153 50.3% +0.21 11–13 (46%) 9–7 (56%) — +3.66
25 1976 1513 125.5 — — — — -18 -10 +71 36.0% -0.80 3–4 (43%) 2–3 (40%) — +1.02 1975 1593 119.5 — — — — -42 -76 +115 37.3% -0.92 7–6 (54%) 4–4 (50%) — +0.67
26 1977 1583 129.9 — — — — -86 +21 -28 40.0% -0.40 4–4 (50%) 1–3 (25%) — -0.34 1976 1548 129.8 — — — — -19 -48 +143 36.9% -0.57 0–7 (0%) 5–6 (45%) — +1.86
27 1978 1629 127.4 — — — — -82 -94 +53 43.9% -0.27 6–6 (50%) 4–7 (36%) — +1.51 1977 1511 113.6 — — — — -24 — +92 36.1% -0.95 1–6 (14%) 2–3 (40%) — +0.29
28 1979 1645 125.5 — — — — -50 -102 +53 47.9% -0.21 2–3 (40%) 5–7 (42%) — +2.00 1978 1493 105.4 — — — — — — +139 26.7% -1.47 1–0 1–1 — +0.87
29 1980 1494 113.3 — — — — +7 +34 +158 34.9% -0.97 2–7 (22%) 1–4 (20%) — +3.49 1979 1518 105.7 — — — — — — +121 40.0% -0.85 — 1–2 (33%) — +0.88
30 1981 1490 106.2 — — — — +36 — — 50.0% -0.45 0–2 — — +1.40 1980 1561 118.5 — — — — -80 -98 +126 50.0% +0.02 3–6 (33%) 5–2 (71%) — +3.76
31 1982 1560 121.8 — — — — — -22 +96 50.0% -0.56 2–0 1–0 — -0.32 1981 1547 113.1 — — — — -107 — +156 46.3% -0.44 2–7 (22%) 3–2 (60%) — +1.73
32 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1982 1512 93.4 — — — — — — +73 29.4% -1.41 1–1 0–1 — +0.29
Career — 1683 127.2 — — — — -44 -17 +47 42.3% -0.49 21–33 (39%) 20–25 (44%) 94.5 +4.13 — 1727 122.5 — — — — -73 -75 +91 44.5% -0.31 34–61 (36%) 36–32 (53%) 95.2 +6.98

Career Rivalries

Each player's five most-played main-draw opponents. The current matchup is highlighted when it appears in a player's top five.