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

John McEnroe vs Steve Denton H2H: 6-1

John McEnroe holds a 6–1 lead over Steve Denton in their ATP head-to-head. Across 7 main-draw meetings, John McEnroe leads 4–0 on carpet, while they are tied 1–1 on hard courts. Most recently, John McEnroe won the 1984 Forest Hills Wct round of 16 6-3 6-2.

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John McEnroe
USA Age 67 Left-Handed 180 cm / 5'11"
H2H
6 – 1
7 main draw meetings
Steve Denton
USA Age 69 Right-Handed 188 cm / 6'2"

H2H Match Log

PlayerScorePlayerMatch DataDateRoundTournamentCategorySurface
John McEnroe #1 6-3 6-2 Steve Denton #65 Match data May 10, 1984* R16 Forest Hills Wct ATP 250 Clay
John McEnroe #2 6-3 7-6 Steve Denton #59 Match data Feb 12, 1984* F Richmond Wct ATP 250 Carpet
John McEnroe #2 6-3 6-3 Steve Denton #24 Match data Nov 12, 1983* QF Wembley ATP 250 Carpet
John McEnroe #2 6-1 6-4 Steve Denton #13 Match data Nov 13, 1982* SF Wembley ATP 250 Carpet
John McEnroe #2 7-6 7-5 Steve Denton #14 Match data Oct 30, 1982* QF Tokyo Indoor ATP 250 Carpet
John McEnroe #2 6-3 6-1 Steve Denton #15 Match data Oct 16, 1982* SF Sydney Indoor ATP 250 Hard
Steve Denton #19 7-6 6-4 John McEnroe #1 Match data Aug 22, 1982* SF Cincinnati Open ATP 500 Hard

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 McEnroe #1,219 #1 1,506 2,493 835 191 81.4% 7 0 3 3 64 77
Steve Denton #1,054 #12 0 1,981 109 116 48.4% 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 McEnroe Steve Denton
YrW-LWin %RankEloGSTitles YrW-LWin %RankEloGSTitles
17 1976 1–1 50.0% #264 1,516 0 0 — — — — — — —
18 1977 28–14 66.7% #18 1,854 0 0 — — — — — — —
19 1978 77–19 80.2% #4 2,152 0 5 — — — — — — —
20 1979 88–14 86.3% #3 2,294 1 15 — — — — — — —
21 1980 83–17 83.0% #2 2,270 2 24 1978 1–3 25.0% #226 1,495 0 0
22 1981 69–9 88.5% #1 2,278 4 34 1979 2–7 22.2% #251 1,466 0 0
23 1982 64–10 86.5% #1 2,291 4 39 1980 0–3 0.0% #403 1,456 0 0
24 1983 62–9 87.3% #1 2,310 5 46 1981 20–17 54.1% #54 1,762 0 0
25 1984 71–2 97.3% #1 2,477 7 59 1982 43–24 64.2% #13 1,929 0 0
26 1985 69–9 88.5% #2 2,300 7 67 1983 25–23 52.1% #58 1,742 0 0
27 1986 22–5 81.5% #14 2,199 7 70 1984 13–21 38.2% #149 1,620 0 0
28 1987 30–10 75.0% #10 2,101 7 70 1985 3–10 23.1% #241 1,577 0 0
29 1988 29–9 76.3% #11 2,024 7 72 1986 2–7 22.2% #300 1,554 0 0
30 1989 45–11 80.4% #4 2,100 7 75 1987 0–1 0.0% #560 1,526 0 0
31 1990 33–15 68.8% #13 1,969 7 76 — — — — — — —
32 1991 32–18 64.0% #28 1,831 7 77 — — — — — — —
33 1992 32–18 64.0% #20 1,882 7 77 — — — — — — —
35 1994 0–1 0.0% #1219 1,871 7 77 — — — — — — —

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 McEnroe Steve Denton
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 1976 — — — — 1 1 2 50.0% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
18 1977 1 2 3 33.3% 18 9 27 66.7% 6 2 8 75.0% 3 1 4 75.0% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
19 1978 23 7 30 76.7% 17 6 23 73.9% 5 2 7 71.4% 32 4 36 88.9% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
20 1979 22 3 25 88.0% 11 3 14 78.6% 9 1 10 90.0% 46 7 53 86.8% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
21 1980 15 3 18 83.3% 12 5 17 70.6% 17 1 18 94.4% 39 8 47 83.0% 1978 0 2 2 0.0% 1 1 2 50.0% — — — — — — — —
22 1981 25 1 26 96.2% 6 2 8 75.0% 13 0 13 100.0% 25 6 31 80.6% 1979 1 3 4 25.0% 0 2 2 0.0% — — — — 1 2 3 33.3%
23 1982 20 4 24 83.3% 4 1 5 80.0% 11 2 13 84.6% 29 3 32 90.6% 1980 — — — — — — — — — — — — 0 3 3 0.0%
24 1983 16 4 20 80.0% 9 1 10 90.0% 16 2 18 88.9% 21 2 23 91.3% 1981 9 8 17 52.9% 1 3 4 25.0% 9 4 13 69.2% 1 2 3 33.3%
25 1984 17 1 18 94.4% 11 1 12 91.7% 13 0 13 100.0% 30 0 30 100.0% 1982 22 8 30 73.3% 1 2 3 33.3% 9 4 13 69.2% 11 10 21 52.4%
26 1985 25 2 27 92.6% 10 2 12 83.3% 7 2 9 77.8% 27 3 30 90.0% 1983 8 7 15 53.3% 2 2 4 50.0% 4 4 8 50.0% 11 10 21 52.4%
27 1986 15 3 18 83.3% — — — — — — — — 7 2 9 77.8% 1984 1 5 6 16.7% 3 4 7 42.9% 2 5 7 28.6% 7 7 14 50.0%
28 1987 12 4 16 75.0% 4 2 6 66.7% — — — — 14 4 18 77.8% 1985 0 3 3 0.0% — — — — 2 3 5 40.0% 1 4 5 20.0%
29 1988 15 4 19 78.9% 3 2 5 60.0% 1 1 2 50.0% 10 2 12 83.3% 1986 1 4 5 20.0% — — — — 0 1 1 0.0% 1 2 3 33.3%
30 1989 21 5 26 80.8% — — — — 5 1 6 83.3% 19 5 24 79.2% 1987 — — — — — — — — 0 1 1 0.0% — — — —
31 1990 21 7 28 75.0% — — — — 3 2 5 60.0% 9 6 15 60.0% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
32 1991 18 10 28 64.3% 0 2 2 0.0% 3 2 5 60.0% 11 4 15 73.3% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
33 1992 15 7 22 68.2% 2 3 5 40.0% 8 2 10 80.0% 7 6 13 53.8% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
35 1994 — — — — — — — — — — — — 0 1 1 0.0% — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Career — 281 67 348 80.7% 108 40 148 73.0% 117 20 137 85.4% 329 64 393 83.7% — 42 40 82 51.2% 8 14 22 36.4% 26 22 48 54.2% 33 40 73 45.2%

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 McEnroe Steve Denton
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 1976 1517 111.8 — — — — — — — 50.0% +1.00 — 0–1 — +0.04 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
18 1977 1855 156.5 — — — — -222 -44 -147 64.9% +1.04 6–8 (43%) 7–4 (64%) — -0.87 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
19 1978 2153 163.5 — — — — +35 -221 -375 72.3% +1.45 22–9 (71%) 20–5 (80%) — -1.16 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
20 1979 2294 175.0 — — — — +111 -292 -360 79.5% +2.13 17–6 (74%) 13–12 (52%) — -4.92 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
21 1980 2271 176.2 — — — — +103 -287 -81 76.8% +1.92 16–5 (76%) 23–11 (68%) — -5.58 1978 1496 110.8 — — — — — — — 30.0% -1.00 1–1 0–1 — -0.01
22 1981 2279 175.8 — — — — +77 -268 +21 82.9% +2.37 6–4 (60%) 11–9 (55%) — -3.31 1979 1467 102.1 — — — — +40 — — 31.8% -1.45 1–3 (25%) 1–3 (25%) — +0.83
23 1982 2292 171.0 — — — — +80 -281 +21 82.6% +2.16 6–2 (75%) 14–4 (78%) — -3.80 1980 1456 108.7 — — — — +27 — — 0.0% -3.50 — — — -0.24
24 1983 2311 171.6 — — — — +96 -232 +54 79.7% +2.11 10–3 (77%) 13–9 (59%) — -3.92 1981 1763 136.8 — — — — -160 -250 +9 48.0% +0.01 9–2 (82%) 14–16 (47%) — +0.93
25 1984 2478 178.8 — — — — +59 -295 -2 90.9% +2.81 8–2 (80%) 13–2 (87%) — -2.77 1982 1930 153.6 — — — — 0 -431 -59 57.4% +0.43 17–7 (71%) 22–14 (61%) — -2.93
26 1985 2300 171.1 — — — — +156 -100 +103 80.9% +2.16 11–3 (79%) 16–7 (70%) — -1.30 1983 1743 146.4 — — — — +46 -218 +85 49.6% +0.16 8–7 (53%) 9–19 (32%) — -1.46
27 1986 2200 152.5 — — — — +121 — — 77.4% +1.82 3–3 (50%) 5–3 (63%) — -0.22 1984 1621 134.5 — — — — +54 -82 +116 42.0% -0.37 5–7 (42%) 6–12 (33%) — -1.88
28 1987 2101 163.1 — — — — +100 +29 — 67.6% +1.06 6–2 (75%) 7–4 (64%) — -1.58 1985 1577 119.1 — — — — +20 — +123 34.1% -0.80 2–4 (33%) 4–6 (40%) — -0.55
29 1988 2025 157.5 — — — — +93 +91 — 74.0% +1.73 4–6 (40%) 7–6 (54%) — -1.10 1986 1554 123.5 — — — — +28 — — 25.0% -1.50 1–1 1–2 (33%) — -0.38
30 1989 2101 168.5 — — — — +41 — +115 70.3% +1.37 11–1 (92%) 11–7 (61%) — -3.55 1987 1526 97.9 — — — — — — — 25.0% -1.50 — 1–0 — +0.20
31 1990 1970 152.1 — — — — +13 — +206 65.9% +1.12 10–5 (67%) 8–8 (50%) — -0.66 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
32 1991 1832 148.2 +2.68 +1.47 1.148 52.3% +40 — +312 61.0% +0.89 7–6 (54%) 10–11 (48%) — +1.04 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
33 1992 1883 154.7 +2.89 +2.22 1.132 52.2% +2 +89 +277 59.6% +0.83 10–4 (71%) 8–11 (42%) — -1.41 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
35 1994 1872 108.6 +5.28 -0.41 0.613 42.4% — — — 0.0% -2.50 — 0–1 — -0.44 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Career — 2494 173.5 +2.82 +1.83 1.132 52.2% +74 -172 -3 75.4% +1.78 153–69 (69%) 186–115 (62%) 104.4 -3.49 — 1981 145.8 — — — — +2 -208 +32 47.1% -0.11 44–32 (58%) 58–73 (44%) 100.8 -2.45

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.