Wang Nan
Fan Zhendong
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Wang Nan leads 2 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Wang Nan at #5 and Fan Zhendong at #8.
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The case for Wang Nan
Wang Nan collected one of the largest trophy hauls in the sport's history, amassing more than twenty world championship titles across singles, doubles and team events. She won four Olympic gold medals between 2000 and 2008, took World Championship singles titles in 1999, 2001 and 2003, and won multiple World Cups to complete a career Grand Slam. A left-handed attacker with superb consistency and doubles instincts, she anchored China's women's team through a golden decade and formed legendary doubles partnerships. Her longevity was exceptional: she reached the Beijing 2008 singles final on home soil near the end of her career. Few players, male or female, have accumulated silverware on her scale, and her collective record remains staggering.
The case for Fan Zhendong
The leading player of the late 2010s and early 2020s, Fan Zhendong completed the career Grand Slam by winning Olympic singles gold in Paris 2024, adding to World Championship titles in 2021 and 2023 and three World Cup victories. A compact, explosive left-of-centre power player, he combined a thunderous backhand with heavy forehand topspin and spent long stretches as world number one. He inherited the mantle from Ma Long and led China through the WTT professional era, defeating a rising international field to secure the sport's biggest prizes. Still in his prime, his record already ranks among the elite, and his blend of physicality and modern close-to-table aggression exemplifies where the men's game has moved.