In this article, you will get a chance to explore the best tennis players of all time.
I know that it is very difficult to compare players of different eras because of modern equipment, advanced technology, fitness level, etc.
Blogkart team compiled the greatest players of all time. So let’s explore,
23. Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova is a professional tennis player from Russia and one of the famous female tennis players in the world and also known for her dominating style of game.
According to 2019, she has 40 career titles – 36 WTA, 4 ITF and also won 5 Grand Slam championships and 1 Silver medal in singles category in London Olympic Games 2012.
She is one of the best female tennis players in the 21st century and all her achievements qualify her a place in tennis immortality.
22. John Newcombe
John Newcombe is a retired player from Australia and one of the best tennis players in the world.
He has 101 career titles – 68 in Singles and 33 in the doubles category.
Also, he has won 26 Grand Slam championships – 7 in singles,17 in men’s doubles, and 2 in the mixed doubles category.
He is one of those rare players who attained rank one position in both singles and doubles category.
26 Grand Slam championships prove that he is one of the best tennis players of all time.
21. Roy Emerson
He is a retired Australian player and famous for his powerful game on all surfaces(grass, clay, hard court).
Roy Emerson is the only player in history to won career Grand Slam championships in both singles and doubles.
He has 110 career titles, 12 Grand Slam in singles, and 16 Grand Slam titles in doubles. He achieved his first rank one position in 1964.
His record of 28 Grand Slam championships proves that he is one of the best of all time.
20. Stefan Edberg
Stefan Edberg is a former player from Sweden and famous for his signature move – Slow kick serves.
He was one of the top tennis players in the year 1980s and 90s.
During his career, he won three grand slam in singles and 2 in the doubles category.
Stefan has won 41 career titles in singles and 18 in doubles and also he is one of the members of the Swedish Davis cup winning team in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1994.
In 1988 Seoul Olympics games he won 2 bronze medals – one in Singles and another in the doubles category.
19. Boris Becker
Boris Becker is a former professional tennis player from German and famous for his powerful serves and attacking style game.
He was also the youngest player ever to win the Wimbledon tournament at the age of 17.
Boris Becker finished his career with 49 career titles in singles, 15 in doubles, 6 Grand slam and he earned the rank one position in 1991.
Also, he is a recipient of one Olympic gold medal in men’s doubles in 1992 Barcelona.
All these achievements qualify Boris in the list of top tennis players in history.
18. Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova is a retired Czech-American player and famous for her dominating games in the 1970s and 1980s.
At age 8, she started playing her first tournament and earn her International notice in the victory of the 1975 federation cup.
She finished her career with 167 career titles in Singles and 177 career titles in Doubles category, till now these records are Unbreakable.
She has also won 18 Grand Slam in singles, 31 Grand Slams in Doubles category, and 10 more in mixed Doubles.
Martina 59 Grand Slam titles and her other records prove that she is the greatest female tennis player of all time.
17. Ken Rosewall
Kenneth Robert Rosewall is a former World No. 1 player from Australia and famous for his 15 pro slam titles before the open era.
Rosewall was one of the top ranking players in the 1960s and 1970s and he also ranked no.1 in 1960.
He has 133 career titles and won eight Grand Slam tournaments in Singles and nine Grand Slam in the doubles category.
Ken Rosewall also one of the members of four Davis cup winning teams.
All the above achievements of Rosewall prove that he is one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
16. Chris Evert
Chris Evert is a former player from America and famous for her powerful two-handed backhand stroke.
Also, She is known for her dominating game in the 1970s and 80s.
Her career 89.97% of winning percentage in the singles category is one of the best records she made in the history of the open era.
She attained the highest ranking of No.1 in 1975 and finished her career with 157 career titles in singles.
With 18 Grand Slam singles category championships and other achievements of Chris evert undoubtedly qualifies her a place in tennis immortality.
15. Andy Murray
Andy Murray is a player from Scotland and former world No. 1.
He is the first British man since 1936 to win a Grand Slam tournament by defeating his all-time rival Novak Djokovic in 2012 US Open final.
Murray has 46 career titles and three Grand Slam – 2 Wimbledon and 1 US Open and also won 2 Gold medals in Olympic games (2012 London & 2016 Rio De Janeiro – in Singles category).
All these facts prove that he is one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
14. Billie Jean King
Billie jean king is a retired player from America and one of the best female tennis players in the world.
She has 129 career titles and 39 Grand Slam championships – 12 in Singles category, 11 in mixed doubles, and 16 in women’s doubles category.
Billie jean king served three years as Captain of the United States team in the Federation Cup and she attained her rank ne position in singles and doubles category in the year 1966 and 1967.
Billie was also the founder of the WTA(Women’s Tennis Association).
39 Grand Slam championships and other achievements of her prove that she is one of the best female tennis players of all time.
13. Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf is a former player from German and famous for unbelievable records in her tennis journey.
She is the second-youngest player in the world to earn an International ranking at the age of 13.
She has 107 career titles and also won 22 Grand Slam tournaments, three Olympic games medal – 1 Gold & 1 silver in Singles category and one bronze in doubles.
Steffi Graf is the only player in the world to win each Grand Slam(Australian, French, US Open, Wimbledon) tournament at least four times.
All these unbelievable achievements prove that she is one of the greatest female tennis players of all time.
12. Margaret Court
Margaret Court is a former player from Australia and famous for her powerful game on all surfaces(grass, clay, hard).
Also, she is known for her powerful serve, volleying style, and exceptional endurance power.
She finished her career with 192 career titles and also won 24 Grand Slam(11 in the open era) in singles, 19 in women’s doubles, and 21 mixed doubles Grand Slam titles.
Margaret Court 64 major and 192 career titles prove that she is one of the best players of all time.
11. Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Conners is a former player from America and often considered by many as the best tennis player of all time.
He has won 109 titles and 1,274 matches in his 20+ years tennis career.
Also, Jimmy Connors has won 17 Grand Prix super series and 8 Grand Slam singles titles – five US Open, two Wimbledon, one Australian.
In 1998, Jimmy Connors inducted into the tennis hall of fame.
All these achievements made him one of the greatest tennis players in history.
10. Serena Williams
Serena Williams is a professional tennis player from America and famous for revolutionizing women’s tennis with her magnificent style of the games she plays.
She is the only player in the world to win 23 Grand Slam singles, 14 Grand Slam Doubles titles(all with her sister Venus Williams), which is highest in the open era.
Serena has 72 career titles and Also, she has won 4 Olympic gold medals(1 in singles and 3 in doubles) – one in London Olympic and the other three doubles with her sister Venus in 2000-Sydney, 2008-Beijing, 2012-London Olympic games.
She holds rank one position for more than 319 weeks on her tennis journey.
In 2016, Serena was the highest-paid female athlete in the world($29 million), and in 2017, she was the only woman in the Forbes magazine of the 100 highest-paid athletes.
Serena Willams 39 Grand Slam achievements prove that she is the best tennis player of all time.
9. Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi is a former player from Las Vegas, Nevada and widely known by the nickname ‘The Punisher’.
He finished his career with 60 career titles and eight Grand Slam singles titles – four Australian, one french, two US Open, one Wimbledon.
Andre Agassi has also won Men’s singles Olympic(1996, Atlanta), Gold Medal.
Also, he was the first male player in the world to win four Grand Slam titles on three different tennis surfaces (hard, clay, grass).
All these achievements made him one of the best tennis players of all time.
8. Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl is a former Czech-American professional tennis player and widely known for his new style of topspin forehand tennis.
In the 1980s, he holds the rank one position for 270 weeks and with his new style of forehand topspin tennis, he won 94 career titles(3rd in the open era) and also 8 Grand slam singles titles – two Australian, three French, and three US Open.
After retirement, he became a coach to many players and Andy Murray is among one of them.
Ivan Lendl helps Andy Murray to win three major titles one Wimbledon title, the second Olympic Gold Medal in singles, and the ATP World Tour final.
7. John McEnroe
John McEnroe is a former professional tennis player from the United States of America and widely known for his magnificent volleying skills.
He has won seven Grand Slam singles titles – three Wimbledon and four US Open and in 1999, he also inducted into tennis hall of fame.
John McEnroe was ranked No.1 on both singles and doubles, he ended his career with 77 singles and 78 doubles titles.
With his magnificent games, he also contributed five Davis cup for the US.
He was also a recipient of ATP player of the year three times – 1981, 1983, and 1984.
All these achievements made him one of the best tennis players in history.
6. Bjorn Borg
Bjorn Borg is a retired player from Sweden and widely considered to be one of the best tennis players all-time.
Borg was the first man in the open era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles – six french open and five Wimbledon.
From 1977 to 1980, he was the No.1 tennis player in the world and In 1979, Bjorn Borg was the first player to earn 1 million dollars in a single season.
All these achievements made him the greatest tennis player in the history of sports.
5. Rod Laver
Rod laver aka ‘The Rocket’ is a retired professional tennis player from Australia and he is considered by many as the greatest tennis player of all time.
The former player has 200 singles career titles in his tennis journey and also won 11 grand slam singles titles – three Australian open, 2 french open, two US Open, four Wimbledon.
His magnificent games made him ranked one for straight years(1964-1970) and in 1981, inducted into tennis hall of fame.
The Laver Cup tennis tournament is named after him.
Rod laver is the only player in the tennis history to win twice the Grand Slam in 1962 and 1969.
All these achievements made him the greatest tennis player of all time.
4. Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras is an American former professional tennis player and also known as ‘Pistol Pete’ because of his powerful serve.
During the 90s, he was one of the best tennis players in the world and he ranked number one for six consecutive years from 1993 to 1998.
Pete Sampras won 14 grand slam singles titles – two Australian, seven Wimbledon, five US Open.
Pete Sampras’s professional tennis career ended on a high note when he defeated his long-time rival Andre Agassi to win the 2002 US Open title. In total, he won 64 career titles.
3. Novak Djokovic
32 years Novak Djokovic is a Serbian nationals professional tennis player and turned pro in 2003.
According to 2019, he won 77 career titles and in ATP ranking, he is now standing on the No. 2 position in men’s singles.
He won 16 grand slams titles to his name, seven Australian Open, five Wimbledon, three US Opens, one French Open.
By winning the 2016 french open title, Noval Djokovic became the eighth man in the tennis world to achieve the career grand slam.
His magnificent 5 sets winning performance at the 2019 Australian open against his long-time rival Roger Federer made him one of the best players in the world at the current moment.
2. Rafael Nadel
Rafael Nadel is a Spanish professional tennis player and also known as ‘The king of clay court’.
In his 20 years of professional tennis journey, he has won 19 Grand slams singles titles: 1 Australian Open, 12 French Open, 4 US Open, and 2 Wimbledon.
The king of clay has also won 2 Olympic gold medals(singles and doubles), 1 in 2008 Beijing(singles), and another in Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
All these titles made him one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Rafael Nadel has few more years left in the court and we as his fan hope that he will surpass Federer 20 grand slams titles record and make more world records.
According to November 2019, his total career prize money is 119,601,561 US Dollars and also standing rank No. 1 in men’s singles.
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1. Roger Federer
We all know that Roger Federer is one of the greatest players of all time and he is an unreplaceable player in our generation.
He is from Basel, Switzerland and According to 2019 he won more than 102 titles in the open era to his name along with 20 grand slams.
Roger Federer has won consecutively eight Wimbledon Championship, Six Australian Open titles, five US Open Championships, and one French Open title, all these grand slams prove that he is one of the greatest players of all time.
From 2004 to 2008, Federer consecutively ranked number one in the world and It is one of the unbreakable records of Federer.
Source: wikipedia
