Top 10 Tennis Players of All Time

Tennis, one of the greatest sports has millions of fans across the globe. Usually played between two players, tennis grabbed world wide attention. It is a hugely popular worldwide spectator sport enjoyed by millions of recreational players. Especially the four Grand Slam tournaments are breadth taking events for tennis lovers. The game is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all ages. Generally it is believed that tennis originated in France somewhere around 12th century. Initially the game was popular in England and France. In 1877, the first championships at Wimbledon in London were played. Many great players emerged form time-to-time, with their spectacular performance they added more thrill to the play. Here is the list of the ten best tennis players of all time.

Rodney George Laver was born on 9 August 1938 in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. He was the World No. 1 player for seven consecutive years. Laver was the U.S. junior champion and Australian junior champion in 1957. His first major singles title was the Australian Championship, he won it in the year 1960. He won his first Wimbledon singles title in 1961. Laver excelled on all the surfaces of his time. Rod Laver won all four Grand Slam singles titles in the same year, he performed the feat twice. In 1962, he won all four Grand Slam singles titles and became the second male player after Don Budge to perform such a feat. Again in 1969, Laver exhibited his professional play and won all four Grand Slam singles titles. Laver in his career has won eleven Majors, eight Pro Slam tournaments and all together he has 200 Career titles, he is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Swedish tennis player, Bjorn Rune Borg was born on 6 June 1956 in Sodertalje, Stockholm County, Sweden. Former World No. 1 Bjorn Borg won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles. He also won four consecutive French Open singles titles. Borg is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. His first major singles title was the French Open in 1974. He won all together eleven grand slam titles in his career and ranks fourth in the list of who have won the most Grand Slam singles titles among male tennis players. Borg won a total of 77 top-level singles and four doubles titles. In 1979, Borg was honored with BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.

American tennis player Petros Sampras was born on August 12, 1971 in Potomac, Maryland, United States. He debuted on the professional tour in 1988. Sampras won 14 Grand Slam singles titles during his 15-year tour career. He was World No. 1 for six consecutive years. Sampras won seven Wimbledon singles championships, five US open singles championships and two Australian Open singles championships but he never won a single French Open singles championship title. His 7 Wimbledon and 5 US Open combination of Grand Slam wins was remarkable, Nobody else has surpassed this record. Sampras won 64 ATP singles titles. For six consecutive years he was Association of Tennis Professionals Player of the Year and also International Tennis Federation World Champion. Sampras is considered as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player was born on 8 August 1981 in Basel, Switzerland. Federer began his career as a junior tennis player. 16 Grand Slam singles titles holder, Swiss master is regarded as the greatest tennis player of all time, he is considered the best among all the former and current players too. Federer won four Australian Open singles championships, six times he won Wimbledon singles championship titles, five times he won US Open singles championship titles consecutively and was for one time the winner of French Open singles championship title too. He is the only male player in tennis history to win 6 Grand Slam titles in two years, 8 Grand Slam titles in three years, 11 Grand Slam titles in four years, 14 Grand Slam titles in six years. Roger captured 67 ATP singles titles. Five times he was honored as ATP Player of the Year and thrice as the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.

John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a professional tennis player born on February 16, 1959 in Wiesbaden, West Germany. He won seven Grand Slam singles titles in his entire career. Three are Wimbledon singles championships and Four at US open. He also won nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. McEnroe won altogether 71 career titles. Former World No. 1, John McEnroe is regarded as one of the greatest male tennis players of all time, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999.

Ivan Lendl was born on March 7, 1960 in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia. Former World No. 1, Ivan Lendl was a professional tennis player was originally from Czechoslovakia later became a citizen of United States. Ivan Lendl was one of the most dominant players in the 1980s and one of the greatest players of all time. Lendl won eight Grand Slam singles titles in his career. Lendl in 1978 won boy's singles titles at both the French Open and Wimbledon and caught the world's attention as an outstanding junior player, also he was ranked the World No. 1 junior player. Two Australian Open Singles Championship titles, Three French Open Singles Championship titles, Three US Open Singles Championship titles were the Grand Slams captured by him. He has altogether 144 including career titles including 94 listed by the ATP. He was ranked No. 1 for a total of 270 weeks; it was surpassed by Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired and professional tennis player from America. He is regarded as the greatest and unparalleled tennis players in the world. He is known as the best service returner in the history of tennis and is also regarded as the most charming players in the history of tennis. Agassi is a Grand Slam champion who has won this title eight times and also participated in fifteen Grand Slam finals and was an Olympic gold medalist in 1996. He is one among the four singles male players to win the Career Grand Slam in the Open Era and one among seven in the history of the game. He also was the first among two to win the Career Golden Slam and also the only man who won all the four Grand Slams on three diverse surfaces. He has also won the 17 ATP Masters Series titles and he was also famous for his strong and accurate groundstrokes.

Rafael Nadal Parera is a professional tennis player from Spain who is considered as the most unparalleled greatest players in the world. He was successful on clay and this feat earned him the nickname as ‘’The King of Clay’’. He is regarded as the greatest clay court tennis player by several experts in the history of the game. He has also won eleven Grand Slam singles titles and this includes an unparalleled record of seven French Open titles, a world record of 21 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments and the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles. He also managed to complete the Career Grand Slam by winning the US Open in 2010 and was the youngest player among four players in the Open Era to win it and the seventh player in the history of the game. He is also the second male tennis player to win the Career Grand Slam, which includes being the winner of the Olympic gold medal and the Career Grand Slam. He has also won two Grand Slam titles on each of the three diverse surfaces. At the same time, he is also the first male player in the history of tennis to hold the Grand Slam tournament titles on grass, clay and hardcourts. He is also considered as the first player to win three successive Grand Slam titles on three diverse surfaces.

Boris Franz Becker is a former German tennis player. He is also a Grand Slam singles champion having won it six times, an Olympic gold medalist in doubles and is also the youngest winner of the single men’s title at Wimbledon at seventeen years of age. He is also the winner of five main indoor championships titles which include three ATP Masters World Tour Finals and also one Grand Slam Cup and one WCT Finals each. He has also won eight Championship Series titles and five Masters 1000 series titles. His game was played on a well-placed and quick serve which earned him the nicknames as "Der Bomber", "Boom Boom", and "Boom Boom", and also good volleying skills on the net. He could also enhance his pure serve-and-volley game with some intelligent athleticism on the net that involves the diving volley which was regarded as his trade name and thus he was cherished among his fans. Other significant factors which contributed to his game were his heavy forehand and excellent return of serve.

James Scott Connors is a former US tennis player. He has won Grand Slam doubles titles with Ilie Năstase and eight Grand Slam singles titles. He was also a mixed doubles runner-up with Chris Evert at the 1974 US Open, a runner-up seven times in Grand Slam singles and a doubles runner-up with Năstase at the 1973 French Open. He also won a world record of 109 ATP tournaments. He also won three year-end championship titles which include one Masters Grand Prix and two WCT Finals. He has also won seventeen Championship Series titles. He was the first male player be no. 1 for more than five years and 200 weeks totally. He is the only male tennis player to win over 100 singles titles in the open era during his tennis career and also holds the world record for winning the most major Quarterfinals (41) ever achieved by anyone. He is also regarded as one the greatest tennis players who is unparalleled due to his holding several records in the game of tennis.