Top 10 Tennis Players of All Time | Greatest 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.

For so long people have just taken what I do for granted. It is not easy to do year-in, year-out, to win Grand Slams and be No. 1.

-Pete Sampras

I like to play against guys who have beaten me, especially early in the career, try to get them back, He was a tough opponent for me for a long, long time.

-Roger Federer

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.

Grand Slams are the four Major tennis tournaments, considered as the most important tennis events of the year. The Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open are the four grand slams. The Australian Open and the US Open are the two Grand Slams played on hard courts, French Open is played on clay and the Wimbledon is played on grass.

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.