5 ranking. Hes only reached the quarterfinals twice, and has never been beyond that. He also won ten Grand Slams evenly spread out among each tournament and holds a joint record with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic for the most runner-up appearances at Grand Slam events totaling 11. Bob won the singles championship yet he was only their No. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the essential meaning of best as: By definition, the word best is subjective. UCLA, 1965-1966 3. 10. He won the 1995 French Open, but he dominated in plenty of tournaments on clay courts as well. List of ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players. In total, she holds the most overall Grand Slam titles of any player at 64. However, as it stands now, I think Federer is more deserving of this spot. Barry Sanders #5. After advancing to the 2018 Wimbledon finals, Anderson reached a career-high No. 1, and has a more diverse record for Grand Slam events, while Nadals success heavily skews toward clay. Depending on a players ranking, that extra cash can be crucial. In 1999, Andre Agassi became the fifth man to win all four Grand Slam titles in a single year and the second in the Open Era. Ma Long. For all those reasons, this is a justifiable choice. Once told he was too clumsy to be a Davis Cup ball boy, Stan went on to win seven Davis Cups. He won 8 Grand Slam titles, an Olympic gold medal, spent 101 weeks as the world number one, and received over $31 million in . However, our analysis suggests a bit of a different story, with her results overshadowing the past performance of other female tennis players who may deserve the title. Born on September 26, 1981, Serena Williams is an American tennis player who plays right-handed with a two-handed backhand and is one of the most prominent players of all time. But something happened in the last 20 years. Before retiring in 2020, this talented, beautiful Danish tennis player became the first Scandinavian woman to win big prize money and hold her No. Its hard to imagine that Rosewall would dominate in todays game standing only 57 tall and under 150 pounds, but he made it work during his prime. In 2012 he won the silver in London, and in 2008 he won the Gold in Beijing. Although people attempt to remove personality from consideration when narrowing their list of the best tennis players, its often a factor, especially when considering narrowly matched players like the Big 3. #5 Waves Clash with Top-Ranked North Carolina in NCAA Semifinals. Throughout her career, she won 43 titles and had a career record of 525-115 for a winning rate of 82%. Top 10 Greatest Men's Tennis Players of All Time: 10. Overall, his list of accomplishments is beyond impressive, and for years, it looked as if no one would ever come close to matching his success on the court. When it comes to the Olympics, Serena is also highly accomplished. Most can only . Then again, insanity has never stopped us before. 3. UCLA, 1970-1971 Jimmy Connors, Jeff Borowiak, Haroon Rahim. On the surface, ranking the best male and female tennis players of all time might appear like an easy task. He was first ranked No. Regardless of your stance, the weight of specific stats or accomplishments will undoubtedly influence the ranking of players. However, as those achievements narrow, its natural for individuals to introduce their opinion on various factors that should carry more weight making it more challenging for consensus. 1 for the first time, and she was able to maintain that position for a total of 221 weeks throughout her career. In his final season with the Bruins, McDonald won not only the NCAA Singles Championships, but also the NCAA Doubles Championships with Martin Redlicki. Compared to last year, her UTR has even improved considerably, well done Daevenia! His two Grand Slam titles in singles only tell part of the story, as he was able to pick up five more in some form of doubles. Perhaps most notably, tennis was heavily divided up until the Open Era, which began in 1968. 1 Roger Federer Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 63 heading into the US Open. BTW: Whitlinger beat Hagey to claim the singles crown, and would coach Stanford for a decade. During that match he didnt drop a set. 7. A bit of a late bloomer, Wimbledon has been his only weak Grand Slam of his career. Before there was the King of Clay in Rafael Nadal, Thomas Muster held the distinction in the 1990s. The greatest tennis player of all time has to be none other than Roger Federer. In the process, you learn a lot about our sport, especially if youre younger and didnt have the opportunity to witness players who are now retired or, in some cases, no longer living. Your Safe Play Approval Expires in $(daysToExpire) days! better than all others in quality or value. UCLA, 1971 In addition to her gold medal in the 1988 Olympics, she earned a bronze in doubles that year. Steve Johnsons collegiate career is the stuff of legends. Heading into the 2020 US Open, McDonald is ranked No. However, it wasnt until 2000 when Venus would capture her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, one of seven total five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She holds an astounding 177 career titles, including 31 Grand Slam victories. Ten years ago . Weeks at number 1: 72. Roger Federers most significant rivalries in his career are Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Top ten ranked male tennis players. British standout Cameron Norrie set numerous records during the three years he played for the Horned Frogs. However, only 62 of these occurred in the Open Era, so she doesnt have the achievement during this period. Her Grand Slam titles include 11 at the Australian Open, five at the French Open, three at Wimbledon, and five at the US Open totaling 24. 1 in the Oracle ITA Singles Rankings. Theyre both remarkable and critical to the health and ecosystem of the sport as a whole. In doing so, Djokovic is only one of three players to have achieved a double career Grand Slam along with Roy Emerson and Rod Laver. Jimmy Connors. Ramanathan Krishnan. 5/28/2021. 10. However, when narrowing it down to the best of the best, here are the top 10 best tennis players of all time. King returned the following year and made it to the third round. The Ohio State University. Andy Lloyd was a Forest Hills quarterfinalist and Butch Newman lost only one dual match in his collegiate career. For a guy who is so well known for his outbursts on and off the court, some forget just how good he was. During the NCAA team tournament, he won all three of his singles matches and all four of his doubles matches. Billie Jean King is an icon in the tennis world, dominating her field for almost a decade as she won an astonishing 129 titles which included 12 Grand Slams. Wolf turned professional a little over a year ago in July of 2019. But in 73 they didnt just lose one top player, they lost their top two. Now decades after his passing, he still remains one of the biggest faces for the fight against AIDS. Still, the teams best singles players roommates Dennis Ralston and Rafael Osuna played each other in the US Nationals for three straight years and together won the 60 Wimbledon doubles crown. ranking, but despite her success, she only held that post for two weeks throughout her career. 1 for the first time, which became one of the most dominant seasons of any player in history. In 2002, he turned professional at the age of 15, and he quickly began posting results. However, out of all the finals he reached, he only won eight Grand Slams. For example, as black athletes, Serena and Venus Williams overcame unprecedented challenges growing up to break into tennis. One might argue these experiences give extra weight to their already impressive accomplishments. Novak Djokovic has held the No. Cressys senior season was outstanding. It wasnt until 2004 that hed win his first singles ATP title. USC, 2009-2013 Steve Johnson, Yannick Hanfman, Robert Quiroz, Robert Farah. Osuna was recruited to USC out of obscurity and remains the best Mexican player ever. Throughout his career, Nadals most significant rivalries have come against the only two players I rank above him for the greatest male tennis players of all time. 8. Just a couple of decades ago, many labeled Pete Sampras as the greatest tennis player of all time. Longevity is another factor to consider. That is until the big three came along. After significant analysis and deep consideration of the most accomplished players in tennis, heres our list of the ten greatest male tennis players of all time. However, Evert posted a handful of impressive results as early as 1970 while competing as a junior, including a win over world No. The Tigers beat the Trojans and went on to win all their matches that year. After going 21-1 at the No. He is certainly the best player ever on clay court, as his 14 French Open titles are likely never to be touched. However, there are players who make winning Grand Slams a habit and win numerous titles at prestigious events. Does it make him a better player for staying injury-free all those years, which enabled him to miss a tournament rarely and give him more opportunities to win? Bob Bryan won the singles championship over Goldstein. Peter Smiths Trojans won four straight NCAA team titles. Vernon Gholston - 6'3, 260 lbs. She holds 14 Grand Slam titles in doubles and two in mixed doubles. Hes a winner of three Grand Slam titles, and has shown that he can beat the best of the best when it matters most. Isner left Athens holding the school records for career singles, career doubles, and career combined wins. However, despite significant success over the next few years, King didnt win her first Grand Slam title until 1966 at Wimbledon. Cressy will make his tour-level singles debut at the 2020 US Open. WTA Tour-WTA Homepage-See which former college tennis student-athletes are in the women's professional . Popular Quizzes Today. Jimmy Connors reached the world No. The team had no dominant singles player. Stanford, 1978 John McEnroe, Matt Mitchell, Bill Maze, Peter Rennert, Lloyd Bourne. During the tennis boom, nobody was bigger, and he had rivalries with Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl at some point. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. In the Olympics, Roger Federer has a silver and gold medal. Awards: 3x National College Player of the Year, 3x ACC Player of the Year, ACC Rookie of the Year, 3x . Before finishing his career as a Buckeye, Wolf won the school's first ITA Men's All-American Singles Championship and was named an ITA All-American in singles. Ranked 128 in singles, Bradley has achieved so much success while on tour. He didnt have as long of a prime and some of the others on this list, but he could beat anyone in a single match. The Outsider by Jimmy Connors. List of the best men's tennis players from 2000s, listed by popularity with photos of the players when available. NCSA analyzed over 880 four-year colleges with men's college tennis programs across four division levels (D1, D2, D3 and NAIA) to develop a list of the Best Men's Tennis Colleges for Student-Athletes.. NCSA Power Rankings are based on proprietary analysis of NCSA Favorites data obtained from the college search activity of the over 3 million student-athletes on . During her career, Seles won 53 titles and ended with a winning record of 595-122. Video History Championship Info. Margaret Court retired in 1977 and earned a spot in the International Tennis Hall of fame in 1979. Three collegians with St. Louis connections made their mark on college tennis Chuck McKinley, Arthur Ashe and a feisty fellow named Jimmy Connors. Before this year, professional tennis players who played tennis for money werent allowed to compete in many of the biggest tennis tournaments, including the Grand Slam events. When she was 9, she moved with her family (including fellow tennis great and sister Venus) to Florida. His determination keeps him in any match. Bradley was an ITA Scholar Athlete, an ITA All-American in singles and doubles, and a fierce competitor. Grand Slams Won: 2.