Greatest tennis players of all time
Greatest tennis players of all time. Be it Rod Laver and Margaret Court in the early years or John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Chris Evert later, the sport always had someone changing the game and charting their history with brilliance.
Here are some of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer’s closest buddy off the court, is likely the only person who can compete with the success that Federer has had in his career.
The left-handed tennis player, who was born in Mallorca, Spain, made his professional debut in 2001 and won his first Grand Slam title at the French Open in 2005.
Nadal was already a highly sought after commodity before to his first appearance at the French Open. As a teenager, he had led Spain to a victory in the Davis Cup the year before, and he had a dominant run in the clay-court season of that year (during which he won 24 consecutive singles matches).
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic, who hails from Serbia and is one of the top tennis players in the world, is a relative newcomer to the big boys’ league of legends, but he has already carved out a place for himself there.
Djokovic turned professional in 2003, and it took him another five years until he finally won a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open. In addition to his 85 tour title victories, the man who is affectionately known as “Djoker” has already won 20 Grand Slam singles tournaments, five ATP Finals singles tournaments, and a record-setting 36 ATP Masters 1000 singles tournaments.
Novak Djokovic is the first male tennis player in the Open era to have accomplished a double Career Grand Slam, which means that he has won each of the four majors at least twice. Djokovic also holds the record for most wins in the Australian Open, with nine victories.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams has not spared any effort in her pursuit of an illustrious career that is marked by a string of victories and records.
Due to the age restrictions that the WTA placed on professional tennis players, Serena Williams was unable to compete freely for an extended period of time despite the fact that she made her formal professional debut in 1995 at the age of 14.
Serena Williams spent her first few years as a professional competing in a small number of events for which she was granted a wild card entrance, but she quickly ramped up her game and became one of the top players in the world.
Serena Williams, then only 17 years old when she won the US Open in 1999, became only the second African-American woman to win the tournament after Althea Gibson in 1958. Williams went on to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in just three years, completing the feat with some stupendous performances.
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf, who was born in Germany and began her professional tennis career in 1982, was a player who was admired all over the world for her style of play, which combined quick footwork with powerful groundstrokes in equal measure.
Graf was so dominant in women’s tennis during the early years of the Open Era because of her versatility and her ability to adapt to any playing surface. Her success can be attributed to the fact that she was one of the most successful players of her time. It is generally agreed that Steffi Graf is responsible for popularising the baseline game, which subsequent champions like Serena Williams went on to master.
Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova is a rare diamond, in contrast to other legendary figures. The majority of tennis’s all-time greats have enjoyed the most success in the singles competition, but the American of Czechoslovak descent is one of the select few who has been successful in both the singles and doubles competitions.
Martina Navratilova is the only tennis player in history to have held the number one spot in both the singles and doubles rankings for more than 200 consecutive weeks.
Martina Navratilova’s tennis career began in 1975 and continued until 2006, and throughout that time, she worked hard to leave behind an enduring legacy that would continue to motivate future generations of players.
Whether it was her 18 Grand Slam singles titles, her record-setting 31 major women’s doubles titles, or her 10 major mixed doubles titles, Martina Navratilova was someone who entertained the crowd with her grace and finesse. She frequently relied on her serve and volley game to decimate her opponents. Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 major women’s doubles titles, and 10 major mixed doubles titles.