Tennis is an intense sport, it requires a lot of dedication, skill, and perseverance – not many can live up to the challenge, but there are a select few who would become the ‘greats’. While it can be difficult to compare tennis players because of the changes to technology and higher fitness standards in the 21st Century, we compiled a list of the greatest male tennis players of all-time. How many do you recognize?
Boris Becker
Forget about those make money now schemes because we’re kicking off this list with Becker, the German former world No. 1 pro tennis player. He is a six-time major singles champion; and was actually the youngest Wimbledon men’s champion when he was 17. In his career, he won 3 Wimbledon titles, 13 Masters Series titles, five elite indoor titles (three ATP Tour Finals, a WCT Finals, and a Grand Slam Cup). He is the only player to have won all 3 Open era season end finals ATP Tour Finals, WCT Finals and Grand Slam Cup. Becker also won Olympic gold medal in doubles. From 2013 to 2016, he coached the legend that is Novak Djokovic.
Boris Becker
Fred Perry
Fred Perry was an English tennis and table tennis player and former World No. 1 who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slams and two Pro Slams single titles, as well as six Major doubles titles. He also won three consecutive Wimbledon Championships and was the World Amateur number one tennis player from 1934 to 1936. Before Andy Murray came along in 2013, Perry was the last British player to win the men’s Wimbledon championship, in 1936, and the last British player to win a men’s singles Grand Slam title until Andy Murray won the 2012 US Open. All of this without any enhancing drug assistance!
Fred Perry
Andy Roddick
Good ol’ Andy became a Grand Slam singles champion when he won the title back at the 2003 US Open, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final. Roddick is the most recent North American male player to win a Grand Slam singles event, the most recent to reach the top ranking, and the most recent to claim the year-end world No. 1 (2003). He reached four other Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open in 2006), losing to Roger Federer every time though; the pair had a rivalry from 2001 until 2012. He ranked in the top 10 for 9 consecutive years between 2002 and 2010 and won five Masters Series in that period. He still remains one of the only players in the Grand Slam era to have remained so highly ranked and to have reached more than three grand slam finals and only won one major.
Andy Roddick
Stan Wawrinka
Meet the Swiss sensation who reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals world No. 3 singles ranking for the first time in 2014. So far he has won three Grand Slam titles at the 2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open, where he defeated the world No. 1 player in all 3 finals; and a ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2014, as well as 2 other finals at the 2008 Rome Masters and 2013 Madrid Masters. Why rely on a make money now scheme when you’re got one of the most powerful backhands ever? Exactly.
Stan Wawrinka
Arthur Ashe
Meet the former American World No. 1 who won three Grand Slam titles. Ashe was also the first black player to be selected to the United States Davis Cup team and was also the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. In 1993, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then United States President Bill Clinton.
Arthur Ashe
Stan Smith
Stan Smith here is the former world No. 1 and was a two-time Grand Slam singles champion who also, with his partner Bob Lutz, formed one of the most successful doubles teams of all time. Together, these guys won many major titles all over the world – yes, ~without~ any performance enhancing drugs. Nothing but pure skill and strength. In 1970, Smith won the first year end championship Masters Grand Prix title. His two major singles titles were at the 1971 US and the 1972 Wimbledon.
Stan Smith
Michael Chang
Meet the youngest male player to ever win a Grand Slam singles title, which happened at the French Open in 1989 when he was just 17 years old and 4 months. Chang is well known for his on-court speed and fighting spirit, often he is regarded to have been one of the best defensive baseliners of all time. You can thank him for introducing the jumping two-handed backhand. Chang was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008.
Michael Chang
Jack Kramer
Jack Kramer is a legend in the tennis world, not just as a player but also due to his role in establishing how things run right now. He was a World No. 1 player for a number of years, and one of the most important people in the establishment of modern men’s “Open”-era tennis, he was THE leading promoter of professional tennis tours in the 50’s and 60’s. His consistent serve-and-volley game are extraordinary as was his ability to play “percentage tennis”.
Jack Kramer
John Newcombe
Newcombe is the former tennis player from Australia who would go on to win seven Grand Slam singles titles and an all-time record of 17 doubles titles. He is one of few tennis athletes to have been ranked world No. 1 in both singles and doubles. He also contributed to five Davis Cup titles for Australia during an age when Davis Cup was deemed as significant as the Grand Slams.
John Newcombe
Stefan Edberg
Meet the Swedish former world no. 1 in both singles and doubles. A major enthusiast of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men’s doubles titles between 1985 and 1996. Edberg also won the Masters Grand Prix and was a part of the Swedish Davis Cup-winning-team four times. He also won four Masters Series titles, four Championship Series titles and the unofficial Olympic tournament 1984, was ranked in the singles top 10 for ten successive years, 9 years in the top 5, and is considered one of the greatest players of his era. This brilliant player began coaching Roger Federer in January 2014.
Stefan Edberg
Roy Emerson
Emerson is the Australian former number one who won 12 Major singles titles and 16 Grand Slam tournament men’s doubles titles. Yeah, he was that good. Plus he is the only male player to have completed a Career Grand Slam (winning titles at all four Grand Slam events) in both singles and doubles. His total 28 major titles are an all-time record for a male amateur player. He is also one of only seven men to win all four majors in his career, additionally he was the first male player to win 12 majors. Along with Novak Djokovic, he is one of only two male players to win 6 Australian Championships, plus he won five of them consecutively (1963–67). Since then, his 12 wins have been surpassed but he is still only one of five tennis players all-time to win multiple slam sets in two disciplines, only matched by Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova, Frank Sedgman and Serena Williams.
Roy Emerson
Jimmy Connors
I’ll admit, I’ve never heard of Jimmy Connors but after a little digging, here’s what I learned – the man is a tennis God. He may have only earned over 8 million dollars from career titles but it wasn’t the money that fueled Connors. He lives and breathes tennis – the man has won over 109 career titles! This includes 8 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 1 Australian, 2 Wimbledon, and 5 US Open. In 1974, he dominated the court with an impeccable 99-4 record (yes, our jaws dropped too, but he carried on to dominate the court for 24 years). Connors still holds the record for ATP tour titles of 109 and was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1998. What an impressive career, he certainly didn’t have that make money now attitude but rather a love for the game.
Jimmy Connors
Marat Safin
Safin is actually a Russian politician and a retired professional tennis player. He first achieved the Association of Tennis Professionals world No. 1 singles ranking back in 2000. If you know follow tennis then you remember him for his emotional outbursts and sometimes quite fiery temper on court. Safin is also the older brother of former world No. 1 WTA player, Dinara Safina. They are the first ever and only brother–sister tandem in tennis history to both achieved No. 1 rankings. Then just in 2016, Safin became the first Russian tennis player inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Marat Safin
Guillermo Vilas
Guillermo Vilas is retired now from Argentina, and was a part of the N°1 of the Grand Prix tennis circuit’s Season in 1974, 1975 and 1977, who won four majors, one Master and 62 ATP titles. He was also inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991. He is remembered for his prolific match play and he became the second man to win more than 900 matches in the Open Era, and his 659 wins on clay are by far the most of the era. Vilas is also the athlete that popularized the between-the-legs tweener shot, known as the “Gran Willy” in his honor.
Guillermo Vilas
Ilie Năstase
Năstase is the Romanian former world No. 1 and was one of the world’s top players of the 70s. Năstase is just one of the five players in history to have won more than 100 ATP professional titles (58 singles and 45 in doubles). In 1991, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He’s also the second male player to have won a Grand Slam event without dropping a set and was the first one to achieve this feat at the French Open (1973).
Ilie Năstase
John McEnroe
John McEnroe’s professional tennis career started 1978 until he retired in 1992! McEnroe has racked in over 12 million dollars in prize money – which is not surprising considering he’s won 71 career titles, 7 Grand Slam Singles Titles (3 Wimbledon and 4 US Open). He would go on to be inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999. McEnroe is a legend who worked hard to get to this level of success, and all of this was achieved without the ‘help’ of enhancing drugs. Raw and pure talent alone.
John Mcenroe
Mats Wilander
Say hello to the Swedish former World No. 1 who from 1982 to 1988, won seven Grand Slam singles titles (three at the French Open, three at the Australian Open, and one at the US Open), and one Grand Slam men’s doubles title (at Wimbledon). He and Rafael Nadal are actually the only men in tennis history to have won at least two Grand Slam singles titles on each of the three surfaces.
Mats Wilander
Jim Courier
Courier is the American former World No. 1 who won four Grand Slam singles titles, two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open. He actually holds the record for being the youngest man to reach the finals of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments, at just the age of 22 years and 11 months. He also won five Masters 1000 series titles, nice. Until Novak Djokovic in 2016, Courier was also the last man to win both the Australian and French Opens in the same calendar year.
Jim Courier
Ivan Lendl
Known as the Czechoslovakian with the biggest serve who dominated the court for 16 years. Lendl’s 94 career titles earned him over 21 million dollars, along with 8 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 2 Australian, 3 French, and 3 US Open. Lendl was the world’s top ranked player for four years – meaning he held the number one ranking in the world for a total of 270 weeks! He would eventually go on to be inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001 which is a great achievement for the man who let his game do the talking.
Ivan Lendl
Bjorn Borg
The quiet Swedish man played for only 10 years but he left his mark considering he had an impeccable ground game. Borg won 64 career titles and brought in over 3 million dollars as a result. He won 11 Grand Slam Singles Titles, 6 French and 5 Wimbledon then was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. Even though Borg retired at the young age of 26, he was the first tennis player of the modern era to have won more than 10 majors. Nicely done.
Bjorn Borg
Rod Laver
The Australian’s career lasted 17 years, amounting to almost 2 million dollars won with 200 career titles. He has 11 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 3 Australian, 2 French, 2 US Open, 4 Wimbledon, attached to his name. Laver was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981. Additionally, Laver was ranked number one in the world for seven straight years from 1964 to 1970 – that is an amazing achievement! Laver also has more career titles than anyone in the history of the game. This man is one incredible athlete.
Rod Laver
Ken Rosewall
Why yes, this is the former world top-ranking amateur and pro tennis player from Australia. Rosewall won a staggering record 23 tennis Majors including 8 Grand Slam singles titles and before the Open Era a record 15 Pro Slam titles and a record 35 Major finals overall. He also won the Pro Grand Slam in 1963 wand 9 slams in doubles with a career double grand slam. He is considered to be one of the top male tennis players of all time. With his backhand,he was one of the two best male players for about nine years and was the World No. 1 player for a number of years in the early 1960s. Oh yeah, at the 1971 Australian Open he became the first ever male player during the open era to win a Grand Slam tournament without dropping a set.
Ken Rosewall
Novak Djokovic
In 2003, Djokovic started his career and so far, the man has made over 102 million dollars! WOW. As of late, he has 66 career titles and 12 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 6 Australian, 3 Wimbledon, 2 US Open, and 1 French Open. When Djokovic does finally retire, he will go down as a top player of all time. He has seen his fair share of injury but when he’s fit and healthy, this athlete dominates the court. During his 2016 French Open title, Djokovic become the eighth man to secure a career Grand Slam – he has a lot to be proud of. On top of all of that, he is also an amazing role model to all inspiring athletes, he has a great attitude and an incredible work ethic.
Novak Djokovic
Pancho Gonzales
Also known as Richard Gonzales, Pancho was an American tennis player. He was the World No. 1 for an all-time record of eight years from 1952 to 1960. He also won 17 Major singles titles, including 15 Pro Slams and 2 Grand Slams. Get this, he taught himself how to be great, no one did it for him. He is still widely considered one of the greatest players in the history of the game.
Pancho Gonzales
Pete Sampras
When Pete Sampras retired from tennis in 2002, he was considered to be the best player of all-time. I mean just look at all he’s achieved in his 14 years – he earned over 43 million dollars earned, won 64 career titles, won 14 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 2 Australian, 7 Wimbledon, 5 US Open and was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007. This spectacular athlete was the world number one for 6 consecutive years!
Pete Sampras
Bill Tilden
Nicknamed Big Bigl, Tilden is often considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He was the World No. 1 player for six years from 1920 to 1925. He also won 15 Major singles titles including ten Grand Slam events, one World Hard Court Championships and four Pro Slam tournaments. He was also the first American to win Wimbledon in 1920 and won a record seven US Championships titles.
Bill Tilden
Don Budge
The former American tennis champion who was the World No. 1 player for five years! Don Budge is most famous as the first player, male or female, and also the only American male to have won in a single year the four tournaments which make up the Grand Slam. He’s also the second male player, and the youngest (!), to win all four Grand Slams in his career. Budge won 10 majors and four Pro Slams, and was considered to have the best backhand in history, at least until Ken Rosewall came up in the 50’s and 60’s.
Don Budge
Lleyton Hewitt
Up next is the Australian former world no. 1, who in November 2001 became the youngest male ever ranked no. 1 in the world in singles, aged at just 20. Hewitt also won the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon men’s singles titles, the 2000 US Open men’s doubles title, back-to-back Tennis Masters Cup titles (2001 and 2002), and the Davis Cup with Australia in 1999 and 2003.
Lleyton Hewitt
Juan Martín del Potro
Delpo is the pro tennis player from Argentina who defeated Rafael Nadal and 5-time defending champ Roger Federer of the 2009 US Open. He also has won bronze in men’s singles at the 2012 London Olympics and silver in men’s singles at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Additionally, he was first to defeat Federer and Nadal during the same major AND was the only man outside of “the Big Four” to win a major between the 2005 French Open and the 2013 US Open.
Juan Martín Del Potro
Milos Raonic
Canadian Milos Raonic is often described as having “one of the best serves among his contemporaries”. To date, his career highlights include a Grand Slam final (2016 Wimbledon Championships); two Grand Slam semifinals; and three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals, 2014 Paris Masters, and the 2016 Indian Wells Masters.
Milos Raonic
Gustavo Kuerten
“Guga” is now a retired former World No. 1 from Brazil. He has won the French Open singles title a total of three times (1997, 2000, and 2001), and was also the Tennis Masters Cup champion in 2000. However, Kuerten suffered numerous injuries, leading him to miss a number of tournaments in the years between 2002 and 2005. After a few failed comebacks, he officially retired in May 2008, in his career he has won 20 singles and 8 doubles titles.
Gustavo Kuerten
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is synonymous with the word, tennis. This male athlete is no joke. He started his professional career in 1998 and so far, he’s earned over 98 million dollars in his 18 year long career! Plus, he has 88 career titles along with 17 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 4 Australian, 1 French, 5 US Open, and 7 Wimbledon. On top of all that, oh yeah, we’re not done listing his achievements. From 2004 to 2008, Federer was ranked number one in the world for 237 consecutive weeks, a record that may never be surpassed.
Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
Of course, Rafael Nadal makes the list, the man’s a walking legend. Nadal started his professional tennis career in 2001 and so far has earned over 78 million dollars, has 69 career titles to his name with 14 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 1 Australian, 9 French, 2 US Open, and 2 Wimbledon. Talk about impressive. After his 9th French Open title, Nadal ibecame known as “The King of Clay” because of his domination over all others on the clay court. Despite injury bouts, Nadal will go on to win more titles and climb up the world rankings.
Rafael Nadal
Andy Murray
Ahem, pardon us, it is Sir Andrew Barron Murray. Sir Murray is currently the world number 1 in men’s singles, people, this pro isn’t messing around. Although Scottish, he represents Great Britain, most impressively, at the 2012 US Open, Murray became the first British player since 1977, and the first British man since 1936, to win a Grand Slam singles tournament, when he defeated Novak Djokovic in the final. In 2013, Murray won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first British player to win a Wimbledon senior singles title since 1977, and the first British man to win the men’s singles title since Fred Perry, 77 years before. In 2016, he won his second Wimbledon title and become the first British man to win multiple Wimbledon singles titles since 1935. He is also the men’s singles 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medalist, making him the only tennis player, male or female, to have won two Olympic singles titles.
Andy Murray
Andre Agassi
Here’s a name we all know and love, Andre Agassi. When he first hit the scene in the 80s, he had long locks and a rock star presence but by the time he finished his 20 year career, the man was one of the most respected athletes of all time. Agassi has made over 31 million dollars in prize money with 60 career titles to his belt, no less. He won 8 Grand Slam Singles Titles, including 4 Australian, 1 French, 2 US Open, and 1 Wimbledon. It’s no surprise he was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2011. Off the court, Agassi has a heart of gold, he gives back to his community ten-fold, and he’s also married to tennis legend, Steffi Graf.
Andre Agassi