Who is the best tennis player of all time? Ask that inquiry to any tennis fan, and you will be up for a long and rushed debate. It’s very hard to rank players that had their prime in different eras, but there are some major interesting points before ranking the best players of all time in tennis.
20 Greatest Men’s Tennis Players Of All Time
1. Roger Federer
Country: Switzerland
Born: 1981
Turned Pro: 1998
Grand Slam Titles: 20
Career Titles: 102
Prize Money Winnings: $127M
The greatest tennis player of all time is Roger Federer. He has proven his talent for more than 20 years and is still contending at the most significant level. Federer is the player that has the most Grand Slam titles on the planet (20) and has the world record of most weeks at the World No.1 spot in the open era with 310 weeks.
He is a great example on and off the field, an inspiration to all children growing up and an extraordinary athlete who will go down in the set of experiences as one of the greatest athletes of all time (all games).
2. Rafael Nadal
Country: Spain
Born: 1986
Turned Pro: 2001
Grand Slam Titles: 20
Career Titles: 84
Prize Money Winnings: $115M
The 2nd greatest player of all time is Rafael Nadal. It’s hard to argue that he shouldn’t be up here. He has won 20 Grand Slam titles during his career, which makes him the 2nd on that rundown.
He may not be the overall greatest tennis player of all time, but he is without a doubt the best tennis player to at any point step on a clay court. With his unbelievable 13 French Open successes, it’s hard to argue about that statement.
He will undoubtedly surpass Roger Federer in the Grand Slam title rankings in a couple of years. Should Nadal be considered the greatest of all time? Maybe!
3. Novak Djokovic
Country: Serbia
Born: 1987
Turned Pro: 2003
Grand Slam Titles: 19
Career Titles: 75
Prize Money Winnings: $132M
The third greatest tennis player of all time has to be the Serbian Novak Djokovic. He is a great representation of what a late-bloomer is. Certainly, Djokovic has always been a-list player, but on his 28th birthday, he had “just” won 7 grand slam titles. After that? 9 grand slam titles in 4 years.
He has totally dominated the grand slam tournaments during the last 4 years and being in the same era as Nadal and Federer. It’s very intriguing to have won 16 grand slam titles. Between 2015-2019, Novak Djokovic won 9 out of 16 grand slams, Impressing? Indeed.
4. Pete Sampras
Country: USA
Born: 1971
Turned Pro: 1988
Resigned: 2002
Grand Slam Titles: 14
Career Titles: 64
Prize Money Winnings: $43M
Pete Sampras is the fourth greatest tennis player of all time. He has dominated the tennis world during the 90s and was considered at his retirement in 2002 the greatest tennis player of all time. Hard to argue with that back then, with a record-holding 14 grand slam titles.
Nonetheless, with all those grand slam titles, he always lost a French Open title. Sampras wasn’t the best clay-court player, but considering he got 7 Wimbledon, 5 Us open and 2 Australian Open titles, he unquestionably has the right to be in fourth place on my rundown.
5. Björn Borg
Country: Sweden
Born: 1956
Turned Pro: 1973
Resigned: 1983
Grand Slam Titles: 11
Career Titles: 64
Prize Money Winnings: €3.6M
Many fans would argue whether not Björn Borg merits the fifth spot on this rundown, but I’m sure that Borg merits it. There isn’t any player on the planet who has achieved the same things like him in the same period.
He is the youngest player of all, an ideal opportunity to win a grand slam title when he won the French Open 1974 at 17. After that, he won 10 more grand slam titles before resigning at the early age of 26. There is no other player throughout tennis that has won more grand slam titles before 25 than Björn borg. What if he continued playing for another 5-10 years? Maybe he would be considered the greatest of all time.
6. Rod Laver
Country: Australia
Born: 1938
Turned Pro: 1963
Resigned: 1979
Grand Slam Titles: 11
Career Titles: 184
Prize Money Winnings:$1.5M
Rod Laver is a player that many would consider as one the greatest of all time. He won 11 grand slam titles and is the solitary player to win all the grand slams twice during the same calendar year.
Rod Laver dominated the tennis world during the 60s and was ranked the world No.1 between 1964-1970. With 184 singles titles to his name, he also holds the record of most titles won throughout the entire existence of tennis. Back during the 60s-70s, he was viewed as the best tennis player of all time.
7. Andre Agassi
Country: USA
Born: 1970
Turned Pro: 1986
Resigned: 2006
Grand Slam Titles: 8
Career Titles: 60
Prize Money Winnings: $30M
Quite possibly the most legendary player of all time, Andre Agassi is by many tennis fans considered the greatest tennis player of the nineteenth century. Agassi is an 8 time Grand Slam champion and an Olympic gold medalist. During the 90s, he was the principal player to win 4 Australian Open titles, which was eventually surpassed by Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Andre Agassi was the principal player throughout tennis to win a Grand Slam title on 3 different surfaces (grass, clay, hard court). Andre Agassi, or “The Punisher”, which nickname he had during the greater part of his career, isn’t just one of the greatest tennis players of all time, but also perhaps the most regarded.
8. John McEnroe
Country: USA
Born: 1959
Turned Pro: 1978
Resigned: 1994
Grand Slam Titles: 8
Career Titles: 94
Prize Money Winnings: $12.5M
The American tennis legend John McEnroe was known for his volley artistry and his controversial on-court behaviour that, as a general rule, landed in issues with the umpires and other associated tennis authorities. He is known for his rivalry against Jimmy Connors and Björn Borg, which 3 constantly exchanged somewhere between No.1,2 and 3 spots on the planet.
His controversial behaviour made tennis fans either hate or love him. McEnroe hated to lose, and at times it’s anything but a little too far, but wouldn’t tennis be exhausting without players showing feelings?
9. Ivan Lendl
Country: Czechoslovakia
Born: 1970
Turned Pro: 1978
Resigned: 1994
Grand Slam Titles: 8
Career Titles: 94
Prize Money Winnings: $21M
For the most part, known today for being the coach of the 3 time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, but for about 30 years ago, he had quite possibly the best career in tennis throughout the entire existence of the game.
Ivan Lendl was considered the greatest tennis player on the planet during the late 80s. He held the world No.1 spot for more than 270 weeks during the 80s and was the dominant power in all the Grand Slam tournaments during that time. Lendl achieved 8 Grand Slam titles during his career, 2 Australian Opens, 3 French Opens and 3 at the US Open.
10. Jimmy Connors
Country: USA
Born: 1952
Turned Pro: 1972
Resigned: 1996
Grand Slam Titles: 8
Career Titles: 109
Prize Money Winnings: $8.6M
The American Jimmy Connors is by many considered as one of the greatest of all time. Back then, he had the record of most weeks spent at the world No.1 spot, with a dazzling 268 weeks. That record is today held by Roger Federer for 310 weeks.
Jimmy is one of only a handful few players that have won three Grand Slams during one calendar year (he didn’t participate in the fourth). He had probably the longest career at the professional level throughout tennis as he resigned at the age of 43.
11. Boris Becker
Country: Germany
Born: 1967
Turned Pro: 1984
Resigned: 1999
Grand Slam Titles: 6
Career Titles: 49
Prize Money Winnings: $25M
The German tennis legend Boris Becker is another previous world No.1 player. He started at the age of 17 as perhaps the most promising talent throughout the entire existence of tennis 1984, which he displayed by winning 6 singles titles that year. The achievement didn’t end here. Just 1 year later, he won the Wimbledon Championships, making him the youngest player at any point to win that title.
He won during his career 6 Grand Slam titles. 3 Wimbledons, 2 Australian Opens and 1 at the US Open. He was ranked No.1 on the planet for a short period during the 1991 season.
12. Ken Rosewall
Country: Australia
Born: 1934
Turned Pro: 1956
Resigned: 1980
Grand Slam Titles: 8
Prize Money Winnings: $1.6M
Ken Rosewall is quite possibly the most reliable player throughout the entire existence of tennis. He was ranked inside the main 20 for more than 25 years, which nobody had achieved previously. Ken won one of his 8 Grand Slam titles at the age of 38, which makes him the most established player to at any point win a Grand Slam title.
He was a machine on the court, and many compare him to the Spaniard tennis star Roberto Bautista-Agut, who have fundamentally the same play style. Winning 3 Grand Slam titles after turning 35 is certainly intriguing. Will anyone at any point break that record?
13. Stefan Edberg
Country: Sweden
Born: 1966
Turned Pro: 1983
Resigned: 1996
Grand Slam Titles: 6
Career Titles: 41
Prize Money Winnings: $20.6M
The previous world No.1 Stefan Edberg was quite possibly the best tennis player during the 90s. After winning the Wimbledon title in 1990, he claimed the No.1 spot without precedent for his career, and he held that for more than 70 weeks. Edberg is, to this date, the lone player to win all the 4 Junior Grand Slams in a single calendar year (1983).
Stefan Edberg broke the record of most successive Grand Slam appearances (54) in the late 90s, eventually broken by the American Wayne Ferreira. Edberg achieved 6 Grand Slam titles during his career. 2 at Wimbledon, 2 at US Opens and 2 at the Australian Open.
14. Roy Emerson
Country: USA
Born: 1936
Turned Pro: 1953
Resigned: 1983
Grand Slam Titles: 12
The best tennis player before the Open Era? Roy Emerson has stood out forever as the most talented and effective tennis player before the Open Era. He had his prime during the 60s and was ranked No.1 on the planet during the 1964-65 season, and nobody was even near his level back then.
Roy Emerson managed to win 12 Grand Slam titles during his career, which was the record for a long time before the twentieth-century era with the huge 3 began. He isn’t just known as perhaps the best tennis player of all time, but also because of his 30-year career. He resigned at the age of 47, which would be essentially inconceivable in the todays tennis world.
15. Mats Wilander
Country: Sweden
Born: 1964
Turned Pro: 1981
Resigned: 1996
Grand Slam Titles: 7
Career Titles: 33
Prize Money Winnings: $8M
Most talented tennis player born in the nineteenth century? Mats Wilander was just 17 years old when he won his first French Open title in 1982, which is still today the youngest player at any point to win a Grand Slam title. That isn’t his lone Grand Slam record. He also holds the record of most Grand Slam titles won before turning 20 (4 titles).
Mats Wilander couldn’t keep that great streak going all through his entire career, but he actually managed to win another 3 Grand Slams before resigning at 32. He was ranked the world No.1 during the 1988-89 season and was viewed as one of the greatest tennis players of all time back during the 90s.
16. John Newcombe
Country: Australia
Born: 1944
Turned Pro: 1967
Resigned: 1981
Grand Slam Titles: 6
Career Titles: 34
Prize Money Winnings: $1M
The previous world No.1 John Newcombe is one of only a handful few players that have attained the world No.1 ranking in the two singles and doubles. He won a total of 6 Grand Slam singles titles and a previous world record of 17 doubles titles.
John Newcombe was known for his speed, deadly forehand and serve. Newcombe was also known for being at his best in the main matches. An example of this is that he played 10 Wimbledon finals during his career and just lost one of them.
He was also perhaps the most reliable player on the planet, ranked inside the main 10 for more than 10 continuous years (1965-1975). John Newcombe fruitful career has gone down in the set of experiences as one of the greatest of all time.
17. Andy Murray
Country: USA
Born: 1987
Turned Pro: 2005
Grand Slam Titles: 3
Career Titles: 46
Prize Money Winnings: $61M
Andy Murray was very much like Wawrinka, born in some unacceptable era. Notwithstanding being in the shadow of the huge 3 during the greater part of his career, no other player has been as serious against them as Andy Murray himself. For several years when Andy Murray was thriving, I might want to rename the huge 3 to huge 4 with Andy Murray included.
He was actually the world No.1 for half a year during the 2016-2017 season, which isn’t the easiest task with Djokovic, Nadal and Federer playing aside. He got an intriguing 3 Grand Slam title to his name, but that could be considerably more. He lost during his career, 8 grand slam finals.
Winning 3 out of the 11 Grand Slam finals is one of the most noticeably terrible outcomes throughout the entire existence of tennis. Still, it really shows how reliable Andy Murray has been at the top, despite “just” winning 3 Grand Slam titles.
18. Jim Courier
Country: USA
Born: 1970
Turned Pro: 1988
Resigned: 2000
Grand Slam Titles: 4
Career Titles: 23
Prize Money Winnings: $14M
The previous world No.1 Jim Courier was extraordinary compared to other tennis players during the 90s. He went through an intriguing 58 weeks at the No.1 spot during the 1994-95 season and have won a total of 4 Grand Slam titles. Counting 2 Roland Garros and 2 Australian Open titles.
Jim Courier is perhaps the best player to at any point play on a hard court, but to claim a higher spot than eighteenth on this rundown, he needs to have a superior overall game that works on all surfaces. He wasn’t able to get anything near the same outcomes during the clay and grass season.
19. Guillermo Vilas
Country: Argentina
Born: 1952
Turned Pro: 1969
Resigned: 1992
Grand Slam Titles: 4
Career Titles: 16
Prize Money Winnings: $4.9M
The Argentinean Guillermo Vilas dominated players during the serve and volley era during the 70s and 80s. He was the principal ever south American to at any point win a grand slam title, and on his retirement day, he had scraped up 4 grand slam titles.
Vilas holds several different world records, including a 46 game dominant streak in 1977. He also holds the record for most singles titles won in one season, with 16 ATP titles during the same 1977 season.
20. Stan Wawrinka
Country: Switzerland
Born: 1985
Turned Pro: 2002
Grand Slam Titles: 3
Career Titles: 16
Prize Money Winnings: $33.6M
Stan Wawrinka has, during his entire career, been in the shadow of his compatriot Roger Federer. He was born in some unacceptable era. If Nadal, Djokovic and Federer didn’t exist, Wawrinka would have added many more Grand Slam titles to his present 3.