As a tennis fan, you may be wondering who are the greatest and best men's tennis players of all time. These famous tennis players are ranked relative to the influence they achieved during the peak of their career and, essentially, the number of Grand Slam titles they won. Read on to see if your favorite tennis stars made our list.
List of the top 10 men's tennis players of all time
10. Ken Rosewall
- Country: Australia
- Born: November 2, 1934
- Began professionalism: 1956
- Retired from playing: 1980
- Prize money: $1.6 million
- Grand Slams won (singles): 8 times
Fast and agile, Kane was nothing less than an exceptional tennis player, and a celebrated tennis player. He played so well that his importance during the pre-opening era transcended the post-opening era. His relevance was cemented during the pre-opening period having won 15 Pro Slam titles. He cemented his title as one of the best in tennis, by winning 8 Grand Slam titles, which include 4 times the Australian Open, 2 times the Roland Garros, and 2 times the US Open. He also appeared in the finals at Wimbledon four times. Won the Davis Cup. A total of 133 titles throughout his career.
9. John McEnroe
Whether he is loved or hated by tennis fans is a question for fans, but fans agree that popular tennis player John McEnroe was a great player. Although he had a knack for confronting match officials and referees, that was not an impediment to his reign as one of tennis's greatest players. He won 7 Grand Slam titles, 3 Wimbledon titles, and 4 US Open titles. He appeared in the final of the French Open once and in the semi-final of the Australian Open. He won the Davis Cup as well as the WCT Finals and ATP Finals. In total, John McEnroe won 77 titles.
8. Jimmy Connors)
- Country: United States
- Born: September 2, 1952
- Began professionalism: 1972
- Retired from playing: 1996
- Prize money: $8.6 million
- Grand Slams won (singles): 8 times
Between 1974-1977, Jimmy Connors topped the ATP rankings for 160 consecutive weeks and a total of 268 weeks. His amazing performances resulted in wins of 8 Grand Slam Singles Championships, 1 Australian Open, 2 Wimbledon Championships and 5 US Open Championships 2 Grand Slam Doubles Championships, 1 Wimbledon Championships, and 1 US Open Championship. He also won the Davis Cup, Tour Finals, and WCT Finals. He won 109 singles titles.
7. Ivan Lendl
- Country: Czechoslovakia
- Born: March 7, 1960
- Began professionalism: 1978
- Retired from playing: 1994
- Prize money: $21 million
- Grand Slams won (singles): 8 times
His strikes were powerful, his conditioning could be said to be perfect and his forehand skill was incredibly useful in defeating opponents. Lendl won twice the Australian Open, twice Roland Garros, and three times the US Open. He won the Tour Finals, five times, the WCT 2 Finals, and the Davis Cup. He won a total of 94 singles titles and 6 doubles titles in his career. One of his most memorable achievements is a record 270 weeks spent at number one in the ATP Rankings.
6 . Björn Borg
- Country: Sweden
- Born: June 6, 1956
- Began professionalism: 1973
- Retired from playing: 1983
- Prize money: $3.6 million
- Grand Slams won (singles): 11 times.
From 1977 to 1980, Bjorn Borg was undoubtedly the best player in tennis. Having won 11 Grand Slam singles titles, Björn Borg became the first player in the Open Era to achieve this feat. Björn Borg won 6 Roland Garros in France and 5 Wimbledon Championships. Although he reached the US Open final four times, Björn Borg failed to secure victory. He won the Davis Cup, the Tour Finals, and the WCT Finals. Borg entered the annals of history from the widest range, as he and player Rafael Nadal are the only ones who were able to win the Wimbledon and French Open titles in the same year more than once. In all, he won 64 singles titles in his career.
5. Pete Sampras
- Country: United States of Greek descent
- Born: August 12, 1971
- Began professionalism: 1988
- Retired from playing: 2002
- Prize money: $43.2 million
- Grand Slams won (singles): 14 times
Pete Sampras or “Pistol Pete” as his fans like to call him. He ended his career after winning the 2002 US Open. Pete Sampras won a total of 14 Grand Slam singles titles. Twice the Australian Championship, 7 times the Wimbledon Championship, and 5 times the US Open. On 5 occasions, Pete Sampras has won the Tour Finals, the Grand Slam Cup, and the Davis Cup twice. He ranked first in the world rankings for six consecutive years. In total, Pete Sampras has won a total of 64 singles titles.
4. Rod Laver
- Country: Australia
- Born: August 9, 1938
- Began professionalism: 1963
- Retired from playing: 1979
- Prize money: $1.5 million
- Grand Slams won (singles): 11 times
Perhaps many tennis fans do not know this man who was called the Invincible Rocket at the beginning of the Open Era, but even before the Open Era, which began in 1968, Rod Laver had already become a household name in the world of tennis. From 1964 to 1970, Rod Laver held first place in the world rankings. During those years, Rod Laver won 11 Grand Slam singles titles, three Australian Championships, two Roland Garros, and 4 Wimbledon titles.
Before the Open Era began, he won 3 US Opens, 4 Wimbledon, and 1 Roland Garros. In Grand Slam doubles, he won the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. Apart from that, Laver won the Davis Cup, and 5 times Grand Slam mixed doubles at the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. His 200 singles titles are the most in tennis history.
3 . Novak Djokovic
- Country: Serbia and Montenegro
- Born: May 22, 1987
- Began professionalism: 2003
- Prize money: $143.6 million
- Grand Slams won (singles): 17 times
Novak Djokovic's name has become prominent in modern tennis, but his emergence as one of the greatest tennis players is no surprise to tennis fans. The Serbian man has won many titles in recent years. His name is synonymous with success in tennis. He won 17 Grand Slam singles titles, winning the Australian Open 8 times, the Roland Garros Championship 5 times, the Wimbledon Championship 5 times, and the US Open 3 times. His victories include 34 Masters Tournament tournaments and 5 ATP World Tour Finals tournaments. He has won 77 singles titles, the fifth highest in the Open Era, and is currently ranked No. 1 in the world in the latest round of the ATP World Rankings released in March 2020.
2 . Rafael Nadal
- Country: Spain
- Born: June 3, 1986
- Began professionalism: 2001
- Prize money: $120.9 million
- Grand Slams won (singles): 19 times
Since Rafael Nadal turned professional in 2001, he has progressed to become one of the most competent and productive tennis players in the world. The Spaniard nicknamed the “King of Clay” as a result of his exceptional performances on clay, won 19 Grand Slam Singles in his career, once the Australian Championships, 12 times the Roland Garros Championships, twice the Wimbledon Championships, and 4 times the US Open Championships. He has won the Davis Cup and won gold in singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and in doubles at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.
Nadal has won approximately $120.9 million in prize money so far in his career. He has won 84 singles titles in his career, the fourth-highest in the Open Era. He is currently ranked second in the world in the ATP rankings released in March 2020.
1. Roger Federer
- Country: Switzerland
- Born: August 8, 1981
- Began professionalism: 1998
- Prize money: $129.9 million
- Grand Slam wins (singles): 20 times
Swiss Roger Federer. The best tennis player in the world, and he deserves to be the best tennis player in history. He is the man who has always been at the top despite the intense competition from Novak Djokovic and Spaniard Rafael Nadal. The Swiss man has spent 310 weeks at number one in the ATL rankings, and 237 of those weeks have been consecutive.
He won first place at the end of the year five times. Since turning professional in 1998, Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles championships, including the Australian Championship 6 times, the Roland Garros Championship once, the Wimbledon Championship 8 times, and the US Open 4 times. He also won the ATP World Tour Finals 6 times, winning doubles gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and singles silver at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.
Roger Federer is the greatest men's tennis player of all time. In total, he won 103 singles titles in his career, the second-highest in the Open Era. Federer was ranked fourth in the world in the latest round of the ATP rankings released in March 2020.