As a tennis fan, you may be wondering who the greatest men’s tennis players of all-time are. SportyTell takes a look — Read on to find out if your favourite tennis stars made our top list.
Throughout history, several tennis players have gained the admiration of fans, thanks to their adept skills. But narrowing these tennis greats to top-10 can be a difficult task. We bring to you an updated ranking of the Top-10 Greatest men’s tennis players of all-time considering the influence they wielded during the summit of their careers and essentially, the number of Grand Slam titles won.
Table of Contents
Here are the Greatest Men’s Tennis Players of All-Time Ranking
10. Ken Rosewall
- Country: Australia
- Born: 2 November 1934
- Turned Pro: 1956
- Retired: 1980
- Prize Money: $1.6 million
- Grand Slams Won (singles): 8
Fast and agile, Ken was nothing short of a phenomenal tennis player who played so well that his relevance during the pre-open era transcended into the post open era. His relevance during the pre-open era was solidified after he won 15 Pro Slam titles. He cemented his title as one of the best in tennis, by winning 8 Grand Slam titles, which includes 4 Australian Opens, 2 French Opens and 2 US Opens. On four occasions, he emerged a finalist at the Wimbledon. He won the Davis cup and a total of 133 titles, throughout his career.
9. John McEnroe
- Country: United States
- Born: 16 February 1959
- Turned Pro: 1978
- Retired: 1994
- Prize Money: $12.5 million
- Grand Slams Won (singles): 8
Whether he was loved or hated by tennis fans, is a question for the fans, but fans would agree that John McEnroe was a great player. Though he had a knack for confronting match officials and umpires, that was no obstruction to his reign as one of tennis greatest. He won 7 Grand Slam titles, 3 Wimbledons and 4 US Opens. He emerged a finalist in the French Open once and a semi-finalist in the Australian Open. He won the Davis Cup as well as the WCT Finals and the ATP Finals. In total, John McEnroe won 77 titles.
8. Jimmy Connors
- Country: United States
- Born: 2 September 1952
- Turned Pro: 1972
- Retired: 1996
- Prize Money: $8.6 million
- Grand Slams Won (singles): 8
Between 1974-1977, Jimmy Connors was top of the ATP rankings for 160 successive weeks and a total of 268 weeks. His incredible performances resulted into 8 Grand Slam Singles win, 1 Australian Open, 2 Wimbledons and 5 US Opens and 2 Grand Slam Doubles titles, 1 Wimbledon and 1 US Open. He also won the Davis Cup, the Tour Finals and WCT Finals. He won 109 singles titles, the most in the open era.
7. Ivan Lendl
- Country: Czechoslovakia
- Born: 7 March 1960
- Turned Pro: 1978
- Retired: 1994
- Prize Money: $21 million
- Grand Slams Won (singles): 8
His strokes were powerful, his conditioning could be said to be perfect and his topspin forehand skill was incredibly instrumental in defeating opponents. This paid off for Lendl who won 8 Grand Slam singles, 2 Australian Opens, 3 French Opens and 3 US Opens. He won the Tour Finals, five times, 2 WCT Finals and a Davis Cup. He won a total of 94 singles titles and 6 doubles in his career. One of his memorable achievements, a record of 270 weeks he spent in the number 1 spot in the ATP rankings.
6. Björn Borg
- Country: Sweden
- Born: 6 June 1956
- Turned Pro: 1973
- Retired: 1983
- Prize Money: $3.6 million
- Grand Slams Won (singles): 11
From 1977 to 1980, Bjorn Borg was undoubtedly the top player in tennis. After winning 11 Grand Slam singles titles, Bjorn Borg became the first player in the Open era to achieve the feat. Bjorn Borg won 6 French Opens and 5 Wimbledon titles. Though he reached the US Open final, four times, Bjorn Borg failed to secure a win. He won the Davis Cup, the Tour Finals and the WCT Finals. Bjorn Borg is one of the few players in tennis who have won 3 Grand Slam singles without losing a set. In all, he won 64 singles titles in his career.
5. Pete Sampras
- Country: United States
- Born: 12 August 1971
- Turned Pro: 1988
- Retired: 2002
- Prize Money: $43.2 million
- Grand Slams Won (singles): 14
“Pistol Pete” as Pete Sampras was nicknamed, enthralled fans with a powerful serve which he did with a single backhand. Pete Sampras ended his career in styles after winning the 2002 US Open. Pete Sampras won a total of 14 Grand Slam singles titles, 2 Australian Opens, 7 Wimbledons and 5 US Opens. On 5 occasions, Pete Sampras won the Tour Finals and the Grand Slam Cup and Davis Cup, twice. In total, Pete Sampras won a total of 64 singles titles.
4. Rod Laver
- Country: Australia
- Born: 9 August 1938
- Turned Pro: 1963
- Retired: 1979
- Prize Money: $1.5 million
- Grand slams won (singles): 11
The man dubbed the Rocket was invincible at the commencement of the Open era, but even before the Open era, began in 1968, Rod Laver had already become a household name in the world of tennis. From 1964 – 1970, Rod Laver held the number 1 spot in the world rankings. During those years, Laver won 11 Grand Slam singles events, 3 Australian Opens, 2 French Opens and 4 Wimbledon titles.
Before the Open era began, he won 3 US Pro, 4 Wembley Pro and 1 French Pro. In the Grand Slam Doubles, he won the Australian Open, the French Open and the Wimbledon. Aside from this, Laver won the Davis Cup, 5 times and the Grand Slam Mixed Doubles in the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. His 200 singles titles are the most in the history of tennis.
3. Novak Djokovic
- Country: Serbia and Montenegro
- Born: 22 May 1987
- Turned Pro: 2003
- Retired: —
- Prize Money: $143.6 million
- Grand Slams Won (singles): 17
The name Novak Djokovic is prominent in modern-day tennis, but his emergence as one of the greatest in tennis comes as no surprise to tennis fans. The Serb man has won several titles in recent years that his name is synonymous to success in tennis. He has won 17 Grand Slam singles, 8 Australian Opens, 1 French Opens, 5 Wimbledons and 3 US Opens. His wins include the Tour Finals which he has won 5 times and the Davis Cup. He has won 77 singles titles, the 5th highest in the open era and is currently ranked world’s No.1 in the latest round of the ATP World rankings released in March 2020.
2. Rafael Nadal
- Country: Spain
- Born: 3 June 1986
- Turned Pro: 2001
- Retired: —
- Prize Money: $120.9 million
- Grand Slams Won (singles): 19
Since Rafael Nadal turned Pro in 2001, he has progressed to become one of the most proficient and prolific tennis players on the planet. The Spaniard who is nicknamed “King of Clay” as a result of his exceptional performance on clay, has won 19 Grand Slam Singles in his career, 1 Australian Opens, 12 French Opens, 2 Wimbledons and 4 US Opens. He has won the Davis Cup and won Gold in the singles at 2008 Beijing Olympics and in the Doubles at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics Games in 2016.
Nadal has won about $120.9 million in prize money so far in his career. He has won 84 singles titles in his career, which is the 4th highest in the open era. He is currently ranked no. 2 in the world in the ATP rankings released in March 2020.
1. Roger Federer
- Country: Switzerland
- Born: 8 August 1981
- Turned Pro: 1998
- Retired: —
- Prize Money: $129.9 million
- Grand Slams Won (singles): 20
The best in the game, Roger Federer is the man who has always been at summit despite stiff competition from Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. The Swiss man has spent 310 weeks in the number one spot in the ATL rankings, and 237 of those weeks were consecutive. He has also finished in the number one spot at the end of the year five times. Since he turned Pro in 1998, Federer has won 20 Grand Slam Singles, 6 Australian Opens, 1 French Opens, 8 Wimbledons and 4 US Opens. He has won the Tour Finals, 6 times and won Gold at the Doubles event at the Bejing 2008 Olympics and Silver at the singles event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.
Roger Federer is by far, the greatest men’s tennis player ever. Federer who has won $129.9 million in prize money since he turned Pro has also won 103 singles events in his career, the 2nd highest in the Open era. Federer who currently ranked 4th in the World in the latest round of the ATP rankings released in March 2020.
SEE ALSO: Top-10 Greatest Female Tennis Players Of All-Time
Background
A sport followed by over 1 billion fans globally, tennis in the open era has transcended from just another sports or recreational activity to fiercely contested matches, which attracts tremendous numbers of viewers, ultimately resulting in a large sum of revenue being generated. The attention tennis has continued to receive can not be attributed to the dynamics of tennis alone, but to the emergence of key players who have dominated the tennis scene and entertained fans with their unique antics.
There you have it—Our Top-10 Greatest Men’s Tennis Players Of All-Time as updated in 2020. What do you think? Which of the tennis greats did you expect would make this list? Please share with us in the comment section below.
These descriptions add little to the understanding of the significance of older players like Laver and Rosewall. Counting numbers of grand slam titles was not a “thing” until Sampras broke Roy Emerson’s “record” of 12. Both Laver and Rosewall were contemporaries of Emerson who won those titles when he remained an eligible amateur while Laver and Rosewall were ineligible as pros. Laver won the calendar-year grand slam twice – as an amateur in 1962 and as a pro in 1969. Rosewall won 8 majors before turning pro at 21 and after open tennis began in 1968 when he was 33, the years comprising the entire career of the vast majority of most players.
Jim, I completely agree with your assessment. Agree that not only Ken Rosewall but John Newcombe were great too. As an Australian, I believe the great Rod Laver, would have ended up with more than 25 Grand Slam singles titles had he been allowed to play from 1963 to 1968, as he had turned professional and was banned from playing in Grand Slam tournaments during that period. Therefore, nearly all of Roy Emerson’s Grand Slam singles titles and plus a few more would have taken Laver from 11 Grand Slam singles titles to over 25. Laver, as you mentioned, is in a class of his own with 2 Calendar Grand Slams, with Nadal, Djokovic and Federer yet to achieve even 1 Calendar Grand Slam.
However, as Nadal, Djokovic and Federer are so close in Grand Slam singles titles with currently 20 each for Nadal and Federer and 17 for Djokovic, that whoever wins the most Grand Slam singles titles after all 3 players have retired should be the Greatest Male Tennis Player of the Modern Era. If it ends up being equal with Grand Slam singles titles, if it’s between Nadal and Federer, Nadal should get the nod because he has won his Grand Slam singles titles in a shorter time frame than Federer. Likewise, if Nadal and Djokovic end up being equal with Grand Slam singles titles, whoever has won them in the least number of Grand Slam tournaments played, should be recognised as the Greatest Male Tennis Player of All Time, otherwise a draw as the Greatest Male Grand Slam Singles Titles of All Time.
Can’t wait to see who ends up with the most Grand Slam singles titles after all 3 have retired.
Rod Laver can be The Greatest Male Tennis Player of the Pre Open Era.
Both Rafael and roger won gold at the Rio Olympics? Sure this was actually Andy Murray…
That’s correct. We have updated our post. Roger actually won silver at Rio while Rafael won Gold in the doubles.
On male top 10 Federer did not even go to Rio in 2016 never mind win the gold. He doesn’t hold a singles gold medal. Nadal never won the singles gold in 2016 either it was Andy Murray who won back to back gold. I think Nadal won singles hold in 2008.
Federer won silver at Rio, Nadal won Gold in the doubles at Rio, while Andy won Gold in the singles at Rio.
Roger Federer never did win the Olympic Gold Medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. ‘Twas Andy Murray (d. Juan Martin Del Porto). Rafael Nadal won Olympics Gold (Singles) in Beijing 2008 and Olympic Gold (Doubles w/ Marc Lopez) in Rio 2016.
Thanks for bringing this to our notice. We have updated this post accordingly.
Rafa Nadal won an Olympic Gold medal in Beijing 2008. Let’s not forget that he won Gold in Singles category on his first try playing in the Olympics.
By the time Djokovic hangs up his racquet, he would have broken most of Federer’s records including the most grand slams.
Tennis fan, you forgot about the brilliant tennis player, Rafa Nadal!
By the end of year 2020, we will have this list slightly reordered. We will have a man with golden slam, which means we will have another man with 20 slams, and new record of weeks at top. Go for it No1e!
Tenns fan and Mats Vilander, Rafa will end up winning more Grand Slam singles titles than Djokovic. Rafa now knows after thrashing Djokovic in the 2020 French Open Final, that the way to beat Djokovic is for Nadal to be aggressive with his strokes from the start, thereby not letting Djokovic dictate play with his ball placement. The great Rafa Nadal is a massive 3 Grand Slam singles titles ahead of Djokovic and they both started around the same time. Vamos Rafa! Rafa has won 7 Grand Slam singles titles away from clay, the same number of Grand Slam singles titles that the great John McEnroe won in his whole career. Therefore, Rafa is determined to win more Grand Slam singles titles away from clsy as he definitely has the game to do it.
This is the updated Grand Slam Singles ladder:
1) Rafael Nadal, 20 Grand Slam Singles Titles, from 60 Grand Slam Tournaments played.
2) Roger Federer, 20 Grand Slam Singles Titles, from 79 Grand Slam Tournaments played.
3) Novak Djokovic, 17 Grand Slam Singles Titles, from 62 Grand Slam Tournaments played.