Ranking the 5 greatest male tennis players of all time

4. Rod Laver

Rod Laver

Rod Laver was an Australian tennis player who played from 1963 to 1979. He is the only player in this list who has played in both the Open Era as well as before that.

As the rules during before the start of the Open Era were a bit different than they are now, it is difficult to exactly quantify Laver's stats. For example, he won 200 titles, but only 54 of them are recognized by the ATP. Similarly, he won more than 1400 matches in his career, but again, the ATP records will show different numbers.

But one thing that is universally accepted is his 11 Grand Slams. Now, there are players who have won more Majors than Laver who are not on this list. What makes his 11 Slams special is the fact that he won all the four in a single year, and that too twice - once in 1962 and then again in 1969.

Due to the rules of his era, Laver wasn't allowed to compete in any Slam from 1963 to 1968. If he had competed in the 24 Majors during that period, his final tally would've likely been close to Federer's record of 20.

I place Laver above Pete Sampras even though the latter has won more Grand Slams because of the fact that Laver won the Calendar Slam twice in his career, and also taking into account the fact that he missed a lot of Slams due to the rules of his time.