5 greatest men's tennis players of all time

Tennis is one of the most popular games in the world and has been graced by many great players over the decades. The sport can be very demanding at the highest level as it tests both the physical stamina and the mental focus of a player. Whether one is trying to return a 200 kmph serve, attempting to get to a ball at the baseline, or surging towards the net, one needs to be supremely fit and agile.

At the same time, it is a surface-oriented game and the playing conditions can vary a lot. A tennis match can be played on a slow clay court, a much faster grass court or a more neutral hard court, and the requisite skill-sets also keep changing according to the playing surface.

Over the decades, Tennis has been graced by some great champions who have enthralled us with their performances. The game has undergone a lot of evolution too as the wooden racquets have been replaced by the graphite ones and players have got fitter and stronger.

Therefore, it is not easy to select top 5 players in the history of tennis. However, we have finalized an all-time list on the basis of their overall career records, performances at Grand Slams and completeness of their game.

5. Bjorn Borg (Sweden)

Bjorn Borg

The Swedish champion remains the only player to have shown unrivaled supremacy in both the French Open and the Wimbledon. Borg had won 6 consecutive French Open titles and 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles before retiring at the age of only 27. He had made it to a 6th consecutive Wimbledon final in 1981 but lost to John McEnroe. He retired soon after that, maybe because he had already achieved everything by then.

Besides McEnroe, Borg enjoyed great rivalries against the likes of Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Ilie Nastase but remained the pick of the lot by some distance. He was a baseliner who used to commit very few errors and wear his opponents down with his clinical efficiency. Borg won 11 Grand Slams and 64 career singles titles. He was known as “the Iceman” because of his ice-cool and seemingly unaffected demeanor.

4. Pete Sampras (USA)

Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras is unquestionably the greatest grass-court player of all time. He won 7 Wimbledon titles in his career, a record that has only been bettered by Federer. He also won 14 majors before retiring at the age of 33. If he had continued playing for a few more years, he could easily have increased his tally.

Overall, Sampras won 64 singles titles in his career including 11 ATP Masters titles and dominated an era comprising of fellow greats like Agassi, Becker, Edberg and Courier. The only blot in Sampras’ superb career was the inability to win a French Open title. Sampras also spent a total of 286 weeks as the world's no.1 tennis player and only Roger Federer has eclipsed that feat.

Sampras, however, proved the completeness of his game by winning 5 US Open and 2 Australian Open titles. He also had the greatest serve of all time. Sampras was a brilliant volleyer too and was the last true great exponent of the serve-and-volley game. His cross-court passing shots were a treat to watch and so were his backhand slices.

He also had a single-minded and unflinching focus on the court and always raised his game in the big matches. He remained a fierce competitor throughout his career and was a champion to the core.

3. Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

Novak Djokovic

Djokovic is quite possibly the greatest hard-court player of all time. He has won 10 majors on hard-courts, a feat bettered only by Roger Federer. However, one has to keep in mind that Djokovic’s career started well after Federer’s and therefore, the former has a better winning ratio.

He has also managed to win nearly 85% of his career matches and even Federer has an inferior overall winning ratio. In all, Djokovic has won 13 Grand Slams till date and this number could easily go up further. He also has the unique record of holding all the Grand Slam titles at once.

Djokovic’s game is built upon solid baseline play and he also has the best groundstrokes of all time. His court coverage is absolutely superb too and he almost always manages to reach the ball with his magnificent slides. Djokovic, however, does not boast of a great serve and it explains his relatively inferior record on grass.

The fact that he has still managed to win 2 Wimbledon titles speaks volumes of the other facets of his game. Overall, Djokovic has won 70 career singles titles including 31 ATP Masters titles.

2. Rafael Nadal (Spain)

Rafael Nadal

The “King of Clay” holds an unsurpassable record of 11 French Open titles. His dominance at Roland Garros is almost ridiculously evident. However, the fact that he has managed to win 6 more majors on other surfaces goes on to show the completeness of his game. Nadal has won 5 majors on hard-courts and two Wimbledon titles on grass, his least favored surface. He has managed to win 80 career singles titles including 33 ATP Masters titles and is still among the best in the world at the age of 32. He also won the Olympic singles gold medal in 2008.

Nadal’s court-coverage and incredible passing shots are among the primary reasons behind his success. He also has one of the greatest forehands of all time and his forehands almost always contain vicious top-spin. He has a great return of serve too. Nadal’s rivalry with Federer is the greatest in the history of tennis and he actually enjoys a superior head-to-head record against his great rival. Nadal still might increase his amazing tally of 17 majors as he is still going strong.

1. Roger Federer (Switzerland)

Roger Federer

Federer is quite possibly one of the greatest sportspersons of all time. His record of winning 20 Grand Slams is unlikely to be bettered ever. The fact that he has won the last 3 of those titles after attaining the age of 35 further underlines his greatness. He is on the verge of completing 2 decades in the circuit and still remains one of the best players in the world at the age of 37.

Federer has won 8 Wimbledon, 6 Australian Open, 5 US Open and a single French Open title in his incomparable career. He spent a staggering 237 consecutive weeks as the no. 1 player in the world, another feat unlikely to be bettered. He has also won 98 overall career singles titles including 27 ATP Masters titles.

Federer has a superb serve, the greatest forehand of all time, a magnificent one-handed backhand and great volleys. He is primarily a baseliner but has brilliant net-skills too. Nadal enjoys a better overall head-to-head record against him but Federer has had his great rival’s number in the biggest of the matches.

Federer’s silken touch, amiable behavior and winning mentality have made him an unrivaled champion and he comfortably remains the greatest player to have wielded a tennis racquet.