5 greatest men's tennis players of all time

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.