Top 8 American tennis players in the Open Era ft. Serena Williams and Pete Sampras

The origins of American tennis are intriguing. In 1874, a young socialite named Mary Ewing Outerbridge became fascinated by seeing British officers in Bermuda playing a game of tennis. Outerbridge brought a "sphairistike" set up with her and set up a tennis court at the State Island Cricket Club in New York. Six years later, Outerbridge's efforts resulted in the organizing of the first-ever American National Championship.

The United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now USTA) was established in 1880. A year later, the first-ever US Open was held at Newport Casino, Rhode Island. The women's event was first held in 1887. Ever since, the USA has been integral in structuring and developing tennis tours globally.

The advent of the Open Era in 1968 led to amateurs and professionals competing together on the biggest stages. There have been 139 instances in singles, 282 in doubles and 117 in mixed doubles when a player representing the USA has won a Slam in the Open Era.

Let's take a look at the eight best tennis players that have represented the USA in the Open Era:

#8 Venus Williams

Venus Williams prepares to serve

A former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Venus Williams is widely regarded as one of the greatest American women to have played the game. Williams has won 49 singles and 22 doubles tour-level titles.

The 2000 Olympic singles gold medalist is a winner of seven singles Majors (five at Wimbledon), 14 doubles Majors (two-time Career Slam) and two mixed-doubles titles. A three-time Olympic doubles gold medalist, Williams holds the record for most Grand Slam appearances in a row (91).

#7 Jimmy Connors

Jimmy Connors was ranked No. 1 for 160 consecutive weeks

Between 1974 and 1976, Jimmy Connors was ranked as the World No. 1 for 160 consecutive weeks. A winner of a record 109 singles titles, Connors won 1,274 of the 1,557 matches he played in his career. The eight-time singles Slam champion also won two doubles Slams in his career. Except for the French Open, where he lost in the semis on four occasions, Connors won every other Major.

Connors was at his best in 1974, where he won all three Majors he participated in. He was banned from entering the French Open that year due to controversy over his participation in the World Team Tennis league. The American was the year-end No. 1 player from 1974 to 1978.

#6 Andre Agassi

Andre Agassi attempts a forehand

Andre Agassi is the only player to win the Career Super Slam - an Olympic gold, all four Majors and the season-ending championship. In 1999, Agassi became the first player to win all four singles Majors on three different surfaces. He is the latest American to win the French Open (1999).

The former World No. 1 reached 90 singles finals in his career during his two-decade long career and won 60 of them. 17 of these titles came at the Masters level. "The Punisher," as he was known, had a career win-loss record of 870-274 and was World No. 1 for 101 weeks.

#5 Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King plays a slice backhand

Billie Jean King started her career nine years before the Open Era began. Yet, the change in competition barely affected her. One of the most revered sportspeople in all sports, King is widely credited with uplifting women's tennis and establishing the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). In the Open Era, she won 11 singles, nine doubles and seven mixed doubles Slams.

A winner of 67 singles titles in the Open Era, King was widely regarded as the best player in the world in the late 1960s. By winning the title in Birmingham in 1983, she became the oldest female player to win a singles tour level title.

In 2006, the USTA National Tennis Center was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Fed Cup was renamed the Billie Jean King Cup in 2020.

#4 Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras plays a forehand

Pete Sampras was the undisputed king of the 1990s. A winner of 64 singles titles, Sampras won 14 Major titles, an all-time record until Roger Federer surpassed it at Wimbledon 2009. Sampras was the year-ending World No. 1 between 1993 and 1998 and held the spot for a total of 286 weeks. The American won the year-ending championship five times.

"Pistol Pete" won every Major except the French Open, where his best result was reaching the semis in 1996. He finished with a career win-loss record of 762-222 (77.4%).

#3 Chris Evert

Chris Evert won 18 Slams

Chris Evert was one of the most dominant players in the 1970s and 1980s. She owns numerous records that still stand today. To begin with, Evert reached 34 Major singles finals and made the semifinals or better in 52 of the 56 Slams she competed in.

Evert won at least one Slam each year for 13 consecutive years. An eight-time Fed Cup champion, Evert's career win rate of 89.97% (1,309-146) in singles is second only to Margaret Court. The two-time singles Career Slam winner had a career win-loss record of 382-22 (94.55%) on clay, which is an Open Era WTA record.

#2 Serena Williams

Serena Williams has won 23 Majors

A World No. 1 for 319 weeks, Serena Williams enjoyed an illustrious career between 1995 and 2022. She won 23 singles, 14 doubles and two mixed doubles Majors in her career.

A three-time singles Career Slam winner, Williams won the year-ending championship five times and was an Olympic gold medalist in 2012. The American also has three doubles Olympic golds, all while partnering with her older sister Venus Williams . A winner of 73 singles and 23 doubles titles, Williams had a highly impressive 858-156 (84.6%) career win-loss record in singles.

#1 Martina Navratilova

Martina Navratilova

Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert dominated the tennis scene in the 1970s and 1980s. Navratilova is one of three players in the history of tennis to complete a Career Boxed Set, i.e., winning singles, doubles and mixed doubles at least once in every Slam. The Czech-born American has won a record 59 Majors - 18 singles, 31 doubles and 10 mixed doubles. Navratilova's tally of 167 singles tour-level titles is an Open Era record.

Between 1982-1986, Navratilova had a win-rate of over 94% every season (86-1 in 1983). The four-time Fed Cup champion was World No. 1 in both singles and doubles. She was No. 1 in singles for 332 weeks, a record since usurped only by Steffi Graf.