10 Greatest Male Tennis Players of the Open Era

The ten greatest male singles players of the Open Era.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Andre
• Agassi
• Boris
• Becker
• Bjorn
• Borg
• Jimmy
• Connors
• Roger
• Federer
• Rod
• Laver
• Ivan
• Lendl
• John
• McEnroe
• Rafael
• Nadal
• Pete
• Sampras

[theatlantean3]

Another "intangible" on determining who's the Greatest: What if Borg had played past his 26th birthday? He was still the 2nd best player on a fast surface (next to McEnroe); he would have won another 1 or 2 Wimbledon's. He was the #1 player on clay, so he would have had 3-4 more French Open's in him. What if Borg played Australia? (It was played on grass). This would have given him another 3-4 slams, easily, beings the competition wasn't as deep those years in Australia. Total Slams: 18

[isselman2000]

@theatlantean3 I don't think that it's possible to say with any confidence what would have happened if he had not retired when he did and had played Australia. You see, every win is a major ordeal and takes something out of you. Perhaps if he had been playing Australia all along he would not have won as many titles at Wimby or at RG. Optimistically speaking, he may have won one or two more majors, but still would not have been as great as Laver.

[BFHeroesSoldier1]

ROGER SHÖLÖLÖLÖLÖLÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖLÖLÖÖÖ­Ö

[isselman2000]

@BFHeroesSoldier1 Don't laugh at the Swiss Maestro, especially if you're Swiss yourself. What the hell??

[MJTheKing95]

1:53

Spec: ALL-AROUND XD

[yescanto]

Agassi above Lendl... no... Nadal above Laver .. no !!

[sarasmilepiano]

@isselman2000 Borg's early retirement is the most fascinating "What If" case in tennis. I'm in the camp who believes that while Bjorn had the ability to win Aussie a few times early in his career.Motivation & staying healthy would have been the only issues with him.

[sarasmilepiano]

@theatlantean3 Breaking it down for surfaces:

Outdoor hard: Roger Federer

Indoor hard: Roger Federer

Carpet: John McEnroe

Clay: Rafael Nadal

Grass: Pete Sampras

But if I had to count on a guy to win ONE match under pressure conditions on any surface (ie- Davis Cup), it would be:

Rafael Nadal

[Vhsmith37]

Pete was number 1 for 286 weeks not 268

[theatlantean3]

Good list, mate. I have been asked who I think the Greatest of All Time is by many of my students, which is always a tough question to answer. I tell them that if I had to pick ONE PLAYER to play for my life, against an unknown opponent, on an unknown surface, it would probably be Federer (in his prime). The only person I would worry about at that point, is if we drew Nadal on a slow clay court. My other favorites would be Pete, but too many guys could take him on a slow court. So Fed is my pick

[LilitaEsperanza07]

demonios si federer tuviese el mismo porcentaje de efectividad que nadal en finales de grand slam llevara probablemente 19 0 20 grand slams no jodas!! es un tipo genia mis respetos para ell!!! y aunque este año no gano ninguno espero que se recupere y juegue y gane mas finales el año que viene! suerte fed

[sarasmilepiano]

This is one of the better lists, for sure. All of the guys deserve to be there. The top 5 is spot on but my order would be- 1. Roger, 2. Rod, 3.Pete, 4. Bjorn, 5. Rafa. The bottom half of the top 10 I would agree with, except maybe I would switch spots with Connors and McEnroe, so that JMac would be #8 instead of #9.