Goulds takeaway: You never say never, but there is no way a team will ever do what this team did. 2023 by Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). In 1993, Sampras reached the world No. Create a free account and explore my latest videos below, Before we dive into many of the nuances of ranking the best players of all time, lets get clear on what exactly we mean by best.. 3 in singles and collected three Slam doubles championships, they went 36-0 and won the NCAAs for the only time in school history. (Skip to the end of the article to view our top 10 list if you have want to save time). "When I was coming up, the years between 18 and 22, there were a lot of girls who were breaking into the Top 100, Top 50, and Top 10, so I knew those were kind of the peak years. Trinity, 1972 He is currently ranked No. Yet if you lose a top player, all can be lost. Connors won the singles in 71. Top Men's Tennis Programs. If not for Federer, he likely would have won a few more trophies along the way. When it comes to the best female tennis player of all time, many consider the case to be closed due to the sheer dominance of Serena Williams in recent years. He was named the ITA National Player of the Year and an ITA Singles All-American for the second consecutive year. From talent pools to court surfaces, gear, the physicality of the sport, advances in medicine, and even the stress and pressure players face, its constantly changing from one decade to the next. M Men W Women. Rodrigues Finishes as NCAA Singles Runner-Up. 1 singles slot his junior season, Norrie also claimed TCUs season singles winning percentage record. These days, the Olympics hold quite a bit of significance related to a players overall success and perception. In 1896, the inaugural Olympics took place, and tennis was an official sport. Throughout her career, King ended up with a 695-155 record for a win rate of 81.76%. At the end of his collegiate career, Koepfer held the singles season winning percentage record and was second in career singles wins and career overall wins. Rankings. In his prime, Andy Murray was every bit as good as any of the Big Three tennis players. Billie Jean King is an icon in the tennis world, dominating her field for almost a decade as she won an astonishing 129 titles which included 12 Grand Slams. No other female tennis player has won eight. Before finishing his career as a Buckeye, Wolf won the school's first ITA Men's All-American Singles Championship and was named an ITA All-American in singles. Net Worth. The left-hander could spin the ball anywhere, and had put-away volleys that were unseen at the time. Awards: 3x National College Player of the Year, 3x ACC Player of the Year, ACC Rookie of the Year, 3x . To date, hes the only player to achieve that feat twice in his career, and only five players on the mens and womens side have won a calendar Grand Slam. 57 after reaching the third round in Barcelona in 2019. He took home a total of three French Open titles, and became an icon in Brazil for his consistent play. At the time, the Cardinal (who would go on to win the NCAAs that year) were ranked #1, Trinity #2. In March 1991, Seles replaced Stefi Graf as world No. Born on September 26, 1981, Serena Williams is an American tennis player who plays right-handed with a two-handed backhand and is one of the most prominent players of all time. *Please note that not all the stats included above are relevant for consideration as the best player ever. Stanford, 1978 John McEnroe, Matt Mitchell, Bill Maze, Peter Rennert, Lloyd Bourne. In addition to her gold medal in the 1988 Olympics, she earned a bronze in doubles that year. On the surface, ranking the best male and female tennis players of all time might appear like an easy task. ranking, but despite her success, she only held that post for two weeks throughout her career. 1. The Ohio State University. He has proven his talent for over 20 years and is still competing at the very highest level. A year later, in 1987, Stefi Graf won her first Grand Slam tournament at the French Open, defeating Martina Navratilova, another top player and world No. 3. However, out of all the finals he reached, he only won eight Grand Slams. Wolf turned professional a little over a year ago in July of 2019. Shed only lose one more match the entire year to Navratilova, going an astounding 75-2 for the year. 163 which is a career record. Rafa by Rafael Nadal, John Carlin. Ten years ago . Andre Agassi turned pro in 1986 at the age of 16 and, in two short years, rocketed to a ranking of world No. He broke the top 100 following a run to the Lyon semifinals in 2018. What's new. Check out the Men's tennis worldwide rankings for 2023, here at ESPN.com. Furthermore, he was never able to win the US Open despite four appearances in the finals. The left-hander from the United States finished his career with seven Grand Slams, and he became an icon in the sport fairly early on. She holds three Gold medals in doubles with her sister Venus and earned a singles gold at the 2012 London Olympics. However, with such great emphasis placed on Grand Slams when considering the greatest players of all time, its worthy of reference and consideration. But they faced off in a dicey semi against each other in the NCAA championships and then had to play doubles together. Swiss player Roger Federer, the greatest player of all time is easily justifiable. Born on December 2, 1973, in Florida, Monica Seles represented Yugoslavia early in her career and the United States she became a US citizen in 1994. Hes shown that he can play on other services as well, picking up a Grand Slam at the other three a total of eight times. 1 and 2 in singles and doubles, and won back-to-back singles titles in 11 and 12. In four years at Pitt, the smooth runner, named in a 2016 ESPN coaches' poll as the 10th-best college player of all time, dodged and weaved his way to a then-record 6,082 career rushing yards. Federer owns 15 more titles, over 100 extra weeks as world No. Passion - 6. NCSA analyzed over 880 four-year colleges with men's college tennis programs across four division levels (D1, D2, D3 and NAIA) to develop a list of the Best Men's Tennis Colleges for Student-Athletes.. NCSA Power Rankings are based on proprietary analysis of NCSA Favorites data obtained from the college search activity of the over 3 million student-athletes on . Although John McEnroe is perhaps best known for his outbursts on the court, his many accomplishments far outweigh his frequent sub-par behavior and speak for themselves. She turned pro in 1959 and first competed in the US Open at the age of 15, and although her opponent eliminated her in the first round, she showed great promise. Billie Jean King. Off of clay, his main rivals are superior. Throughout her career, she won 43 titles and had a career record of 525-115 for a winning rate of 82%. Moving on to the list comes the 15 best tennis players of all time with three bonus ones. Caroline Wozniacki. The big reason why thats the case is that Rafael Nadal won them all during his prime. In the three years that followed, Seles was dominant, winning six of the eight Grand Slam events in 1991 and 1992. In 1998, she didnt earn any titles, but she saw plenty of success, including a top 20 ranking. For years they were at the heart of the US Davis Cup team. For all those reasons, this is a justifiable choice. Toward the end of 1982, Graf turned pro, and she played her first full season the following year at the surprisingly young age of 13. 1. 1 ranking for 67 consecutive weeks, which is quite an achievement. Although he competed at the French Open and Wimbledon in 1977, McEnroe officially turned pro in 1978. Henin saw success immediately on the WTA tour, winning her first tour event as a wildcard at the Belgian Open in Antwerp. Of course the level of tennis is the other major factor. Beyond his success in singles, its also worth noting his accomplishments in doubles, where he had 78 titles, an 87.7% win record, and ranked No. 1 in doubles. 7. Book. From 2000 to 2009, tennis had some of the greatest men's tennis players of all time.These are some of the most talented 2000s tennis players to ever live, so if you're a fan of tennis and are aspiring to play tennis professionally then these people should be your idols. During the NCAA team tournament, he won all three of his singles matches and all four of his doubles matches. During that year, she also managed to help Belgium win the Fed Cup. In 1962, Margaret Court achieved a career-high ranking of world No. In addition to his deep runs in the individual NCAA Championships, Anderson led the Illini to the finals of the team competition in 2007. I won't repeat it but answer the implicit question- it doesn't matter. There was USCs 58 squad, led by Perus Modesto Junior College transfer Alex Olmedo, who won the NCAA singles and doubles and led the US to the Davis Cup title. Novak Djokovic has won 19 singles Grand Slams and was ranked world number 1 in 2011. Born on March 7, 1960, in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, Ivan Lendl had an impressive career that began in 1978 when he turned pro. Federer is joint top as the player with most Grand Slam titles in the world (20) and is second behind Djokovic in most weeks spent at the World No.1 spot. Sampras would claim five total US Open titles, two Australian Open titles, and seven Wimbledon titles for a total of 13 Grand Slam victories. Venus turned pro at the early age of 14 in 1994 when she played her first WTA tournament. 8 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 4 Australian, 2 French, 2 US Open. In 2008, Nadal became the worlds No. 6 in Lance Tingay's amateur rankings. Given enough time, another player will come along that does what many now believe to be impossible. 6. Coming off his NCAA titles, McDonald was awarded a wildcard into the 2016 US Open. In 1986, she won her first tournament defeating Chris Evert, one of the most dominant players at the time. In 1966, King became the world No. 1 for the first time, and she was able to maintain that position for a total of 221 weeks throughout her career. However, this list is based more on how players fared against the competition, as well as their overall play. Although many people would agree on the data, qualities, or attributes that make one player better than others, theres ultimately personal opinion injected. For example, as black athletes, Serena and Venus Williams overcame unprecedented challenges growing up to break into tennis. Thats why some people will put him third. 1 ranking in February 2004 and has held that ranking for a total of 310 weeks 237 of which were consecutive weeks where he was virtually unbeatable. Johnson has finished the past six seasons ranked in the Top 100. But in 73 they didnt just lose one top player, they lost their top two. 1 player in the world. Australian Rod Laver was born on August 3, 1938, and players and fans widely regard him as one of the greatest players of all time. Hopefully, the combination helps explain why we ranked players as we did while providing a jumping-off point for future debate. 17 in singles and No. The NCAA tennis championships began in 1883 on the courts of a Hartford insane asylum. Instead, these tournaments only allowed amateurs to play, and these players didnt receive prize money. She holds seven titles at the Australian Open, three at the French Open, seven at Wimbledon, and six at the US Open. However, her first Grand Slam victory came a few years later at the French Open in 1971, which she quickly followed up with a win at Wimbledon as well. A list that gives the top 10 tennis players of all time! Your Safe Play Approval Expires in $(daysToExpire) days! In addition to his Grand Slam success, Federer has claimed 103 ATP titles, the most ever behind Jimmy Connors in the Open Era. In this article, well share our selection of the greatest players of all time, but well also discuss the challenges when ranking and why theyre important to keep in mind. Venus Williams (Born: June 17, 1980) Venus Williams is an American professional tennis player. 5. Regardless, shes well deserving of the title as one of the best female tennis players of all time. They won back-to-back NCAA doubles titles and were part of a four-year run in which USC won the NCAAs from 66 to 69. John McEnroe is another of the greatest male tennis players of all time.
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