The 10 greatest Men's Tennis Players in the Open Era
It has been 50 years since the beginning of Open Era in Tennis and it has been an exciting ride of five decades. We have travelled from Laver's soothing backhand to Nadal's muscular forehand. From Borg's always calm and composed nature to Djokovic's fearless expression on every point. From Mcenroe's net rushing to Federer's always gracious and artistic play on the court, the game of tennis has transformed a lot.
50 years ago, tennis was mostly dominated by the net players of America and Australia but now it is dominated by baseliners of Europe. From the wooden racquet age to the current graphite racquet era we have travelled a long way.
But if you pay close attention they both are mostly carbon i.e. The core of this game is still the same. So let us put all of it together and pick the best 10 out of the countless amazing tennis players who have obliged this great game.
This is the list of top 10 greatest tennis players (male) since the beginning of the Open Era.
As the game of tennis has evolved a lot, we have tried to emphasise on the consistency and diversity of the player rather than the stats. Keep in mind that we are only considering the Open Era, which excludes Rod Laver and Roy Emerson since they have played most of their tennis before the beginning of Open Era.
And the likes of Tilden, Vines, Fudge, Kramer and Pancho Gonzalez, since they played before the Open Era began. And to be honest it's a very uneasy task to fit in Laver in this list who is considered to be the greatest of all time by many.
So let’s begin the countdown…
10. Andre Agassi
(One of the best returner of all time and one of the few players to have the Career Slam)
Grand Slam Titles: 8
Career Singles Titles: 60
Number of weeks as No 1: 101
Considered to be one of the best returners of all time by many. One of the few players in Open Era to win all four majors in the career (Career Slam), the World tour finals of 1990 and Olympic gold at Sydney (1996) which completed his career Golden Slam.