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The Greatest Male Tennis Players

Glenn Duker

· Australia,Glenn Duker,Tennis,Sports,Melbourne

A game played since the 1800s, tennis has evolved into a school sport as well as one that highly skilled professionals play. Over these many years, there have been astonishing players in the men's divisions.

Australia is number one as the home to champions. Two of these are Roy Emerson, a great athlete who is often not recognized because he played before the beginning of Open Era, and Rod Laver. Emerson held 12 titles, among them six Australian Opens. He ranks as the only male player to have completed a Career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles. This winning record stood until Pete Sampras won a 13th title in 2000 at Wimbledon. Since he played in earlier years, Emerson was under amateur status. This great tennis player was comfortable on every surface and was so physically fit that he often beat opponents by wearing them down.

A left-handed player, Rod Laver was renown for a 12-inch forearm that needed no help from his right when he swung his racquet at the last second, perplexing his opponents. Because he, too, played before the Open Era, he is credited with only 52 victories when he may have won as many as 200. The press ranked Laver as the top amateur player in the world in 1961 and 1962. Also, in 1962 and later in 1969, Laver went on to win Grand Slams. The press ranked laver as the top professional tennis player from 1964-1970.

Currently, Roger Federer, who has won 20 Grand Slam titles, is ranked by many as the greatest tennis player. Rafael Nadal, who is ranked as second only to Federer with 17 Grand Slam titles, reigns on the clay court and is well respected, along with Novak Djokovic, who has won 15 Grand Slam titles. These three seasoned players are breaking records and doing it in the same period. Even younger opponents cannot dethrone them. Remarkable contemporary players who have preceded them in wins are Pete Sampras (14 Grand Slams), Bjorn Borg (11 Grand Slams), Jimmy Conners (8 Grand Slams), Ivan Lendl (8 Grand Slams), Andre Agassi (8 Grand Slams), Stefan Edberg (8 Grand Slams), John McEnroe (7 Grand Slams) and Boris Becker (6 Grand Slams).