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The Greatest Ever...

Wednesday, 08 July 2009 01:56 Raveesh Bhalla
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federer_us_open_champ.jpgPete Sampras hailed Roger Federer as the greatest ever tennis player in history after the Swiss won a record-breaking 15th Grand Slam at Wimbledon on Sunday, but there definitely are other contenders for that crown. TheSportsCampus.com has a look at 5 of the best in our opinion, listing their achievements and what makes them that little bit more special than the other greats to have played the game.

(in chronological order)

Rod Laver (AUS)
Career Record: 392-99, 40 ATP Titles
Grand Slams: 11
3 Australian Open (1960, 1962, 1969)
2 French Open (1962, 1969)
4 Wimbledon (1961, 1962, 1968, 1969)
2 US Open (1962, 1969)

Although Laver stood relatively short at 1.72m, the Aussie's ferocious serve-and-volley game, backed up by probably the best backhand the game has ever seen, saw him dominate the the tour from even before he turned pro. Laver mastered the top-spin shots which were relatively new in the 1960s, and had an exquisite lob. Laver was widely regarded by sportswriters of his time as the best player in the world between 1962-70, a spell during which he won all the Grand Slams in a single year on 2 occasions - 1962 and 1969 - first an amateur, and then as a professional. 1969 also saw him become the first player to earn $100,000 in a single year.

Bjorn Borg (SWE)
Career Record: 597-127, 63 ATP Titles
Grand Slams: 11
6 French Open (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981)
5 Wimbledon (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)

Nicknamed the Ice-Man, Borg first got fascinated by tennis when his father won a golden racquet in a table-tennis tournament. His father gave him the racquet that kick-started one of the most successful careers in Tennis history. Borg first broke onto the scene in 1974 when he became the youngest winner at Roland Garros. Borg holds the Open era record for best Grand slams won to entered ratio (11 of 27, 41%) and highest winning percentage of Grand Slam matches (89.8%).Borg was so dominant at Roland Garros that only one player has ever beaten him there, Adriano Panatta (4th rd in 1973 and QF in 1976). At Wimbledon, Borg was almost as invincible, winning five times in a row from 1976-80, before John McEnroe beat him in the 1981 final. Borg decided that his hallowed turf had been desecrated, and never stepped on the grass of SW19 again.

Borg failed to ever win the US Open or the Australian Open, but that hardly dents his credentials. He reached the finals in the US on 4 occasions, but his best at the Australian Open was a lowly 3rd round exit.

Pete Sampras (USA)
Career Record: 762-222, 64 ATP Titles
Grand Slams: 14
2 Australian Open (1994, 1997)
7 Wimbledon (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
5 US Open (1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002)

Pistol Pete turned pro in 1988 at the age of 16, and ended the year ranked No. 96 in the world. Only two years later, Pete became the youngest winner of the US Open at 18 years and 28 days of age. He didn't win another Grand Slam for two years, but when he won at Wimbledon in 1993, it sparked off an amazing run on tour that saw him dominate the game like few before him. Sampras finished No. 1 on the ATP rankings for a record 6 consecutive years from 1993-98, and what makes the feat even more amazing is that no other person has even managed to finish on top 6 years spread across their career. He also holds the record for the longest time as No. 1 with 286 weeks, and the most number of Wimbledon titles with 7 (he never lost a Wimbledon final). However, the French Open always eluded him, a fact his critics often mention to rebuff claims that he is the best ever tennis player.

Roger Federer (SUI)
Career Record: 657-155, 60 ATP Titles
Grand Slams: 15
3 Australian Opens (2004, 2006, 2007)
1 French Open (2009)
6 Wimbledons (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)
5 US Opens (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)

Roger first turned eyes in 2001 when he beat his hero Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in front of the thousands of watchful eyes at Centre Court. For two years after that he searched for something elusive to give him that extra edge to go onto win the bigger events, and it was fitting that his first Grand Slam came at Wimbledon, a tournament that has gone onto become like a home-coming for FedEx every year. Federer has added 5 more Wimbledons alongwith 9 other Grand Slams to his repertoire, and is considered by even the players of former generations as the greatest ever. What proved crucial for him to lay claim to that title was his French Open win this year. Federer was World No.1 for a record 237 straight weeks. Just to highlight exactly how dominant his game has been, 2008 was considered a poor year for the Swiss maestro despite reaching the finals of three Grand Slams and the semi-finals of the Australian Open, because he won just the US Open and lost his grip on Wimbledon.

Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Career Record: 379-82, 36 ATP Titles
Grand Slams: 6
1 Australian Open (2009)
4 French Opens (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
1 Wimbledon (2008)

A controversial choice in this list considering his young career, but we decided to name him just for the potential he has to go on and break possibly each and every record there is. Nadal is definitely better suited to the clay-courts, but he's developed his game to other surfaces, and is rapidly climbing the greatness charts. Nadal and Federer's rivalry saw them meet in 7 Grand Slam finals since 2006, with Federer's only wins coming in 2006 and 2007 at Wimbledon. Nadal's rise coupled with Federer's back problems last year saw the Swiss finally getting knocked off the top of the World rankings, and it was only Nadal's injury troubles which saw him fail to put up a strong defence to his French Open title and miss Wimbledon completely this year, allowing Roger to regain the No. 1 ranking. One has to believe that with Federer's inevitable 'tennis demise' with age (yes, sadly it comes to one and all), if Nadal can stay fit, he could very well rewrite all the record books

There you go, we believe these five players are all worthy of being considered the greatest ever. Although it's unfair to ever name someone as "The Greatest Ever" in any sport, especially one with as rich a history as tennis, the discussion has always held a fan's imagination. Unfortunately we had to leave out players from the pre-Open era, some of who had the ability dominate the game as well as any of the above (Don Budge is the best example, being the first to have won all the 4 modern grand slams in the same year). Have your say on the poll on our homepage, and if you want to enter the debate their's a discussion on our Facebook fan page.

FIle Photograph Copyright: Erika Andersen