Federer was only 19 when he seized his 2001 fourth-round Wimbledon upset against seven-time champ Pete Sampras to signal the beginning of the passing of the torch between the two men. He cemented his place among the sport's elite the next year with his first Grand Slam tournament win by rallying from a two-set deficit against McEnroe in the French Open final. His forehand, well, there are so many things he can do with that shot. Bud Collins called her Fraulein Forehand for a reason. Who doesn't love a great debate, especially in sports?
He loved having a target when guys came in. He knew his capabilities and his opponents' weaknesses. -- Martina Navratilova
Hits the ball very clean, taking time away from the opponent. It's not easy to identify the career zenith of a player who won a record 24 Grand Slam singles championships and another 40 in doubles. In the Grand Slams, he amassed eight doubles trophies, including a career Slam, and 10 mixed doubles titles, which also features all four majors. As of 2017, ranking is based on calculating, for each player, his total points from his best 18 results from all eligible tournaments, including the ATP Finals (Doubles) played in the 52-week ranking period.
He was also one of the quickest players on the court, and when he'd serve and volley and get to net, he hit a lot of nice deep volleys. Look at the competition; he's beaten two of the greatest players ever. 1 before winning their first Grand Slam titlePlayers who became No. Good at both singles and doubles, and that's the one thing that had him playing all the time. Federer went on to cement his claim for best male player ever by passing Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam wins. Serena now trails only Graf and Margaret Court's all-time record of 24. Richard Williams said when Serena and Venus were teenagers that Serena, though younger, would turn out to be the better player between his two daughters. Sampras' 2000 victory at Wimbledon arguably established him as the greatest male player of all time (until Roger Federer eclipsed him). Djokovic's victory over Federer in the 2014 Wimbledon final made him -- not Rafael Nadal -- the first man to defeat Federer at all four Grand Slams.
Consistency. She had the best backhand in the game. That was a huge weapon for her.
1 when it happened and missed nearly three years. 1 world ranking. I think of athleticism. -- Ivan Lendl You can't teach that kind of movement and flexibility. What also separated him was his ability to play a chip-and-charge game and his athleticism (he loved to show off his hops on overhead smashes). -- Pete Sampras When Nadal defeated Roger Federer in 2008 at Federer's beloved Wimbledon in one of the greatest matches ever played -- it took 4 hours, 48 minutes to complete between rain delays -- Nadal proved he was more than a clay-court wonder. -- Pete Sampras
On the court, he was very, very consistent and mentally strong. Pressure doesn't detract from his ability to achieve that goal.
He retired for the first time a few months later, with 11 Slam titles. The newspapers called Evert "Chris America," and King proclaimed "She's the one!" -- Stefan Edberg Let's See who are the Best Female Tennis Players of All Time. The biggest thing was how athletic she was. In tennis alone, we could deliberate hundreds of meaningful topics, but we decided to go big -- as in the greatest player of all time. She and Venus still dislike playing each other. Greatness was predicted for Agassi even before he turned pro at age 16.
Top 10 Greatest Female Tennis Players of all Time. You never knew what she was thinking or what strategy she was going to choose. He hit the ball very flat and hard and heavy. He went on to win seven more Grand Slam singles championships, two Davis Cup titles and an Olympic gold medal. ... but he is rightly considered to be one of the greatest-ever doubles players, having won 55 doubles titles and 18 mixed doubles titles. in men's tennis history by skipping the postmatch news conference and leaving the stadium without showering, taking a car directly to JFK Airport and leaving town. She hated to lose.