100 Greatest of All Time

Last updated

100 Greatest of All Time
Genre Sports
Presented by
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes5
Original release
Network Tennis Channel
ReleaseMarch 2012 (2012-03) 
March 23, 2012 (2012-03-23)

100 Greatest of All Time was a sports television series of five one-hour episodes, produced and first aired by the Tennis Channel in March 2012. It presented a list of 100 tennis players to be considered the greatest of all time, both men and women. The series was hosted by Jack Nicklaus, Jerry Rice, Wayne Gretzky, Lisa Leslie and Carl Lewis. [1] Many retired tennis luminaries provided commentary, including Rod Laver, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi.

Contents

Background

An international panel of tennis experts determined this ranking of 62 men and 38 women. [1] The United States was credited with the most great players (38), followed by Australia (17), France (7), Great Britain (6) and Czechoslovakia (5). Forty-three players made the list from the Americas, 39 from Europe and 18 from Oceania.

Grand Slam singles titles (Australian, French, Wimbledon and US tournaments) column figures reflect number of wins as of March 2012 when the list was published. In addition to that, the pre-Open Era Pro major tournaments (three professional events) were included: the U.S. Pro Championships (first held in 1927), French Pro Championship (first held in 1930) and Wembley Championships (started in 1934). Only male tennis players that turned from amateurs to pros were able to participate in those. [a] The Open Era started in 1968 and all three pro majors tournaments were quickly relegated to lesser events and were all defunct by the 1990s.

Prior to 1924, the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) recognized two other events as world championships. The "World Hard Court Championships" (WHCC) and the "World Covered Court Championships" (WCCC). Between 1913 and 1923 Wimbledon was known as the World Grass Court Championships (WGCC), also sanctioned by the ILTF.

In 1924 ILTF designated the Australasian, French, British and American championship tournaments as the new four majors. 1925 was the first season held with all these four major tournaments opened to all amateurs.

Achievements

The Grand Slam, winning all four Grand Slam tournament singles titles (Australian, French, Wimbledon and US) in one calendar year was achieved six times by five different players: Don Budge in 1938, Maureen Connolly in 1953, Rod Laver in 1962 & 1969, Margaret Court in 1970 and Steffi Graf in 1988.

The Pro Grand Slam, winning all three professional slam singles titles (U.S., French and Wembley) in one calendar year was achieved by Ken Rosewall in 1963 and by Rod Laver in 1967.

Anthony Wilding is the only Triple World Champion. In 1913, he won all three ILTF singles titles, the World Covered Court Championships (WCCC), the World Hard Court Championships (WHCC) and Wimbledon Championships (also known as World Grass Court Championships or simply WGCC).

Top 100 ranking per Tennis Channel in 2012

RankNameGenderNationalityMajors
ILTF chps.Pro SlamGrand Slam
(March 2012)
Total
(Current)
1 Roger Federer Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   SUI 1620
2 Rod Laver ‡ ◊ ‡Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 81119
3 Steffi GrafFlag of Germany.svg  FRG/Flag of Germany.svg  GER 2222
4 Martina Navratilova Flag of the United States.svg  USA 1818
5 Pete Sampras Flag of the United States.svg  USA 1414
6 Rafael Nadal Flag of Spain.svg  ESP 1022
7 Björn Borg Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE 1111
8 Margaret CourtFlag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 2424
9 Chris Evert Flag of the United States.svg  USA 1818
10 Billie Jean King Flag of the United States.svg  USA 1212
11 Don BudgeFlag of the United States.svg  USA 4610
12 Andre Agassi Flag of the United States.svg  USA 88
13 John McEnroe Flag of the United States.svg  USA 77
14 Serena Williams Flag of the United States.svg  USA 1323
15 Jimmy Connors Flag of the United States.svg  USA 88
16 Bill Tilden Flag of the United States.svg  USA 141015
17 Roy Emerson Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 1212
18 Ivan Lendl Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  TCH/Flag of the United States.svg  USA 88
19 Monica Seles Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  YUG/Flag of the United States.svg  USA 99
20 Ken RosewallFlag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 15823
21 Boris Becker Flag of Germany.svg  FRG/Flag of Germany.svg  GER 66
22 Venus Williams Flag of the United States.svg  USA 77
23 Fred Perry Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  GBR 2810
24 Suzanne Lenglen Flag of France.svg  FRA 4812
25 Stefan Edberg Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE 66
26 Justine Henin Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  BEL 77
27 Maureen ConnollyFlag of the United States.svg  USA 99
28 Arthur Ashe Flag of the United States.svg  USA 33
29 Helen Wills Flag of the United States.svg  USA 1919
30 Martina Hingis Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   SUI 55
31 John Newcombe Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 77
32 Lew Hoad Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 145
33 Mats Wilander Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE 77
34 Jack Kramer Flag of the United States.svg  USA 235
35 Pancho Gonzalez Flag of the United States.svg  USA 12214
36 René Lacoste Flag of France.svg  FRA 77
37 Evonne Goolagong Cawley Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 77
38 Maria Bueno Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA 77
39 Althea Gibson Flag of the United States.svg  USA 156
40 Novak Djokovic Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg  SCG/Flag of Serbia.svg  SRB 524
41 Guillermo Vilas Flag of Argentina.svg  ARG 44
42 Jim Courier Flag of the United States.svg  USA 44
43 Lindsay Davenport Flag of the United States.svg  USA 33
44 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Flag of Spain.svg  ESP 44
45 Kim Clijsters Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  BEL 44
46 Henri Cochet Flag of France.svg  FRA 31711
47 Jean Borotra Flag of France.svg  FRA 44
48 Frank Sedgman Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 257
49 Ilie Năstase Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg  ROU 22
50 Tony Trabert Flag of the United States.svg  USA 257
51 Doris Hart Flag of the United States.svg  USA 66
52 Jack Crawford Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 66
53 Tracy Austin Flag of the United States.svg  USA 22
54 Manuel Santana Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  ESP 44
55 Gustavo Kuerten Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA 33
56 Stan Smith Flag of the United States.svg  USA 22
57 Jennifer Capriati Flag of the United States.svg  USA 33
58 Alice Marble Flag of the United States.svg  USA 55
59 Margaret Osborne duPont Flag of the United States.svg  USA 66
60 Virginia Wade Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  GBR 33
61 Neale Fraser Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 33
62 Hana Mandlíková Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  TCH 44
63 Lleyton Hewitt Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 22
64 Ellsworth Vines Flag of the United States.svg  USA 538
65 Pancho Segura Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU 404
66 Bobby Riggs Flag of the United States.svg  USA 336
67 Fred Stolle Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 22
68 Helen Hull Jacobs Flag of the United States.svg  USA 55
69 Louise Brough Flag of the United States.svg  USA 66
70 Patrick Rafter Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 22
71 Maria Sharapova Flag of Russia.svg  RUS 35
72 Gottfried Von Cramm Flag of Germany (1933-1935).svg / Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg /Flag of Germany.svg  FRG 22
73 Jaroslav Drobný Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  TCH 33
74 Tony Roche Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 11
75 Pauline Betz Addie Flag of the United States.svg  USA 156
76 William Renshaw Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  GBR 77
77 Molla Mallory Flag of Norway.svg  NOR/Flag of the United States.svg  USA 88
78 Ashley Cooper Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 44
79 Gabriela Sabatini Flag of Argentina.svg  ARG 11
80 Marat Safin Flag of Russia.svg  RUS 22
81 Vic Seixas Flag of the United States.svg  USA 22
82 Yevgeny Kafelnikov Flag of Russia.svg  RUS 22
83 Jan Kodeš Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  TCH 33
84 Norman Brookes Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 33
85 Yannick Noah Flag of France.svg  FRA 11
86 Anthony WildingFlag of New Zealand.svg  NZL 369
87 Mary Pierce Flag of France.svg  FRA 22
88 Amélie Mauresmo Flag of France.svg  FRA 22
89 Dorothea Lambert Chambers Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  GBR 77
90 Bill Johnston Flag of the United States.svg  USA 134
91 Shirley Fry Irvin Flag of the United States.svg  USA 44
92 Svetlana Kuznetsova Flag of Russia.svg  RUS 22
93 Nicola Pietrangeli Flag of Italy.svg  ITA 22
94 Andy Roddick Flag of the United States.svg  USA 11
95 Thomas Muster Flag of Austria.svg  AUT 11
96 Manuel Orantes Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  ESP 11
97 Pat Cash Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS 11
98 Bunny Austin Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  GBR 00
99 Ann Haydon-Jones Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  GBR 33
100 Michael Chang Flag of the United States.svg  USA 11

Notes:

See also

Notes

  1. except for 1956 & 1960 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships where also women could have participate. Pauline Betz and Althea Gibson won one event each respectively

References

  1. 1 2 "Tennis Panorama News". Tennis Panorama. Retrieved March 23, 2012.