ATPballkid
Professional
1880s - Renshaw / Sears -- Bingley Hillyard
1890s - R. Doherty / Wrenn-- Dod / Atkinson
1900s - L. Doherty / Larned -- Douglass Chambers
1910s - Wilding -- Douglass Chambers / Mallory
1920s - Tilden -- Lenglen
1930s - Budge -- Wills Moody
1940s - Kramer -- Brough
1950s - Gonzales -- Connolly
1960s - Rosewall -- Court
1970s - Borg -- Evert
1980s - Lendl -- Navratilova
1990s - Sampras -- Seles until she was stabbed
2000s - Federer projected -- Henin-Hardenne/Sharapova projected
Tennis was not so much an international sport before the 1920s and 1930s (really became an international sport in 1925). Therefore, it is harder to have a best player of the sport for those earlier years -- except you have to go with Wilding in the 1910s.
There are some very good players --- Cochet, Lacoste, Perry, Vines, Crawford, Hoad, Laver, Newcombe, Connors, McEnroe, Edberg, Becker, Wilander and Agassi among the men and Jacobs, Marble, du Pont, Hart, Fry, Hard, Gibson, Bueno, King, Goolagong, Graf and Hingis among the women --- who just were not quite good enough to be considered the best players of their decades.
Things look great for Roger Federer and Justine Henin-Hardenne or Maria Sharapova as Players of the Decade for the 2000s. Going to be hard to take a position against them based on what they have accomplished already and what they are likely to accomplish over the years remaining between 2007 and 2010.
1890s - R. Doherty / Wrenn-- Dod / Atkinson
1900s - L. Doherty / Larned -- Douglass Chambers
1910s - Wilding -- Douglass Chambers / Mallory
1920s - Tilden -- Lenglen
1930s - Budge -- Wills Moody
1940s - Kramer -- Brough
1950s - Gonzales -- Connolly
1960s - Rosewall -- Court
1970s - Borg -- Evert
1980s - Lendl -- Navratilova
1990s - Sampras -- Seles until she was stabbed
2000s - Federer projected -- Henin-Hardenne/Sharapova projected
Tennis was not so much an international sport before the 1920s and 1930s (really became an international sport in 1925). Therefore, it is harder to have a best player of the sport for those earlier years -- except you have to go with Wilding in the 1910s.
There are some very good players --- Cochet, Lacoste, Perry, Vines, Crawford, Hoad, Laver, Newcombe, Connors, McEnroe, Edberg, Becker, Wilander and Agassi among the men and Jacobs, Marble, du Pont, Hart, Fry, Hard, Gibson, Bueno, King, Goolagong, Graf and Hingis among the women --- who just were not quite good enough to be considered the best players of their decades.
Things look great for Roger Federer and Justine Henin-Hardenne or Maria Sharapova as Players of the Decade for the 2000s. Going to be hard to take a position against them based on what they have accomplished already and what they are likely to accomplish over the years remaining between 2007 and 2010.