Whats your top 10 of all time now (men)

Drob

Hall of Fame
https%3A%2F%2Flobandsmash.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1214726.jpeg

vzp8erducgn1ge5izjda.jpg
 
Last edited:

Dan Lobb

G.O.A.T.
Of course the Gonzalez of 1948 had no friends w the dough to help him go to Wimbledon (and possibly RG, etc.). His wealthiest friend at that time was probably Frank Shields, who came up from the working class and was not of "upperclass level" wealth. And in 1948, Shields had just met Gonzalez. As the man said, think about where Richard came from. In 1948 he was practically unknown. Years later he would have wealthy, famous acquaintances or friends. Years later.

Of course Gonzalez played Wimbledon every chance he had to do so. Played RG a half-dozen times.

Of course Gonzalez played plenty in Europe. Just check the records in The Professional Tennis Archive. Gonzalez skipped Wembley and RG in 1959 to try to hurt Jack Kramer's pocketbook. Ditto in 1960. I think he was trying to get at Kramer in 1960 but he was also talking retirement around that time, so I am not sure of his motivation in 1960. Otherwise, for his pro career, he went to Europe as much as we would expect him too. Went down under frequently, also. Never ducked a duel. Never avoided a surface. His final season, 1961, he played all the Brit-Euro tournaments. After his comeback, he competed in Europe and Britain in 1964. In 1965, Gonzalez did not go to Europe after playing 20 tournaments in Australia and the USA. 1966-67 Gonzalez was clearly a part-time competitor. But he went to England to cop the BBC tournament in '66 and to participate at the Wimbledon Pro in '67, as a poster noted.

In the early years of the Open Era Gonzalez remained a part-time competitor. Doesn't much matter if he did not go to the Continent in those years. He picked his spots - mostly the ones with the big paycheck possibilities - and scored some big upsets and decent cash. And the four trips to Wimbledon 1968-72 is correctly reported.
Gonzales did duck a few.

Did not show at the Cleveland U.S. Pro in 1950,, which is a bit of a surprise. I still do not know why. Gonzales won the Philadelphia U.S. Pro Indoor that year so he did have a chance to win it at Cleveland.

Gonzales also skipped the Cleveland U.S. Pro in 1951. Again, I do not know why he did that. Have never understood. That tournament was on cement, which was a good surface for Gonzales. And Cleveland that year carried with it an official world number one ranking for the winner, who was Kovacs that year.

Perhaps he was following Kramer's example in 1949, when Kramer skipped the U.S. Pro at Forest Hills. Again, there is no logical explanation for Kramer skipping that tournament, and it cost him the official world number one pro ranking for 1949 which went to Riggs, the winner at Forest Hills. Kramer never talked about that, complete silence.

Gonzales also skipped Kooyong in December 1959, which cost him another world championship title and a $10,000 payday if he had won it, the biggest payday for any tournament to that time. Again, there was no explanation. Just said that he wanted to spend Christmas with his girlfriend. I guess Gonzales was a sentimentalist at heart.
 
Last edited:
Because of the constant changes of organization, equipment, surfaces, tournaments, etc. it so hard to rate players in in tennis. Tilden, Budge, Kramer, Gonzales, Laver, Borg, Sampras, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are all interchangeable in the Top 10. I give Budge some leeway for WWII which some don't.
 

LttlElvis

Professional
In no particular order

1. Djokovic
2. Federer
3. Nadal
4. McEnroe
5. Borg
6. Connors
7. Sampras
8. Agassi
9. Laver
10. Rosewall

Can’t quantify it, but McEnroe is the greatest ever
 

jrepac

Hall of Fame
1. Djokovic
2. Federer
3. Nadal
4. Laver
5. My guy Pete …no FO is why he is lower for me
6. Borg
7. Mcnroe
8. Lendl
9. Connors
10. Agassi
For the Open Era, this list still pretty much works for me, tho' I'd put Connors/Lendl/Mac in that order. I'm setting aside dubs and Davis cup as a factor, obviously.
 
1.Federer
2.Djokovic
3.Pistol Pete
4.Mcenroe
5.Nadal
6.Connors
7.Lendl
8.Laver
9.Borg
10.Edberg

Why Nadal "only"5?Clay court reasons
 
Last edited:

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
I am not knowledgeable enough for ranking all time. Great names everyone mentioned.

Guys who would not be int top 5 for sure.

Stefan Edberg
Boris Becker
Andre Agassi
Roy Emerson

Rest of the people do have claims in top 5.
Strongest claims sure fire top 5

Djokovic and Laver.

Rest I am not sure.
 

pirhaksar

Professional
1.Federer
2.Djokovic
3.Pistol Pete
4.Mcenroe
5.Nadal
6.Connors
7.Lendl
8.Laver
9.Borg
10.Edberg

Why Nadal "only"5?Clay court reasons
Nadal at 5 over Pete and Johnny Mac…No FO which is one of the main tennis events is automatically a case for not top 3 for those guys and I say that as a Pete fan.
 
Nadal has never had long uninterrupted stretches of complete(!) dominance over the entire tennis landscape, as his career coincided with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Federer, particularly in the mid-2000s, was seen as an almost unbeatable force on various surfaces.
Similarly, Pete Sampras and John McEnroe,had periods in their careers where they were seen as dominant figures in men's tennis.
 
Last edited:

thrust

Legend
Nadal has never had long uninterrupted stretches of complete dominance over the entire tennis landscape, as his career coincided with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Federer, particularly in the mid-2000s, was seen as an almost unbeatable force on various surfaces.
Similarly, Pete Sampras and John McEnroe,had periods in their careers where they were seen as dominant figures in men's tennis.
The main advantage Nadal has is that he is the undisputed greatest clay court player ever. No-one else comes close, as far as I know. The same cannot be said of any other player on hard or grass. He also has won 2 Wimbledon's, 2 AO and 4 USO on hard courts. He has as many YE at #1 as -Federer, He has the superior H-H vs Roger and more big tournaments won. Sampras and McEnroe never won the FO or did very well on clay, elsewhere.
 
The main advantage Nadal has is that he is the undisputed greatest clay court player ever. No-one else comes close, as far as I know. The same cannot be said of any other player on hard or grass. He also has won 2 Wimbledon's, 2 AO and 4 USO on hard courts. He has as many YE at #1 as -Federer, He has the superior H-H vs Roger and more big tournaments won. Sampras and McEnroe never won the FO or did very well on clay, elsewhere.
But Nadal never dominated mens tennis in general,as Fed,Pistol Pete and Big Mac did.Period.
 
Besides 84, how many years did Mac dominate? No doubt, he did will a few years after 84, but not many as far as I know.
McEnroe finished at the top of the world rankings for four consecutive seasons (1981–1984) and was the dominant player on the ATP Tour in the first half of the 1980s. In 1984, he hardly ever lost.
 

thrust

Legend
McEnroe finished at the top of the world rankings for four consecutive seasons (1981–1984) and was the dominant player on the ATP Tour in the first half of the 1980s. In 1984, he hardly ever lost.
True, 84 was a fabulous year for Mac but the fact is that Nadal ended 5 years at #1, won 92 tournaments vs 77 for Mac. Of course, the biggest blemish on Nadal's career is that he never won the WTF title. Whatever, both were ATG players though with entirely different playing styles in very different eras.
 

KingCarlitos

Hall of Fame
Open Era

1 Djokovic
2 Federer
3 Nadal
4 Sampras
5 Borg
6 Connors
7 Andre Agassi
8 Lendl
9 McEnroe
10 Becker

——Honorable mentions

11 Edberg
12 Courier
13 Murray
14 Alcaraz
15 Wawrinka
16 Kuertan
17 Safin
18 Hewitt
19 Medvedev
20 Chang
 

thrust

Legend
re.


I would put them in this order: Becker, then Edberg, then Wilander. Becker has 5 Season end final championships indoors at a time 80s/90s that indoor tennis was a big deal. Edberg has 1, Wilander 0. Beckers 5 Season end finals championships (3 WTF, 1 WCT Final, 1 Grand Slam Cup) more than makes up for the 1 less slam than Wilander.
YE at #1- Edberg-2, Becker-0
Weeks at #1- Edberg-72, Becker-12
 

Holmes

Hall of Fame
In no particular order: Djokovic, Laver, Petros, Nadal, Borg, Lendl,McEnroe, Connors, Agassi, Hoad, Rosewall, Kramer, Emerson, Perry, Gore, Federer
 

RS

Bionic Poster
1. Djokovic
2. Nadal
3. Federer
4. Sampras
5. Borg
6. Laver
7. Gonzales
8. Rosewall
9. Tilden
10. Lendl
 
Last edited:

buscemi

Legend
Open Era

1 Djokovic
2 Federer
3 Nadal
4 Sampras
5 Borg
6 Connors
7 Andre Agassi
8 Lendl
9 McEnroe
10 Becker

——Honorable mentions

11 Edberg
12 Courier
13 Murray
14 Alcaraz
15 Wawrinka
16 Kuertan
17 Safin
18 Hewitt
19 Medvedev
20 Chang
What about Wilander, Ashe, Nastase, and Smith?
 
Top