Thursday, September 3, 2009

Top Ten Male Tennis Players of US Open of All Time

Beside Wimbledon, US Open is one of the two oldest grand slam tennis tournaments in the history of the game. The men’s singles even was initially known as U.S. National Championship. There is no doubt that US Open has seen many great players since its inception in 1881. Here, I made a list of top ten male tennis players of all time on the basis of their achievement in US Open tournament. You can find the players like Bill Tilden, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi in this list who are considered among the all time best male tennis players.

Bill Tilden (7 titles: 1920-25, 1929)

Known as Big Bill, Bill Tilden is perhaps the all time best male tennis player. He is just one of the three players in the history who has 7 US Open titles. Throughout the 1920s, he was the dominant figure in world tennis and most of the time he was the no. 1 ranked player during this period.

In fact, he is perhaps the first biggest start in the game and his influence was such that during his heydays, the popularity of tennis increased significantly. He also has five doubles and four mixed doubles titles in US Open. From 1920 to 1925, Tilden won the US Open (known as U.S. National Championship at that time) titles six times in a row. Tilden was also part of US Davis Cup team that won Davis Cup titles seven times in a row.


Image Source: ESPN

Roger Federer (5 titles: 2004-08)

You might raise question about Federer’s placement in the second position of the list. Well, there is no doubt, Roger Federer is now considered to be one of the greatest ever players in the history of male tennis, not only because of the number of titles he won, but also his consistent dominant which could match only with the greatest players like Bill Tilden.

With 5 US Open titles, Federer is now one of the only three players in Open Era to have this achievement. In fact, the Swiss maestro is the only player in Open Era who has won 5 consecutive US Open titles. He is still in excellent form and the way he is going, he could one day surpass Bill Tilden in terms of his achievement in US Open.

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Richard Dudley "Dick" Sears (7 times: 1881-1887)

Not many people in tennis know about him today, but Richard Sears still holds a record 7 consecutive US Open titles from 1881 to 1887. Yes, it is true that during that time, the defending champion was automatically placed in the tournament final. However, that does not mean that you can look down upon his achievement. For your information, Richard Sears was still a student of Harvard when he won the first of his 7 titles.

Richard Sears did not even lose any set during his first three triumphs in US Open. He also made a record of 18-match unbeaten steak in the competition which was later on broken by Bill Tilden. Moreover, he also won 6 consecutive doubles title in the same competition from 1882 to 1887. So, when it comes to US Open, Richard Sears will always be remembered as one of the bests of this tournament.


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William "Bill" Augustus Larned (7 times: 1901-02, 1907-11)

Popularly known Bill Larned or William Larned, this American dominated the US Open circuit in the first decade of the last century, winning 7 titles in the space of 11 years. Besides Tilden and Sears, Larned is the only other player who has 7 US Open titles to his credit. A versatile sportsman, Larned also showed his skill and talent in horseracing, golf and shooting. His talent was apparent during his junior days. In 1956, William Larned was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

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Pete Sampras (5 times: 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002)

Pete Sampras started playing pro tennis in 1988 and retired in 2003. So, many people of this generation know about him. In any kind of top ten list about tennis, his name must come. Many people, think that he is the best player of all time. Well, he was very strong in US open and won the title 5 times and it is still a record in the Open Era. He had great rivalry with Andre Agassi. Pete Sampras was a gentle player and that is why he had many fans around the world. He played at a time when cable TV became very popular in Asia and Europe and that is why, many could see him live.


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Jimmy Connors (5 times: 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982-83)

Jimmy Connors is the boss of US Open Tennis. He dominated the event in a way that very few could do it. In fact, he is the only player who could win the tournament in grass courts, hard courts, and clay courts. In fact, he reached the semifinals of US open for 12 years continuously. He had an amazing record of number one ranking of 160 consecutive weeks. Connors had big rivalry with Björn Borg and John McEnroe.

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John McEnroe (4 times: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984)

John McEnroe was the bad angry popular tennis player. He was totally an unorthodox player. He was famous for his outburst while playing matches and it often put into problem with umpires. His young angry man type of image is perhaps an exception in tennis history. McEnroe was successful in US open. He won the singles title 4 times and doubles title 3 times in US open. It makes him as one of the most successful player in this competition.


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Frederick "Fred" Perry (3 times: 1933-34, 1936)

Fred Perry is perhaps the best male tennis player from the British isle. Perry won the US Open title three times, besides three Wimbledon, one Australian and one French Open titles during his illustrious career. During 1930’s Perry dominated world tennis and was world no. 1 for five years in a row from 1934 to 1938. Perry is just one of the six male tennis players who have all of the four grand slam titles to their credit. No doubt, Perry is one of the best male tennis player in the history of tennis, and I think, he deserves a place in this list of top ten male players of US Open.


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Robert "Bob" Wrenn (4 times: 1893-94, 1896-97)

Robert Wrenn was the 4-time US Open winner during 1890s. His four US Open titles came in the space of 5 years. Wrenn may not be a very well-known player today, but when he was in his prime, he was definitely a threat to others in the court. His contribution in tennis is not only restricted as a player. In fact, he showed his organizing skill later on while serving as the president of United States Tennis Association from 1912-1915. Besides his 4 US Open singles title, he also won the Doubles title in 1895. Robert Wrenn was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1955.


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Andre Agassi (2 times: 1994, 1999)

He was a very charismatic player and Agassi earned $31,152,975 as career prize money. He had great rivalry with Sampras. The main weapon of Agassi was strong service return. In male tennis, most players focus on serving strongly and it is a big weapon. However, Agassi became expert in the opposite skill. Well, I think that Agassi was most successful in Australian Open. However, you have to understand that US Open is perhaps the toughest tournament to win.


Image Source: Wikipedia

Sources:

Official Website of US Open

US Open in Wikipedia

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