Who is the greatest Wimbledon male of them all?
OUT OF ALL THE GREATS TO HAVE GRACED SW19, WE UNVEIL THE TOP 10 MALE PLAYERS
FOR tennis fans around the world, the suspension of professional tennis and the cancellation of Wimbledon for the first time ever has come as a huge blow.
Due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, what would have been Wimbledon week is now a time for tennis fans and players to look back on and reminisce about previous matches.
BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller, who has been an annual Wimbledon attendee for years, said: “The day I was due to be boarding the Eurostar to Paris for the French Open felt a little poignant. I found myself thinking about what we are all missing – the unique and crackling atmosphere and the sound of shoes sliding across the clay.
“Wimbledon will be the same, especially on what should have been the first morning.”
That first morning should have been on Monday.
With no tennis being played, we have taken a look back over the records to answer the question – who are the top 10 mens’ players to have earned the highest number of points in the history of Wimbledon?
10. Tomas Berdych 6,442 points
THE Czech tennis player retired from professional tennis in 2019 after 17 years of playing pro. Along the way, Berdych has appeared at 15 Wimbledon Championships, with his most notable year being the 2010 finals.
He defeated Roger Federer in the quarter-finals and Novak Djokovic in the semis, before losing to Rafael Nadal in the final in straight sets.
9. Lleyton Hewitt 6,826 points
WHILE he is currently semi-retired from professional tennis, Hewitt was the youngest male tennis player in the world to have been ranked No. 1 in the ATP singles era, aged 20.
The 2002 Wimbledon Championships was his year as he defeated David Nalbandian in straight sets to claim his second Grand Slam title and first ever Wimbledon title.
Not only did this make him the first Australian player to have won a Wimbledon title since Pat Cash, it helped him finish the year ranked No. 1 for the second year in a row.
8. Andre Agassi 7,194 points
RETIRED American champion and former world No. 1, Agassi is an eight-time Grand Slam champion, holding one Wimbledon title from 1992.
He defeated Goran Ivanisevic in a five-set final after overcoming both Boris Becker and John McEnroe that year and was later named BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the year.
7. Goran Ivanisevic 7,303 points
THE Croatian former tennis player and current tennis coach is the only person to have won the men’s singles at Wimbledon as a wild card entry in 2001.
This win saw a huge jump in his professional singles ranking as he went from No. 125 to No. 16 following his victory on the grass court.
6. Andy Murray 7,496 points
NOT only was Murray the first British player to have won a Grand Slam tournament since 1977, he was also the first British man to do so since 1936.
The former world No. 1 currently holds two Wimbledon titles, in 2013 and 2016, and continues to fight on his home courts in spite of going through a hip resurfacing surgery in 2019.
5. Tim Henman 7,542 points
EVEN though Henman never made it to the finals of a Grand Slam, he was the first tennis player from the UK to have reached a Wimbledon semi-final since the 1970s.
He holds a total of 15 career ATP titles and has played in four Wimbledon semi-finals during his career as a professional tennis player in the years 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002.
4. Rafael Nadal 7,548 points
CURRENTLY ranked No. 2 in the world and having held his rank of No. 1 for 209 weeks, Nadal has won a total of 19 Grand Slam titles, two of them being Wimbledon Championships.
This makes him the player with the second-highest number of Grand Slam titles in the history of male tennis players, while also holding 35 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles and 21 ATP Tour 500 titles.
3. Pete Sampras 8,607 points
THE 14-time Grand Slam winner with seven Wimbledon Championships created a list of new records in the sport over 15 years.
In 1993, he earned his world ranking of No. 1 without holding any Grand Slam titles and stirred up many controversies, which he later made up for by winning his first of seven Wimbledon Championships by defeating Jim Courier in the final. 2. Novak Djokovic
9,504 points
DJOKOVIC has won 17 Grand Slam titles in his career, giving him the third-highest number in the history of men’s singles tennis.
After earning his first Wimbledon Championships trophy in 2011, he went on to win four more in his career, with his most recent grass court title earned in 2019.
After nearly five hours of fighting Roger Federer for the win, Djokovic went on to succeed and claim the 2019 Wimbledon Championship.
1. Roger Federer 12,988 points
WITH 20 career slams and eight prestigious Wimbledon titles, Roger Federer has most certainly earned his place amongst the all-time greats, often referred to as the G.O.A.T (Greatest of all time). The difference between the number of points earned by Federer at the top of the list and Djokovic just below is the biggest point difference in the sport, highlighting why Federer is and will always be known as the king of grass.