Top 10 greatest USA tennis players of all-time

Many talented tennis players have called the United States home over the years.

USA tennis players have enjoyed much success, since the beginning of the open era in tennis. Americans enjoyed some degree of success in tennis in the 1980s and 1990s, and even in the early 21st century. The powerhouse that was American tennis is some distance in the past despite recent success. The diversity in the game has come at the expense of American domination.

The Europeans have taken over the mantle as the new guardians of the sport, with players from the region dominating the rankings in the men’s and women’s tours. Although the list of homegrown champions in major events on the tennis calendar is not as long as it used to be, American fans have past glory to reminisce about. 

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There are so many American tennis players to choose from that picking just ten was no easy task. With the new season underway, let’s look at the top 10 greatest USA tennis players of all time. 

Jimmy Connors

The 109 tournament wins by Jimmy Connors were the result of his fight-to-win attitude every time he walked onto a tennis court. Connors won six ATP titles in 1972, the same year he turned professional. If not for skipping the 1974 French Open, he may have won the calendar Grand Slam.  

Among his 109 ATP titles, eight were Grand Slams. His greatest success came in New York, where he won five US Open titles. Connors is the only player to have won the US Open on all the three surfaces it has been played on – grass, clay and hard. He became World No. 1 for the first time in 1974 and finished as the top-ranked player on tour for five straight years (1974-1978). 

John McEnroe

John McEnroe had seven Grand Slam trophies at the end of his career. Four of those wins came on home turf in New York. McEnroe also won Wimbledon in 1984 and would have made it three of four had he not lost the two-set to-nil lead during the French Open final. He lost to compatriot Ivan Lendl in five sets.  

McEnroe played in an era that saw him rub shoulders with Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors. His short but intense rivalry with Borg saw the two greats play each other on 14 occasions. It ended with McEnroe defeating Borg in the 1981 US Open final.

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Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King has had the most impact on women’s tennis. She led the charge for equal prize money and was one of the founding members of the WTA in 1973. She won four majors in the amateur era and added eight to her haul in the Open Era.

King took charge of the grass courts at SW19 by winning four titles at Wimbledon. She added another three trophies at Flushing Meadows, and one at Roland Garros to complete her tally of Grand Slam wins.  

She ended her career with 67 singles titles in the Open Era, reaching as high as World No. 2 in the WTA rankings. King was an inductee to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.

Chris Evert

The distinction of being the first ever World No. 1 in the WTA goes to Chris Evert. The Florida native won 157 singles titles and emerged victorious in 18 Grand Slams across her eighteen-year career. Evert amassed seven Roland Garros trophies. Her seven titles from nine finals in Paris are still unmatched in the women’s game. She would also win six titles in New York, two in Melbourne and three in London.   

Evert’s envious record at majors includes making the semifinals on 52 of 56 Grand Slams contested. She also spent 260 weeks as WTA No. 1 and was never ranked lower than No. 4 in her career.

Jim Courier 

Jim Courier, another Florida native, won four Grand Slams in his career as a professional ATP player. Courier saw his two titles materialise at Roland Garros and Melbourne Park where he won two titles each. She holds the record for being the youngest person to reach the finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments at the age of 22.

Courier was part of the Davis Cup squad that brought home the trophy in 1992 and 1995. He was World No. 1 for 58 weeks, 27 of them consecutively, and was year-end No. 1 in 1992. His best result at the US Open was making the final in 1991, where he lost to Stefan Edberg in straight sets. 

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Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras is the best American export to the world of tennis. He remains the youngest man to win the US Open when he lifted the trophy in 1990 at 19. Sampras is also the youngest American to triumph in New York. 

Sampras garnered 14 Grand Slam titles and spent six consecutive years as the World No. 1 player. His greatest success came on the grass courts at Wimbledon, where he won seven titles followed by the five he won in Flushing Meadows. He ended his career with his fifth US Open title over fellow American Andre Agassi in 2002. Sampras was at the pinnacle of the ATP ranking for 286 weeks.

Andre Agassi

True to his Las Vegas roots, Andre Agassi had a flair for the dramatic. Agassi won eight Grand Slams and won all majors at least once. He also bagged an Olympic gold in 1996 in Atlanta, besides spending 101 weeks on top of the ATP rankings. He made the top ten in 1988, two years after turning pro before becoming World No. 1 in 1995 and clinching the year-ending No. 1 position in 1999.  

While Agassi enjoyed a successful stint Down Under with four Australian Open titles, he will be best remembered for his 1992 Wimbledon victory. It was his title round debut at SW19, and he outlasted Goran Ivanisevic in five sets. 

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Serena Williams

Serena Williams dominated women’s tennis for nearly two decades. It was a journey that began when she won the 1999 US Open and ended with victory at the 2017 Australian Open. With 23 majors to her name, Serena leads all Americans, men and women in Grand Slam wins. 

Seven Wimbledon, seven Australian Open, six US Open and three French Open titles make up her 23 major titles and is an Open Era record. The younger Williams has won 73 WTA singles titles overall. She has also won five WTA Finals titles and retained the top spot in the WTA rankings for 319 weeks. 

Venus Williams

The elder of the two Williams sisters came onto the scene with a memorable win at the 1997 US Open. Venus was just 17 and one of the youngest women to lift the trophy at Flushing Meadows. In 2000, she won the Wimbledon and US Open titles. In the same season, she won gold medals in singles and doubles. Serena Williams won the doubles event. 

Venus was most successful at Wimbledon, with five wins in eight years and back-to-back wins in New York. She had won 49 WTA singles titles and was World No. 1 for 11 weeks when she rose to the top spot in 2002.

Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick was billed as the next American hope of turning pro in 2000. He was to fill the shoes of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi on their retirement. Roddick’s 12 years on tour yielded 32 ATP titles and the No. 1 ranking in 2003, along with the US Open win in the same year. 

He made it to four other Grand Slam finals – thrice at Wimbledon and once in Flushing Meadows. Each time, he was thwarted by Roger Federer. Roddick finished in the ATP top 10 for nine straight years, a span that included a short-lived 13 weeks as World No. 1.

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