TOP 10 GREATEST MEN'S TENNIS PLAYERS OF ALL TIME

I grew up playing tennis in the 1970s, which was a great time for the sport of tennis. It was then that tennis really became more of a mainstream sport than a sport for the privileged, especially here in the United States. With the likes of Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Chris Evert, and others, there were plenty of personalities to fuel the rivalries that took place on and off the court. Since that time, many great players have come and gone. Because it is difficult to compare players of different eras in any sport due to technology changes and higher fitness standards, selecting a greatest player ever can be a difficult and very subjective task.

Despite the challenge, here is my list of the 10 greatest male tennis players of all-time.

10. John McEnroe

• Born: February 16, 1959
  Wiesbaden, West Germany
• Resides: New York City
• Turned pro: 1978
• Retired: 1992
• Career prize money: $12,547,797
• 71 career titles
• 7 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 3 Wimbledon, 4 US Open
• Inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame: 1999

John McEnroe: What do we do about Johnny Mac? Well, for starters we include him on our list of all-time greats. When it came to hard courts, fast surfaces, and creative shot-making, there may have been no one better.

His fiery attitude and occasional bad-boy behavior made tennis fans either hate him or love him. Underneath was a highly competitive athlete who hated to lose and sometimes let his emotions get the best of him.

Who can forget his epic battles with rival Jimmy Connors and his five-set loss to Bjorn Borg in the 1980 Wimbledon final, one of the greatest matches in Wimbledon history?

9. Andre Agassi

• Born: April 29, 1970
  Las Vegas, Nevada
• Resides: Las Vegas, Nevada
• Turned pro: 1986
• Retired: 2006
• Career prize money: $31,152,975
• 60 career titles
• 8 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 4 Australian, 1 French, 2 US Open, 1 Wimbledon
• Inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame: 2011

Who can forget the young, brash, long-haired Andre Agassi when he first arrived on the tennis scene in the late 1980s? I have to admit that at first I was put off by his seemingly "rock star" looks and attitude. But something happened along the way, and by the time he finished his 20-year career, I was not only a fan but I had also come to respect him as a great player and spokesman for the game.. With those killer ground strokes and returns of serve, no top-10 list would be complete without Andre Agassi.

Off the court, Agassi has proven to be a champion as well. There may be no athlete out there who does more for their community than Agassi and his wife, tennis legend Steffi Graf.

8. Jimmy Connors

• Born: September 2, 1952
  East St. Louis, Illinois
• Resides: Santa Barbara, CA
• Turned pro: 1972
• Retired: 1996
• Career prize money: $8,641,040
• 109 career titles
• 8 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 1 Australian, 2 Wimbledon, 5 US Open
• Inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame: 1998

No one dominated tennis more during the mid-1970s than Jimmy Connors. In 1974 alone, Connors had a staggering 99-4 record and won the three Grand Slam tournaments that he entered. Connors was banned from playing in the French Open in 1974 due to his association with World Team Tennis, and this prevented him from a possible Grand Slam sweep. Despite peaking in the 1970s, Connors had a long and impressive tennis career, retiring in 1996. Connors still holds the record for ATP tour titles with 109.

7. Ivan Lendl

• Born: March 7, 1960
  Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
• Resides: Goshen, Connecticut
• Turned pro: 1978
• Retired: 1994
• Career prize money: $21,262,417
• 94 career titles
• 8 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 2 Australian, 3 French, 3 US Open
• Inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame: 2001

The quiet and stoic Czech with the big serve was the most dominant player of the 1980s. Lendl wore down his opponents with his powerful ground strokes, topspin forehand and incredible level of conditioning. He was the world’s top-ranked player for four years and held the number one ranking in the world for 270 weeks, a record in that day. In contrast to many of his more outspoken peers, Lendl was known for letting his game do his talking.

6. Bjorn Borg

• Born: June 6, 1956
  Sodertalje, Stockholm County, Sweden
• Resides: Stockholm, Sweden
• Turned pro: 1973
• Retired: 1983
• Career prize money: $3,655,751
• 64 career titles
• 11 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 6 French, 5 Wimbledon
• Inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame: 1987

What was not to love about the long-haired, blonde Swede with the killer ground game? With ice water in his veins, the quiet Borg dominated tennis in the late 1970s and had some memorable matches with the likes of John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. Borg dominated Wimbledon, winning the title five consecutive years from 1976 to 1980.

Despite his relatively brief career (he retired in 1983 at the age of 26), Borg won 11 Grand Slam titles, all at Wimbledon and the French Open. Borg was the first player of the modern era to win more than 10 majors.

5. Novak Djokovic

• Born: May 22, 1987
  Belgrade, Yugoslavia
• Resides: Monte Carlo, Monaco
• Turned pro: 2003
• Career prize money: $98,199,548
• 63 career titles
• 11 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 6 Australian, 3 Wimbledon, 2 US Open
• Current active player

Placing Novak Djokovic on this list was an easy decision, but where to place him was not. At just 28 years of age and in the prime of his career, Djokovic has the potential to win many more Grand Slam titles. By the time his career is finished, he could very well find himself well into the top five all-time. But, in the highly competitive world of tennis, he could also succumb to injury and miss out on his best years, so the jury is still out on his place in tennis history. Based on his body of work to date he has certainly made the case that he is the best player in the world at the moment and deserving of a top ten all-time.

With eleven Grand Slam titles now secured, including the 2016 Australian Open, and at just 28 years of age, Novak deserves to be elevated to the number five position. The likeable Djokovic certainly has the potential to rise further.

4. Rafael Nadal

• Born: June 3, 1986
  Manacor, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
• Resides: Manacor, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
• Turned pro: 2001
• Career prize money: $76,023,547
• 67 career titles
• 14 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 1 Australian, 9 French, 2 US Open, 2 Wimbledon
• Current active player

Were it not for the recurring tendinitis in his knees, Rafael Nadal may well have a few more Grand Slam titles to his already impressive resume. At 29 years of age, the fiery Spaniard, known as Rafa and “The King of Clay,” already has 14 Grand Slam titles and certainly has the potential to surpass Pete Sampras’s total of 14. Rafael is regarded as the greatest clay court player of all-time, although fans of Bjorn Borg may dispute this claim. His record 9th French Open title certainly makes it difficult to imagine anyone being better on clay. His latest bout of tendinitis seems to be behind him, so look for some great head-to-head matches in the coming years with Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Roger Federer.

Rafa's comeback from injury in 2013 saw him return to form. His two Grand Slam titles in 2013, the French and US Open, marked his return to the top of world rankings. If he stays healthy, look for more Grand Slam titles to come.

3. Rod Laver

• Born: August 8, 1938
  Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
• Resides: Carlsbad, California
• Turned pro: 1962
• Retired 1979
• Career prize money: $1,565,413
• 200 career titles
• 11 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 3 Australian, 2 French, 2 US Open, 4 Wimbledon
• Inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame: 1981

It’s difficult to assess how Rod Laver would have fared against the players of today, but I suspect the redheaded Aussie would have done just fine. It’s hard to argue with the “Rockets” record. He was ranked number one in the world for seven straight years (1964 – 1970) and has more career titles (200) than anyone in the history of the game.

He is the only player to have twice won the Grand Slam, doing it once as an amateur in 1962 and again as a pro in 1969. If Laver was not excluded from the Grand Slam tournaments during a five-year period in the mid-1960s, who knows how many he would have won. During this time period, the pre-open era, the Grand Slam tournaments were for amateurs only. The “open era” in tennis did not begin until 1968, when professionals were finally allowed to compete in the Grand Slam events. Given that Laver was ranked number one in the world during this five-year period, it’s likely he would have won many more Grand Slam titles.

2. Pete Sampras

• Born: August 12, 1971
  Potomac, Maryland
• Resides: Lake Sherwood, California
• Turned pro: 1988
• Retired 2002
• Career prize money: $43,280,489
• 64 career titles
• 14 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 2 Australian, 7 Wimbledon, 5 US Open
• Inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame: 2007

If the likes of Roger Federer had not come along, Pete Sampras would certainly be the number one player of all-time. When Pete retired in 2002, he was considered to be the best player of all-time. He was number one in the world rankings for six consecutive years and his 14 Grand Slam titles was a record at the time. Who can forget his epic battles with Andre Agassi that made the 1990s a great decade for tennis? Pete went out on top when he won the 2002 US Open, his last Grand Slam tournament.

1. Roger Federer

• Born: August 8, 1981
  Basel, Switzerland
• Resides: Wollerau, Switzerland and Dubai, UAE
• Turned pro: 1998
• Career prize money: $97,855,881
• 88 career titles
• 17 Grand Slam Singles Titles: 4 Australian, 1 French, 5 US Open, 7 Wimbledon
• Current active player

It’s hard not to select Roger Federer as the greatest of all time. His record 17 Grand Slam titles speak for themselves, and even at the age of 34, he is still capable of winning another title. His 302 weeks ranked as number one in the world is an open-era record. From 2004 to 2008, Federer went 237 consecutive weeks being ranked number one in the world, a record that may never be surpassed. Even though younger players are now finding a way to beat Roger, his consistently high level of play over his almost 18-year career is a testament to his conditioning and ability. In my book, Roget Federer is the greatest of all-time.

HOW I HELPED MY DAUGHTER OUT OF AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP

How it all began

As a parent your biggest concern is for the health and welfare of your child. When they are growing you are constantly watching them make mistakes. You try to help them as much as you can, yet you need to let them make some mistakes so they can learn. Sometimes they get in deeper than anyone realizes and it will be up to you to help them out of that pit they have dug for themselves.

Young women who are headstrong can be particularly difficult since you, as a good parent, have encouraged them to have a mind of their own. As they grow into young adults they will continue to push the envelope with you. There are times to stand back and times when you need to step up. This is about one of those times that I had to step up as a parent.

Unbeknownst to me, my 16 year old daughter met a man. She kept him a secret from me, I later learned that it was partially his idea to hide his identity, until her 17th birthday. In our State 16 is the age of legal consent, but 17 makes her an adult.

Normally I am a very attentive Mother, and try to keep aware of my children’s activities. During this time my own Mother was terminally ill, so my attention was very much divided. My daughter was no angel, so she took full advantage of my inattentiveness. When I asked her who she was going with she answered it was a boy from school. What made it easier is that she also had a willing partner in her deception, who was unwilling to meet me.

The man she met was 16 years her senior, he was 32 years old! I discovered this ’affair’ one early morning when a woman called accusing my daughter of being a ’home wrecker’. I was aghast at this accusation. Imagine my surprise to learn my daughter had been seeing this man who was in a relationship and had 2 daughter’s of his own.

Rather than push her away, by demanding she stop seeing him, I decided to see where this was going. For all I knew he was a perfectly decent individual, and the prior relationship was over. My motto has been to watch and learn rather than jump to conclusions

The beginning of the abuse

Shortly after the relationship came out in the open, my Mother passed away. My daughter took advantage of my grief to move out of my home. Her and her ’new’ boyfriend moved into an available room of the home my older son was living in. I thought at least there was someone to watch over her, should anything happen. ’Anything’ happened quicker than I had imagined.

My son informed me that there was a lot of screaming and yelling between the two of them, he was hoping they would move out soon. My daughter came over shortly after, by herself with a very swollen and bruised elbow. When I questioned her she said “It’s nothing, I fell’. I knew better, just one of those ‘mom’ things.

I began to wonder how this man was making his money, he didn’t have a job. I soon found out just what his ‘job’ was. He was a drug dealer. Just great. Fantastic. Here I had spent all these years trying to teach my daughter that hard work and a good education will get her places in life, and this scum of the earth is showing her otherwise. He was promising her grandeur. A home of her own that he was going to buy for her etc…

She was entering her senior year in high school, my hope was that she’d finish it. He was telling her otherwise, he told her she didn’t need to finish school to get ahead, all she had to do was listen to him, he would guide her through.

The fighting continued, then they moved back into the home that he had shared with the mother of his 2 daughters. How cozy was this? The fighting escalated. She would come home crying, he was telling her that she couldn’t come see me, she’d leave anyway and by the time she got here the phone would start ringing. He was calling to yell at her, calling her names, in general screaming at her on my phone.

The abuse was obvious to us

We kept her cell phone turned on so at least we could reach her if we needed to, and we also made her car payments and kept up the insurance. This was so she always had a way out. She had a job, so I knew she was at least getting away for a short time. The proverbial sh*t hit the fan one day when I called her phone and he answered, telling me that she was at work. I drove by and her car was at his house, yet she was at work. I was not going to pay for a phone that she couldn’t use, nor pay for a car that he wouldn’t let her drive.

I made my decision. I went to my local police department and filed a report against him. They basically told me there was nothing I could do, she had to be the one to file any reports. I then told them of his drug dealings, that not only was he selling it, but growing it as well. I told them all they had to do was drive by and smell it, it permeated the air.

After this man threatened my son and his friend with a gun, my son also filed a report with the State police. Shortly after that my husband also filed a report. Some how, some way we were going to get something done.

My daughter would try to leave him only to have him take her things and refuse to give them to her. One time he claimed to be throwing all of her clothes out the window of his vehicle in a nearby town. If she wanted her things she had to go get them, she went. They met at a local Burger King. The arguments began, he hit her in the mouth. I tried yet again to file a report, to no avail, she had to do it. Then a thought came to me, I called our local child protective agency. Since she was under the age of 18, she was still considered a child to them, and she was living with him. I was able to file a child abuse case against him. When he found out who it was that filed a complaint against him, he began to threaten my life. I tried to get him to hit me, I was a full grown woman, not a teenager, I wanted to show him a thing or two. I could never get him to lift a finger against me, I guess it was easier to pick on a young girl.

Shortly after this there was a raid on the home, he was busted. All of our attempts worked. It was frightening for my daughter, but something needed to be done. I thought for sure she would come home permanently after this. He had some hold over her that she didn’t feel she could tell me about.

Soon I found out that my daughter was pregnant. I was not delighted to say the least, this was not how I wanted my first grandchild to enter the world, with everyone at odds with each other.

At the time of my mother’s birthday, though she had passed, my dad felt that we needed to remember her in our special way. He invited us girls to dinner. Apparently this was not something the ‘boyfriend’ wanted to happen. As she was getting dressed he didn't approve of the clothes she had chosen, he felt she looked like a whore. These were some of the normal terms he used on her. He began to beat her in earnest just prior to me picking her up. He was attempting to cause a miscarriage by kneeing her in the belly. As she was trying to leave he was kicking in the doors of her car to stop her. She tried retaliating by breaking the window out of his car. When I got there, her face and neck were red and bruised from his punching her and trying to choke her. I wanted him to come off the porch, to show me just how much of a man he was. I knew the law, if I went on the porch I would be the one to go to jail. As it turned out, he filed a complaint against my daughter. She filed a complaint against him, nothing ever came of that.

She went back to him yet again. This type of thing was to continue until it seemed that every family member had gotten involved. My youngest son came to her defense the day after Christmas, when 'he' decided early in the morning to pick a fight. He wanted sex and her being pregnant and not feeling well, didn't. It was either rape or run, she chose to run. She was running away from him, and he was trying to run her over with his car. He had seen my son show up and hid nearby, when my son got out of his truck he attacked my son with a 2 by 4. Eventually my son got the better of him and he ‘gave up’. They got their ‘own’ place later that day, after he convinced her that he loved her and just wanted to 'show her a little lovin'.

I was afraid for her, the apartment was on the second floor. I just 'knew' one day he would get so outraged and push her down the stairs. When I told her my fears she just laughed them off, saying "No, he never do something like that".

The fight that opened her eyes

This was beginning to wear on the members of my family, but we were determined not to give up on her. She would call crying, we would go get her. He would yell and threaten us, but he never lifted a hand to my husband or myself so the police would do nothing.

One day I took my daughter with me to a friends baby shower, it was a girls day out. He didn’t like that, he had been trying to separate us for some time now, but I was determined to be there for her no matter what. I felt it deep in my heart that this wasn’t going to last and someone was going to have to help her find her way out. On the day of the baby shower he started calling her demanding that she return home, within an hour of leaving. He was calling her names and threatening her and anyone within hearing distance.

She felt that this time it was enough, she was going to be done with him. She had to return home to get her dog and a few of her things. She was after all 7 months pregnant by this time. I didn’t feel comfortable about her going alone, I remembered each and every time he got her alone a fight would ensue. When she got there, she discovered that he had been torturing her dog, the pup was about 4 months old and he had her locked in the cage, while he was kicking it. The cage was bent up fairly good, he had gotten angry that she wasn't there and took his anger out at the dog. I had sent my oldest son to follow her. She didn’t know that he was following her, and it was a good thing he did. By the time he showed up, there was a lot of screaming coming from the upstairs, and a rapid decent from my daughter. This monster pushed her down the stairs.

To say that my son is a large man is putting it mildly. He removed the door from it’s hinges with brute strength and used it to push his way into the apartment. The police were called and the monster thought for sure my son was going to jail. He thought wrong. My daughter spent the night in the hospital, he spent the night in jail. After being on the monitor for several hours the Doctors felt that she and the baby were fine.

It takes a while for drug cases to come to court and his day finally arrived. I was going to be there to hear what was said about the drug charges. When I heard that the Judge was might let him off with no more than a slap on the wrist, I dug in my heels and decided that something needed to be done.

I started doing my homework. I did research on him and discovered that he had been in prison years before in another state, yet I listened to him tell the Judge that he had never been in trouble before. He not only had served time for drug charges but also contributing to the delinquency of minors.

I started asking questions of my other daughters. I soon discovered that he had provided most of the friends with not only pot, but also alcohol and cigarettes. I got all of my ducks in a row, and wrote a nice long letter to the Judge, detailing everything I knew about him.

The prosecution also informed us that he was trying to pin all the charges on my daughter, because she was a minor with no criminal record her punishment would be kept to a minimum. I was not going to allow this to happen. I was able to prove to them that he had been doing this for years via photos on myspace.

My letter had an impact on the Judges decision. I was called to court to testify along with several other young people, my daughter included. He had told her that she was to lie on the stand, and tell the Judge that I was crazy and controlling. Apparently somewhere along the line, I had taught my daughter well, she refused to lie. The Judge decided that some jail time would be appropriate, along with 5 years of probation. Finally my daughter would be free of this monster. It took several months of him trying to malign me through letters for her to see what he was doing, but she managed to free herself from him eventually.

His hold on her? Unknown to either of them, it was something that I already knew about, but I was waiting for her to tell me of her own volition. Once it was out in the open and he no longer was able to hold that threat over her head, she was able to break free of his control of her.

My grand child was born and he is a delight, his father never really had an interest in his well being and is not a part of his life. As far as we can tell, this is no great loss.

If you find that one of your children is in a similar situation, don’t give up on them. Be there for them at all costs, eventually it will pay off.

HOW TO DESCRIBE YOURSELF

Describe Yourself for Online Dating, Job Interviews, Resumes and More

Learning how to describe yourself accurately is something we usually have to put some effort into. This seems to be especially true in most western cultures where being honest about our skills, qualities, and attributes can be confused with being arrogant, "blowing your own trumpet," and being excessively self indulgent.

If we do learn to describe ourselves, we can often forgo self confidence training by being our own confidence guru and simply acknowledging and appreciating our own positive qualities.

It's OK to Know What Our Positive Qualities Are...

From my experience of delivering training programs and seminars on improving confidence and self esteem, whenever participants are asked to state just five of their best qualities, a hushed embarrassment usually fills the room. Then, "I don't know" is the most common response.

Conversely, we're all a lot better at listing our faults and failings and can get onto that task without any difficulty. It's like most of us haven't even dared to think about the question, "What's good about me?" -- if that's you, then it's even more important that you read this

Words to Describe Yourself (Adjectives)

Because we can all identify with 90% of these adjectives in some situation or other, I suggest picking 10 - 15 words that describe how you are most of the time, regardless of the situation. It might be helpful to think about who are you when you are on your own, doing your own thing. There will be very few other people who will identify the exact same combination, because we're all different

Ready? Scroll down for list of 180 adjectives to help you describe yourself.

Positive Qualities

Inventive	Exciting	Thoughtful
Powerful	Practical	Proactive
Productive	Professional	Quality
Quick	Balanced	Achiever
Knowledgeable	Leader	Literate
Logical	Initiator	Original
Outgoing	Particular	Patient
Active	Positive	Consistent
Compassionate	Incredible	Independent
With integrity	Mediator	Emotional
Cheerful	Forgiving	Sensuous
Generous	Sporty	Devoted
Candid	Rebellious	Cooperative
Industrious	Interesting	Racy
Meditative	Understanding	Quirky
	Quixotic

Honest	Assertive	Attentive
Direct	Broad-minded	Committed
Conscientious	Dynamic	Hard worker
Persistent	Mature	Methodical
Motivated	Objective	Tenacious
Sociable	Friendly	Realistic
Reliable	Resourceful	Respectful
Responsible	Creative	Confident
Traditional	Trustworthy	Unconventional
Unique	Ecclectic

More Positive Qualities

Optimistic	Accomplished	Adept
Analytical	Articulate	Artistic
Self-disciplined	Controversial	Individual
Tolerant	Naive	Green
Unselfish	Sophisticated	Stable
Strong	Successful	Tactful
Talented	Team player	Fun
Intelligent	Changeable	Passionate
Intense	Intuitive	Upbeat
Vibrant	Funny	Constructive
Customer-oriented	Dependable	Direct
	Loyal

Competitive	Political	Social consciousness
Modest	Courageous	Enthusiastic
Enterprising	Entrepreneurial	Facilitator
Focused	Genuine	Open-mindedness
Wise	Sensitive	Sense of humor
Sensible	Sincere	Skilled
Solid	Communicative	Helpful
Fast	Responsible	Results-driven
Results-oriented	Self-reliant	Organised
Knowledgeable	Logical	Personable
Pleasant	Flexible	Adaptable
Persuasive	Perceptive	Insightful
Trustworthy	Easy going	Good listener
Imaginative	Warm	Ambitious
Diplomatic	Curious	Leader

How Do I Describe Myself?

Perceptive	Down to earth	Open-minded
Knowledgeable	Logical	Analytical
Quick learner	Genuine	Warm
Inventive	Rebellious	Generous
	Insightful

Your List of Positive Qualities

So, how did you get on? How does it feel to identify your positive qualities? Good, I hope! Put some practice into learning how to describe yourself and you will find an increase in self esteem and confidence and probably an improvement in your relationships too!