6) Chris Evert
Besides being perhaps the best looking player on this list—apologies to Pete Sampras—Chris Evert had an unbelievable career. Like Martina Navratilova, Evert won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, but she wasn’t the doubles player that Navratilova was. Additionally, their head-to-head matchup, which was like cocaine mixed with Wonka Bars for tennis fans, ultimately tipped in Martina’s favor. They faced each other a total of 80 times, 14 of those matches coming in Grand Slam finals, where Navratilova won 10 of those contests. In all tournament finals (slams and non-slams) in which the two titans matched up, Navratilova won 36 to Evert’s 25. That’s enough rationale for Navratilova exceeding Evert on this list, but taking away from someone who had the immaculate career of Chris Evert is not what I’m here to do. With that in mind, let’s travel on to her numerous and astounding career accomplishments.
From 1973-1988, Evert set a record by reaching the most Grand Slam singles finals of any player in tennis history with 34. Meaning, over a 15-year stretch, Evert appeared in over half of all the Grand Slam finals played, a decade and a half of being the best or second best player going. She also stands alone as the queen of the French open, winning 7 singles titles at Rolland Garros. For good measure she also tossed in 3 Grand Slam doubles championships, which people tend to toss away as an “also” kind of stat. Such thinking is foolish. Doubles is perhaps harder than singles, especially for a player of Evert’s magnitude, because it requires majorly adapting one’s game, and in her case, trusting an inferior talent with half of the work load.
Evert also made the semi-finals of the U.S. Open at the age of 16. At the point when most of us are trying not to run over mailboxes with a newly garnered driver’s license, Evert was challenging Billie Jean King in the U.S. FREAKING Open!
Of her 17 years as a pro, Evert finished the year ranked number one in the world five different times. She also won 31 consecutive matches and 4 straight titles at the U.S. open, both records that are unmatched by any man or woman. Perhaps my favorite stat, because I believe not just simply in the importance of longevity but of sustained excellence over time, is that Evert won at least one slam in 13 consecutive years.
Had Evert’s career gone slightly different or her matches against Navratilova been closer to her favor, she certainly could have moved up on this list, and even so, her résumé stacks up with anyone from any era of tennis.
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| #6 Chris Evert |
5) Pete Sampras
I said this list would be woman heavy, and it is, but I have to rank Pete Sampras ahead of Evert on my list simply because of the dominance he exhibited over the men’s draw. Evert was tremendous but did not overshadow her era to the extent that Sampras did. Though Sampras didn’t play much doubles, which I dock him points for, I can’t knock him too much for focusing on dominating men’s singles, which is exactly what he did.
For a long time, and I remember this well because I grew up during the Sampras era, tennis seemed boring. Serve out wide, Serve down the center, a sizzling forehand and perhaps a volley to finish the point, and Pete Sampras had defeated his opponent before anyone knew what was going on. But if you can make the highest level of professional sports seem boring, that’s a sign you’re pretty damn good.
It seemed unthinkable to me when I was younger that I would ever see a player near as dominant as Sampras, and then Roger Federer came along. Federer is essentially the same guy with a little more versatility to his game and an ability to play on clay that Sampras never had. In fact, that is the one major demerit on Sampras’ career. The furthest he ever got in the French open was a semi-final loss. But again, I point out the negative only to justify the ordering of my list, and now on to the positives.
Sampras won 14 Grand Slams and was runner up four times in an era where Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Boris Becker, and Stefan Edberg provided Hall of Fame-level competition. His most heated rivalry was against Agassi, in which Sampras claimed 20 of their 34 career matchups.
Sampras went eight-straight years with at least one Grand Slam title and eleven-straight years with at least one Grand Slam finals appearance, records only Federer, Ivan Lendl and Bjorn Borg can match. He was also the undisputed king of Wimbeldon, winning it a record 7 times, done in a span of just 8 years. He won the U.S. Open three-straight times, five times overall, and tossed in two Australian Open championships for good measure.
Lacking the personality of Agassi or the artistry of Federer, but when he was in his prime you simply did not beat Pete Sampras, and that in the end is all that matters.
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| #5 Pete Sampras |
--from @AdamHocking
Wonderful post
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