Legends on the Court: Top 10 Retired Tennis Players We Miss

Selecting a Top 10 list of retired tennis players that we miss from the court can be difficult to nail down without leaving out some players that many people will feel are worthy of their place on any such list. Compiling a list of some of the best tennis players of all time will always provoke debate about who truly is the GOAT of the sport. With so many ways to measure greatness, we have given it a go here and listed the Top 10 all-stars no longer playing the game.  

Criteria for Selection of the Best Tennis Player

The best tennis players of all time are defined by their career achievements. These include how many Grand Slams the have won, how long if at all, they have been ranked No1 in the world and other personal accolades they have won for their on-court performances. The greats are also noted for their impact on the sport more broadly. Have their consistent performances throughout their careers added to their fame and fan support or is it a unique playing style that has drawn fans towards them. Which of our legendary players have had memorable rivalries that have transcended the sport and brought new fans to the game. These are all aspects of a player’s career that helps shift them from a very good player to an all-time great and cements a place amongst the greatest in tennis history.  

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Top 10 Best Retired Tennis Players We Miss 

When it comes to discussing the greatest tennis player of all time many of the main choices are on our list below. One man not on the list just yet is Novak Djokovic, a man that enjoyed legendary rivalries with three men on our list, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. When it comes to conversations about the Men’s GOAT, Djokovic is front and centre of those, but for now he is still trying to break more records on the court. 

 1. Roger Federer – The Maestro of the Court 

• Key Career Milestones: Played his first ATP Tour event in 1998 and won his first Grand Slam title at the age of 21 when he triumphed at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships. Federer would go on to win 20 tennis Grand Slam titles, including a record 8 Wimbledon Championships. He retired in 2022 at the age of 41.
• What Made Them Legendary: His legendary rivalries with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will see the three men forever linked when discussing a Golden Age of men’s tennis. Federer’s style of play is another reason why he will go down as one of the greats of the sport. His serene movement around a court allied with the ability to play ferocious forehands and beautiful touch shots made the Swiss a favourite amongst tennis fans all over the world. 
• Legacy: Federer, for many is regarded as the greatest tennis player of all time. He was loved and respected by fans and fellow players alike, winning the ATP Fans Favourite Award every year from 2003 – 2021, as well as the Tour Sportsmanship Award a record 13 times. 

2. Serena Williams – The Unbreakable Force 

• Key career milestones: Serena Williams won 23 Singles Grand Slams during her professional career. Her first tennis Grand Slam win was at the 1999 US Open, with her final Slam victory coming at the 2017 Australian Open.
• What Made Them Legendary: An aggressive baseliner whose groundstrokes are among the best shots in the history of women’s tennis. Williams took tennis to another level with her performances during her career. Her serve is lauded as the greatest in the women’s game while her heart and ability to produce extraordinary comebacks are part of what makes her the legend she is. 
• Legacy: Serena Williams is widely regarded as one of the best female tennis players of all time. Along with her sister Venus, Williams is credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism combined with breathtaking skill into the women’s game. 

3. Pete Sampras – The Grass Court King

• Key career milestones: Pete Sampras made his tour debut in 1988. He won his first Grand Slam at the 1990 US Open, becoming the youngest man to ever win the title. He went on to win 14 Grand Slam titles in total, including 7 Wimbledon Championships, and is surely one of the best grass court players ever. His last match was his 2002 US Open win.
• What Made Them Legendary: Sampras is viewed as one of the best male tennis players of all time. His serve is seen as one of the best, with his second serve nearly as powerful as his first serve. 
• Legacy: Sampras’ achievements rank him as an all time great of the game. His phenomenal serve and the skill of his volleys, position him as one of the best serve and volleyers ever.

4. Steffi Graf – The Golden Slam Champion 

• Key career milestones: Steffi Graf kicked off her career in 1982, winning her first WTA event in 1986. She won her first Grand Slam tennis title at the French Open in 1987 going on to win 22 in total.
• What Made Them Legendary: One of the best women tennis players of all time, Graf not only won 22 Grand Slams, but she is also the only player to have won all four Slams at least four times. She holds the record for most weeks at No 1 in the women’s game at 377 weeks and the joint record of 186 consecutive weeks at No 1 with Serena Williams.
• Legacy: Graf’s ability to play on all surfaces, her movement on the court and her ferocious forehand saw her change the dynamics of the women’s game. She will also go down in history as the first player to win the career Golden Slam.

5. Andre Agassi – The Comeback King 

• Key career milestones: Andre Agassi made his tour debut in 1986, winning his first Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 1992. He won 8 Slams in total with the Australian Open his most successful Slam. Agassi also won Gold at the 1996 Olympics, with his last Major success coming at the 2003 Australian Open at the age of 33. He retired in 2006.
• What Made Them Legendary: A baseliner with a brilliant two handed backhand, Agassi is also lauded as one of the greatest returners the men’s game has seen. His rivalry with Pete Sampras throughout the 1990s is one of the best rivalries in tennis due to their contrasting styles and demeanours. 
• Legacy: Agassi is often viewed as having revitalised tennis to a wider audience during the 1990s due to his worldwide appeal and world class ability.

 6. Rafael Nadal – The King of Clay 

• Key career milestones: Rafael Nadal burst onto the scene in 2005 when he won the French Open at his first attempt, at the age of 19. Nadal retired in 2024 after winning 22 Grand Slam titles, as well as an Olympic Gold Medal in Beijing in 2008. 
• What Made Them Legendary: The King of Clay is called his nickname for a reason. Without doubt the best clay courter ever, Nadal won 14 French Open titles on the red dirt, with 63 of his overall 92 Singles titles coming on clay. Obviously not just a clay courter though, Nadal also won 4 US Opens, 2 Wimbledon titles and 2 Australian Opens. 
• Legacy: Viewed by some as the GOAT of tennis, Nadal along with his great rivals Federer and Djokovic ushered in a Golden Era of men’s tennis. He along with Agassi and Djokovic are the only men to win the career Golden Slam.  

7. Andy Murray – The Resilient Fighter 

• Key career milestones: Murray turned pro in 2005 and retired in 2024, as a 3 Grand Slam winner, a Davis Cup winner with Great Britain, as well as a double Olympic Gold Medallist. 
• What Made Them Legendary: Known as one of the best tacticians on a tennis court, Murray had an all-court game but was at his best counter punching and constructing points. Murray was also a great returner who fought to position himself as the chief challenger to the Big 3 of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal. 
• Legacy: Murray will always be remembered as the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win Wimbledon, when he won it in 2013. He is also the only man to win back-to-back Olympic Gold medals. 

8. Björn Borg – The Swedish Superstar

• Key career milestones: Borg turned professional in 1973, winning his first Slam at the French Open in 1974. He went on to win 11 Grand Slams in total, 6 French Opens and 5 Wimbledon Championships. 
• What Made Them Legendary: Borg is legendary for so many facets of his game and persona. His ice-cold demeanour and mental toughness were game changing for the sport in the 1970s, while his physical conditioning was unrivalled by many of his rivals. His rivalry with John McEnroe was also something of a touchstone moment for the sport in the 70s and early 80s. 
• Legacy: Borg will always be worshipped by tennis fans as one of the best tennis players of all time, before his retirement at just 26. His game style is often credited with helping to pave the way for a new style of tennis that has come to dominate the game in modern times.  

9. Martina Navratilova – The Serve and Volley Specialist ahead of her Time

• Key career milestones:  Martina Navratilova began her professional tennis career in 1974 and did not retire until 2006 aged 49. She won 18 Singles Grand Slam tournaments.  
• What Made Them Legendary: Navratilova won 59 Grand Slams across all disciplines of the sport and won a record 167 Open Era Titles. She enjoyed a great rivalry with Chris Evert, in which they played each other 80 times with Navratilova leading their head-to-head 43-37.
• Legacy: The Czech American was a pioneer for how female players trained and through her athleticism and aggressive playing style. Her rivalry with Evert is the most famous witnessed on the WTA Tour. 

10. Chris Evert – The Game Changing American 

• Key career milestones: Chris Evert won 18 Grand Slam Singles titles, including a record 7 French Opens. She retired in 1989.
• What Made Them Legendary: Evert is viewed as a game changer in women’s tennis for revolutionising the sport through her baseline game. Her mental toughness on court and elegant style of play allowed her to be a dominant force at the French Open in the 1970s and 1980s. 
• Legacy: Her rivalry with Martina Navratilova is one of the great rivalries not just in tennis but in sport.  Her game style changed tennis with the American one of the first players to play predominantly from the baseline. 

What It Takes to Become a Tennis Legend? 

What makes the top tennis players become tennis legends? It’s a question posed regularly with some believing it’s the amount of Grand Slam tennis tournaments a player has won. Others view a top tennis player’s longevity as a deciding factor. What is evident however amongst the best tennis players of all time is the key traits they all seem to possess. 

These top tennis players all had resilience to come back from harrowing defeats to win all that they won, as well as great mental strength which most top-level athletes need to have to succeed. With the players on this list, they all had great longevity in their careers which brought a consistency in their performances that positioned them as some of the best players in the history of the sport. 

Key Characteristics of Legendary Tennis Players 

For the tennis players on this list, many of them have enjoyed consistency at the highest level of the sport. Multiple times champions of each of the four Slams are on our list, as well as the fact that the 10 players were all No 1 at some stage of their careers. 

The players listed have also been part of the most famous rivalries the sport has seen. Evert-Navratilova, Navratilova-Graf, Nadal-Federer, Agassi-Sampras, Borg-McEnroe and Nadal-Djokovic are just some of the memorable rivalries involving players on the Top 10 list. 

Many questions are posed about what makes a tennis legend but there are undeniable similarities between all the great champions of the sport. Resilience, mental toughness, consistency and tactical acumen, on top of the talent that they must possess are what differentiate the very top tennis players from those below them. The players listed all had these qualities, and their legacies continue to live on, as every new player that comes onto the ATP or WTA Tours is growing up trying to emulate a fraction of what they have all done throughout their illustrious careers.