by ponchi101 As Megan asked me about my favorite players of all time, why not share who are yours?

Men
Pete
Stefan
Roger
Jimbo
Bjorn
Laconte
Rafa
Lendl (specially after he drilled Mac on the chest)
Mac
Courier

Women
Steffi
Martina
Mandlikova
Henin
Monica
Chrissie
Conchita
Claudia Kohde Kilsh
Andrea Temesvari
Garbie

by meganfernandez
ponchi101 wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 12:19 am As Megan asked me about my favorite players of all time, why not share who are yours?

WOMEN
Temesvari
Temesvari, damn! My list is so boring.

WOMEN
Hingis
Muguruza
Azarenka
Sharapova
Kerber
Henin
Mauresmo
Halep
Hsieh
Capriati

MEN
Guga
Safin
Federer
Baghdatis
Wilander
Ivanisevic
Rafter
Fish
Gonzo
Wawrinka

by Liamvalid Pierce
Sanchez Vicario
Serena
Davenport
Seles
Venus
Navratilova
Dementieva
Sharapova
Clijsters


Nadal
Tsonga
Agassi
Ivanisevic
Tiafoe
Roddick
Henman
Wawrinka
Sampras
Rafter

by Deuce .
Women -

Leylah Fernandez - unparalleled focus and determination.
Patty Fendick - always gave 100%.
Su-Wei Hsieh - unpredictably unpredictable and incredibly creative.
Ons Jabeur - happy to be left of centre.
Andrea Jaeger - she had ‘spunk’ - but I hated the moonballs (is she still a nun? I called her ranch once and spoke with her there).
Martina Navratilova - brought excitement and better fitness to the game.
Jana Novotna - the definition of a pure athlete.
Natalia (Natasha) Zvereva - I don’t know why exactly, but I really liked her.
Corina Morariu - Bravely fought off leukemia and seems like a genuinely nice human being - far too good for that idiot Gimelstob.
Nicole Gibbs - I got to know her mom somewhat at a Junior tournament, and both mother and daughter were very nice... plus Nicole is also a cancer survivor, and for what she did in the late stages of her career and in retirement regarding mental health.


Men -

John McEnroe - for the tennis genius, not the juvenile personality.
Bjorn Borg - for the steady contrast in both style and personality he provided to several of his peers.
Jimmy Connors - for being an integral part of what I consider to be the ‘golden era’ of tennis.
Stefan Edberg - serve and volley and humility.
Hicham Arazi - maybe the most naturally talented player I’ve ever seen (but the head needed work).
Miloslav Mecir - the ‘big cat’... the epitome of smooth...
Fabrice Santoro - see Su-Wei Hsieh above.
Augustin Calleri - most fluid and beautiful backhand I’ve ever seen.
Slobodan Zivojinovic - for the name... and he was a character.
Cedric Pioline - because he gave me 4 of his racquets in 1996 or 1997.

by the Moz Federer
Becker
Bjorkman
Edberg
Hewitt
Kafelnikov
McEnroe
Safin
Santoro
Wilander

Hingis
Clijsters
Coetzer
Dokic
Hantuchova
Navratilova
Safarova
Seles
Sharapova
Zvereva

by atlpam Federer
Blake
Sampras
Santoro
McEnroe
Rafter
Baghdatis
Fish
Malisse
Nalbandian

Evert
Davenport
Zvonareva
Kuznetsova
Azarenka
Hantuchova
Radwanska
Mauresmo
Sakkari
Navratilova

by Suliso I can't get to ten, not old enough. Also excluding players just now rising up.

ATP

Edberg
Courier
Kuerten
Federer
Murray
Rafter

WTA

Hingis
Novotna
Dementieva
Clijsters
Huber
Kvitova
Bencic

by meganfernandez
Suliso wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 3:46 pm I can't get to ten, not old enough. Also excluding players just now rising up.

ATP

Edberg
Courier
Kuerten
Federer
Murray
Rafter

WTA

Hingis
Novotna
Dementieva
Clijsters
Huber
Kvitova
Bencic
Dang, I forgot about Kvitova! I do love her. How are you old enough to have Dementieva, Novotna, Edberg, and Guga on your list but not old enough to have 10 favorites? :) I'm surprised Guga isn't making many lists here. Maybe because his career was fairly brief.

by Suliso I started following circa '94-96, but not all years equally carefully. I guess I just listed major players fighting for Slam titles. There were few other sentimental favorites like Dominique van Rost and Younes el Aynaoui.

by ti-amie This was harder for me than I thought it would be. I don't have ten men.

Men

Early Pete Sampras
JMac (as has been said for his tennis)
Jimmy Connors
Marat Safin
Bjorn Borg
Gustavo Kuerten
David Ferrer
Rafael Nadal

Women

Monica Seles
Mary Pierce
Martina Navratilova
Hsieh Su-Wei
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
Venus Williams
Leylah Fernandez
Ons Jabeur
Paula Badosa
Serena Williams

by ponchi101 Early Pete Sampras? The one that won the USO at 19 in 1990? As opposed to LATE Pete Sampras, the one that won the 2002 USO at 32?
Ok, please explain that one. For all of Pete's fans (JazzNu and I), the 2002 win was the ultimate icing on the cake.
---0---
Gang. Great lists :clap: I am tempted to redo mine, after seeing some of your picks

by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:38 pm Early Pete Sampras? The one that won the USO at 19 in 1990? As opposed to LATE Pete Sampras, the one that won the 2002 USO at 32?
Ok, please explain that one. For all of Pete's fans (JazzNu and I), the 2002 win was the ultimate icing on the cake.
---0---
Gang. Great lists :clap: I am tempted to redo main, after seeing some of your picks
Before Pete became a serve bot i liked his game. Is 2002 the retching on the court year? If so I loved how he, uh, gutted that one out. I thought he got a bit lazy mentally and became a bot that's why I say early Sampras.

by ponchi101 2002 was the last year he won. The Corretja match was 1996, when he won against Chang in the final.
Interesting take on him becoming a serve-bot. I never agreed with that classification, as, for example, in all his matches vs Agassi at the USO, he hit more BH winners that Andre.
But, we are talking faves. There is no need to being rational about it. So you have, technically, 9 1/2 faves. ;)

by New England Nitemare Gee....this is tough. I've been following tennis since the late 70's. So here goes...

Women:

Chris Evert
Billie Jean King
Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Steffi Graf
Monica Seles
Jennifer Capriati
Martina Navratilova
Martina Hingis
Venus Williams
Lindsay Davenport

Men:

Jimmy Connors
Roger Federer
Stefan Edberg
Mats Wilander
John McEnroe
Pete Sampras
Guga Kuerten
Rafa Nadal
Boris Becker
Andre Agassi

by atlpam
ponchi101 wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:38 pm Early Pete Sampras? The one that won the USO at 19 in 1990? As opposed to LATE Pete Sampras, the one that won the 2002 USO at 32?
Ok, please explain that one. For all of Pete's fans (JazzNu and I), the 2002 win was the ultimate icing on the cake.
---0---
Gang. Great lists :clap: I am tempted to redo main, after seeing some of your picks
I thought about putting Agassi 2.0 on my list. I wasn't a fan of his early "rebel" days.

by meganfernandez
ponchi101 wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:38 pm Early Pete Sampras? The one that won the USO at 19 in 1990? As opposed to LATE Pete Sampras, the one that won the 2002 USO at 32?
Ok, please explain that one. For all of Pete's fans (JazzNu and I), the 2002 win was the ultimate icing on the cake.
---0---
Gang. Great lists :clap: I am tempted to redo main, after seeing some of your picks
I liked Pete, I think... maybe i liked Agassi more. Or maybe I just like him because he lost to Safin in the US Open, my greatest prediction ever - that Safin would win, made before the tournament began.

The 2002 US Open final was amazing, the way he came back after a two-year title drought, and the media practically laughed at him when he said he believed he could win the tournament. To go out like that against your greatest rival was a fairytale ending. Agassi always brought out Pete's best game. It's one of the few tennis matches I have watched in a bar instead of at home.

by ponchi101 I always said that, had Pete played Hewitt, he would have lost. Against Hewitt, he did not respect his return of serve and would serve and volley in his 1st and 2nd serve, losing way too many 2nd serve points. Against Agassi, he respected his return and would not serve and volley on his 2nd serves, and play into the point.

by JTContinental I'll caveat that my tennis knowledge starts in 1996, so some of the old favorites won't be found here

ATP
Andy Roddick
Pete Sampras
Jan-Michael Gambill
Marat Safin
Mardy Fish
James Blake
Pat Rafter
Andy Murray
Frances Tiafoe
John Isner (don't @ me)

WTA
Venus
Lindsay Davenport
Naomi Osaka
Coco Gauff
Garbine Muguruza
Jennifer Capriati
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Serena
Sloane Stephens
Jelena Jankovic

by ponchi101
JTContinental wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 10:07 pm I'll caveat that my tennis knowledge starts in 1996, so some of the old favorites won't be found here

ATP
...
John Isner (don't @ me)

...
Not a favorite, but I can admire Isner, for the same reasons I admire Schwartzman. A player with an obvious handicap, and yet he has been very successful.

by Deuce
meganfernandez wrote: Tue Nov 23, 2021 4:41 pm I'm surprised Guga isn't making many lists here. Maybe because his career was fairly brief.
I could add him to my list (in place of Zivojinovic or Pioline).
Guga was fun to watch. He was one of only a very few who made baseline tennis dynamic and exciting.

As for Sampras in 2002... sure, it was a nice accomplishment - but he hadn't done much at all leading up to that - he was essentially half retired already when he won that last U.S. Open - so I understand the 'early Sampras' distinction.

by JazzNU Tried to go in chronological order. I left out, but could easily include honorable mentions for both men and women, I definitely left out a few faves.

Men

Boris Becker
Pete Sampras
Michael Chang
MaliVai Washington
Marcelo Rios
Marat Safin
Tommy Haas
David Nalbandian
Rafa Nadal
Stan Wawrinka

Women

Zina Garrison
Gabriela Sabatini (the first player I remember loving)
Monica Seles
Lindsay Davenport
Chanda Rubin
Venus
Serena
Kim Clijsters
Elena Dementieva
Aga Radwanska

by New England Nitemare OMG!!!

How could I forget Gabriela Sabatini on my list....talk about a brain cramp on my part!!! Loved her.....told ya just picking 10 is tough!!!!

by ponchi101 I was thinking about her, but in the end, I found myself rooting always for Graf when they played (which was a self fulfilled prophesy except in the US East Coast). She was lovely and I enjoyed her BH to the fullest, but the rest of the game was lacking a bit. Still, way more favorable thoughts on her than negatives. And I did not mind that 1990 USO.
It is telling that some current women are on the lists (Garbie, Naomi, Sloane) but none of the men. I am telling you, and I already have before, the ATP is looking at some lean years soon.

by ti-amie How the he!! did I leave out Marcelo Rios! I thought about Sabatini but ponchi's analysis of her game is spot on.

by JazzNU I'm pretty sure I did my list differently than you guys did. My list isn't strictly whose game on the court I liked or thought was the best. More who did I root for the most. Some of it's game, some of it's the person, most times it was a combo of the two. Deficiencies in their game was definitely not part of my calculation coming up with the list. It's a list of favorites not best.

by Suliso
JazzNU wrote: Wed Nov 24, 2021 8:04 pm I'm pretty sure I did my list differently than you guys did. My list isn't strictly whose game on the court I liked or thought was the best. More who were who did I root for the most. Some of it's game, some of it's the person, most times it was a combo of the two. Deficiencies in their game was definitely not part of my calculation coming up with the list. It's a list of favorites not best.
I did the same :)

by JTContinental
JazzNU wrote: Wed Nov 24, 2021 8:04 pm I'm pretty sure I did my list differently than you guys did. My list isn't strictly whose game on the court I liked or thought was the best. More who were who did I root for the most. Some of it's game, some of it's the person, most times it was a combo of the two. Deficiencies in their game was definitely not part of my calculation coming up with the list. It's a list of favorites not best.
Yes, I certainly didn't pick Jan-Michael Gambill for anything related to his game mechanics. :gorgeous:

by ponchi101 And... so did I. I was never thinking here about who was best, or better than others.
For example, Mac. I hated his attitude on court. And then, he would play that magical serve and volley game, and drop volley his opponent to death, and play with that great delicacy.
But I found it impossible to like HIM. I simply was mesmerized by his game, and I rooted for the game to win, not the man. Which, of course, was insane.
Then, Lendl came around and I also felt the same. He was so robotic and "common", but every single shot had a purpose, and every single FH was blasted as hard as he could, and eventually I came around. I rooted against him plenty of times, but he won me over. The hardest working man ever, on and off court.

by ashkor87 Hmm.. interesting..
ATP:
Federer, Safin, Mecir, Agassi, Laver, Smith, Nastase, Krishnan,Edberg, Annacone
WTA:
Hingis, Radwanska, Seles, Venus, Serena, Graf, Henin, Kvitova, Barty, Muguruza
Unlike most people here, I don't consider personality, since a person''s personality is a private matter, and I don't feel qualified to judge...

by Liamvalid
ashkor87 wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 8:20 am Unlike most people here, I don't consider personality
Your inclusion of Henin and Nastase does prove that

by ashkor87
Liamvalid wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 2:37 pm
ashkor87 wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 8:20 am Unlike most people here, I don't consider personality
Your inclusion of Henin and Nastase does prove that
He he, true

by dmforever This took me a long time. Do I try to remember how I used to feel about players from decades past? Do I upgrade them because I like their post playing careers? In the end, I just decided to go with people I usually root or rooted for. Thanks so much for this thread. It's really fun. :)

So, in no particular order...

1. Chris Evert
2. Monica Seles
3. Justine Henin
4. Gabriela Sabatini
5. Yvonne Goolagong
6. Naomi Osaka
7. Andrea Petkovic
8. Sania Mirza
9. Mary Pierce
10. Ash Barty

1. Novak Djokovic
2. Mats Wilander
3. Alex Corretja
4. Thomas Muster
5. Matteo Berrettini
6. Juan Martin Del Potro
7. Dustin Brown
8. Aslan Karatsev
9. Marat Safin
10. Dmitry Tursunov

Kevin

by ashkor87 So easy to forget, so hard to choose! I forgot McEnroe and Goolagong! How could I?!

by ponchi101 Looking at the lists, and comparing to mine, my sole excuse for a bland list ( :P Ti) is that you people obviously were able to watch more players than I did. For example, the inclusion of Petkovic is indeed great, but I only watched her play once because I have been a hostage of ESPN for over two decades (we don't get TC or anything like that here in S. America). So I usually saw just Grand Slams and in the last few years, MS1000's.
I have also mentioned that ESPN will NOT show a woman's match unless it is the finals of a Slam, so I got even less exposed to those players.

by dmforever
ponchi101 wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 4:48 pm Looking at the lists, and comparing to mine, my sole excuse for a bland list ( :P Ti) is that you people obviously were able to watch more players than I did. For example, the inclusion of Petkovic is indeed great, but I only watched her play once because I have been a hostage of ESPN for over two decades (we don't get TC or anything like that here in S. America). So I usually saw just Grand Slams and in the last few years, MS1000's.
I have also mentioned that ESPN will NOT show a woman's match unless it is the finals of a Slam, so I got even less exposed to those players.
That must be so frustrating for you and other women's tennis fans. :(

A lot of the reason I love Petko so much comes from off the court. She's really smart, self effacing, funny, and irreverent, or at least that's how she comes across.

Kevin

by Deuce There are several streaming options out there to watch matches from the Challenger level to the pros.

by Suliso Do you have any players you used to support, but not anymore for one reason or another?

For me it would be Madison Keys. Nothing special happened, but she kind of lost interest in her own career and so did I.

by dmforever For me it's usually after they retire, with the exception of Novak, whom I used to be a big fan of but who has made that almost impossible.

I was a huge Evert fan but her commentary is pretty horrific. I never was a huge Courier fan, but he's my favorite commentator by far.

Kevin

by ti-amie
Suliso wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:36 pm Do you have any players you used to support, but not anymore for one reason or another?

For me it would be Madison Keys. Nothing special happened, but she kind of lost interest in her own career and so did I.
This is the best description of what has happened to Madison Keys tennis career that I've read so far. :)

by mmmm8
Suliso wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:36 pm Do you have any players you used to support, but not anymore for one reason or another?

For me it would be Madison Keys. Nothing special happened, but she kind of lost interest in her own career and so did I.
Yes, most recently in the last year with Djokovic and Zverev.

I've had the opposite reversal as well, most strongly with Venus Williams.

by ponchi101 Hingis. I was very high on her, then I just became numb to her tennis.
On the men's side, Bruguera. I really liked him, then when we got 50 more like him coming from downtown Barcelona, I lost interest.
Keys too. Your description is spot on (@Suliso).

by JTContinental For me, Maria Sharapova, Marin Cilic, Juan Martin del Potro

On the reverse end of the spectrum Gael Monfils and Serena

by Deuce
Suliso wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:36 pm Do you have any players you used to support, but not anymore for one reason or another?

For me it would be Madison Keys. Nothing special happened, but she kind of lost interest in her own career and so did I.
Yes, Keys has all but disappeared, indeed.
Sloane Stephens has been on a similar path - but at least she seems to care a bit more lately.

For me, it's Naomi Osaka.
She is sometimes incredibly refreshing with her honest insights about many matters... but the total hypocrisy of saying she can’t handle the attention and scrutiny of being in the spotlight, and then doing things that she absolutely knows will shine the spotlight very brightly upon her (‘famous’ boyfriend, outlandish clothes, significant presence on ‘social media’, etc.) rubs me the wrong way.

I think that her nature is to be a shy, quiet introvert - that is who she truly is, and the 'fame' messed with that. She is caught between being who she truly is and trying to be what others want her to be. Only when she accepts what her natural personality is and allows that to be her identity will she be truly happy. But as long as she tries to have her cake and eat it, too - by seeking the spotlight and then complaining that she can’t handle the spotlight - she will not be comfortable with herself.

She’s a very intelligent, incredibly insightful, extremely compassionate person who has absolutely no idea how to handle ‘fame’. And the people around her sure don’t seem to be of any help at all, sadly.

by the Moz Nick Kyrgios, 'nuff said.

by ponchi101 So much so that I had totally forgotten about him.

by meganfernandez
Suliso wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:36 pm Do you have any players you used to support, but not anymore for one reason or another?
I was just about to let go of Muguruza, then she goes and has a good year. Maddening in a whole new way. On the men's side, Gulbis. I'm surprised he's still plugging away, going out in R1 of Challengers or Tour qualies. He didn't have a tour-level main-draw win this year.

I came around on Radwanska and Wozniacki eventually, once I appreciated good defense, so the reverse effect.

by ponchi101 I actually try to let go of Mugu and then I catch one of her matches and I simply can't. I just like her, and that is it. Regardless of how many times she will break my heart on court.
(I did manage to do that with Kvitova, although I still like to watch her play).

by Cuckoo4Coco Since I was only born in 2006 my list is going to have all current players in it because I really don't know much at all of the older players.

Men's
Tiafoe
FAA
Zverev
Alcaraz
Berrettini
Fritz
Nadal
Monfils
Paul
Norrie

Women's
Coco Gauff
Serena
Venus
Halep
Collins
Pegula
Raducanu
Leylah
Anisimova
Andreescu

by led14pa2 I'm 31, so I can only cover about 2000-present.

Men
Nadal
Blake
Agassi
Alcaraz
Baghdatis
Safin
Auger-Aliassime
Roddick
Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan


Women
Serena
Henin (2003 French Open excluded)
Venus
Halep
Osaka
Swiatek
Radwanska
Barty
Vaidisova
Wozniacki

by AcesAnnie I have admired the game of tennis for some time now and have seen many of the greats of the game in my 57 years of my lifetime. I have never really picked up the game that well, and am more of a novice player. I have excelled more at running in my lifetime. So what these players I have seen do over my lifetime have completely awed me many times. They are the greats like: John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djovokic, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Lindsey Davenport, Martina Hingis, Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin, & Ashleigh Barty.

by ponchi101 Aces, you just basically mentioned every top player of the last 50 years ;)
You missed Mandlikova and Vilas.
(I'm putting you on)

by AcesAnnie
ponchi101 wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 4:39 pm Aces, you just basically mentioned every top player of the last 50 years ;)
You missed Mandlikova and Vilas.
(I'm putting you on)
Well, I have been around for 57 years. :lol: I also could have easily mentioned the likes of Wilander, Edberg, Becker, Sabatini, Novotna.

by ashkor87 Men: (only those I have actually seen .)
Laver, Stan Smith, John McEnroe, Ramanathan Krishnan, Mecir, Agassi, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Wawrinka

Women (same caveat)
Seles, Graf, Hingis, Serena, Venus, Radwanska,Navratilova, Mandlikova, Barty, Rybarikova! (She just floated like a wraith on the grass)

by Rex9 Men:

Roger
Rafael
Guga
Arthur Ashe
David Ferrer
Alexandr Dolgopolov
Juan Martin Del Potro
Daniil Medvedev
Bjorn Borg
Ernests Gulbis

Women:

Venus
Petra Kvitova
Serena
Martina Navratilova
Naomi Osaka
Anna Chakvetadze
Mona Barthel
Ana Konjuh
Jelena Ostapenko
Su-Wei Hsieh

by ashkor87 Chakvetadze! Good call...

by Jeff from TX Men
Federer
Connors
Edberg
Laver
McEnroe (also loved his doubles)
Chang
Djokovic (the tennis is amazing)
Agassi (the later years)
Wawrinka
Ashe
(and my sneak 11th would be Del Potro)

Women
Navratilova
Evert
Seles
Kerber
S. Williams
Goolagong Cawley
Capriati (who doesn't love a good comeback story)
Maria Bueno
BJK
Graf
(and I'll add Sue Barker as a sneak 11th)

by Jeff from TX
meganfernandez wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:05 pm
Suliso wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:36 pm Do you have any players you used to support, but not anymore for one reason or another?
I was just about to let go of Muguruza, then she goes and has a good year. Maddening in a whole new way. On the men's side, Gulbis. I'm surprised he's still plugging away, going out in R1 of Challengers or Tour qualies. He didn't have a tour-level main-draw win this year.

I came around on Radwanska and Wozniacki eventually, once I appreciated good defense, so the reverse effect.
Radwanska I did come around to. Never liked Wozniacki - still don't care for her. Not that she cares, but I think of her and Domi as the Kardashians of the tennis circuit.