The Greatest Tennis Player Of All Time?

The All-Time Greatest Tennis Player

Ahhh....A familiar discussion indeed. Laver, Federer, Sampras, even Pancho Gonzalez....have been considered by many to be the greatest. Let's take a closer look.

1. Pancho Gonzalez is often credited by many historians as the player they would want to play for them if their lives were at stake. Clearly, Pancho's talent is undeniable. However, the sheer level of competition at that time was far below standards today. With only a few big names (Laver, Hoad) for competition, I don't think it was very tough for the top players to win the slams back then.

2. The Rocket: Rod Laver is ridiculous. With 199 tournament wins alone, he has set a mark that most players don't acheive even a quarter of. However, Laver faced amateur competition for a long period and only had one kew rivalry in his path to success: Rosewall. The two men played OVER 180 TIMES and that is simply ridiculous: It shows how dominant the two were in comparison with the rest of the field. But Laver's talent is undeniable.

3. Sampras, perhaps the greatest male grasscourt player to play the game, has 14 grand slams that speak for themselves. However, his results on the red clay of Roland Garros have been mediocre at best, and his record of slams was snapped by a resurgent Roger Federer. Sampras, however, spent a record 286 weeks as world number one.

4. Federer has the all-time record for grand slams at 15. His wins in Masters Series (15) are second only to Andre Agassi (17). The man has a losing record to upcomers Rafael Nadal (possible the greatest claycourt platyer of all time) and Scottish talent Andy Murray. However, what is often overlooked at is that both Nadal and Murray are 6 years younger than Federer and that 9 of Federer's 13 losses to Nadal have come on clay. 

Finally, what would happen if these greats were pitted against each other at their primes, with technological limitations taken into account?

Forehand: Federer

Serve: Sampras

Backhand: Laver

Volley: Gonzalez

INTANGIBLES: Federer

So, the winner probably would be Federer, in my opinion, the greatest ever to play the game.

Finally, how would these