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Poll: Who is the Open Era's greatest legend among men?

50 years of the Open Era on the ATP tour. And we asked around at a large panel to find out who has shaped this half century the most. Playful and also through his personality.

by tennisnet.com
last edit: Dec 17, 2020, 06:54 am

Who is the greatest legend in the Open Era?

No, we didn't just ask about sporting successes. But also according to the influence that the respective player has had on tennis as a whole. There is no question that personal impressions play a role in a survey in this direction. Who saw Björn Borg's great time? How much did Boris Becker shape his era? Are Novak Djokovic , Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer already considered legends? And: what about the two long-term rivals Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi ?

And this is what the panel looks like that thought about the tennisnet survey. First of all, the experts who have stood on the court and shown great achievements there. Or still show: Barbara Rittner (Head of Women's Tennis at DTB), Michael Kohlmann (Head of Men's Tennis at DTB), Barbara Schett-Eagle (former top ten player, now Eurosport presenter), Jürgen Melzer (two-time major champion in doubles, soon to be ÖTV sports director), Lars Uebel (head of competitive sports at the TennisBase in Oberhaching), Alexander Peya (double ace on the way back), Christopher Kas (ex-professional, currently coach of Peter Gojowczyk), Tobias Summerer (ex-coach of Florian Maier, currently coach at BTV) and Jan de Witt (Break Point Base, currently coach of Nikoloz Basilashvili)

The following specialists from the circle of journalists took part: Andrej Antic (editor-in-chief tennisMAGAZIN), Christian Barschel (tennisMAGAZIN), Doris Henkel (FAZ), Gerald Kleffmann (SZ), Jörg Allmeroth (Allmeroth Media), Marcel Meinert (Sky), Paul Häuser (Sky), Markus Theil (Eurosport), Stefan Hempel (Sky), Moritz Lang (Sky), Christian Schwell ( Clay Court Gods ), Sebastian Kayser (BILD), Florian Goosmann (tennisnet), Alexander Tagger (Kleine Zeitung), Harald Ottawa ( Kurier), Florian Regelmann (spox.com), Nikolaus Fink (tennisnet), Michael Rothschädl (tennisnet) and Jens Huiber (sportradio360).

A total of 16 players were mentioned. And that's what came out ...

15th place, 1 point: Mats Wilander, who won three major titles in 1988

15th place, 1 point: Goran Ivanisevic, who defeated many demons at Wimbledon 2001

14th place, 5 points: Stefan Edberg, six-time major champion

Rank 13, 8 points: Thomas Muster, crowned major champion in Roland Garros in 1995

Rank 12, 12 points: Ivan Lendl, who finally struck big in Roland Garros in 1984

Rank 11, 17 points: Arthur Ashe, also and above all one of the greats next to the court

10th place, 32 points: Jimmy Connors, still a big show at the US Open even in old age

Rank 9, 48 points: Boris Becker, who conquered the tennis world in 1985

Rank 8, 50 points: Rod Laver - whose big time is to be anchored before the Open Era.

Rank 7, 74 points: Novak Djokovic, whose trophy collection is sure to grow

Rank 6, 77 points: John McEnroe, who dethroned his greatest rival at Wimbledon in 1981

5th place, 87 points: Pete Sampras, unbeatable at Wimbledon for years

4th place, 88 points: Andre Agassi, career grand slam champion

3rd place, 124 points: Björn Borg, according to the completely correct information from a sponsor, the first superstar of the sport

2nd place, 168 points: Rafael Nadal, co-record holder for majors since this fall

1st place, 205 points: Roger Federer. The maestro. The greatest legend of the Open Era.