Without controversies, the last decade witnessed one of the greatest rivalries in tennis. However, unlike in football, where it’s always about the top 2 of Messi and Ronaldo, tennis can boast of the top 4 across the last ten years.
Fortunately, for lovers of tennis, most of these high-performer tennis players were in their prime and all of them had a fair share of their own injuries, which makes this assessment a fair one. If you’re familiar with tennis or tennis betting, you should be able to guess rightly the top performers have they have all become a household name. Nevertheless, we want to examine a series of questions from tennis enthusiasts; how do they rank? What are their achievements? How do they compete against one another?
Let’s dive in!
5. Stan Wawrinka
Ranking as the only player to win multiple Grand Slams over the past ten years outside the “Top 4”, Stan Wawrinka is best described as a late boomer due to his late success in tennis. The 34-year-old Swiss player has a record of 15 titles in the past decade. This includes 3 grand slams and 1 Master title. He’s the only recognized tennis star known to challenge the big four successfully. He faced and trumped the number one to in his 3 Grand Slam titles – a win well-deserved. Australian Open of 2014 edition saw the highly-rated right-handed player defeat Nadal across four sets. He repeated the feat when he triumphed over Novak Djokovic in the 2015 French Open. He won his first US Open title in 2016 when he defeated Djokovic. It should be noted that Wawrinka’s only defeat in Grand Slam finals came from Rafael Nadal in France. For all his achievements, Stan suffered some injuries and underwent knee surgeries that set him back for the best part of 2019.
4. Andy Murray
The British-born 32-year-old counterpuncher tennis player is one of the members of the top 4. Over the last ten years, Murray has 32 titles in his cabinets including 10 Masters, 3 Grand Slams and 1 ATP Finals. He first won the US Open title in 2012 and proceeded to become a runner-up to Djokovic in the 2013 edition of the Australian Open. Wimbledon saw Murray won his second Grand Slam Open.
He secured the ATP Finals in 2016 defeating the Canadian-born Milos Raonic and held the best tennis players ranking for 43 weeks. In that same year, Andy Murray boosted his fortune earning over $16M in prize money; an achievement only toppled by Djokovic. Murray was not exempted from injuries but his achievements in the tennis court remain intact.
3. Roger Federer
Just like fresh wine, Roger Federer gets better with age. Presently ranked as number 3 in the world, the highly successful Swiss tennis star has etched his name as one, if not the outright greatest tennis players of all time. At 38, he has won every available title with a record 42 tiles that include 5 consecutive US Opens which is an all-time high from any tennis superstar. Also, he has 12 Master tiles and 1 ATP Finals title. In 2012, he won Wimbledon before going out of form. The 2010 Australian Open took Federer’s overall tally to 16 in the competition. In 2012, he won Wimbledon before going out of form. He’s currently the record holder for the most Wimbledon title win by notching his 8th title in 2017. The 38-year-old has 20 Grand Slam singles titles in his archive – the highest by a male tennis player in the history of tennis. Roger Federer suffered a title drought in 2019.
2. Rafael Nadal
Boasting the record for the highest number of French Open won at 12, Rafael Nadal is also known as the “King of Clay,” is a force to reckon with in the world of tennis. These past decades have seen him set and break records. This includes the first tennis player to win 10 titles at three events, as well as 12 French Open titles. The domineering Spanish star has 19 Grand Slam and 35 Master titles to his name. In all, Nadal had won 84 titles including 3 US Open title the last being won in 2019 when he triumphed over Daniil Medvedev in the finals. Nadal was crowned the “King of Clay” owning to his flawless record of 8 French Open titles in the last 10 years. He maintained a long winning streak at the event with a record 59-8 on clay surface tournament. He also won the Olympic title twice while representing Spain at Beijing 2008 and Rio Olympics in 2016.
1. Novak Djokovic
The man on top of the ladder, Novak Djokovic, is, without doubt, the most successful tennis player in the last decade. With 16 Grand Slam singles titles, 34 ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles, 5 ATP Finals titles and 13 ATP Tour 500 titles, Djokovic remains untouchable in times of achievements over the last ten years. He continually destroyed his opponents and sat at the peak of ATP ranking for an impressive 275 weeks. Djokovic became the first tennis star to hold 4 Grand Slam titles across 3 different surfaces when he won the 2016 French Open. The Serb has set many records in the last decade to establish his supremacy over his closest rivals including 4 consecutive ATP finals. Also, he has 3 US Open titles and 6 Australian Open. He’s currently the highest earner in a single year when he amassed a total of $21M in 2015.
Conclusion
Here is the list of our top 5 tennis players of the past decade. Hopefully, we will be glad to see other faces break in before the end of the new decade. However, let’s enjoy their tussle for the best at the moment. Who do you think is missing out? We will like to hear your thought!
