Leo Tennis Players

Widely regarded as the greatest tennis player of all time, Roger Federer has won the most number of men's Grand Slam singles titles. He is the only person to be honored with the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year award on four occasions. Despite enduring several injuries, Federer continues to dominate the tennis court.

Australian former tennis player Rod Laver is widely regarded to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He was ranked world No. 1 in nine different years. He holds 200 singles titles--the most in tennis history. He excelled on a variety of court surfaces: grass, clay, hard, carpet, and wood/parquet. The Laver Cup Tournament is named after him.

Former professional tennis player, Pete Sampras, became the winner of 14 Grand Slam singles titles during his career. He was ranked world No. 1 in 1993 and held the record for 286 weeks. Nicknamed “Pistol Pete,” the player was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007.

Legendary Australian tennis player Evonne Goolagong Cawley was once world number 1 and the world’s first mother to earn a Wimbledon win in 66 years. A Wiradjuri Aborigine, she is now part of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and also became the Australian of the Year in 1971.

Belarusian tennis player Victoria Azarenka has been a 2-time Australian Open champion, scripting history as the first Belarusian player to earn a Grand Slam singles title. She is also a 3-time US Open finalist and has a mixed-doubles gold and a singles bronze at the Olympics.

Part of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, legendary Argentine tennis player Guillermo Vilas is a former world number 1 in singles. His wins include 2 Australian Open titles, 1 French Open, and 1 US Open. The 2020 Netflix documentary Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score was based on his life.

The daughter of former WTA player Angelikí Kanellopoúlou, Sakkari was introduced to tennis at age six. Greek tennis sensation Maria Sakkari has had a career-high ranking of number 6 in singles. Known for her aggressive style, Sakkari was born and raised in Athens but moved to Barcelona at 18 to train.

Mats Wilander is a former tennis player who won seven Grand Slam singles titles from 1982 to 1988. A former world No. 1, Wilander is one of six men to have emerged victorious in Grand Slam singles tournaments on hard courts, grass courts, and clay courts. In 2002, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. 

Argentine tennis player Diego Schwartzman has been a world number 8 in singles and 39 in doubles. With a height of 5’ 7”, he is considered shorter than most of his peers but is known for his control and timing on the field. He is fond of the clay court.

Though the daughter of a tennis coach mother, Katie Boulter had initially focused on playing the piano before she deviated to tennis as a career. She first gained attention after winning the Lemon Bowl at 11 and now has five singles and four doubles titles in her kitty.

Alexei Popyrin is an Australian tennis player who made his Davis Cup debut in February 2019. Popyrin won his first ATP title in February 2021 when he defeated Marin Čilić and Alexander Bublik in the semifinal and final respectively to win the Singapore Open.             

Once ranked world number five, British tennis player Jo Durie has two Grand Slam titles in her kitty. She is a seven-time British National Singles winner and a nine-time British National Doubles winner. Post-retirement, she has been working as a coach and a BBC and Eurosport commentator.

Mischa Zverev is a Russian-born German tennis player who reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinals in 2017 after beating the then-world No. 1 Andy Murray in the fourth round of the Australian Open. Mischa Zverev has also reached the quarterfinals of other important tournaments like the 2016 Shanghai Masters.

Robin Söderling is a Swedish former tennis player. Former world No. 4 in singles, Söderling reached two successive finals at the Roland-Garros in 2009 and 2010. Robin Söderling achieved popularity in 2009, when he became the first player to defeat the great Rafael Nadal at the Roland-Garros. An offensive baseliner, Söderling was renowned for his powerful game and heavy serve.

Karolína Muchová is a Czech tennis player who won the 2019 Korea Open, her first title on the WTA Tour. Over the course of her career, Muchová has scored victories over popular players like Garbiñe Muguruza, Karolína Plíšková, and Ashleigh Barty. Muchová has been praised for her ability to manufacture winners from typically defensive shots like drop shots and lobs.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Elena Vesnina has also earned two Olympic medals, which were, unfortunately lost in a theft in 2021. She has consistently been one of the top-ranked doubles players and went back to the tennis court at age 34 after a hiatus following her pregnancy.

Harriet Dart is a British tennis player who has won 14 doubles and four singles titles on the ITF Circuit so far in her career. Dart reached the finals of the mixed doubles event at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships along with Joe Salisbury and lost to Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk. This remains her best Grand Slam result to date.

Four-time winner of the AEGON Awards, Elena Baltacha was a Ukrainian-born British tennis player, who held the British No. I position for the first time at the age of nineteen. An unbelievable fighter, she continued to play despite her debilitating illness, winning matches almost till the very end, retiring from professional tennis five months before her death from liver cancer.

Julia Apostoli is a Soviet-born former professional tennis player. She has represented both the Soviet Union and Greece internationally. The daughter of football player Sergei Salnikov, she was introduced to sports as a child. She made her debut with the Soviet Union Fed Cup team in 1980.  She won a gold medal in women's doubles at the 1984 Friendship Games. 

Bunny Austin was an English professional tennis player. A former world No. 2, Austin remained the last Briton to play at the final of the Wimbledon men's singles for 74 years, before Andy Murray reached the finals in 2012. Bunny Austin was an important player of the British team that won three consecutive Davis Cups from 1933 to 1935.

Francisco Cerundolo is an Argentine tennis player best known for winning the silver medal in the men's singles event at the 2018 South American Games in Cochabamba. Francisco Cerúndolo has also won one ATP singles title so far in his career.

Born Richard Raskind, a boy, Renée Richards became an LGBT icon after winning a landmark case against the US Tennis Association and acquiring the right to compete in women’s tennis events in spite of her sex-change operation. She is also a qualified ophthalmologist and has trained the likes of Martina Navratilova.

Regarded as the first Serbian tennis star to gain international fame, Slobodan Živojinović, also known as Bobo, became the only Serb to gain world number 1 ranking in doubles apart from Nenad Zimonjić. He also grabbed headlines for his marriage to best-selling Yugoslav folk singer Lepa Brena.

Nicolás Almagro is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He won the gold medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games and his maiden ATP tournament title, the Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, the following year. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open on three occasions and the quarterfinals of the Australian Open once. He became a coach after retiring. 

Marc López is a Spanish professional tennis player who won a Grand Slam title at the 2016 French Open in men's doubles with Feliciano López as his partner. The same year, at the Rio Olympics, he won the gold medal in men's doubles for Spain partnering Rafael Nadal. Marc and Feliciano also played at the 2017 US Open. 

Remembered as the coach of tennis legend Roger Federer, Peter Carter had started off as a player but moved to coaching after his playing career was cut short due to injuries. He tragically died in a car accident at the Kruger National Park, where he was supposed to be holidaying with his wife.

Czech professional tennis-player Lukáš Rosol won 8 Challenger and 7 Futures tournaments. He drew attention by beating world No. 2 Rafael Nadal, during the second round of 2012 Wimbledon Championships. He was part of Czech Republic's 2012 Davis Cup winning team. First round match of 2013 Davis Cup that he won alongside Tomáš Berdych marked as the longest ever ATP doubles match.  

Greet Minnen is a Belgian professional tennis player. At the 2021 US Open, she reached the third round. Greet Minnen has won nine singles titles at the ITF Women's Circuit so far in her career.