With 39 Grand Slam titles and four Olympic gold medals, Serena Williams is clearly amongst the greatest female tennis players in the history. With 23 Grand Slam singles win, she is just a win away from equalling Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam titles. She has bagged the top spot in WTA’s world ranking numerous times.
Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka made history by being the first player of Asian origin to hold the world number one rank in singles. Osaka made headlines when in 2021, she withdrew from the French Open after refusing to be part of a press conference to protect her mental health.
Swiss tennis sensation Martina Hingis made waves when she won the Australian Open at age 16, becoming the youngest Grand Slam singles winner of the 20th century. The youngest world number 1, too, she was named after Martina Navratilova and was the daughter of a Czech tennis player and a tennis coach.
Marin Čilić is a Croatian tennis player best known for winning the 2014 US Open and a silver medal at the 2020 Olympic Games. Regarded as one of the best Croatian professional tennis players of all time, Marin Čilić has won many ATP Tour singles titles in his illustrious career. He also helped his country win the 2018 Davis Cup.
Simona Halep is a Romanian tennis player. With 22 WTA singles titles and two Grand Slam singles titles under her belt, Simona Halep is one of the most successful Romanian female tennis players of all time. She is also widely considered one of the WTA Tour's best returners of the current generation.
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine tennis player best known for winning the 2009 US Open after defeating Roger Federer in the final. He also helped his team win the prestigious Davis Cup in 2016. One of the greatest Argentine players of all time, Juan Martín del Potro also won Olympic bronze and silver in 2012 and 2016 respectively.
Thomas Muster is an Austrian retired tennis player and former world No. 1. Muster was one of the world's best clay court players during the 1990s, winning the French Open in 1995 and becoming the first Austrian to win a Grand Slam singles title. Such was his dominance on clay that Thomas Muster was called The King of Clay.
Jana Novotná was a tennis player best remembered for winning the 1998 Wimbledon singles title. She was also renowned as a doubles player as she won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles, achieving the Career Grand Slam twice in the process. Novotná also competed in other important tournaments like the Olympics where she won two silver medals and one bronze medal.
Once world number 17 in singles, tennis sensation Bernard Tomic has also been controversy’s favorite child. Known for his on-and-off relationship with reality TV star Vanessa Sierra, and for appearing on an adult site, he now claims to have stopped partying and alcohol and has apparently taken to veganism.
Michael Stich is a German former professional tennis player. He won the 1991 Wimbledon Singles Championship after defeating Boris Becker in the final. The following year, Stich joined hands with Boris Becker to win the gold medal in the men's doubles event at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Stich also won other important tournaments like the 1992 Grand Slam Cup.
Australian tennis coach and former player Darren Cahill is best known for mentoring renowned players such as Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, and Simona Halep. He was also the Australian Davis Cup coach. Known by his nickname Killer in the tennis circuit, he also works as a tennis analyst for ESPN.
Sam Groth is an Australian retired tennis player who competed in both singles and doubles events at Grand Slams and other major tournaments. In 2015 and 2017, Groth was part of the Australian Davis Cup team. After retiring as a player in 2018, Sam Groth has been working as a TV host.
Although he had been part of the Olympic silver-winning Czechoslovakian ice hockey team, Jaroslav Drobny gained more fame as a tennis player. He achieved the rare feat of having played Wimbledon for four different countries: Czechoslovakia, Bohemia-Moravia, Egypt, and, Britain. He also won 130 singles titles throughout his career.
Ann Jones is an English former tennis and table tennis champion. A popular tennis player, Jones won eight Grand Slam titles during her career. A former world No. 2, Jones managed to establish herself as a praiseworthy player despite playing in a highly competitive era; she played against some of the all-time greats like Margaret Court and Billie Jean King.
Andrey Rublev is a Russian professional tennis player who won the 2014 French Open singles title. The same year, he won a bronze medal in singles and a silver in doubles at the Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing. He reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 5 by the ATP in September 2021. He has been endorsed by many brands.
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a German tennis player. He has won seven doubles and eight singles titles on the ATP World Tour so far in his career. His best performance at Grand Slam Singles so far has been at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships where he reached the quarterfinals. An all-court and strong baseline player, Philipp Kohlschreiber also possesses great forehand play.
Marcus Willis began playing tennis at age 9 and turned pro at age 17. Though beaten by Roger Federer in the 2016 Wimbledon, he still received a standing ovation for his efforts, as that was his tour debut. He is also an expert in touchtennis.
Elena Dementieva is a Russian former tennis player who won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She has 16 WTA singles titles to her name and was also part of the Russian team that won the 2005 Fed Cup. She reached a career-high ranking of world No. 3 in April 2009.
Magdaléna Rybáriková is a Slovak former tennis player who won four WTA singles titles during her professional playing career that spanned 15 years. Magdaléna Rybáriková's best Grand Slam result came in 2017 when she reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first Slovak woman to do so; she lost to the eventual winner Garbiñe Muguruza.
Sascha Bajin is a German tennis coach of Serbian origin. A former tennis player, Bajin achieved popularity when he started working with Serena Williams. He served as Serena's hitting partner for eight years, during which she won many titles. He is also credited with coaching Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka and helping her win two Grand Slam titles.
With a career-high ranking of 36 in singles, Swiss tennis player Viktorija Golubic is definitely showing a lot of promise. While she began training in the game at age 5, she now has an Olympic doubles silver medal in her kitty, and that too, in her debut Olympic game, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo shocked tennis fans by beating world singles number 1 Ashleigh Barty in the first round of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Born to a footballer father, in a remote village, Tormo had started playing tennis at age 3. She and teammate Paula Badosa have been friends since 14.
In spite of her short stature of 5’2”, tennis sensation Amanda Coetzer was named The Little Assassin for her aggression. She began training in tennis at age 6. In the 1990s, she stunned the world by defeating no. 1 tennis stars Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, and Martina Hingis.
Argentine tennis player Federico Delbonis is a former Olympian who has been world number 33 in singles. He was part of the Argentine Davis Cup-winning team in 2016. He has also had a career-high ranking of 110 in doubles.
Yanina Wickmayer is a Belgian tennis player who has competed in Grand Slams, Olympic Games, and the Billie Jean King Cup. In 2009, she was named as the Most Improved Player by the WTA. In 2011, Yanina Wickmayer was mentioned in Time magazine's 30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future list.