The one observation that can be laid, that while the history of tennis has seen many fantastic players, they have not been overwhelmingly dominant in the style of some of the ladies of the court. 

Pete Sampras, who holds the most Grand Slam titles by any man – would be far down the list when considering how many titles many of the goddesses of the court have held.

One of the finest players to ever have graced the court was Rodney George Laver. Rod was the only player to have won all of the Grand Slams in one year; and he did this twice. He is the only man in the open era to have won the elusive Calender Grand Slam.  He won 11 titles in all, twice at the French and US open, three times at his home slam in Australia, and four times at Wimbledon. 

'Federer has to contend with an overwhelmingly dominant clay-court specialist in Rafael Nadal'


His name is well known as the centre where the Melbourne Grand Slam is held; it is named in his honour. Many regard him as the classic male tennis player.

Ivan Lendl was probably the most dominant player in the 1980s – a period of male tennis history that was crowded with elite players. He won eight Grand Slams in his career and competed in 19 Grand Slam finals – reaching at least one slam final every year for 11 years. He was the first man to usher in the now often seen “power game” and was the nemesis of John McEnroe, whom he defeated to win the 1985 US open and become the number one player in the world.

Swede Bjorn Borg also lays claim to being one of the finest men on the court. He won nearly 90 per cent of all Grand Slam matches he competed in – and was the master of clay, winning six French Open titles, which no man has come close to achieving.  He was however, not as dominant on the hard courts, never capturing an Australian Grand Slam.

American Andre Agassi was arguably the most popular male tennis player of all time, winning eight Grand Slam tournaments as well as an Olympic Gold Medal.  He was instrumental in the US’s Davis Cup dominance, and was the maestro of the Master Series tournaments with more titles than any other man.

He has retired and is married to female tennis legend Steffi Graf. His work post tennis as been sensational, being involved in numerous charities and has raised over $100m for his foundations.

Pistol Pete Sampras is quite possibly the greatest player of all time, with a phenomenal 15-year career which won him 14 Grand Slam titles, still the most ever won by any man. He was world number one at year’s end for six consecutive years. He was overwhelmingly dominant as Wimbledon, winning the title seven times, as well as taking out his home slam in America five times.

And of course, Roger Federer, still currently playing and en-route to becoming the most dominant male player of all time. He has been the world number one since early 2004, and while the pack is definitely catching up to some degree, his dominance of the court has been at a level unseen by any other man in history. He has won 12 Grand Slam titles, and has been defeated by only a small collection of opponents.  He is the four-timesWorld Sportsman of the Year.  Between 2004 and 2006 he won well over 93 per cent of all his games played, a two-year domination unmatched by any other player in the world. Since being world number one, he has won335 games, and lost but 29.

He has however, one glaring weakness, as does Pete Sampras - the surface of clay.

Federer has to contend with an overwhelmingly dominant clay-court specialist in Rafael Nadal, who holds a 19-1 record against the Swiss on the red surface.

Roger is and no doubt will be the best man ever to grace a court – but without conquering the clay and the Spaniard, he will not be able to claim complete dominance in men’s tennis.