Tennis has been a highly popular sport in Germany over a large period of time and is perhaps only second to the sport of football with those from the country.
EagleBet is picking out some of the best German tennis players can be a rather challenging task considering how many great individuals there have been in the game. However, there are five that might stand out a little more than others.
German Tennis Legend Cilly Aussem
To find the GOAT player in regards to German tennis, you may have to go back sometime in history. German Cilly Aussem is perhaps that player, though, as she managed to do it all.
This legendary player became the first German player to ever win the Wimbledon competition, the Roland Garros women’s tennis tournament, the French Championships and the German Tennis Championships. Having managed to achieve this feat all in one year, it will arguably make player Aussem one of the best tennis players ever. A year prior, she teamed up with the player Bill Tilden to win the mixed doubles title at the 1930 French Championships.
Unfortunately, health issues impacted her career thereafter but not before she was able to be placed in the World top ten on four occasions (1928, 1930, 1931, 1934) and be the second-best in the world in 1930 and 1931 behind Helen Moody.
Alexander Zverev ATP Star
One of the best players to have come from Germany in more recent years is the player Alexander Zverev, who is also known as ‘Sascha’. He burst onto the tennis scene when he won 3 ATP Masters 1000 and one ATP Finals Championships by the time he was 21.
In 2017, he managed to rank as high as inside the top 3 professionals in the world and is currently one of the youngest players on the ATP Tour circuit. He remains in the top 10 despite not having been able to win a Grand Slam, but does have 11 ATP titles, thus making him one of the best German tennis players to have ever been produced by the country.
German Tennis Female Legend Angelique Kerber
Tennis player Angelique Kerber has managed to forge a reputation around the Women’s WTA circuit as a formidable opponent, which is why she has to be considered one of the best German tennis players ever. This german player managed to rank as the WTA number one when she was 28, becoming the first german female to achieve that status in their late twenties.
In 2016, this player won the Australian Open by defeating player Serena Williams to win her first Grand Slam before representing Germany at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and winning silver. 2016 continued to be a fine year for the tennis player, as she also lifted the US Open Grand Slam when she beat player Karolina Pliskova in the final.
Player Kerber has also won the Wimbledon championships, having tasted success in 2018 when she beat the player Serena Williams yet again. She continues to be one of the best tennis players on the WTA circuit and has been able to win no fewer than 12 singles titles.
Germany Tennis Legend Boris Becker
It would be impossible to leave german player Boris Becker off the list of the greatest German tennis players as he was one of the most successful to have ever played in the men’s game. He made history as he won the first of his major titles at just the age of 17 when he won the Wimbledon Championships in 1985.
Becker, who hails from Leimen, won a total of 6 majors; 3 Wimbledon titles, 2 Australian Open titles and 1 US Open title. The Roland Garros continued to elude him, as he reached the semi-finals on three separate occasions. He also managed to win three year-end championships, 13 Masters Series titles and an Olympic Gold Medal in 1992 when competing in Doubles competition with Michael Stich.
He finished with a record of 713 wins and 214 defeats, whilst also managing to achieve the number 1 ranking in the early parts of the 1990s.
This success also paid off as a coach, as it led Novak Djokovic to numerous titles, including Grand Slams.
Germanic Tennis Star Steffi Graff
As equally difficult as leaving out german player Boris Becker when listing the best German players ever, a female from Mannheim needs to be on the list and arguably requires no introduction. Steffi Graff can also be considered to be one of the GOATs when it comes down to the sport of tennis.
Having amassed a career record of 900 wins and just 115 defeats, german player Graff managed to win almost everything that she ever competed for. She won each of the 4 Grand Slam tournaments on numerous occasions throughout the 1980s and 1990s and is currently third on the list for overall titles with a huge 107.
Billie Jean King spoke of Graff’s retirement at the age of 30 in 1999 by saying that the German was “definitely the greatest women’s player of all time”. Graff, who is married to Andre Agassi, helped to popularise the sport of tennis in Germany, as did the German player Becker and is a huge reason as to why the sport is so popular in the country today.
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