The Defining Moments of Tennis

Tennis has come a long way from the days of wood rackets and players wearing cardigans, flannel pants, bustle skirts and skimmer hats.

Since the modern game began in 1859, tennis has had a storied past with key events to mark every one of its eras — from the long-ago dominance of Helen Wills Moody and Don Budge, to the pioneering feats of Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King, to the modern saga of the Williams sisters.

The defining moments made tennis one of the world’s great sports.

25. The Evolution of the Davis Cup

Australian Gerald Patterson, right, congratulates American Bill Tilden after a Davis Cup win in 1922. AP Photo

Date: Aug. 8-10, 1900

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Bottom line: Known as the World Cup of tennis, the Davis Cup began in 1900 at Boston’s Longwood Cricket Club, with the United States defeating Great Britain, 3-0.

Today, it is the world’s largest annual international team competition, featuring 133 nations in 2019.

The United States has won a record 32 titles, followed by Australia with 28.

24. The First Non-Wood Racket

Billie Jean King used the first non-wood racket in 1967. John Rooney / AP Photo

Dates: Aug 30-Sept. 10, 1967

Location: Forest Hills, New York

Bottom line: The biggest technological breakthrough in the sport came in 1967, when the Wilson T-2000 steel racket made its debut. To that point in the century-old sport, rackets had been made of only one substance: wood.

Though Billie Jean King and Clark Graebner debuted the silver racket at the 1967 U.S. National Championships, Jimmy Connors made the T-2000 famous in the years to come.

Wood rackets endured for another decade or so, but the revolution of the Wilson T-2000 ushered in an era of racket innovation that continues to this day.

23. The Day Chrissie Reclaimed Paris

Chris Evert celebrates her women’s singles title win at the 1985 French Open. matjesworldtennis / YouTube

Date: June 8, 1985

Location: Paris, France

Bottom line: By 1985, the Martina Navratilova-Chris Evert rivalry had become a one-sided affair, with Navratilova in the driver’s seat.

When the two greats met on the clay of Roland Garros for the 1985 French Open championship, Navratilova had prevailed in 15 of their previous 16 meetings, and there was little reason to believe this day would be any different.

But Evert proved that her legendary career would not end with a whimper as she prevailed 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 on her favorite surface in perhaps the greatest match of their great rivalry.

22. Pete Sampras’ Wimbledon Run

Pete Sampras playing at Wimbledon in 1993. Denis Paquin / AP Photo

Dates: 1993-2000

Location: London, England

Bottom line: While Andre Agassi was turning heads in the early 1990s, his reserved American rival, Pete Sampras, was piling up Grand Slam titles.

The bookends of Sampras’ incredible career were his U.S. Open championships 12 years apart, the first one coming as the youngest men’s single champion in the tournament’s history in 1990.

But Sampras’ dominance on Wimbledon’s Centre Court was the true story of his greatness, as he triumphed seven times in eight years from 1993 to 2000.

21. Navratilova Takes Women’s Tennis to a New Level

Martina Navratilova won a record 74 straight matches in 1984. Adam Stoltman / AP Photo

Dates: Jan. 20-Dec. 6, 1984

Location: WTA tour

Bottom line: Wherever Martina Navratilova ranks among the all-time greats in women’s tennis, one thing is undeniable about her legacy: She elevated the game with a level of athleticism and raw power that had never been seen before.

That dominance was best illustrated by an Open-record 74-match winning streak (including 13 straight tournaments) that encompassed almost all of 1984.

Navratilova’s dominance in the early 1980s paved the way for the likes of Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and the Williams sisters to flex their own muscles and continue to take the game to new heights.

20. McEnroe Coins a Classic

John McEnroe had a legendary temper. Peter Kemp / AP Photo

Date: June 22, 1981

Location: London, England

Bottom line: It started with an uncharacteristically polite “excuse me” to the chair umpire from a befuddled John McEnroe during a first-round match at the 1981 Wimbledon.

But when the egregiousness of the blown line call became obvious, McEnroe unleashed the line that would be immortalized in tennis lore: “You cannot be serious!“

The tantrum took McEnroe’s superbrat image to a whole new level, and the line lived on long after McEnroe’s career on the court ended through comedy sketches, commercials and as the title of his autobiography.

19. The Greatest Day in Tennis History

Ivan Lendl celebrates after beating Patrick Cash in a marathon men’s semifinal match at the 1984 U.S. Open. AP Photo

Date: Sept. 8, 1984

Location: New York City

Bottom line: Sept. 8, 1984, is considered the greatest day in the history of tennis, as “Super Saturday” at the U.S. Open featured three classic, back-to-back-to-back matches.

It started with Ivan Lendl prevailing over Pat Cash in a fifth-set tiebreaker in the first men’s semifinal.

Then, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert continued the greatest rivalry in tennis history, as Navratilova rallied after dropping the first set to prevail in the women’s final, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

In the nightcap, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors also went the distance in the second men’s semifinal, with McEnroe surviving in another five-set thriller that ended at 11:14 p.m.

18. Federer’s Remarkable Comeback

Some would say Roger Federer is the tennis GOAT. Luis M. Alvarez / AP Photo

Dates: Jan. 2-Nov. 18, 2017

Location: ATP tour

Bottom line: By 2017, Roger Federer already had established himself as one of the the greatest male tennis players ever (if not the greatest). That year, the Swiss great also authored perhaps the greatest comeback story in the history of the sport.

Hobbled by injuries and slowed by age, Federer’s Grand Slam days appeared to be over. But after dropping to No. 16 in the men’s rankings in 2016, Federer stormed back to the top of the sport in 2017, winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon among his seven titles for the year and finishing the season with a 52-5 win-loss record.

17. Agassi Becomes a Tennis Rock Star

Andre Agassi won 870 matches in his career. AP Photo

Dates: 1986-2006

Location: ATP tour

Bottom line: Andre Agassi wasn’t even the greatest male tennis player of his era (that honor belongs to Pete Sampras), but when the Las Vegas sensation burst onto the scene in the early 1990s, he transformed the sport in ways that went far beyond excellence on the court.

In addition to his dominant baseline game, Agassi was equal parts showman and entertainer with his flowing hair, acid-watched, neon apparel and “image is everything” persona.

Besides style, Agassi had substance, winning eight Grand Slam titles and 60 total career singles events.

16. Murray Ends Britain’s Wimbledon Drought

Andy Murray won his first Wimbledon title in 2013 and his second in 2016. Anja Niedringhaus / AP Photo

Date: July 7, 2013

Location: London, England

Bottom line: British tennis fans waited 77 years for a homegrown star to triumph again on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

In 2013, Andy Murray ended the wait with a straight-sets victory over Novak Djokovic, becoming the first Brit since Fred Perry in 1936 to hoist the championship trophy.

Murray took home another Wimbledon men’s singles title in 2016.

15. Arthur Ashe’s U.S. Open Victory

Arthur Ashe shocked the world at the 1968 U.S. Open. Dave Pickoff / AP Photo

Date: Sept. 8, 1968

Location: Flushing Meadow, New York

Bottom line: With the world’s top professionals and amateurs squaring off in the first U.S. Open, few expected a fifth-seeded amateur on leave from the Army to prevail in a field that featured such luminaries as Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and John Newcombe.

But in a year when America was roiled by racial strife, it was perhaps fitting that Arthur Ashe became the first African-American man to win a Grand Slam tournament.

Ashe went on to become one of the most consequential and influential athletes of his era.

14. Margaret Smith Court’s Championship Haul

Margaret Court won 24 Grand Slam titles in her career. AP Photo

Dates: 1960-1975

Location: Around the world

Bottom line: Margaret Court is largely overshadowed in tennis history by Billie Jean King’s pioneering feats (and the fact Court lost to Bobby Riggs before King’s “Battle of the Sexes” triumph). But in terms of pure dominance, the Court’s legacy of 64 major championships remains unmatched.

From 1960 to 1975, the Australian great won a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, along with 21 major titles in mixed doubles and 19 in doubles.

In 1970, she became the second woman in history (and first during the Open Era) to win a calendar Grand Slam.

13. Gibson Breaks the Color Barrier

Althea Gibson, of Sumter, South Carolina, broke the color barrier in tennis in 1950. John Lent / AP Photo

Date: Aug. 25, 1950

Location: Forest Hills, New York

Bottom line: What Jackie Robinson was to baseball, Althea Gibson was to tennis.

In 1950, Gibson became the first African-American to compete at the U.S. National Championships. And like Jackson, Gibson did much more than simply break barriers; she excelled and dominated her sport like few before or since.

Gibson appeared in 19 major finals from 1956-58, winning 11 championships (five singles, five doubles, one mixed doubles). In 1956, she became the first African-American to win a Grand Slam title, capturing the French Championships.

12. Borg and McEnroe’s Epic Wimbledon Duel

Bjorn Borg, who went 7-7 in 14 career matches against John McEnroe, was overjoyed to get the better of him in the 1980 Wimbledon final. Adam Stoltman / AP Photo

Date: July 5, 1980

Location: London, England

Bottom line: Wimbledon had been making tennis memories for over a century when Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe stepped onto Centre Court for the 1980 championship.

But the masterpiece the two legends produced on that Sunday afternoon was unlike anything that had come before.

The classic always will be remembered for McEnroe surviving an 18-16 fourth-set tiebreaker in which he saved five match points, before Borg prevailed 8-6 in the fifth for his record fifth consecutive crown.

11. The Stabbing of Monica Seles

Monica Seles was the top-ranked women’s player in the world when she was stabbed in 1993. AP Photo

Date: April 30, 1993

Location: Hamburg, Germany

Bottom line: The history of women’s tennis changed forever on this spring day, and it had nothing to do with anything that happened on the court between Monica Seles and Magdalena Maleeva.

A crazed fan of Seles’ rival, Steffi Graf, plunged a knife into Seles’ back between games. Seles, who was the top-ranked women’s player in the world at the time, survived and recovered, but she was never the same.

Only 19 at the time, Seles already had won eight Grand Slam titles, with a match record of 55-1 in major tournaments. She might have gone on to become the greatest women’s player of all time.

10. The First Women’s Tennis Tour

Billie Jean King was a tennis pioneer. Robert Houston / AP Photo

Date: Sept. 23, 1970

Location: Houston, Texas

Bottom line: Fed up with the sport’s appalling pay disparity between men and women players, a group of nine female players led by Billie Jean King set out in 1970 to create their own women’s tour.

Despite threats that they would be banned from playing in Grand Slam tournaments, the women persisted and created the Virginia Slims Tour. That led to the formation of the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973, and the rest is history.

King isn’t done fighting for pay equality, either. “Everyone thinks women should be thrilled when we get crumbs, and I want women to have the cake, the icing and the cherry on top, too,” the tennis legend said in 2016.

9. The Classic Down Under

Novak Djokovic celebrates after beating Rafael Nadal in the men’s singles final at the 2012 Australian Open. Ryan Pierse / AP Photo

Date: Jan. 29, 2012

Location: Melbourne, Australia

Bottom Line: If the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal 2008 Wimbledon final ranks as the greatest men’s match ever, then the 2012 Australian Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal may be a close second.

The longest Grand Slam final ever at 5 hours and 53 minutes, this war of attrition (which included an exhausting 31-shot rally) ended with Djokovic prevailing 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 at 1:37 a.m.

8. Nadal’s French Open Dominance

Rafael Nadal has a 93-2 career record in the French Open. Michel Euler / AP Photo

Dates: 2005-present

Location: Paris, France

Bottom Line: Perhaps no player in the history of any sport has so dominated an event the way Rafael Nadal has dominated the French Open during his incredible career.

With a 93-2 career record on the clay of Roland Garros (through 2019), Nadal is the first player of the Open era, man or woman, to win the same Grand Slam 12 times. Nadal’s only losses at Roland Garros came in 2009 to Robin Soderling and 2015 to Novak Djokovic.

7. The Greatest Sibling Rivalry in Sports

Serena, left, and Venus Williams both turned pro when they were 14. Dave Caulkin / AP Photo

Dates: 1998 to present

Location: WTA tour, around the world

Bottom line: It’s hard to dispute that Serena and Venus Williams have produced the greatest sibling rivalry in the history of sports. In fact, it’s difficult to envision two family members who have dominated a sport so completely in the same era.

Both have been ranked No. 1 in the world at various points in their careers and have faced each other 30 times (with Serena leading 18-12), including meeting in four consecutive Grand Slam finals in 2002 and 2003.

They’ve also teamed up to win 22 titles together in doubles.

6. The Dawn of the Open Era

Rod Laver won two Grand Slams, in 1962 and 1969. Bodini / AP Photo

Date: April 22-27, 1968

Location: Bournemouth, England

Bottom line: The most significant structural development in the history of the sport was the advent of the Open era in 1968, which allowed the sport’s best amateurs and professionals to compete head to head in major tournaments.

Before that, the Grand Slams had only been “open” to amateurs, leaving some of the sport’s greats unable to face off on its greatest stages.

It was like Olympic basketball before the “Dream Team” arrived in 1992. The British Hard Court Championships of April 1968 ushered in the golden era of tennis that continues to this day.

5. The ‘Battle of the Sexes’

Billie Jean King checks the muscles on her nemesis, Bobby Riggs, in New York in 1973. Anthony Camerano / AP Photo

Date: Sept. 20, 1970

Location: Houston, Texas

Bottom line: If ever there were a sporting event that transcended sports, it was the “Battle of the Sexes” match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973.

King’s victory over the 55-year-old ex-tennis champion and “self-described hustler and male chauvinist” struck a major blow for gender equity during the height of the feminist movement.

The match at the Houston Astrodome was seen in prime time by an estimated 90 million television viewers.

4. Nadal, Federer and the Greatest Match Ever

Roger Federer, left, and Rafael Nadal enter Centre Court for their men’s singles final at Wimbledon in 2008. Anja Niedringhaus / AP Photo

Date: July 6, 2008

Location: London, England

Bottom line: It was only fitting that the two men widely regarded as the greatest male players in tennis history met each other in what is often regarded as the greatest match in the sport’s history, played at its greatest tournament.

The 2008 Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal topped even the Borg-McEnroe classic 28 years earlier in terms of sheer drama.

Nadal ended Federer’s quest for a sixth consecutive Wimbledon crown in five scintillating sets played out over nearly seven hours because of rain delays.

3. The First Grand Slam

Don Budge playing at Wimbledon in 1938. Len Puttnam / AP Photo

Date: Sept. 24, 1938

Location: Forest Hills, New York

Bottom line: Don Budge made history in 1938 by winning the Australian, French, Wimbledon and United States singles championships to complete the sport’s first calendar Grand Slam.

His dominance was on full display when he became the first man to sweep through Wimbledon without losing a set. He completed the Slam with a four-set victory over Gene Mako at the U.S. National Championships.

Rod Laver is the only man to repeat Budge’s Grand Slam feat, accomplishing it in 1962 and 1969.

2. The Dominance of Helen Wills Moody

Helen Wills Moody, playing in Pasadena, California, in 1933, was one of the greatest women’s players in tennis history. AP Photo

Dates: 1927-33

Location: Around the world

Bottom line: Perhaps no individual streak in the history of sports is as impressive — and untouchable — as what Helen Wills Moody accomplished from 1927-33.

During that six-year stretch, she won an incredible 180 consecutive matches without losing a set, including 14 of her then-record 19 major singles championships.

Wills often played against male opponents, finding that the stronger competition helped develop her game, and was the undisputed queen of the world’s tennis court in her day.

1. The First Wimbledon

Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. Pavel Golovkin / AP Photo

Date: July 9, 1877

Location: London, England

Bottom line: The Championships, Wimbledon (as it’s officially known), is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and still the most distinguished. It is to tennis what the Masters is to golf.

It all began on July 9, 1877, with 21 amateurs competing at the All Croquet Lawn and Tennis Club for a 25 guinea trophy. W. Spencer Gore needed only 48 minutes to dispatch of William Marshall in the final, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

Grand Slam tennis was here to stay.