It’ll be interesting to see how Wimbledon plays out.   I think we’re all obviously hoping to see Nadal and Federer meet yet again.  When you think about it, it’s been one hell of a last 4-5 years in the sport.   These two guys have been dominating like nothing we’ve seen since Sampras and Agassi but even those two weren’t nearly as dominant.

In any event, it brought to might an interesting topic.  I was thinking of tennis players who actually influences and changed the sport of tennis.

Seven come to mind….

Bjorn Borg

In a time when there weren’t too many slick tennis players out there, Borg changed the sport completely.  He was handsome, had long hair, and had a style that no players had.   Plus his winning ways made him a total icon.   Never in the history of the sport had a player been that “celebrity.”  He set the stage for future players.

Arthur Ashe

First African American to win a major and clearly started a path for African American’s being interested in the sport itself.

Yannick Noah

Noah was a total badass.   Tennis, like Golf, is kind of an upper class sport and it’s not too known for crazy antics and wacky ways.  Noah had all of these things.  From his dreadlocks hairstyle to his celebrations, Noah truly brought energy to the sport and to me, changed the style and way tennis was played.  Also the way emotions were allowed on the court.

Pete Sampras

Sampras changed the sport in the sense that he elevated it to a higher level.  He set a new standard of excellence for the male tennis player.  Other than that he’s a tremendous dork.

Andre Agassi

Agassi made tennis popular for youth.   Sampras may have been the better player but Agassi was far more influential on the sport.   That crazy long hair and his bright neon outfits screamed advertising deals.   And Agassi did plenty of that as well as elevate the sport to one that was as mainstream as Baseball, NFL, or Hoops.

Roger Federer

Just when you thought that no one would surpass Sampras, Federer sets an even higher standard for the game.

*Rafael Nadal

He’s set an even higher standard on clay.  Of all the guys on this list I’d say Nadal is the least game changing guy but he’s definitely a model of the future generation of tennis.

Vitas Gerulaitis

He was nicknamed “The Ultimate Tennis Playboy.”  Do we need anything further?  Probably not.  He was as close to Borg as you can get without being as good a player.   Unfortunately Vitus passed away way too soon.   Vitas reminded us that tennis players were celebrities and nowadays the top dogs are all celebrities.

*I also liked Stephan Edberg, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, John Mcenroe, Jimmy Connors and Mats Wilander but I wouldn’t go as far as to say they really changed the sport.  They were just really really good.