The top five rivalries in men's tennis during the professional era

Throughout tennis history there has been a number of rivalries that have transcended the sport and captured the imagination of the world.

Here are the top five rivalries of the professional era.

5: McEnroe versus Connors
Perhaps the two most similar players on this list.

John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors were both American, left handed and divided opinion like few others in the history of the game. They played with an intensity that very few could match.

It was their passion and fire which made them so similar, that also tore them apart.

It was a case of two players who were so alike, competing for the same prize at the same time.

Often in life it’s best not to sugarcoat the truth. In the case of McEnroe and Connors, they hated each other.

If you gave either a free punch at the other, they would take it without a second thought.

In hindsight, could anyone really have expected these two to get along?

From an on court perspective, their rivalry was also one of the greatest. The pair met 34 times. The seventh most clashes in professional tennis history.

McEnroe was the more talented of the two and it is probably fitting that he finished with a 20-14 head to head record.

He also won more of the big matches.

McEnroe held a 6-3 advantage in Grand Slam meetings, an 8-7 advantage in tournament finals and masters record of 2-0.

They were also tied one all in Grand Slam finals.

McEnroe and Connors also played during the biggest boom in tennis history.

Along with Borg, they were first rock stars of tennis and it is fitting that these two bitter enemies ended up with one of the greatest rivalries of all time.

4: Sampras versus Agassi
They are the two greatest American tennis players of all time, but that is where the similarities end.

This rivalry captured the public’s imagination as much for the contrast between the two personalities, as for their many on-court encounters.

On the court the two could barely have had more contrasting styles.

Pete Sampras had a booming serve and attacked the net as much as possible.

Andre Agassi was one of the best returners to ever play the game and used his ground strokes as his major weapon.

Then we get into the off-court differences.

Sampras was the reserved giant. He did not have the charisma or personality of Agassi, nor did he provoke the strong polarising opinion. He was a true professional and let his tennis do the talking.

Agassi on the other hand was the young rebel with the wild hair – in his early days at least.

He was a man who took a long time to accept himself. He never truly loved tennis and was pushed to the extremes by his father as a child.

The full extents of Agassi’s troubles both on off the court are detailed in his book, Open.

From a tennis perspective, Sampras owned the big moments in their rivalry.

They met 34 times, with Sampras holding a clear 20-14 edge.

He also won four of the five Grand Slam finals they played. He held a 6-3 advantage in Grand Slam matches and was a 14-time Grand Slam champion compared to Agassi’s 8 wins.

Perhaps fittingly, Sampras defeated Agassi in his final career match in the 2002 US Open final.

3: Nadal versus Federer
One of the greatest rivalries of the professional era, this rivalry also contains arguably the two greatest players of all time.

It is the stunning contrast between the two players that serves to split public opinion so decisively. It is hard to think of a contrast so glaring, not only in tennis, but in any sport worldwide.

Roger Federer is a picture of grace, both on and off the court.

He is a 17-time Grand Slam champion and widely regarded as the best player to ever play the game. He manages to play with an effortlessness and elegance that has never been seen before on court.

If you could picture the opposite of Federer, it would be Rafa Nadal.

Nadal is a gladiator. He wills himself beyond what anyone else humanly can on a tennis court. He is the greatest competitor in the history of the sport.

A 14-time Grand Slam champion himself, and the king of clay, he will easily go down as one of the greatest of all time.

The primary reason why this rivalry doesn’t place even higher on this list is due to the one-sided nature of their on-court encounters.

Despite all they have done to capture the public’s interest and imagination in the sport, Nadal has dominated Federer on court.

Nadal holds a 23-10 head to head record and is Federer’s worst nightmare to play.

Nadal also leads Federer 13-2 on clay and 9-6 in hard court matches.

It is important to note that Roger does hold a 2-1 advantage on grass, with all three of these matches coming in consecutive Wimbledon finals from 2006-2008.

When it comes to Grand Slam meetings, the most important of all, Nadal has again dominated Federer. He holds a 9-2 record, with a 6-2 advantage in Grand Slam finals.

Incredibly 20 of their 33 matches have been played in finals, a clear indication of the dominance the two have held on the sport for the better part of a decade.

The polarisation they induce in public opinion can only be likened to the golden age of Borg, McEnroe and Connors and despite their relatively one sided nature of many of their meetings, the impact their rivalry has had on tennis is up there with almost any other.

2: Nadal versus Djokovic
On court, this rivalry goes down as the best of the last 25 years, possibly even more.

This is a remarkable feat, given most would agree that they are not even the two greatest players of their generation.

From an on-court perspective, there has never been a rivalry like this one in the professional era.

Together, the two hold a swathe of records that will take some beating.

They have met an incredible 43 times, a professional era record in men’s singles. It is also likely they will surpass 50 career head-to-head matches by the time they are done.

Off the court both are incredible professionals who do whatever it takes to gain a small advantage.

On the court however is where the similarities between the two really start to kick in.

Both play a predominantly defensive, counter punching style of tennis. They rely on their incredible groundstrokes, movement and defence to break not only their opposition’s games but minds.

It is these similarities in playing style that have led to the wars of attrition that often occur when they meet.

They hold the record for the longest ever match in a Grand Slam final: 5 hrs and 53 minutes at the 2012 Australian open.

That match, along with their 2013 French Open semi-final epic, can arguably lay claim to two of the greatest hard court and clay court matches in Grand Slam history.

When it comes to the head to head record, Nadal holds a slender 23-20 advantage.

He also has an advantage in the biggest of matches.

Nadal holds a 9-3 Grand Slam advantage, with a 4-3 record in Grand Slam finals.

Interestingly the matches between the two have been heavily dominated by one player at different times as well as on different surfaces.

The clay court encounters have been dominated by Nadal. He holds a 14-5 advantage.

The hard court advantage is almost as heavily weighted in Novak Djokovic’s favour. He leads 14-7.

These two are also the only pair in the history of men’s tennis to square off in all four grand slam finals. They are also the only two to play in four consecutive Grand Slam finals against one another.

The primary reason this rivalry does not gain the number one place on this list is due to its inability to capture the public’s attention and imagination like other rivalries have.

The Nadal-Djokovic rivalry provokes less of a polarised opinion as the other four on this list and despite their incredible on court matches, their rivalry has not had the impact on tennis the way that others have.

1: McEnroe versus Borg
These two champions only played 14 times.

Because of this, many would ask how could this possibly be the greatest rivalry of the professional era? In fact, they have played less than half the times of anyone else on this list.

It is a fair question.

However, for those who watched them play, lived through the era or are avid tennis fans, they would know that no rivalry has had the impact on the sport that theirs did.

So what was it that made it the greatest rivalry of the professional era?

Simple. They were fire and ice.

They could not have been more different.

They also played in a time when tennis was booming like never before and their rivalry played arguably one of the biggest roles in shaping tennis into what it is today.

Borg was ice.

He was the first real rock star of tennis. There has never been a player like him before and it is unlikely there will be one like him again.

Borg didn’t say much but he didn’t have to. His long blonde hair, good looks and mysterious persona made him one of the most popular men of the 70s. He literally had groups of screaming women follow him wherever he went.

He was the undisputed king of tennis both on and off the court. Then along came John McEnroe.

McEnroe was fire.

One of the most hot-headed, intense, brash and polarising figures ever to pick up a tennis racquet.

You either loved him or hated him. Most probably loved to hate him.

Yet somehow, despite all the odds these two shared a special bond. They liked each other from the start. They even became good friends.

This friendship began when a brash, 19-year-old McEnroe, was in the midst of one of his now famous tantrums during a tournament in New Orleans in 1978.

All of a sudden Borg summoned him to the net. McEnroe has since stated that he was terrified.

He simply couldn’t deal with being humiliated by Borg, his idol, in front of the whole world at such a young age.

But then Borg did something totally unexpected. He told John to take it easy and enjoy himself.

McEnroe ended up winning the match.

On the court it is fitting that the two split their 14 meetings 7 apiece.

It wouldn’t have been right any other way.

They played four times in Grand Slams, all finals, with McEnroe holding a 3-1 advantage.

The two played possibly the greatest tiebreak in the history of the sport and one of the greatest matches ever during the 1980 Wimbledon final.

McEnroe saved seven championship points in the fourth set, five of them in a tiebreaker, which he eventually claimed 18-16.

To most people’s amazement, Borg managed to steel himself and claim the fifth set 8-6.

It would be his only victory over McEnroe in a major final.

Perhaps fittingly, it was McEnroe that provided the final nail to Borg, resulting in his retirement at just 26.

When McEnroe defeated Borg in the 1981 US Open final, Borg shook hands with McEnroe, walked out of the stadium, into the car park and drove away from professional tennis.

He would not return for over a decade.

The impact that the the Borg-McEnroe rivalry had on professional tennis cannot be understated.

Along with Connors, these are the only three who can lay a legitimate claim to having a bigger impact on the game than Nadal and Federer in the last 40 years.

They provided a legacy that will live on for generations and a rivalry that changed tennis forever, when it was needed most.