The sport of tennis has unite the world with the exploit of the athletes who are genius on the tennis court.
Tennis players legacies are judged on the number of Grand Slams titles a player wins.
Here, we shortlist some of the best in the ATP and WTA with their achievements during the last decade highlighted.
Novak Djokovic
D'joker has been the most dominating player in the last decade. He won 42 of his past 44 games at the grand slam championships in the last 10 years.
The Serb won 15 grand slams (17 in total) in this decade which is more than any player. He had 61 titles this decade, which includes 29 Masters 1000 titles and 4 ATP finals.
He also set multiple records - by winning the 2016 French open, he became the first man to hold 4 grand slams titles on 3 different surfaces .
In 2015, he won over $21million setting a record for most prize money in a calendar year.
Djokovic has been World No. 1 for 275 weeks over the past 10 years beating Federer's tally from the previous decade by 13 weeks.
In head-to-head meetings during the 2010s he dominated Federer 21 - 14 and Nadal 21- 12.
Rafael Nadal
He won 13 grand slams during this past decade, which is not far from Djokovic. He also won
48 titles, which includes 20 masters titles.
He also set multiple records in the last decade - one of which is by setting the record for most titles won at a single grand slam by winning his 12th French open.
He also became the first man to win 10 titles at any event not just at one event but three events.
Roger Federer
Despite his age (he turns 39 in August), the Swiss maestro has still managed to make it as one of the best players of this past decade.
He won 42 titles this decade which includes 5 grand slams , 12 Masters titles and
1 ATP finals title.
He also set many records this decade, he became first man to win 20 grand slams by winning the 2018 Australian open.
He also broke the record for most Wimbledon titles by winning his 8th title in 2017.
All these achievements are amazing considering Roger's age.
Andy Murray
He suffered many injuries in the last few years, but before that he was competing extremely well against the other members of the 'Big 4'.
He won 32 titles this decade which included 3 grand slams, 10 masters titles and 1 ATP finals.
In 2016, he won over 16 million dollars in prize moneywhich is only second to Djokovic's record.
Stan Wawrinka
He has been described as 'Tennis great latecomer. He won 15 titles in the last decade out of which 3 were grand slams and 1 masters title.
In his 3 grand slam triumphs, he beat the No. 1 player to win the title.
WOMEN
Serena Williams
The American won her 23rd grand slam title in Melbourne while being eight weeks pregnant.
After losing to Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final nine months after given birth, she dedicated her comeback to "all the mums out there". She suffered a pulmonary embolism that left her" on her death bed in 2011.
She also suffered a life- threatening complications during child birth in 2017 which culminated to her having multiple surgeries
She added 10 more majors, since turning 30 in September, 2011.
She spent a record-equalling 186 weeks at Number 1 - between 2013 and 2016. She also became the first athlete to hit Forbes's annual list of the world's richest self- made women with an estimated fortune of $225 million.
Her aim is to equal and potentially break Margaret Court's slams title record of 24.
Three of William's five AP Female athlete of the year awards came during the last decade, (2002, 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2018).
Angelique Kerber
The German won 3 grand slams in the last decade, she also won the Olympic silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
She has more skills to challenge for more honors in the WTA in the coming years.
Maria Sharapova
She is one of the richest and most globally recognizable athletes of the 21st century, and recently she announced her retirement in Tennis.
She was suspended in 2016 for 15 months, after been tested positive of meldonium - a banned substance for Tennis players.
She won 36 tour singles titles in total, an Olympic silver medal in Singles event in 2012,
and the Fed Cup title with Russia in 2008.
She was the world's highest earning female athlete for 11 consecutive years according to Forbes.
Garbine Muguruza
She is one of the best tennis players this decade, the Spaniard made her mark in tennis by beating Serena Williams in the second round of the 2014 French open.
She won a French open title in 2016, defeating Serena Williams and a Wimbledon title in 2017 beating Venus Williams. In addition, she won 7 WTA titles in the 2010s.
Ashleigh Barty
She had an amazing decade, as she won her first grand slam singles title at the 2019
French Open.
In the doubles , she reached the finals of all 4 grand slams, winning the US open in 2018.
She won over 4 million dollars at the 2019 WTA finals, which set a record for most prize money at a single tournament.
Will the next gen end the dominance of these tennis veterans?
Fabiyi Ridwan
Sports Writer and Analyst
