The 80’s is credited as the decade that helped popularize tennis as charismatic stars graced the courts and thrilled the crowd with the crazy antics and breathtaking skills and athleticism. We briefly cover 5 tennis stars from the 1980’s that attracted worldwide attention and have never been forgotten.
1 – John McEnroe
McEnroe was famed for his hot temper almost as much as his playing ability which is a shame given he was one of the best players in history. In 1984, McEnroe won 82 out of 85 games which was the best annual win % in the Open Era. His verbal volleys sometimes overshadowed his incredibly tennis volleying skills as this loud, obnoxious yet supremely gifted player won 9 Grand Slam titles and 104 career titles in his legendary career.
2 – Chris Evert
Nicknamed the ‘Ice Queen’, Evert won 18 Grand Slam titles and an incredible 125 consecutive matches on clay. Although she dominated the 1970’s, she also ruled the early part of the 80’s and boasts a career win percentage of over 90% in almost 1,500 singles matches, an extraordinary record.
3 – Martina Navratilova
She was born in what was then known as Czechoslovakia but became an American citizen in 1981 before having her Czech citizenship restored in 2008. Navratilova equaled Evert’s achievement in winning 18 Grand Slam singles titles and also holds 31 Grand Slam doubles titles, almost 350 career tournament wins and the record for most consecutive singles wins with 74 in a row and doubles wins with 109 in a row, all achieved with Pam Shriver. Navratilova has also hit the headlines for her role in gay, lesbian and bisexual equal rights activism.
4 – Steffi Graf
As well as dominating the 90’s, Graf also ruled the roost during the late 80’s. She was just 17 years old when she won the first of 22 Grand Slam titles and is regarded by many as the greatest female player of all time. Her most memorable achievement came as a teenager in 1988 when she won all four Grand Slam titles and the Olympic Gold medal, a feat yet to be equaled by a male or female player.
5 – Jimmy Connors
In an era containing John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, it would be easy to forget about the accomplishments of Jimmy Connors. Well, it would be easy if he wasn’t such a controversial figure! He won 8 Grand Slam titles and 109 career singles titles, the most by any male on the ATP tour. Connors was known for his incredible service return, amazing stamina and volcanic temper. Like McEnroe, Connors was brash and arrogant but he more than had the talent to back it up!
While modern day tennis players wow crowds with the immense skill, the 1980’s was filled with players who possessed arguably more talent but most important, they had the charisma to give tennis the platform to become a global phenomenon.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’][/author_image] [author_info]My name is Billy and I like to write about sports, namely tennis and where one should look for Chandler private tennis lessons from leading Arizona tennis academies like Basha Tennis.[/author_info] [/author]
