The 5 Most Important'80s Tennis Players

By Ross Phelps

The'80s were a great decade for tennis. A long decade that saw the face of the sport change.

Let's take a look back at the classic decade for the sport by remembering some of the most entertaining tennis players from the decade. These are all based on my personal favorites, and not based on who I thought was best. Anyway, here goes.

Bjorn Borg. The Swedish maestro who may be referred to as the best to ever play the game had his career lasted just a little bit longer.

Next on my list is Stefan Edberg, whose career began in the'80s and lasted into the'90s. The Swedish net player was one of the best volleyers in the history of the sport, and one of the last pure volleyers as well.

How about Boris Becker? When he took the tennis world by storm after winning Wimbledon at the young age of 16, tennis fans knew that a legend was born. Becker followed through with some great tennis for another decade, and cemented himself as one of the sport's all-time greats.

Ivan Lendl. One of the most under-appreciated players in tennis history, in my mind. Lendl anchored the number one spot in the world for years, a streak that often goes overlooked. He was simply a machine, and one of the best.

John McEnroe is one of those players who comes along once in a lifetime. Forget about his arguments with the chair umpires, as great as those were. He was one of the best in the sport for well over a decade and he can surprisingly still play really well today.

There are many more classic'80s tennis players than the ones mentioned here. Guys like Mats Wilander, Andre Agassi (though he was more'90s), Jimmy Connors, and many others rounded out a classic decade of tennis and brought just as much enjoyment to the sport. - 31983

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