Tennis Legends
Each sport has it’s own legends, whether they be incredible players or iconic teams or epic battles. When a new tennis star comes along they have to do more than just surpass their peers; they must be able to survive comparisons to players like Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe , Bjorn Borg, Steffi Graff, and Martina Navratilova.
All of these players, and a handful of others, were the premiere tennis stars of their time. However, they managed to outlive their peers by breaking rules, setting records, and possessing that something extra special that created a legacy that lived on after they retired and will likely still be memorable long after their deaths. Perhaps they had a particularly aggressive style of play or they racked up more french open victories than anyone in history or they won more prize money. The reasons for their fame may vary, but the staying power of their stories is what made them legends.
There are a few times that players enter the annals of history not because of their own career, but because they participated in one of the great and memorable matches of all time. Many of these players are legends in their own right. Think of the Tilden vs. Lacoste match from 1927 or the incredible Battle of the Sexes in 1973 between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. In 2010 Nicholas Maut and John Isner played the longest match in history, a three day marathon that included 183 games and the longest set ever played in tennis (128 games over eight hours) during an early round at Wimbledon. Whether either player ever rises to the status of an Andre Agassi or Jimmy Connors is irrelevant. They are part of that legendary match.