Five Best Tennis Rivalries by Genice Phillips l Tennis Greats l Tennis Rivalries l Best Tennis Matches l Tennis Sports History

Federer vs. Nadal

Arguably the top male tennis players in the world, Swiss player Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, hailing from Spain, have kept the game of tennis exciting to watch.

Seeded as the top two players for four years straight (2005-2009), they reached the finals at eight Grand Slam titles.

The 2008 Wimbledon match is considered an iconic moment between the two competitors, as young Nadal fought for a piece of tennis glory in a five hour, rain-delayed game that ended in victory against Federer, who was going for his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title.

That would be one of several defining matches between the “King of Clay” (Nadal) and “Maestro” (Federer) but we’re expecting many more to come.

Agassi vs. Sampras

Considered the greatest American tennis rivalry of all time, the rumble between André Agassi and Pete Sampras had an early start. Their opposing personalities and styles of how they played the game were always up for comparison, especially when they met on the court.

Agassi took a backseat to most of the matches they played together, with Sampras winning 20 out of 34. Their most memorable match occurred during the 2001 US Open quarterfinals, with 4 sets, 4 tiebreakers without either of them breaking a serve. It ended with another win by Sampras.

Since retirement, their rivalry has continued at charity games and other exhibitions. In this case, opposites don’t attract.

Clijsters vs. Henin

Hailing from the same country, their rivalry showed that they were not cut from the same cloth. Kim Clijsters and Justin Henin revitalized tennis in Belgium and showed different ways to play the game. They would meet 25 times over the course of their tennis careers. Clijsters would have the upper hand, but just slightly, winning 13-12 matches.

Following their 2010 Wimbledon match, Henin talked about the respect they have for each other and their growing friendship.

"We probably discovered each other not differently than in the past, but we are more adult now, and we have a lot of respect,” Henin said. “Of course on the court, I mean, we both want to win, but the relationship is very good."

Graf vs. Seles

Who knew that a rivalry among these two women could turn deadly? In the 90’s, Monica Seles and Steffi Graf dominated tennis with noteworthy matches. During ’92 and ’93 were the years that the rivalry intensified, and they would meet at the finals for three consecutive Grand Slam titles.

Fresh off of winning the 1993 Australian Open against Graf, 19-year old Seles was stabbed in the back by a crazed Graf fanatic during a match in Germany. She would stop playing for almost three years, but would return to reignite their old rivalry. Unfortunately, Seles would not reach the same heights in her career, with Graf pulling ahead.

They would only play against each other 15 times.