If you’re an avid sports fan, you might be interested in finding out about the most successful countries in tennis.
Tennis is a fun sport to watch. It’s way more interesting than the slower-paced sports, like baseball, which for the record, I actually love watching, but I digress. It’s a quicker sport and the ball is constantly in motion. Even when there’s something that stops the ball from being in motion, the breaks in between plays aren’t super long. You know how in football every single time someone drops the ball they have to stop and take what feels like forever to reset everything and start over? That doesn’t happen in tennis. This is mostly because the court is so small and there are only two to four players total, so there’s not a whole lot to reset. The point is that I’m not intrinsically bored when I think about tennis as I am when I think about a lot of other sports.
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All of that being said, though, it by no means tennis is easy to play. I’ve tried and I’ve mostly failed and then gotten a shoulder injury. It takes a lot to be skilled and hit the ball with both power and accuracy. Tennis requires agility and crucial hand-eye coordination that I just don’t have and I’m proud of anyone who does. Tennis players also need to work well under pressure because it does require a good level of accuracy. If you’re easily distracted, your serves will probably be terrible in my most humble and honest opinion.
To figure out the best of the best, there are a few famous, major tennis tournaments. There’s the Australian Open in Melbourne held every January, the French Open in Paris every May and June, Wimbledon in London every June and July, and the US Open in New York every August and September. The tennis “season” is basically year-round. Each event has its own type of court and standards, but players from all around the world compete there. Some of the professional players found on our list of the Best Tennis Players with the Fastest Forehand of All Time come from the countries that are the most successful overall. Using ESPN’s tennis history of winners, we gathered the winners from the past ten years and tallied the countries those winners came from. The countries with the most winners made it onto our list. Basically, the countries with the most winners from the past ten years are our list and that’s how the ranking was created.
Game, set, see if you can match your favorite players from the most successful countries in tennis.
15. France
French tennis players typically play on the most difficult type of court, a clay court. This could slow down the speed of a tennis player, so they tend to have an advantage. Games in the French Open are played on a clay court.
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14. Croatia
Umag Tennis Academy in Croatia has programs for tennis to help players improve their skills.
13. Australia
Australian players are used to the difficulty of grass courts, which is what’s used in the Australian Open, but hard courts were introduced later on.
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12. Argentina
Latin American “Golden Swing” is played in Argentina on a clay court. David Nalbandian and Juan Martin Del Potro are two skilled players from Argentina.
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11. Italy
Internazionali BNL d’Italia is one of the ATP World Tour spots. Hailed from Italy is Paolo Lorenzi ranked number 37 and Fabio Fognini ranked number 40 on ATP. In women’s category is Francesca Schiavone who won the 2010 French Open singles title. She is the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles.
10. Czech Republic
Petra Kvitova entered the professional sphere in 206 and has won two Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon.
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9. Germany
Another spot on the ATP World Tour is the German Open, which is played on a clay court. Angelique Kerber represents Germany, the number nine in our list of most successful countries in tennis, as she’s ranked number two in women’s singles tennis by the Women’s Tennis Association.
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8. Belarus
Victoria Azarenka is ranked number 17 in women’s singles tennis and Max Mirnyi is ranked number 29 in men’s doubles tennis. They both hail from Belarus, hence its ranking in the most successful countries in tennis.
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7. United Kingdom
Andy Murray is ranked number one in the world in men’s singles by ATP.
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6. Russia
Maria Sharapova is the most famous player from Russia, but she was suspended for two years for being on meldonum dope, which is a drug banned for tennis players.
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5. Belgium
Kim Clijsters is the former number one in women’s singles and doubles. Justine Henin is one of the few who uses an on-hand backhand. They’re both from Belgium.
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4. Serbia
Novak Djokovic is ranked number two by ATP in men’s singles and he plays for Serbia. He leads 2-0 in his game with Daniil Medvedev in the Davis Cup World Group in the first round.
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3. Switzerland
Switzerland’s Roger Federer is ranked number 10 in men’s singles and was a ball boy at Swiss Indoors Basel. Tennis Hall of Famers Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, and Pete Sampras are former champions from Switzerland.
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2. Spain
Spain ranks second in our list of most successful countries in tennis. It reached quarterfinals of the Davis Cup after edging over Croatia. Rafel Nadal, who plays for Spain, is ranked number 6 in men’s singles.
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1. USA
Serena Williams is ranked number one in women’s singles and takes the US to the top of the list as a successful country in tennis.
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That concludes our list of the most successful countries in tennis. Did your home country make the list?
