Tennis has been transformed over the last five decades by TV, money, technology, equipment, fashion and politics. But through all of that, the players have remained at the heart of the game. As part of our golden anniversary celebration of the Open era, Tennis.com presents its list of 50 best players—the Top 25 men and the Top 25 women—of the last 50 years. You'll be able to view the entire list in the March/April issue of TENNIS Magazine.
(Note: Only singles results were considered; any player who won a major title during the Open era had his or her entire career evaluated; all statistics are through the 2018 Australian Open.)
Years played: 2003–
*Titles: 11
Major titles: 2 (2016 Australian Open, 2016 US Open)*
Can a single point turn a career, and tennis history, upside down? Ask Angelique Kerber. In 2016, a few days shy of her 28th birthday, the German arrived at the Australian Open as the seventh seed. It had been 18 months since she had reached the second week at a major—the previous year, she had failed to get out of the third round at any of them. When Kerber fell behind early and faced a match point in her opening round to Misaki Doi, it looked as if that streak of futility would continue. Few were surprised.
Just as few were surprised when Kerber saved that match point and came back to win. It was what came afterward—over the next two weeks in Melbourne and the next nine months everywhere else—that was a shock. Playing with nothing to lose after her great escape, Kerber went on to beat Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams for her first Grand Slam title. She followed that up by reaching the Wimbledon final, winning a silver medal for Germany at the Rio Olympics, winning the US Open, and finishing the year No. 1.
Kerber’s sudden ascent was a surprise, and so was the way she made it happen. In recent years, the majors on the women’s side have been the property of the tour’s power hitters; it helps to be able to blast past your nerves. But Kerber can’t do that; she’s a defensive-minded retriever who grinds her opponents down and wins with scrappy, scrambling athleticism and a kitchen-sink approach to shotmaking. But she began 2016 determined to inject some offense into her game, and it paid off. Her lefty serve was more effective, and her point-changing down-the-line forehand was the shot of the year.
Unfortunately for Kerber, her 2017 was just as shocking as her 2016. She fell from No. 1 to 21 and failed to reach the quarterfinals at any major. Can she scramble and grind her way back up the mountain again at 30? As Kerber knows better than anyone, a turnaround only takes one point.
Defining Moment: In September 2016, Kerber needed one more win to reach No. 1 for the first time. But she was trying to get it in a tough place, the US Open final, against a tough opponent, Karolina Pliskova. The two were locked in a tight third set when Kerber ended a thrilling rally with her favorite shot, a down-the-line forehand that hooked in for a winner, and sent her soaring to the title and the top of the rankings.
Watch: Highlights from Kerber's memorable 2016 season