The Ten: Results on the top Americans; vote on tennis' top rivalries

Watch the eighth episode of The Ten—Rivalries on Sunday, December 30 at 8 p.m. ET on Tennis Channel:

Measuring one's patriotism is a difficult if impossible task, but we can attempt to quantify it when it comes to tennis players. How often did they participate in international competitions like Davis and Fed Cup, or the Olympics? Surely we would see unity in our responses to the question of top American athletes.

Of course, that wasn't how it turned out:

**1. Serena Williams

2. John McEnroe

3. Venus Williams

4. Billie Jean King

5. Chris Evert

6. Lindsay Davenport

7. Andre Agassi

8. Bryan brothers

9. Jim Courier

10. Pete Sampras**

Pete Sampras was the largest point of disagreement. Pistol Pete, who famously won three Davis Cup rubbers on his worst surface, clay, in the 1995 final in Russia—and had to be carried off the court in the process—was revealed as the 10th most prominent American in terms of commitment to country, on The Ten: Americans.

Readers of TENNIS.com disagreed, placing Pete second overall in the online vote. Watching the highlights of Sampras fighting his opponents, the hostile crowd and his own body 23 years ago, I agree that he was ranked too low on the show.

But as with all of our votes on The Ten, we're comparing the best of the best, so there's going to be some contrast. The readers saw Lindsay Davenport as the 10th-ranked American in this vote; she's an Olympic gold medalist and a three-time Fed Cup champion. Tennis Channel had Davenport sixth. Other disagreements abound.

But there's one thing we all seem to agree on: Serena Williams, ranked as the top American in both polls. So there's that.

(You can watch the entire episode ofThe Ten: Americans any time on TennisChannel.com.)

The final episode of The Ten has arrived, and it's one of my favorite questions: What is the top tennis rivalry? I weighed in on this topic for the show, which you can see this Sunday. Now I'm curious for your assessment of the game's greatest match-ups.

Let us know what you think the order should be:

**Hopman Cup (Sat - Sat 12.29 - 1.5)

•    Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber headline the Hopman Cup. Watch live coverage on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Saturday 12/29 at 9:00pm ET.**

**ATP/WTA Brisbane (Sun - Sun 12.30 - 1.6)

•    Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Naomi Osaka and Sloane Stephens open their 2019 seasons in Brisbane. Live coverage from three courts begins on Tennis Channel Plus on Sunday 12/30 at 8:00pm ET.**

**WTA Auckland (Sun - Sun 12.30 - 1.6)

•    Catch the action from the ASB Classic including Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki. Live coverage begins on Tennis Channel Plus on Sunday 12/30 at 8:00pm ET.**

**WTA Shenzhen (Sat - Sat 12.29 - 1.5)

•    Watch first to last ball action from the Shenzhen Open featuring Maria Sharapova and Jelena Ostapenko beginning Saturday 12/29 at 11:00pm ET.**

**ATP Pune (Mon - Sat 12.31 - 1.5)

•    Watch Kevin Anderson, Marin Cilic and Hyeon Chung live from Pune starting Monday 12/31 at 6:30am ET.**