John Newcombe's Top 10 1980

As told to John Thirsk.....

When I am asked to select the top 100 competitors in the history of tennis I find the task simply impossible. Simply because some of the games greats were born and finished their careers before I even started to get a grip on a racquet handle.

It's a different situation for me to pick the best 10 I have played against during my 20 years on the international circuit.

The line up can cause some great bar room arguments.

Would Rod Laver have beaten Bjorn Borg when both were at the peak of their game? How would John McEnroe go against Pancho Gonzalez? Jimmy Conners up against Roy Emerson?
And what about Lew Hoad, Jack Kramer, Rene Lacoste, Donald Budge, Fred Perry, and Bill Tilden- some of the champions who had finished their brilliant careers before I started my first international tour in 1961.

Some of those names would be undoubtedly in my top 10. My list includes: Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Ken Rosewall, Pancho Gonzalez, Jimmy Conners, Roy Emerson, Ilie Nastase, Guillermo Villas, Arthur Ashe and Manual Santana- in that order.

Laver: The 'Rockhampton Rocket' was the competitor in my era I felt always had a slight edge in tournament play against me, whatever the type of surface. Rod was so versatile and extremely intelligent. He could change his game plan during a match when his opponent was in a winning position. There was little trouble for Rod to switch from an Offensive, aggressive and attacking game to one of defensive tactics and come from behind to win a match, most players cannot change their tactics. Conners, for example, only knows one way to go, and that’s through total power blowing his opponent off court. The red haired, freckle faced laver never ceased to amaze me with some of the variety and different moves he could come up with on court. He was a very complete player and there was very little he could not accomplish.

Borg: The 24 year old Swedish millionaire will go down as one of the greatest in the game. Yet I cannot put him in front of laver. I am not being parochial just because Laver is an Aussie. Two things to bear in mind about Borg is that he never won the Grand Slam and a US championship. I would class Borg as probably the greatest clay court competitor ever. He is virtually unbeatable on that slow paced and high bouncing surface, whether in Europe or on Mars. As Ilie Nastase says, "Borg belongs on another planet. We Play tennis. He plays something else".

Rosewall: What a shame muscles' best years were lost to the game when he turned professional in 1956 and did not return until the sport became open in 1968. For that reason alone he did not win Wimbledon and had to be satisfied being a bridesmaid four times. The first to Jaraslov Drobny and the last to Jimmy Conners in 1974. I am sure many fans missed the "Little Master" showing his true potential in that 12 year break. Ken had the ability to produce amazing shots whether on the attack at the net or defensively from the baseline. The backhand became a legend in the game and the first volley after the serve was also one of the best in the business.

Gonzalez-Conners: I guess there could be a few drinks won and lost for the number four spot between Pancho and Jimbo, but I gave the not to Richard because of his versatility. I never played against Pancho when he was in his prime, but feel he would have handled Conners if they met 10 different matches on 10 different surfaces. Gonzalez had the best first and second serve I've seen. He combined his superb serving with extraordinary reflexes and speed for such a big and powerful man.

Emerson: Emo has more major tournaments among the Big 4 at Wimbledon, French, Australian and US Championships level than any other competitor in the game. Add up his doubles triumphs and the likeable Queenslander has a mortgage. Then take into account his remarkable Davis Cup performances of 36 out of 40 matches success rate and its a record that is hard to beat in anyone’s language.

Nastase: A sheer genius with the racquet. Just on ability alone he could have been number one or two. He hasn’t done justice to himself and wasted extremely high quality tennis by becoming the clown prince of the courts and not exposing that wonderful, naturally gifted athlete he is to his full potential. Nasty was his own worst enemy, but he has the best and quickest pair of hands and feet in the game. His reflexes, anticipation and judgment were superb. Ilie was just too highly strung for his own racquet strings. He could almost make the racquet and ball talk and could play shots which no other player would even dare.

Vilas: He has one of the best offensive backhands in the game and that topspin backhand passing shot is a real gem. There are few players who can hit that particular shot better than the Poet of the Pampas. An opponent has to hit a really deep approach shot to his backhand and force him to play a defensive slice to have confidence in winning a point. Vilas has shown he can play grass three times in Melbourne for the masters and Australian Open championships. He is much more at home on clay and in 1977 when he won the French and US Open tittles he set up a mighty 50 match winning sequence.

Ashe: Any competitor who has Wimbledon, US, Australian and WCT tittles ranks on my list. Yet Arthur’s downfall was his lack of tournament victories on clay courts. He was a great serve and volley tactician- a totally offensive player, but lacked the necessary qualities in a defensive game. When an opponent got really stuck into Arthur you could probably probe his weaknesses. I would attack the ball on every occasion possible. While Arthur relied on power, there was little room or margin for error on most of his shots. He'll either hit an outright winner or lose the point. When Arthur went on the back foot he lacked the finesse and touch to get out of the corner.

Santana: A real artist on the court. A wonderful touch player who could mix his game so well. Showed the trademark of a champion by winning major events on different surfaces. The Wimbledon, US and French titles are listed among his triumphs. He was a pioneer of the top spin game and it was notables like Nastase and Vilas who followed the lovable Spaniards graceful and athletic style of game. One of the best clay court exponents of the game.