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Cambodia is a country known for its outstanding tourist spots like the Angkor Temple Complex. It is also famous for having the best and unique dishes in Asia. When it comes to sports, Cambodia is a newbie when it comes to tennis. Unlike Pradal Serey, a popular fighting sport, not many locals are huge fans of tennis. Expats who travel to the country and even those who choose to stay find it sometimes peculiar as to why the country does not seem to enjoy playing tennis.
This does not mean, however, that Cambodia is not home to some of the best tennis talents. The country has its own tennis federation, Tennis Cambodia. Thanks to Tep Rithivit, son of the Tep Khunnah, one of Cambodia’s best tennis players in the 1960s, who somehow revived the game in the country. Through Rithivit, Cambodia rose to prominence in Asian tennis as they are considered as the most improved tennis federation in Asia last 2010 and again in 2016.
At the beginning of 2017, Cambodian tennis wowed the nation as they regained the Davis Cup Group III status with their all-win record through the perseverance of Andrea Ka, Cambodia’s highest-ranked tennis player.
To date, Cambodia has more than 10,000 children enrolled in a grassroots programme in six orphanages and 15 public schools.
Top Tennis Players in Cambodia
Kenny Bun
Kenny Bun is a retired Cambodian-French tennis player who achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of 1080. Bun also has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of 953. He has played for Cambodia during the Davis Cup with a record of 23 wins and 9 losses.
Andrea Ka
The young tennis player is now the highest ranking in Cambodia by achieving a career-high ATP singles ranking of 560 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of 466.
Top Female Tennis Players in the World
Chris Evert
Born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Chris Evert is a retired professional tennis player. Evert turned pro in 1972 and has won 157 career titles and received $8,895,195 in total prize money. She boasts of 18 Grand Slam Single Titles (7 French Open, 6 US Open, 3 Wimbledon, and 2 Australian Open). Evert was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995. She is known for her two-handed backhand shot which dominated the women’s tennis from the 1970s up to the 1980s.
Margaret Court
Margaret Court may not ring a bell to the younger generation but true tennis fans will know how great of a player Court is. Born in Australia, Court turned pro in 1960 and brought home 192 career titles – 24 of which are Grand Slam Singles titles (11 Australian Open, 5 French Open, 5 US Open, 3 Wimbledon). She was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979. Aside from her singles titles, Court also boasts of 19 doubles and 19 mixed doubles titles, giving her 62 major titles. In fact, Court indeed dominated the court for being the first woman to ever win the singles Grand Slam in 1970. She is also one of the only two female tennis players to win a Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles and she even did it twice.
Martina Navratilova
Hailing from Prague, Martina Navratilova is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She rivalled Evert in the 1970s. She has 167 career titles to her name and 18 of which are Grand Slam Singles titles (9 Wimbledon, 4 US Open, 3 Australian Open, 2 French Open). She was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000.
Navratilova dominated the tennis court and was known for bringing extreme physical conditioning through her big serves and volley. She currently holds the record for having the most career Wimbledon titles. She is also considered as the best doubles player with 31 Grand Slam Doubles titles and 10 Grand Slam Mixed Doubles titles.
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf has become a household name thanks to her tennis prowess. Since turning pro in 1982, Graf smashed the court with 107 career titles to her name. She has 22 Grand Slam Singles titles (7 Wimbledon, 6 French Open, 5 US Open, 4 Australian Open). For her achievements in tennis, she was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004.
Throughout her 17-year career, Graf is a consistent player. She holds the record for being the number one in the world for 377 weeks – a record for both male and female tennis players. She is also the first player to have a Golden Slam by winning all four majors in addition to the Olympic Gold Medal in one year alone.
Graf’s greatness on the court continues to make tennis fans consider her the greatest tennis player that when she retired in 1999, Graf remained the top three tennis player in the world.
Serena Williams
The still active Serena Williams is regarded by many as the best female tennis of all time. She has 72 career titles with 23 Grand Slam Singles titles (7 Australian Open, 7 Wimbledon, 6 US Open, 3 French Open). Williams is a dominant force in tennis as one of the most powerful and strongest people to have ever played the game. She currently holds the record for Grand Slam Singles titles by a tennis player. Williams will sure give tennis fans something to look forward to.
Top Male Tennis Players in the World
Pete Sampras
Who would ever forget the great Pete Sampras? Sampras surely brought his A-game every time he plays and for this, he successfully brought home a total of 64 career titles, 14 of which are Grand Slam Singles titles (7 Wimbledon, 5 US Open, and 2 Australian Open). He was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007. Sampras has won three of his four Grand Slam events during his career. He ranked number one for six consecutive years, which was no easy feat, particularly playing against Andre Agassi for most of his career.
Rod Laver
The retired professional tennis player has won 200 career titles, 11 of which are Grand Slam Singles titles with four from Wimbledon, three from the Australian Open, and two each from the French and US Opens. Laver also has nine Pro Slam Singles titles with four from Wembley Pro, three from US Pro and one each from Wimbledon Pro and French Pro making him worthy to be inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981.
Laver beat Sampras in the rankings because the former held the number one spot for seven consecutive years and for having the most career titles than any player in the history of tennis. He is also the lone player to win the Grand Slam twice, once as an amateur in 1962 and another in 1969 when he was already a pro.
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic boasts of 73 career titles, with 15 Grand Slam Singles titles coming from the Australian Open (7), Wimbledon (4), US Open (3), and French Open (1). Still young and with a lot of potential, Djokovic can easily rank up the list in the coming years as he can still easily win more Grand Slam titles. Djokovic is the eighth man to ever hold a career Grand Slam.
Whilst 2017 was not a very good year for the tennis great as he was suffering from an elbow injury, the Wimbledon 2018 pretty much made up for it as he beat Rafael Nadal to bring home the title.
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal is one of the top tennis players in the world for having 80 career titles, 17 of which coming from Grand Slam Singles titles that he got from the French Open (11), US Open (3), Wimbledon (2), and Australian Open (1). He was also a 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
Rafa is best known for his strength on the clay, giving him the potential to win more Grand Slam titles if not for his recurring injuries which often side-line him. Still, the Spaniard easily won the 2018 French Open title.
Roger Federer
No one can argue that Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player in the world. In his 21-year career, Federer already has 101 career titles and 20 Grand Slam Singles titles including eight Wimbledon, six Australian Open, five US Open, and one French Open. He was ranked as the number one player in the world for 310 weeks. Federer does not show any signs of slowing down, still competing and winning in every tournament playing against younger players. Will we see more of Federer in the coming years or will he finally retire his racket and do other great things?
