The Most Famous

TENNIS PLAYERS from United Kingdom

This page contains a list of the greatest British Tennis Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,569 Tennis Players, 72 of which were born in United Kingdom. This makes United Kingdom the birth place of the 7th most number of Tennis Players behind Germany, and Czechia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary British Tennis Players of all time. This list of famous British Tennis Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of British Tennis Players.

1. Fred Perry (1909 - 1995)

With an HPI of 69.29, Fred Perry is the most famous British Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages on wikipedia.

Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was an English tennis and table tennis player and former world no. 1. He won 10 Majors, including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well as six Major doubles titles. Perry was the first player to win a "Career Grand Slam", lifting all four singles titles, which he completed at the age of 26 at the 1935 French Championships. He remains the only British player ever to achieve this feat. He won three consecutive Wimbledon Championships from 1934 to 1936 and was world amateur number one player during those three years. Prior to Andy Murray in 2013, Perry was the last British player to win the men's Wimbledon championship and the last British player to win a men's singles Grand Slam title until Andy Murray won the 2012 US Open. Perry's first love was table tennis and he was World Champion in 1929. He began playing tennis aged 14 and his tennis career at 21, when in 1930 an LTA committee chose him to join a four-man team to tour the United States. In 1933, Perry helped lead the Great Britain team to victory over France in the Davis Cup; the team's first success since 1912, followed by wins over the United States in 1934, 1935, and a fourth consecutive title with victory over Australia in 1936. However, due to his disillusionment with the class-conscious nature of the Lawn Tennis Club of Great Britain, the working-class Perry turned professional at the end of the 1936 season and moved to the United States where he became a naturalised U.S. citizen in 1939. In 1942, he was drafted into the US Army Air Force during the Second World War. Despite his unprecedented contribution to British tennis, Perry was not accorded full recognition by tennis authorities until later in life, because between 1927 and 1967 the International Lawn Tennis Federation ignored amateur champions who later turned professional. In 1984, a statue of Perry was unveiled at Wimbledon, and in the same year he became the only tennis player listed in a survey of 2,000 Britons to find the "Best of the Best" British sportsmen of the 20th century.

2. Major Ritchie (1870 - 1955)

With an HPI of 67.76, Major Ritchie is the 2nd most famous British Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Major Josiah George Ritchie (18 October 1870 – 28 February 1955) was a tennis player from Great Britain. Major was his first name, not a military title. He was born in Westminster, educated at Brighton College and died in Ashford, Middlesex.

3. Charlotte Cooper (1870 - 1966)

With an HPI of 67.28, Charlotte Cooper is the 3rd most famous British Tennis Player. Her biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Charlotte "Chattie" Reinagle Cooper Sterry (née Cooper; 22 September 1870 – 10 October 1966) was an English female tennis player who won five singles titles at the Wimbledon Championships and in 1900 became Olympic champion. In winning in Paris on 11 July 1900, she became the first female Olympic tennis champion as well as the first individual female Olympic champion.

4. Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers (1878 - 1960)

With an HPI of 67.21, Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers is the 4th most famous British Tennis Player. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Dorothea Lambert Chambers (née Dorothea Katherine Douglass; 3 September 1878 – 7 January 1960) was a British tennis player. She won seven Wimbledon women's singles titles and a gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

5. Ann Jones (b. 1938)

With an HPI of 65.83, Ann Jones is the 5th most famous British Tennis Player. Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Ann Shirley Jones, (born Adrianne Haydon; 17 October 1938), also known as Ann Haydon-Jones, is a British former table tennis and lawn tennis champion. She won eight Grand Slam tennis championships in her career: three in singles, three in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. As of 2023, she serves as a vice president of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

6. William Renshaw (1861 - 1904)

With an HPI of 62.72, William Renshaw is the 6th most famous British Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

William Charles Renshaw (3 January 1861 – 12 August 1904) was a British tennis player active during the late 19th century, who was ranked world No. 1. He won twelve Wimbledon titles: seven in singles and five in doubles. A right-hander, Renshaw was known for his power and technical ability which put him ahead of competition at the time. His seven Wimbledon men's singles titles were a record that stood for 128 years, until surpassed in 2017. His six consecutive singles titles (1881–86) remain an all-time record. Additionally, Renshaw won the doubles title five times with his twin brother Ernest. William Renshaw was the first president of the British Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

7. Dorothy Round (1909 - 1982)

With an HPI of 62.63, Dorothy Round is the 7th most famous British Tennis Player. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Dorothy Edith Round (13 July 1909 – 12 November 1982) was a British tennis player who was active from the late 1920s until 1950. She achieved her major successes in the 1930s. She won the singles title at Wimbledon in 1934 and 1937, and the singles at the Australian Championships in 1935. She also had success as a mixed doubles player at Wimbledon, winning a total of three titles. After her wedding in 1937, she played under her married name, Mrs D.L. Little. During the Second World War, she played in North America and became a professional coach in Canada and the United States. Post-war, she played in British regional tournaments, coached, and wrote on tennis for newspapers.

8. Reginald Doherty (1872 - 1910)

With an HPI of 61.85, Reginald Doherty is the 8th most famous British Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Reginald "Reggie" or "R. F." Frank Doherty (14 October 1872 – 29 December 1910) was a British tennis player and the older brother of tennis player Laurence Doherty. He was known in the tennis world as "R.F." rather than "Reggie". He was a four-time Wimbledon singles champion and a triple Olympic Gold medalist in doubles and mixed doubles.

9. Laurence Doherty (1875 - 1919)

With an HPI of 61.80, Laurence Doherty is the 9th most famous British Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Hugh Laurence Doherty (8 October 1875 – 21 August 1919) was a British tennis player and the younger brother of tennis player Reginald Doherty. He was a six-time Grand Slam champion and a double Olympic Gold medalist at the 1900 Summer Olympics in singles and doubles (also winning a Bronze in mixed doubles). In 1903 he became the first non-American player to win the U.S. National Championships.

10. Andy Murray (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 61.24, Andy Murray is the 10th most famous British Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 78 different languages.

Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray won 46 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including three majors at the 2012 US Open, 2013 Wimbledon Championships, and 2016 Wimbledon Championships. He also won two gold medals at the Summer Olympics, the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals, 14 Masters events, and contested a total of eleven major finals. Originally coached by his mother Judy alongside his older brother Jamie, Murray moved to Barcelona at age 15 to train at the Sánchez-Casal Academy. He began his professional career around the time Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal established themselves as the two dominant players in men's tennis. Murray had immediate success on the ATP Tour, making his top 10 debut in 2007 at age 19. By 2010, Murray and Novak Djokovic had joined Federer and Nadal in the Big Four, the group of players who dominated men's tennis for most of the 2010s. Murray initially struggled against the rest of the Big Four, losing his first four major finals (three to Federer and one to Djokovic). He made his breakthrough in 2012 by defeating Federer to win the London Olympics and defeating Djokovic to win the US Open, becoming the first British major singles champion since Virginia Wade in 1977. He then beat Djokovic to win Wimbledon in 2013, the first home champion at the men's event since Fred Perry in 1936. Murray had his career-best season in 2016, when he made three major finals, winning Wimbledon. He defended his title at the 2016 Rio Olympics to become the only player, male or female, to win two Olympic gold medals in singles. Murray also became world No. 1 for the first time in 2016, and clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking by winning the Tour Finals title over Djokovic. After 2016, he struggled with a hip injury that required major surgery, and fell out of the top 100 in 2018. Upon his return, Murray won a tour title at the 2019 European Open and rose back to the top 50. He retired from the sport after the 2024 Paris Olympics. Murray was an all-court player who excelled in particular at defence, returning serve and constructing points. He was generally regarded as possessing one of the most consistent two-handed backhands on the ATP Tour. Murray is credited with re-establishing the United Kingdom as a leading force in men's tennis for the first time since the early 20th century. He and his brother led the Great Britain Davis Cup team to a title in 2015. Murray has been outspoken on issues of equality, and became only the second top-10 player in the history of the ATP Tour to have a female coach when he hired Amélie Mauresmo in 2014. Shortly following his playing career, Murray took up a coaching partnership with his former rival Djokovic for the 2025 Australian Open.

People

Pantheon has 72 people classified as British tennis players born between 1849 and 2001. Of these 72, 30 (41.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living British tennis players include Ann Jones, Andy Murray, and Virginia Wade. The most famous deceased British tennis players include Fred Perry, Major Ritchie, and Charlotte Cooper. As of April 2024, 72 new British tennis players have been added to Pantheon including Fred Perry, Major Ritchie, and Charlotte Cooper.