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Germany may be considered as a footballing giant as well as a nation renowned for producing champions in motorsports, but it is also quite proficient in tennis.
Although not at the same level as France, Australia, US or Great Britain when it comes to producing Grand Slam Champions, German tennis players have always tasted considerable success on the tour - be it the ATP circuit or the WTA circuit.
At present, six Germans are ranked inside the Top 100 of the ATP rankings and five Germans are ranked inside the top 100 of the WTA rankings.
Germany has produced eight Grand Slam champions. The first instance of a German lifting a Grand Slam trophy came way back in 1931, and the most recent instance came earlier this year in 2018.
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For sake of brevity, we are restricting this slideshow to only include Germans who have been Grand Slam Champions. But an exception is being made for young talent Alexander Zverev who at 21 is already the holder of 3 ATP Masters 1000 titles and 1 ATP Finals trophy.
So without further ado, here is the list of the nine best German tennis players of all time.
#9 Cilly Aussem
Cilly Aussem was the first ever German to win a Grand Slam title - in men's or women's. She did so when she won the prestigious Wimbledon Championships in 1931. That same year she also won the French Open Championships.
Her mentor, coach and mixed doubles partner at the time was American legend Bill Tilden. Together they won the mixed doubles title at the French Open Championships in 1930.
Ausseem was ranked inside the top 10 between 1928 and 194. And in 1930 and 1931, she was the Number 2 ranked player behind the legendary Helen Wills Moody.
The profound influence that Bill Tilden had in her career is worth mentioning. It was Tilden who, having witnessed her talents at a young age, encouraged her father to permit her to travel overseas and pursue the sport earnestly.
#8 Gottfried von Cramm
Gottfried von Cramm was the first ever German to rise to the top of the professional tennis rankings. He was the number 1 ranked player in singles in 1937. Prior to that, for two full years, he was ranked World Number 2.
Von Cramm was the first German man to win a Grand Slam title. He won the French Open Championships in 1934, and captured his second title in Paris in the year 1936.
He was the runner-up at the Wimbledon Championships in three separate years, losing each time to British tennis legend Fred Perry.
He had a great rivalry with Don Budge, and the two of them remained friends even after their respective retirements.
Von Cramm refused to be used as a propaganda tool by the Nazis at the height of Adolf Hitler's regime. As a result, the Nazis jailed him and even forbade him from participating in the 1937 French Open Championships, where he was to defend his title.
#7 Hilde Krahwinkel
Hilde Krahwinkel was the first German tennis athlete to win a hat-trick of Grand Slams. She achieved this feat by winning three consecutive French Open Championships between 1935 to 1937 inclusive.
Krahwinkel is regarded as the second greatest German female tennis player after the legendary Steffi Graf, who obviously needs no introduction. Having achieved the World No. 1 ranking in 1936, Krahwinkel made the Wimbledon finals that year and finished as the runner-up to Helen Wills Moody.
Playing with her mixed doubles partner, fellow German Gottfried von Cramm, she won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in 1933 - the first ever instance of an all-German pair winning a doubles or mixed doubles Grand Slam.
Krahwinkel was inducted into the International tennis Hall of Fame in 2013.
#6 Michael Stich
Michael Stich is the only German male player to win the Wimbledon singles and doubles titles.
In singles, Stich won Wimbledon in 1991 after beating compatriot Boris Becker in straight sets. He was the runner-up at the 1994 US Open, losing to Andre Agassi, and he was also a runner-up at the 1996 French Open, losing to Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the final.
Stich's best showing at the Australian Open was a semi-final appearance in 1993. That year, he won the ATP Finals too, beating top-seed and defending champion Pete Sampras.
In a nine-year career, Stich won 18 singles titles and attained a highest ever ranking of World Number 2 in November 1993. He was also a member of the victorious German Davis Cup team of 1993.
At the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games, Stich won the doubles gold medal along with compatriot and rival Boris Becker.
#5 Henner Henkel
Henner Henkel was a tennis player who excelled during the 1930s. He reached a career-high ranking of World Number 3 in 1937, the same year that he won the French Open Championship - his only Grand Slam triumph.
1937 was a special year for Henkel as he also won the doubles Grand Slam trophies at both the French Open and WImbledon. His doubles partner was fellow German tennis legend Gottfried von Cramm.
Between 1934 and 1939, Henkel played 66 Davis Cup matches for Germany. He won 49 out of them, and was especially successful in doubles, winning 16 of the 20 matches that he featured in.
At the age of 27, Henkel died due to a gunshot wound suffered during the Battle of Stalingrad. His legacy was honored when the German Tennis federation re-named the German Junior Tennis Championship as the "Große Henner Henkel-Spiele" (The Henner-Henkel Cup).
#4 Alexander Zverev
The man widely tipped to break the grip of the 'Big 4' of tennis in Grand Slams is Alexander 'Sascha' Zverev.
Aged just 21, Zverev already has three ATP Masters 1000 and one ATP Finals trophies under his belt. With prize-money earnings of just under 15 million USD, Zverer is already inside the Top 35 highest grossing earners of all time.
Zverev achieved a career-high ranking of World Number 3 in November 2017 and is presently ranked Number 4 in the ATP charts - making him the youngest player in the ATP Top 20 rankings.
The Grand Slams have proven to be tricky for Zverev, with his best performance - a quarterfinal finish - coming at the 2018 French Open. That is, however, almost certainly going to change with Zverev showing a statement of intent at the Nitto ATP Finals of 2018.
He notched up back-to-back victories over Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the knockout stages of the tournament with thunderous performances. That made him only the fourth player in history to have beaten the two all-time greats in consecutive matches of such a prestigious tournament.
#3 Angelique Kerber
Angelique Kerber is the oldest ever female tennis player to be ranked the WTA World Number 1 for the first time. She achieved this feat in 2016 at the age of 28.
2016 was a breakthrough year for Kerber as she beat Serena WIlliams in the 2016 Australian Open final to grab her very first Grand Slam title. She would go on to win the silver medal at the Rio Summer Olympic Games held six months later.
Later in the year, she won the US Open after beating Karolina Pliskova in the final, and finished the year as the Number 1 ranked player.
After having become the first German player since Steffi Graf to top the WTA World rankings, the pressure of high expectations got to her in 2017 as she endured a terrible dip in form. Seeking to erase the disappointment of 2017, Kerber enjoyed considerable success in 2018 - most notably beating Serena Williams in the final of the Wimbledon Championships and finishing the year as the Number 2 ranked player.
#2 Boris Becker
The youngest ever Wimbledon men's singles champion of all time is Boris Becker, who won the title aged just 17 in 1985 after beating American Kevin Curren in four sets.
Becker successfully defended the title the following year, proving that his first victory was no fluke. In fact, his second Wimbledon title was perhaps even more impressive as he beat Ivan Lendl in straight sets to win the final, denying the Czech the chance to win a Career Slam.
Becker's third title at the All England Club came in 1989 where he beat Stefan Edberg in straight sets in the final. Becker also won the US Open in 1989 and the Australian Open twice, in 1991 and 1996.
Becker also won the ATP Finals trophy on three occasions and developed fierce rivalries with fellow German Michael Stich, as well as Americans Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras .Together with Stich, Becker helped Germany win the Davis Cup twice - in 1988 and 1989.
Post retirement, Becker has served as a tennis analyst and broadcaster. He was also a very successful coach, helping Novak Djokovic win multiple Grand Slams and ATP Masters trophies.
#1 Steffi Graf
The greatest German tennis player of all time without a shadow of a doubt is Steffi Graf. A player of her stature needs no introduction; the numbers speak for themselves.
Whenever Graf's name is mentioned, a few records come to mind which will probably never be eclipsed - like her winning the Calendar Golden Slam (all four Majors and the Olympic gold medal in the same year) in 1988. Another unbreakable record is her achievement of winning at least four titles across each of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
No woman has been the World Number 1 ranked player for more weeks than Graf - she was World Number 1 for an awe-inspiring 377 weeks in total.
With 22 Grand Slam titles and 107 WTA singles titles overall, Graf's place in the annals of tennis history was cemented way before she announced her retirement from the sport in 1999.
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