# Who is the greatest serve-and-volley player in tennis history?

> A style that has nearly disappeared from the professional game, and the players who made a career of walking straight at the net.

*By YPB Team · Published August 23, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-greatest-serve-and-volley-player-in-tennis-history*

---

## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Pete Sampras** — score 1000/1000
   Won seven Wimbledon titles behind a second serve most players could not attack.
2. **Stefan Edberg** — score 1000/1000
   Six majors and the volley technique coaches still show players as the model.
3. **Ken Rosewall** — score 862/1000
   Played eight major finals across three decades with a backhand slice and a relentless forward move.
4. **Boris Becker** — score 764/1000
   Won Wimbledon at 17 by throwing himself at the net, and twice more after that.
5. **Patrick Rafter** — score 764/1000
   Won back-to-back US Opens in 1997 and 1998 with a kick serve and an immediate move forward.
6. **Martina Navratilova** — score 503/1000
   Attacked the net on almost every point and won nine Wimbledon singles titles doing it.
7. **Margaret Court** — score 503/1000
   Used her reach and an aggressive net game to build the largest major haul in the sport, 24 singles titles.
8. **Goran Ivanisevic** — score 323/1000
   The last man to win Wimbledon as an outright serve-and-volleyer, on a wild card in 2001.
9. **John McEnroe** — score 323/1000
   Had the softest hands of the era and built three Wimbledon titles and nine doubles majors on them.
10. **Rod Laver** — score 323/1000
   The last man to win the calendar Grand Slam, doing it from the front of the court in the wooden-racket era.
11. **Billie Jean King** — score 323/1000
   A textbook attacking volleyer who took six Wimbledon singles titles and 27 more in doubles.

Tags: sports, tennis, players