A thrilling French Open has now concluded, with the tennis Grand Slam calendar turning towards Wimbledon.
Wimbledon has confirmed record prize money for this year’s tournament, which gets underway later this month.
Carlos Alcaraz is looking to defend his title on the ATP Tour, with the Spaniard chasing a third successive success.
He defeated Novak Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 finals, and has just beaten world number one Jannik Sinner in the French Open final.
Men’s tennis is in safe hands thanks to Alcaraz and Sinner, who could meet once more at Wimbledon this year following their unforgettable clash in Paris.
The incredible ATP top 20 before Wimbledon in 2009
Djokovic boasts the most Wimbledon titles among active ATP players, with his seven triumphs behind only the eight of Roger Federer in the all-time list.
And both players were in and around the top of the world rankings ahead of the 2009 edition of the grass court Grand Slam, which certainly deserves a mention as another Wimbledon approaches.
It was indeed Federer who sat top of the pile back then, followed by fellow legends Rafael Nadal and Djokovic in second and third respectively.
Another icon in Andy Murray occupied fourth spot, with Juan Martin del Potro in fifth and Nikolay Davydenko in sixth.
The legendary names didn’t stop there, with Andy Roddick, Robin Soderling, Fernando Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga completing the top 10.
And that remarkable list continued with number 11 Fernando Gonzalez, 12 Radek Stepanek, 13 Gael Monfils, 14 Marin Cilic and 15 Gilles Simon.
Completing the stunning top 20 were Tommy Robredo, David Ferrer, Tommy Haas, Mikhail Youzhny and Tomas Berdych.
Such was the stacked list, iconic figures Stan Wawrinka and Lleyton Hewitt could only occupy spots 21 and 22 respectively.
It was Federer who won Wimbledon that year, with the second seed defeating sixth seed Roddick in the final.
That came after top seed Nadal withdrew from the tournament due to injury, with third seed Murray reaching the semi-finals and fourth seed Djokovic falling at the quarter-finals.
The Serbian is among a small group that remains from the incredible list of players who took on the event 16 years ago, with Djokovic currently searching for a record 25th Grand Slam title.
Both Marin Cilic and Gael Monfils are among the other icons remaining, with the pair still impressing on the ATP Tour late in their careers.
Marin Cilic
As mentioned, a large chunk of that simply incredible top 20 has since retired, with 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal hanging up his racket late last year.
But now preparing for another Wimbledon is 2017 finalist Cilic, who is currently ranked at world number 101.
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Cilic has been confirmed to play Wimbledon after the withdrawal of Alejandro Tabilo, with the Croatian veteran having lost the 2017 final to Federer.
He suffered the same fate against the Swiss icon a year later at the Australian Open, but did manage to defeat Kei Nishikori to win the 2014 US Open.
Gael Monfils
Also still going strong is Gael Monfils, who at 38 is two years older than Cilic but still competing on the ATP Tour.
Monfils made history at the Madrid Open earlier this season, and only just appeared at Queen’s as he looks to fine-tune his game ahead of another Wimbledon appearance.
He is undoubtedly running down the clock on his fantastic career, but fans could be treated to one last show from the flamboyant Frenchman.
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