The Most Famous

TENNIS PLAYERS from Austria

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This page contains a list of the greatest Austrian Tennis Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,569 Tennis Players, 16 of which were born in Austria. This makes Austria the birth place of the 22nd most number of Tennis Players behind Belgium, and Serbia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Austrian Tennis Players of all time. This list of famous Austrian 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 Austrian Tennis Players.

Photo of Thomas Muster

1. Thomas Muster (b. 1967)

With an HPI of 52.68, Thomas Muster is the most famous Austrian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 43 different languages on wikipedia.

Thomas Muster (born 2 October 1967) is an Austrian former world No. 1 tennis player. One of the world's leading clay court players in the 1990s, he won the 1995 French Open and at his peak was called "The King of Clay". In addition, he won eight Masters 1000 Series titles. Muster is one of the nine players to win Super 9/ATP Masters Series/ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles on clay, hardcourt and carpet. With his 1995 French Open title, Muster became the first Austrian to win a Grand Slam singles title, followed by Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.

Photo of Dominic Thiem

2. Dominic Thiem (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 47.45, Dominic Thiem is the 2nd most famous Austrian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Dominic Thiem (German pronunciation: [ˈdɔmɪnɪk ˈtiːm]; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, which he first achieved in March 2020. Thiem won 17 ATP Tour singles titles, including a Grand Slam title at the 2020 US Open where he came back from two sets down to defeat Alexander Zverev in the final. With the win, Thiem became the first male player born in the 1990s to claim a Major singles title, as well as the first Austrian to win the US Open singles title. He had previously reached three other Major finals, finishing runner-up at the 2018 and 2019 French Open to Rafael Nadal, and at the 2020 Australian Open to Novak Djokovic. Thiem was also runner-up at the 2019 and 2020 ATP Finals, where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev, respectively. As a junior, Thiem was ranked as high as world No. 2. He was runner-up at the 2011 French Open boys tournament, and won the 2011 Orange Bowl. As a professional, he broke into the top 100 for the first time in 2014. In 2015, he won his first ATP title at the 2015 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur in France. He reached his first major semifinal at the 2016 French Open. In doing so, he first entered the top ten in the ATP rankings. He went on to reach his first Masters 1000 final in 2017 at the Madrid Open, before reaching his first major final the following year. Thiem won his maiden Masters 1000 title at the 2019 Indian Wells Masters, beating Roger Federer in the final. In 2021, Thiem suffered a wrist injury and retired from the sport following the 2024 Erste Bank Open in Vienna having struggled with the injury for three years. Thiem had some of the heaviest groundstrokes of the tour, consistently hitting big with both his forehand and single-handed backhand. Generally thought of as a baseliner, he added more variety with the use of a sliced backhand and more netplay since adding coach Nicolás Massú to his team in March 2019. At 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in), he possessed a serve reaching up to 145 miles per hour (233 km/h), which he often used to set up effective one-two punches. Thiem won the 2020 Austrian Sportsman of the Year award, the fourth time a tennis player has won the award since its creation in 1949.

Photo of Barbara Schett

3. Barbara Schett (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 46.66, Barbara Schett is the 3rd most famous Austrian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Barbara Schett Eagle (German pronunciation: [ˈbaʁbaʁa ˈʃɛt]; born 10 March 1976) is an Austrian former professional tennis player, who reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 7 in September 1999. Between 1993 and 2004 she played in 48 matches for the Austria Fed Cup team, winning 30. She also represented Austria at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in singles and doubles, reaching the quarterfinals of the singles event. She retired after the 2005 Australian Open and now works for Eurosport as a commentator and presenter.

Photo of Béla von Kehrling

4. Béla von Kehrling (1891 - 1937)

With an HPI of 45.09, Béla von Kehrling is the 4th most famous Austrian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Béla von Kehrling (Hungarian: Kehrling Béla [ˈkeːrliŋɡ ˈbeːlɒ]; 25 January 1891 – 26 April 1937) was a Hungarian tennis, table tennis, and football player but eventually a winter sportsman familiar with ice-hockey and occasionally competing in bobsleigh. He competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics and the 1924 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Jürgen Melzer

5. Jürgen Melzer (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 41.57, Jürgen Melzer is the 5th most famous Austrian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a younger brother, Gerald Melzer, with whom he played doubles in several tournaments. In 1999, Melzer won the boys' singles title at Wimbledon. For many years, he was known as one of the best players on the tour not to have progressed past the third round of a major. He ended this by reaching the semifinals of the 2010 French Open, losing to Rafael Nadal after coming from two sets down to defeat Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. As of June 2023, he remains the only person to defeat Djokovic from two sets down. Melzer had greater success in doubles, winning the men's doubles title at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 US Open partnering Philipp Petzschner, as well as the mixed doubles title at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships partnering Iveta Benešová (whom he would later marry and divorce).

Photo of Julian Knowle

6. Julian Knowle (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 37.74, Julian Knowle is the 6th most famous Austrian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Julian Knowle (born 29 April 1974) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. Being a born left-hander, Knowle was one of the few on the ATP Tour who played his forehand, backhand, and even volleys double-handed. He was Austria's most successful doubles player in history by reaching world No. 6 in the ATP doubles rankings in January 2008, before being matched by Jürgen Melzer, who reached No. 6 in September 2010, and overtaken only by Alexander Peya, who reached No. 3 in August 2013.

Photo of Oliver Marach

7. Oliver Marach (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 37.15, Oliver Marach is the 7th most famous Austrian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Oliver Marach (born 16 July 1980) is a former Austrian professional tennis player who primarily specialised in doubles. He achieved his highest singles ranking of world No. 82 in August 2005, but achieved most of his success in doubles where he reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 2 on 28 May 2018. Marach won his first Grand Slam title at the 2018 Australian Open, partnering Mate Pavić, and the pair also finished runners-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and 2018 French Open. He and Pavić were the 2018 ATP Doubles Team of the year. In mixed doubles, he has reached three Grand Slam semifinals. He has represented Austria in the Davis Cup since 2003, and also played at the 2016 Olympic Games alongside Alexander Peya. In 2021, in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he partnered with Philipp Oswald. Marach retired from professional tennis in December 2022.

Photo of Alexander Peya

8. Alexander Peya (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 37.04, Alexander Peya is the 8th most famous Austrian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Alexander Peya (born 27 June 1980) is a retired Austrian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 92 in April 2007. His career-high doubles ranking was World No. 3, first achieved in August 2013. Peya won the 2018 Wimbledon mixed doubles title alongside Nicole Melichar-Martinez, defeating Jamie Murray and Victoria Azarenka in the final.

Photo of Judith Wiesner

9. Judith Wiesner (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 35.75, Judith Wiesner is the 9th most famous Austrian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Judith Wiesner (née Pölzl; born 2 March 1966) is a former professional tennis player from Austria. During her career, she won five top-level singles titles and three tour doubles titles. Her career high rankings were world No. 12 in singles (in 1997), and No. 29 in doubles (in 1989). In 1996, Wiesner was a quarterfinalist at both Wimbledon and the US Open.

Photo of Sybille Bammer

10. Sybille Bammer (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 35.29, Sybille Bammer is the 10th most famous Austrian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Sybille Bammer (born 27 April 1980) is a former professional tennis player from Austria. Her career-high ranking is No. 19, which she achieved on 17 December 2007. She was one of three mothers on the WTA Tour, having taken time off at age 21 to have her daughter Tina before returning to the tour. When she won the 2007 Pattaya Open, it was the first time in 18 years that a mother won on tour, after Laura Arraya in 1989.

People

Pantheon has 21 people classified as Austrian tennis players born between 1891 and 1993. Of these 21, 20 (95.24%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Austrian tennis players include Thomas Muster, Dominic Thiem, and Barbara Schett. The most famous deceased Austrian tennis players include Béla von Kehrling. As of April 2024, 5 new Austrian tennis players have been added to Pantheon including Béla von Kehrling, Judith Wiesner, and Philipp Oswald.

Living Austrian Tennis Players

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Deceased Austrian Tennis Players

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Newly Added Austrian Tennis Players (2024)

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