The Most Famous

TENNIS PLAYERS from South Africa

This page contains a list of the greatest South African Tennis Players. The pantheon dataset contains 1,569 Tennis Players, 22 of which were born in South Africa. This makes South Africa the birth place of the 19th most number of Tennis Players behind Romania, and Canada.

Top 10

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

1. Eric Sturgess (1920 - 2004)

With an HPI of 51.24, Eric Sturgess is the most famous South African Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages on wikipedia.

Eric William Sturgess (10 May 1920 – 14 January 2004) was a South African male tennis player and winner of six Grand Slam doubles titles. He also reached the singles final of a Grand Slam tournament three times but never won. Sturgess was ranked World No. 6 by John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph in both 1948 and 1949.

2. Louis Raymond (1895 - 1962)

With an HPI of 50.20, Louis Raymond is the 2nd most famous South African Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Louis Bosman Raymond (28 June 1895 – 30 January 1962) was a male tennis player from South Africa.

3. Kevin Curren (b. 1958)

With an HPI of 46.57, Kevin Curren is the 3rd most famous South African Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Kevin Melvyn Curren (born 2 March 1958) is a South African former professional tennis player. He played in two Grand Slam singles finals and won four Grand Slam doubles titles, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 5 in July 1985. During his career he won 5 singles and 16 doubles titles.

4. Frew McMillan (b. 1942)

With an HPI of 46.33, Frew McMillan is the 4th most famous South African Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Frew Donald McMillan (born 20 May 1942) is a former professional tennis player from South Africa who won five grand slam doubles titles including three Wimbledons with Bob Hewitt. All together, he won 63 doubles titles, surpassed only by the Bryan brothers, Daniel Nestor, Mark Woodforde, Todd Woodbridge, John McEnroe and Tom Okker. He was also ranked No.1 in Doubles on the ATP Computer for a significant period from 1977 to 1979 when he was aged 37.

5. Johan Kriek (b. 1958)

With an HPI of 45.97, Johan Kriek is the 5th most famous South African Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Johan Christiaan Kriek (born April 5, 1958) is a South African–American former professional tennis player. As a tennis player, he won two Australian Open titles and reached the semifinals at the French Open and US Open, as well as the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships. Kriek won 14 professional singles and eight doubles titles, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 7 in September 1984. He attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school located in Pretoria. Kriek became a naturalized American citizen in August 1982. He currently resides in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida with his wife, Daga and their children Karolina and Kristian.

6. Harold Kitson (1874 - 1951)

With an HPI of 44.90, Harold Kitson is the 6th most famous South African Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Harry Austin Kitson (17 June 1874 – 30 November 1951) was a male tennis player from South Africa who won a gold medal at the men's doubles event at the 1912 Summer Olympics.

7. Liezel Huber (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 43.77, Liezel Huber is the 7th most famous South African Tennis Player. Her biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Liezel Huber (née Horn; born 21 August 1976) is a South African-American retired tennis player who represented the United States internationally since August 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner Cara Black, one with Lisa Raymond, and two mixed doubles titles with Bob Bryan. On 12 November 2007, she became the co-world No. 1 in doubles with Cara Black. On 19 April 2010, Huber became the sole No. 1 for the first time in her career.

8. Ilana Kloss (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 43.27, Ilana Kloss is the 8th most famous South African Tennis Player. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Ilana Sheryl Kloss (born 22 March 1956) is a South African former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and administrator. She was the World's No. 1 ranked doubles player in 1976, and World No. 19 in singles in 1979. She won the Wimbledon juniors singles title in 1972, the US Open juniors singles title in 1974, and the US Open Doubles and French Open Mixed Doubles titles in 1976. She won three gold medals at the 1973 Maccabiah Games in Israel. After her playing career, Kloss was the commissioner of World TeamTennis from 2001–2021.

9. Kevin Anderson (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 39.91, Kevin Anderson is the 9th most famous South African Tennis Player. His biography has been translated into 40 different languages.

Kevin Michael Anderson (born 18 May 1986) is an inactive South African professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking of world No. 5 on 16 July 2018. He was the first South African to be ranked in the top 5 since Kevin Curren was No. 5 on 23 September 1985. In February 2011, Anderson won his first ATP Tour title at the South African Open in his hometown of Johannesburg. Anderson reached his first major final at the 2017 US Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. In the 2018 Wimbledon semifinals, Anderson reached his second major final by defeating American John Isner in the second-longest match in the history of major tournaments, at 6 hours and 36 minutes (second only to the 2010 match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut). He then lost to Novak Djokovic in the final. On 3 May 2022, Anderson retired at age 35, but he announced his comeback in July 2023.

10. Renée Schuurman (1939 - 2001)

With an HPI of 39.68, Renée Schuurman is the 10th most famous South African Tennis Player. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Renée Schuurman Haygarth (née Schuurman; 26 October 1939 – 30 May 2001) was a South African tennis player who won five Grand Slam women's doubles titles and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title.

People

Pantheon has 28 people classified as South African tennis players born between 1874 and 1997. Of these 28, 24 (85.71%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living South African tennis players include Kevin Curren, Frew McMillan, and Johan Kriek. The most famous deceased South African tennis players include Eric Sturgess, Louis Raymond, and Harold Kitson. As of April 2024, 6 new South African tennis players have been added to Pantheon including Eric Sturgess, Renée Schuurman, and David Adams.