A moment that has been inevitable for some time yet still feels far too soon, Rafael Nadal will soon hit the yellow fuzzy ball for the final time, as the Spanish sensation enjoys a Davis Cup swansong with his beloved Spain.

Plagued by a multitude of injury problems during the latter part of his career, the 22-time Grand Slam champion confirmed in October that he would be retiring from tennis after the 2024 international tournament, leaving some uncertainty as to when his final match will actually take place.

The Spaniards will commence their bid for glory against the Netherlands on Tuesday, where Nadal and co could be sent packing straight away, but the 38-year-old's career could be prolonged for another few days if the host nation reach Sunday's final.

Regardless of Nadal's performance at the Davis Cup, the 'king of clay' has established a legacy that will be forever immortalised in the sport, although a select few have a case to rival him for the title of the GOAT.

Here, Sports Mole selects its picks for the 10 greatest tennis players in the history of the sport.

10. Pete Sampras

Achievements

"Pistol Pete", as he was affectionately known, Pete Sampras flexed his hard-court and grass-court muscles for 14 years from 1988 to 2002, clinching 14 major singles honours and spending 286 weeks at world number one.

Sampras also sits fourth on the all-time list of men's career singles titles - only behind three of the top four on this countdown - and was named year-end world number one six times, only behind Novak Djokovic's eight on the ATP Tour.

As well as possessing a venomous serve, the American also proved to be equally adept at the net, with a serve-and-volley technique that would get Tim Henman off his seat.

9. Chris Evert

Achievements

One of the most consistent Grand Slam players to ever grace the court, Chris Evert hoisted a major trophy aloft on 18 occasions, spent 260 weeks at world number one and was seldom seen packing her bags before a Grand Slam semi.

Indeed, from 49 major tournaments between the 1971 US Open and 1987 Wimbledon Championships, Evert at least reached the semi-finals on an astonishing 48 occasions, the one outlier being a shock third-round exit at Wimbledon in 1983.

While serving and volleying was all the rage in Evert's era, the American instead flaunted her prowess from the baseline and relied on her tremendous fitness and accuracy to wear her foes down.

8. Steffi Graf

Achievements

The fifth and most recent senior singles player to achieve a Grand Slam - winning all four majors in one year - Steffi Graf conquered the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in 1988, becoming the only singles player to complete the Grand Slam set across three surfaces.

Those four crowns comprised a small part of the 22 that the German-born Graf clinched throughout the course of her career, where she was on top of the world for no fewer than 377 weeks, an all-time record that should not be broken anytime soon.

7. Helen Wills

Achievements

Helen Wills was the unyielding dominant force of women's tennis during the early 20th century, taking home a whopping 19 Grand Slam singles titles and Olympic gold in 1924.

Wills's 96.9% win rate at Grand Slams is still the best of any women's player in the history of the sport, and her eight women's singles titles at Wimbledon are only bettered by one other female icon on this list.

Regarded as the first true American female sports celebrity, Wills won an astronomical 180 matches in a row from 1927 to 1933 and also took part in the much-publicised "Match of the Century" with Suzanne Lenglen in 1926, which she lost.

6. Martina Navratilova

Achievements

The undisputed queen of Open Era women's tennis when it comes to overall titles won, Martina Navratilova took home an unrivalled 167 singles honours with the racquet in her hand, the most of any male or female player in the Open Era.

Eighteen of those honours were won in a Grand Slam setting, including a record nine at Wimbledon, while she also collected 41 doubles Grand Slam honours for a scarcely believable 59 major crowns in total.

Only the aforementioned Graf can boast to have spent more weeks as women's world number one than Navratilova (332), who also beat the reigning top-ranked player on 18 occasions, more than any other women's player past or present.

5. Serena Williams

Achievements

Before recently "evolving away from tennis", Serena Williams - together with Venus Williams, unlucky not to be considered for this list - emerged triumphant in 23 Grand Slam finals; no woman in the Open Era has done so on more occasions.

If her blistering serve did not overwhelm her opponents, the ever-powerful Williams would resort to unstoppable winners from either her backhand or forehand side, and she spent over 300 weeks at the top of the WTA rankings.

To date, Williams is the only woman in the Open Era with 500 singles hard-court wins; her sister Venus, yet to retire but currently inactive, sits on 499.

4. Rafael Nadal

Achievements

Whether tennis is your cup of tea or something that immediately makes you change channel, Rafael Nadal and his beaming smile are universally adored, thanks both to his on-court demeanour and extraordinary skills with racquet in hand.

Making Roland-Garros his playground before, during and after his prime, Nadal was crowned French Open champion a whopping 14 times - unsurprisingly the most all-time - while winning 92 top-level singles crowns overall.

Together with great rival Novak Djokovic, Nadal is just one of two male players to win singles titles in 19 successive years in the Open Era, and the Spaniard's delicate drop shots and unique pre-serve flick-the-hair-back ritual will be missed to no end when Spain's Davis Cup journey concludes.

3. Roger Federer

Achievements

Always the recipient of a huge cheer when his face lights up the big screen, Roger Federer is the only ATP player in the Open Era to win a century of singles titles, clinching an unparalleled 103 before calling it quits in 2022.

The Swiss sensation achieved Grand Slam singles glory on 20 occasions, has won more matches than any other man in the Open Era (1,251) and spent 310 weeks as the world number one.

While he won eight of his major titles at Wimbledon and only conquered Roland-Garros once, Federer was a formidable foe on any playing surface and was celebrated just as much for his grace and decorum.

2. Margaret Court

Achievements

Take Navratilova's 167 singles titles and add 25 to it - that is the number of top-level honours that the legendary Margaret Court achieved, with 92 coming in the Open Era and 100 arriving beforehand.

The Australian sits atop the Grand Slam charts alongside Djokovic with 24 singles honours to her name from major tournaments, including 11 from her home tournament Down Under, where the third-largest Australian Open court is named after her.

Equally competent in the doubles game, Court also won 19 major women's doubles and 21 major mixed doubles championships and holds the WTA record for the most titles in a single year, taking home 21 in 1970.

1. Novak Djokovic

Achievements

Long after Nadal, Federer and Djokovic have all hit an ace or fired a winner for the final time, debate will rage over which member of the 'Big Three' was truly the greatest of all time, and our selection will certainly not sit well with all.

However, with 24 Grand Slam singles honours, 99 singles titles, a record seven-year end titles and an astounding 428 weeks as the world number one, the scintillating Serbian gets our GOAT vote.

In the history of the Open Era, Djokovic's 83.5% win rate is the best of any male player in history, and his incredibly emotional Olympics win in 2024 saw him become the only man to complete a Big Titles career sweep, winning all Grand Slam, Tour Finals, Masters and Olympic championships.

The twilight of his career may be approaching, but as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz wrestle for the torch that Djokovic has passed down, the 24-time Grand Slam winner can retire safe in the knowledge that he has more or less completed tennis.