Category: Sports

Back in 1972, the American Motocross Association launched the AMA Motocross Championships which brought together the best racers in the world to compete on a weekly and season-long basis. Ever since then, there have been plenty of names that have come and gone, but only a few truly dominated the sport. Out of all of the AMA racers, here are the five greatest in the organization’s history.

5. Ricky Johnson

One of the OGs of professional motocross, Ricky Johnson was a dominant force during the 1980s, especially in the later part of the decade. Johnson won several championship titles, including the 1984, 1986, and 1987 AMA 250. Johnson would continue to race well after the 1980s ended, too, but started focusing on other sports.

Johnson would get involved with stock car and off-road racing in the late 1990s. He participated in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series and Stadium Super Trucks. It wasn’t until after the 2021 season that Johnson decided to retire, and his legacy of motorsports is one of the best in the world. In AMA, Johnson secured 22 titles to earn him the fifth overall spot.

4. Bob Hannah

Slightly ahead of Johnson on the list is Bob Hannah, who notched 27 career wins during his competing days in the late 1970s and all of the 1980s. The outspoken Hannah was part of the American surge in motocross, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee started off his season-long championship resume with a 1976 AMA National 125cc title.

Hannah added back-to-back AMA National 250cc championships in 1978 and 1979, and throughout the 1980s he continued to dominate. Hannah had slipped toward the back of the pack in 1989 and called it quits after 15 years in the pros, ending one of the greatest careers in motocross at 33 years old.

3. Eli Tomac

Nobody dominated the amateur circuit quite like Eli Tomac did while growing up, so it only makes sense that he would go on to become one of the greatest professional racers in history. Tomac and he would stake his claim right away. In his first professional race in the 250cc class, Tomac took the top of the podium, making him the first in AMA history to do so.

Ever since then, Tomac has been setting records left and right that some thought would never be broken. At the lowest points in his career, Tomac is still a guarantee for the podium in at least half of his races. With time still on his side, Tomac has the chance to take the number one spot in almost every record.

2. Ryan Dungey

The pride of Belle Plaine, Minnesota, Ryan Dungey has a title in every major motocross and supercross circuit with seven AMA championships. Dungey got off to an incredibly strong start in his career, averaging a finish of 2.38 in each AMA race. By 2012, Dungey reached the podium in every single event.

Dungey has nearly 40 wins in the 450 Motocross Class and another 34 in the 450 Supercross class, and over an eight-year span finished outside of the top 10 in just two races. In 2015 and 2016, Dungey won back-to-back ESPY Awards for the Best Male Action Sports Athlete and would retire in his 20s before making a comeback in 2022.

1. Ricky Carmichael

While the rest of the list is certainly up for debate, there is nobody that questions Ricky Carmichael as the greatest AMA racer of all time. Carmichael is to motocross what Wayne Gretzky is to hockey with the type of dominance he had during his career. Carmichael won multiple season-long titles in several classes and even branched out into NASCAR.

Carmichael won three 250/125cc class championships, five supercross 450cc championships, and seven motocross 450cc championships during his illustrious career. He also won multiple gold medals at the X Games and had a top 10 as a stock car racer with the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2010.

For most tennis players, all we need is a chain link fence that’s tall enough to make sure we’re not losing any balls and a court that doesn’t have any holes. When you’re among the best players in the world, though, only a large and illustrious stadium will do. 

With that in mind, there are top-notch tennis venues all around the world, but a few really have the most prestige. Here are the five best professional tennis venues on Earth.

5. Rod Laver Arena

Surprisingly, Rod Laver Stadium is one of the oldest tennis venues on the list as it broke ground in 1985 and was opened in January 1988. Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose venue, but most people around the world know it for tennis as it’s the home to the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the calendar year.

Kooyong Stadium had long been the main venue for the Australian Open, but its age was really starting to show. In today’s money, more than a quarter billion was spent on the construction of Rod Laver Arena, which was originally known as the National Tennis Centre at Flinders Park. Now, it’s named after the tennis great who won three Australian Opens.

4. Louis Armstrong Stadium

Named after legendary American musician Louis Armstrong, this stadium in Queens, New York is located at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. What makes LAS so unique is that the stadium is one of the largest tennis venues in the world with a retractable roof. The former stadium of the previous name was torn down in 2016, with the new version opening in 2018.

Rossetti Architects is responsible for the design of the beautiful venue that’s by far the youngest on the list. Featuring a DecoTurf surface, there are more than 14,000 seats inside the stadium that are split almost evenly between the lower and upper decks. The first official match was also a big one, with a WTA number one ranked player (Simona Halep) losing in the opening round of a US Open for the first time ever.

3. Arthur Ashe Stadium

The other major event at the US Open is also named after a legendary American, except this time with a focus on tennis. Arthur Ashe Stadium is where the championship of the US Open takes place, and it’s the largest tennis-focused stadium in the world with a capacity of nearly 24,000 people.

Arthur Ashe Stadium first opened in 1997 and has undergone a massive renovation that changed the structure to include a retractable roof. The stadium has held several non-tennis events as well but has been home to some of the greatest matches in United States tennis history.

2. Court Philippe Chatrier

All tennis players dream of making it to the French Open so that they can play at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The second-oldest venue on the list, Roland Garros first opened in 1928 and has been the home to the French Open ever since. There are 20 courts total at Roland Garros spread across 34 acres including three full-sized stadiums.

The largest of the stadiums is Court Philippe Chatrier, which holds 15,000 people, and was named in honor of the man that led the French Tennis Federation and kept the sport in the Olympics. The venue has people feeling like they’re right on top of the action and the recent renovation has kept it a top notch facility.

1. Wimbledon Centre Court

Of course, the most famous venue in all of the tennis has to be at the top of the list, and that’s Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, a.k.a. Wimbledon. The court, when originally constructed in the late 19th century, had just a couple of rows of seating. Now, there’s a capacity of over 15,000 people, and was finalized in 1922.

Centre Court has held some of the best moments in tennis history, and since 2009 has had a retractable roof to keep the party going into late night, rain or shine. Even the Royal Family makes sure to attend Wimbledon each year as they get their own box and the best seats in the house.

Any professional tennis player will tell you that the hardest thing to do is win a grand slam tournament. Every player brings their best game as these tournaments bring the most rankings points and prize pools of the year. The greatest players of all time are usually determined by their performances in these grand slams, too.

Now imagine how hard it is to win all four in the same year. There’s no margin for error, and that’s why only a handful of people have accomplished this feat as a singles player. Here are the five to do just that on the men’s and women’s side of professional tennis.

Don Budge

The first person to ever win a professional calendar grand slam was the only one to do so in the singles circuit for a very long time. Don Budge accomplished the feat in 1938, and his four grand slam wins were part of eight consecutive grand slam titles.

Budge won the Australian Open to start the year by defeating John Bromwich in three sets. He then defeated Roderich Menzel at the French Open and Bunny Austin at Wimbledon. Budge faced his fourth different finals opponent in a row at the US Open when he defeated Gene Malko. Malko didn’t make it easy for Budge, though, as he needed four sets to win and become the first calendar grand slam champion.

Maureen Connolly

It took 15 years after Budge became the first man to accomplish the calendar grand slam for the first woman to do so, with Maureen Connolly winning the big four in 1953. Like Budge, her total grand slam victory streak reached six, including the calendar slam. 

Unlike Budge, however, Connolly didn’t have to beat four different players in finals matches, she only had to defeat two. The first was Julia Sampson, whom Connolly defeated in two sets at the Australia Open. The other three finals all featured Connolly defeating Doris Hart, and she did so in two sets each time. After Connolly, it would be a long time before another woman accomplished the calendar slam.

Rod Laver

Only one person on the list has accomplished the calendar slam twice as a singles competitor, and that person is the legendary Rod Laver. Laver won 200 career titles as a professional and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981. With 11 total grand slam championships, he was able to get his first calendar grand slam in 1962.

The second came seven years later in 1969. Along the way, Laver had some familiar opponents. The first calendar slam featured three victories over Roy Emerson and one over Martin Mulligan at Wimbledon. The second career slam, though, had Laver defeating a different opponent in each of the grand slam finals, which was capped off with a US Open victory over Tony Roche.

Margaret Court

Heading into the 1970s, Margaret Court had already accomplished the calendar grand slam twice, but she did it in mixed doubles competition. Court had teamed up with Ken Fletcher for her first and then three different partners (including Fletcher) for her second. In 1970, though, Court did it all on her own.

Court easily won the Australian Open in January 1970 by defeating Kerry Melville in two sets, then went on to defeat Helga Niessen at the French Open and the legendary Billie Jean King at Wimbledon in one of the greatest matches in women’s tennis, 14-12 and 11-9. Court finished the calendar slam with another tough test, defeating Rosie Casals in three sets at the US Open.

Steffi Graf

Despite the dominance of some of the eventual all-time greats in both men’s and women’s tennis, Steffi Graf is the only person to win a calendar grand slam since 1970, doing so in 1988. To put in perspective how hard it is to achieve the calendar slam, Graf won 22 grand slam titles but only did it all in a single year once.

Graf opened the 1988 grand slam calendar by defeating Chris Evert at the Australian Open, then defeated Natasha Zvereva at the French Open and Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon. With millions of people watching to see if Graf would make history at the US Open, she did just that by topping Gabriela Sabatini in three sets.

One of the many great things about tennis is that you just never know when a match is going to end. Sometimes you can buy a ticket to a match that you think is going to go for a couple of hours and it’s done and over with after just 30 minutes. Then, there are matches that can take six hours or more, truly giving you your money’s worth.

It’s extremely rare for a match to start approaching the six-hour mark, though. Even more rare is seven hours, with only two matches in professional tennis history making it that far. Out of the marathon matches that tennis has seen, which ones are the longest? These five, which all happen to be at major tournaments, had fans sleeping in their seats due to the sheer time it took for a winner to be determined.

5. Fabrice Santoro vs. Arnaud Clement

The only match in the top five that didn’t take place at Wimbledon or the Davis Cup was a 6 hour 33 minute affair at the 2004 French Open between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement.

In a match that took two separate days to complete, Santoro defeated Clement in five sets, taking that final set 16-14 in a tiebreaker. Santoro had won the first two sets, so the match could’ve been much, much shorter. Strangely enough, Santoro won his next match before falling in the third round to Olivier Mutis.

4. John Isner vs. Kevin Anderson

While the rest of the matches on the list were in the first round, the match between John Isner and Kevin Anderson was in the semifinal of a grand slam tournament. At Wimbledon 2018, Isner and Anderson came into the tournament as the ninth and eighth seeds, respectively. Isner had already played a lengthy Wimbledon match (more on that later), and this one with a chance at the finals on the line lasted for 6 hours and 36 minutes.

Anderson won the first set 7-6, with Isner taking the next two 6-7, 6-7. Anderson then forced a fifth set that he won 26-24 to clinch his finals spot. Anderson, however, ran into the buzzsaw that is Novak Djokovic and lost in straight sets.

3. Team Argentina vs. Team Brazil

The 2015 Davis Cup was full of surprises, which included unseeded Great Britain winning the finals. Before then, however, Brazil and Argentina played a first round match for the ages that lasted for 6 hours and 43 minutes. Leonardo Mayer represented Argentina and squared off against Brazil’s Joao Souza.

Mayer got off to a good start by winning the first two sets, but Souza answered with two set wins of his own. The winner was determined with a 15-13 tiebreaker in the final set, allowing Argentina to advance to the second round where they lost to Serbia.

2. Team Czech Republic vs. Team Switzerland

At the 2013 Davis Cup, the Czech Republic was one of the favorites as they were given the second seed behind only Spain. Spain suffered a massive upset in the first round against Canada, however, paving the way for the Czechs to take home the title. It wouldn’t be easy, though, as they also had their first round struggles.

Representing the Czech Republic were Tomas Berdych and Lukas Rosol, and they squared off against Team Switzerland which was represented by Stan Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli. After splitting the first four sets, Berdych and Rosol prevailed after 7 hours and 1 minute, winning the final set 24-22 and going on to beat Serbia in the finals.

1. John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut

John Isner seems to have a flair for the dramatic (and lengthy) as his match against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 is not only his second appearance on the list, but it’s also the longest match in professional tennis history. Second place isn’t particularly close, either, as these two dueled for 11 hours and 5 minutes over the course of three days.

What made the match even more unique is that all of this was in the first round of the Wimbledon tournament, which caused a lot of scheduling issues for the subsequent rounds. Isner and Mahut went five matches, with Isner ending up on top due to the insane 70-68 final set which took 8 hours and 11 minutes. Isner was so tired that he lost in the second round in just 74 minutes to Thiemo de Bakker.

While the Orioles, to some people, still feel like a team that entered the league in the 1990s (thanks to Camden Yards), they are actually among the oldest franchise in Major League Baseball. For more than a century, the Orioles have experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, with a lot of surprises along the way.

What really stands out as the most shocking to hear, though? Here are five surprising facts about the Baltimore Orioles throughout their long and sometimes illustrious history.

They Were Originally The Milwaukee Brewers

There is a Milwaukee Brewers franchise in Major League Baseball that has been active since their move from Seattle in 1970, but the current Baltimore Orioles were the original Milwaukee Brewers. That’s right, the Orioles franchise roots date back to the 1870s when they were a minor league team named the Milwaukee Brewers, and moved up to the American League in 1901 for one season.

The following year, the Brewers moved to St. Louis, becoming the Browns. When owner Bill Veeck was forced to sell the team, they were moved to Baltimore under the Miles-Krieger-Hoffberger group and renamed the Orioles in 1954. The team has operated as the Baltimore Orioles ever since.

They Match The Yankees For One Obscure Record

Through the 2022 MLB season, there have only been 13 seasons in which a team has won at least 108 games. The 1906 Chicago Cubs were the first to do it, winning a whopping 116 games to set the standard that has yet to be broken. Since then, several franchises including the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates have reached 108 wins, but only two teams have done it twice.

The Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees are the only two, with the Yankees accomplishing the feat three times. The Orioles did it in back-to-back seasons, winning 109 games in 1969 and then 108 games in 1970. The team reached the World Series in both years, winning it all in 1970 over the Cincinnati Reds.

Only Three Teams Have Longer Pennant Droughts

After having tremendous success from the late 1960s through the 1970s, the Baltimore Orioles crowned the peak of the franchise’s success with a World Series title in 1983 over the Philadelphia Phillies. Since then, the Orioles have yet to win the American League pennant and get back to the World Series.

That drought is the fourth longest in Major League Baseball, and the second longest in the American League behind the Seattle Mariners, who have never reached the World Series. The two National League teams with longer pennant droughts are the Pittsburgh Pirates (1979) and Milwaukee Brewers (1982), who we know as the new Orioles.

Cal Ripken Leads In Just About Everything

It’s probably not a surprise that Cal Ripken Jr. holds a lot of franchise records since he has the most games played for the franchise and the most consecutive games by any MLB player. However, Ripken holds just about every single batting record. This includes having the most hits, doubles, home runs, runs batted in, walks, and even strikeouts.

There are a couple of franchise records that Ripken doesn’t hold though, surprisingly. Brady Anderson holds the record for the most times hit by a pitch, getting plunked 148 times. Ripken also takes a backseat in franchise triples to George Sisler (145) and shares the record with Chris Davis for most strikeouts at 1,305. What makes this surprising is that Ripken played in almost three times as many games (3,001 to 1,151) as Davis.

Nobody Has Had A Worse Start To A Season

1988 was a rough year for Baltimore Orioles fans, with the team’s postseason hopes dashed before the end of April. That season, the Orioles started with 14 consecutive losses, which was the first time that’s happened in MLB history. Only the 1997 Chicago Cubs have matched that start ever since.

However, the streak didn’t end there. The Orioles continued to lose until their streak reached 21 games and were 16 games out of first place. The Orioles finally snapped their skid, defeating the Minnesota Twins 4-2.

There are few things quite as frustrating as seeing your club put together a good season, only to have them lose a star player due to injury, derail the entire season, and end the chances of collecting any trophies. For some clubs, the injury bug seems to be much more infectious than it does for others.

Superstitious supporters will tend to believe that their club has been cursed, but there is far more to it than anything supernatural. There can be several reasons one club suffers more injuries than others, and we’ll break down some of the most common reasons.

The Pitch Type

The English Premier League is known for having some of the best-looking grass in the world, as there’s a high standard for pitches across the league. While most clubs have their pitches down to a science, there are some that are lacking in the pitch department. Some clubs haven’t invested in pitch types that are safer for players, and a bad pitch can result in a slew of ankle or knee injuries.

The clubs at the top of the fixture each year invest a lot into making sure that their pitches are perfect to protect their highly-paid players. Those that are lower in the fixture, though, may not be able to afford the upgrades. Jason Booth is the director of the Grounds Management Association, and he said that “We’ve had some clubs (that) have had to cut their cloth.” Even American football has the same problem, with some pitch types resulting in an increase of ACL injuries.

Conditioning

The more fatigued somebody is, the more prone they are to injury. One major study concluded that “fatigued muscles are able to absorb less energy before reaching the degree of stretch that causes injuries.” Because of this, it’s important that all of the players are in great condition, and the staff is responsible for making sure that they’re at that level.

Of course, with the football schedule the way it is, not every player is going to have time to work on their conditioning outside of matches. There are very few breaks throughout the year, and managers have to keep their stars accountable. Also, when a player is showing signs of serious fatigue, a good manager will pull them from a match before injury occurs.

Experience

There are certain ebbs and flows to a match at the Premier League level, and you can certainly tell the difference when watching an EPL match compared to lower levels. Some of the players aren’t accustomed to the speed and strategy of an EPL match, and that can lead to injuries. Accidents happen when a player is in the wrong spot or can take risks that cause them to crash into other players at a high speed.

This is why supporters of all sports are nervous to see their star players go against those that are inexperienced. Many of the top players are pulled from matches early or withheld altogether as their talents aren’t needed to beat the more inexperienced clubs, so the injury risk isn’t worth them playing.

Reported Injuries

There was a time when players would power through injuries because they didn’t want to lose their spot on a squad. However, players weren’t given millions every year. These days, players are a much larger investment for a club, and they want to know when their stars feel even the slightest bit of pain so that they can keep them out of the lineup.

Athletes are also receiving top care from health professionals, whereas in years past, they would simply take a few painkillers and get back on the pitch. Teams at the highest level have far more reported injuries due to the perceived minor ones being taken seriously. 

Summary

While these are the main reasons some clubs have more injuries than others, sometimes it comes down to just plain dumb luck. Even the most conditioned and experienced players can find themselves with a torn ACL or a concussion from just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Injuries happen all the time, and they’ll continue to happen to your favorite club, unfortunately. 

Not every great wrestling match has to take place during the main event of WrestleMania. There have been plenty that is great for varying reasons across all pay-per-views in history. It’s hard to narrow it down to just five must-watch matches, but these ones should be on every fan’s list of classic wrestling matches.

5. Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair (WrestleWar 1989)

In its infancy, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) went hand-in-hand with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) before branching out into its own company. At the time, the WCW-NWA team-up gave some great matches, and that includes the WrestleWar pay-per-view in 1989, dubbed the Music City Showdown.

Interestingly enough, the match between Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair wasn’t the main event as there were two tag team title matches that followed. However, the Steamboat-Flair contest stole the show, lasting for more than 30 minutes as Flair won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship by pinfall. The match instantly received five-star ratings across the board and is considered by some to be the greatest American wrestling match ever.

4. Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (Royal Rumble 2000)

If you’re looking for one of the biggest WWE pay-per-views that isn’t WrestleMania, look no further than the stacked Royal Rumble from 0200. Featuring The Rock winning the 30-man Royal Rumble, as well as the Hardy Boyz winning a triple threat tables match, the main event prior to the Rumble itself was the brutal Triple H vs. Cactus Jack street fight.

The match between the two went for nearly 30 minutes and featured a ton of weapons including barbed wire, two-by-fours, thumbtacks, and, of course, chairs. Triple H would end up winning the bloody contest, but Cactus Jack made sure to get plenty of damage in on the champion when it was all said and done.

3. Undertaker vs. Mankind (King of the Ring 1998)

Another one of Mick Foley’s alter egos, Mankind was another unhinged character that was willing to take punishment as much as he doled it out, if not more. While the namesake of the pay-per-view featured Ken Shamrock defeating The Rock in the tournament finals, it was the Undertaker and Mankind’s Hell in a Cell match that people still talk about to this day.

In the longest match of the night, The Undertaker was ultimately victorious after dealing out a massive amount of damage that included throwing Mankind off the top of the cell and through the announcers’ table. People still can’t believe that Mankind wasn’t seriously injured or even dead, showing why Foley is the hardcore legend.

2. CM Punk vs. John Cena (Money in the Bank 2011)

One of the loudest crowds in wrestling history, Chicago was on fire for CM Punk for what he said would be his final match following a contract dispute with WWE at Money in the Bank. The match was for the WWE Championship against John Cena, and the stipulation said that if Cena lost, he would be fired by Vince McMahon.

What fans didn’t know is that Punk had inked a new deal with WWE as the pay-per-view was going on, and this info being kept secret made the finish that much more surprising as Punk would walk out victorious following his upset victory in 33 minutes. In the end, Cena wouldn’t be fired and Punk would return, but at the moment, the match had a lot at stake.

1. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (Survivor Series 1996)

In the event that many consider the beginning of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and the Attitude Era in general, the 1996 Survivor Series pitted the Texas Rattlesnake against Bret Hart. There was no title on the line, and the match wasn’t the main event, yet it’s Austin-Hart that gets talked about all these years later from the event.

The match was for the #1 contendership for the WWF Championship, which Hart would ultimately win after the two dueled for nearly a half hour. It appeared that Austin had the winning submission move locked in, but would reverse the move into a pin and left Stone Cold stunned in the middle of the ring.

Since August 1973, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has released a weekly ranking of the world’s top tennis players. The ATP rankings are different from that of several other sports because rankings aren’t determined by voters who think the best players are. Instead, the rankings are set based on the amount of points gathered in the previous 52 weeks on the ATP Tour.

You may see a player win an ATP tournament but not make much movement, while another tournament can lead to someone jumping dozens, if not hundreds, of spots in the rankings. So how is the number of points determined? Let’s take a closer look at the ATP rankings points system.

Grand Slams

If a player wants to break into the top five of the ATP rankings, then they better perform well at the grand slam events. The Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open are where the most points are awarded each year. The winner of one of these tournaments is given 2,000 points, which can sustain a high ranking for an entire year.

Simply performing well at a grand slam is worth a lot of points, as well. A finals appearance earns 1,200 points, while the semifinals and quarterfinals pull in 720 and 360 points, respectively. Qualifying for a grand slam is a 25-point bonus and making it to the round of 128 is another 10 points.

While not a part of the grand slam schedule, the ATP Finals is a great way for the top players to earn bonus points. The top eight players of the year advance to the ATP Finals, and can earn up to 1,500 points for winning. Each round-robin win during the early stage of the tournament is another 200 points.

Masters, 500, 250 Series

Each year, the ATP has eight tournaments in the Masters 1000 series that are considered mandatory. Players wouldn’t want to miss out on these massive point opportunities, anyway, as the winner of each earns 1,000 points while a finals appearance is worth 600. Players are able to earn 25 points simply for qualifying and start earning big points when reaching the round of 32.

The smaller tournaments in the highest level of the ATP Tour are the 500 and 250 series, with the names giving away how many points a player can earn from winning. Qualifying bonuses are reduced to 20 and 12 points, respectively, for these tournaments. For those keeping track, it would take eight ATP 250 Series tournament wins to match just one grand slam championship.

Challenger Tour

The second tier of the ATP is known as the Challenger Tour, and it has plenty of great opportunities for rising stars and veterans alike some significant points opportunities. Just like the highest tier, the Challenger Tour has tournaments with a designated amount of points and are named as such. For example, the top events are the Challenger 125 tournaments, followed by Challenger 110, 100, etc.

For a lot of tennis professionals that don’t have aspirations of competing against the top 10 players in the world, the Challenger Tour is a great way to simply be included in the rankings. Qualifying for the lowest tournaments, the Challenger 50, earns three points and gets a player’s name on the same list as the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovich.

ITF Tour

Just below the Challenger Tour in terms of prestige is the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Men’s World Tennis Tour, which is the final tier of professional tennis. While the Challenger Tour is typically made up of solid players that aren’t at the elite level, the ITF Tour is where you’ll find notable junior players who have hopes of entering the top 100.

There are several ITF tournaments on a weekly basis, most of which have ATP points attached. Tournaments are designated as M25 or M15. Not only do the winners of these tournaments receive 25 or 15 ATP points for a victory in these tournaments, but the prize pool is $25,000 or $15,000.

If you’re wondering how many points it would take to reach an elite ranking in the top 20, it changes on a weekly basis. However, a player can expect to need around 2,000 points at the very least to make it that high.

Professional tennis has had several different eras, and many consider the ATP era to be the true mark of the prime competition. Beginning in 1973, the ATP Tour has made it so that all of the best players in the world compete against each other to determine a ranking system based on points. Along the way, there have been some notable records, some of which may never be broken. Here are five of those records that are likely to be around for many years to come.

1. Consecutive Weeks At No. 1

Becoming the number one player in the world is the dream of every tennis player that turns professional. However, only a select few have ever been able to say that they were the top-ranked player in the world, even if for just one week. Then, you have Roger Federer, who grabbed the top spot from Andy Roddick in February 2004 after winning the Australian Open and didn’t look back for years.

Federer didn’t lose his number-one ranking until August 2008 when Rafael Nadal replaced him at the top. This meant that Federer’s run surpassed Jimmy Connors’ previous record at 160 weeks. All in all, Federer spent 237 weeks as the world’s number-one player, setting a mark that’s almost impossible to beat.

2. Most No. 1 Players In A Year

When a player grabs the number one ranking in tennis, they’re expected to hang around at that spot for at least a couple of months. In the earlier days of the ATP rankings, though, there would often be some fighting back and forth to determine number one. This was especially true in 1983 when the top spot changed hands 10 times throughout the year.

Jimmy Connors came into the year as the world’s number-one player, losing the spot in January to John McEnroe. Connors and McEnroe went back and forth for months, with multiple reigns as short as one week. McEnroe had the longest reign of the year at 17 weeks while a third entrant, Ivan Lendl, had reigns of six and 11 weeks. 

3. Total Weeks At No. 1

Roger Federer’s record for consecutive weeks at number one is extremely impressive and makes up a bulk of the number of weeks he held the top position in the rankings. However, Federer spent 310 weeks altogether during his illustrious career at number one before retiring, and that number isn’t close to the record for most total weeks at number one.

That honor belongs to Novak Djokovic and his several long reigns at the top. Djokovic has such a stranglehold on the record that Federer would not only have to come out of retirement but hold the number one spot for well over a year without giving it up to surpass Djokovic. Even a legend like Rafael Nadal would around four more total years to surpass Djokovic.

4. Time Between First and Last No. 1 Rankings

Tennis is a sport that skews incredibly young, with the prime of most careers wrapping up before a player turns 30. It seems that the best players in tennis history are able to dominate well into their 30s, but there are only three in the rankings’ history that have achieved their first and last number-one ranking more than a decade apart, and it’s probably the three that you expect.

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer are the three that have accomplished this feat. However, it’s Federer that set the standard for longevity. Federer became the world’s number one in February 2004 for the first time and achieved his final number one ranking in June 2018. That’s a span of 14 years and 142 days, a mark that is unlikely to be matched.

5. No. 1 Without Winning A Grand Slam

Back in that wild 1983 season that we mentioned earlier, Ivan Lendl was one of three men to grab the number one ranking. Lendl did that without winning a grand slam, though. The following year, Lendl got his first career grand slam win, making it so that only one man in ATP history has earned number one without winning one in their career.

That distinction belongs to Marcelo Rios of Chile. In early 1998, Rios made it to the finals of the Australian Open to propel himself to number one. He retired in 2004 without winning a grand slam, making him the only number one to do so.

The University of Montana has had a football program active since 1897 and has had many signature wins in program history including a pair of national championships. There have also been plenty of legendary players to come through the Montana Grizzlies football program, but which ones are the best? Here are our picks for the five greatest players in Griz football history.

5. Dante Olson

After redshirting his freshman season with Montana, Dante Olson became the Griz’s Special Teams Player of the Year. Olson’s success on special teams continued into his second season in the lineup, and in 2018 he got his chance to shine in the starting lineup. Olson set the new school record for tackles and became the Big Sky’s Defensive Player of the Year en route to becoming an All-American.

In his senior season, Olson took things to the highest level when he was named the Buck Buchanan Award Winner for being the FCS Defensive Player of the Year. A hopeful to be drafted, Olson wasn’t selected in 2020, instead making his way to the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad. After trying out for the team and the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos, Olson retired from football in 2021.

4. Kirk Scrafford

Hailing from Billings, Kirk Scrafford was a monster of a man standing at 6’6” when he made his way to the Griz. Scrafford was an All-Big Sky player twice during his four years as a starter, playing in 43 consecutive games. Scrafford was an honorable mention for the 1988 All-American team and was named to the first team the following year.

Scrafford entered the 1990 NFL season as an undrafted player, signing with the Cincinnati Bengals. Scrafford made his first start in a playoff game and spent almost the entire 1990s on a roster. His stops in the league after Cincinnati were in Denver and San Francisco, playing his last game for the 49ers in 1998.

3. Tim Hauck

After starting his impressive college football career at the University of Portland, Tim Hauck transferred to Montana where he made an immediate impact. Hauck was the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year in his final two seasons with the Griz, also making the All-American Team in the process. In 1989, Hauck was named the team’s most valuable player in 1989 but went undrafted the following year due to his size.

Hauck was signed by the New England Patriots, however, and wound up spending more than a decade in the NFL with seven different teams, most notably the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles. Following his retirement in 2002, Hauck became a coach, returning to Montana to coach the secondary while also having stints with UCLA, UNLV, and three NFL teams.

2. Kroy Biermann

Born in Hardin, Montana, Kroy Biermann stayed in the state for college and became a four-year starter with the Griz. Biermann consistently piled up tackles (220) and sacks (32) during his career, becoming a two-time All-Big Sky and All-American player in 2006 and 2007. In the latter year, he was named the conference’s defensive MVP.

Biermann was selected in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, playing eight seasons with the franchise. Biermann retired after trying out for the Buffalo Bills in 2016, finishing his NFL career with 333 tackles, 23.5 sacks, and three defensive touchdowns.

1. Dave Dickenson

There’s little debate about the greatest player in Griz history, as Dave Dickenson is considered far and away to be the school’s (and Big Sky Conference’s) best of all time. Dickenson completed more than two-thirds of his passes with the Griz, throwing for 11,080 yards and 96 touchdowns compared to just 26 interceptions.

Dickenson led Montana to a national championship and was named the nation’s best player, winning the Walter Payton Award. The three-time All-American holds almost every passing record and went into the Canadian Football League out of college. Dickenson played with the Calgary Stampeders and BC Lions, as well as four NFL teams before starting his coaching career in Calgary in 2009.