Here’s another topic Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe can argue about: Which legend was the most outstanding player who also competed in college? From the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, success at the NCAA level served as a stepping stone to success at major championships, headlined by players like Connors and McEnroe.
More recently, led by players like Ben Shelton, there has been an uptick in professionals with college experience.
As the NCAA tennis tournaments get underway on May 2, let’s meet the three all-time greatest tennis players who competed at the college level, followed by the three top current pros who played at the NCAA level.
The best who played college tennis - ever
No. 3 – Arthur Ashe, UCLA
Ashe shattered barriers as a Bruin and beyond. While at UCLA, in 1963, he became the first Black player on the United States Davis Cup team, and in 1965, he became the first Black player to win the NCAA men’s singles title. His efforts in 1965 helped UCLA claim the team title.
Ashe went on to win the U.S. Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon championships at the pro level. He put his UCLA degree to use as the author of A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete, a three-volume book that details the history of African-American athletes in the United States.
No. 2 - John McEnroe, Stanford
McEnroe’s NCAA singles title for Stanford in 1978 and subsequent seven major singles titles represented the end of an era. McEnroe was the sixth player in 20 years to lead his team to the NCAA championship, win the NCAA individual singles crown, and go on to win at least one Grand Slam singles title. No individual NCAA champion has won a Slam since McEnroe.
No. 1 - Jimmy Connors, UCLA
Jimbo became the first freshman to win the NCAA men’s singles title and also helped UCLA win the team national title in 1971, his lone season in Westwood. Connors went on to win eight majors and an ATP-record 109 titles. The eight majors are more than any other player who competed in college. The 109 pro titles are more than any men’s player has ever.
The best who played college tennis - recently
No. 3 - Francesco Cerundolo, South Carolina
Cerundolo has been one of the top-ranked players from Argentina in recent years and twice reached the Round of 16 at the French Open. He played just a half-season for South Carolina, which explains how he is one of the few players who can say his top pro ranking (No. 19) is better than his top college ranking (No. 57).
No. 2 - Cameron Norrie, Texas Christian
Norrie reached No. 8 in the world - the best ranking for any former college player now on tour – in the fall of 2022, a few months after reaching the Wimbledon semifinals. Norrie spent three years at TCU, where he helped the Horned Frogs reach the Final Four in 2015 and made the individual Final Four the following year.
No. 1 - Ben Shelton, Florida
Shelton won the clinching match as a freshman in 2021 when his Florida squad won the NCAA team title. He then claimed the NCAA individual crown as a sophomore in 2022. He reached the U.S. Open semifinals one year later and has been a fixture in the world Top 20 ever since. He’s not a single-Slam-semifinal wonder. He reached the last four at the Australian Open in 2025.