All four singles finalists at this year's Wimbledon made significant moves up the rankings in our list of greatest champions with Venus Williams, the winner of the ladies event, reaching the top 10. Serena, her sister and beaten finalist, climbs into 24th place.

Roger Federer moved into 13th place just behind Bjorn Borg as he failed to make it six consecutive victories while Rafael Nadal climbed more than 40 places with his stunning five-set win.

The only other player to add to his tally at this year's championships was Lleyton Hewitt, who picked up a solitary point for reaching the last 16 to move into a tie for 72nd place. These were the only five players to improve their positions at these championships and no player managed to break into the top 100.

We devised the points system to reward all players reaching at least the last 16 in all the championships since the challenge round was abolished in 1922.

Players were given 1pt for making the last 16, 2pts for the quarter-final and 5pts for the semi-final. The runner-up was awarded 10pts while the champion received 15pts.

This produced a Top 100 list that, with ties, actually contained 102 players, 52 men and 50 women. The players came from all eras of the game but women dominate the top of the leaderboard, claiming the first five players. Pete Sampras is the best-placed man in sixth place, 83 points behind the top woman, Martina Navratilova.

Twenty nations are represented (four players playing for two countries) with the United States providing 37 players and Australia 17. Great Britain, in a surprising third place, have 11 players in the list with Ann Jones, the 1969 champion, the highest ranked in 22nd. Fred Perry, three times champion in the 1930s and the last British man to win the final, is in 29th position.

The players in the list include 69 champions who account for 149 titles with another 26 who appeared in a final without winning. Only seven never appeared in a final, including Tim Henman, of Great Britain, in 68th, who played in four semi-finals.

The highest-ranked player never to appear in a final is Simone Mathieu, of France, in 48th. Always the bridesmaid, she appeared in six semi-finals and four quarter-finals in the 1930s. The best-placed player never to win a title is Ken Rosewall, of Australia, who is ranked 28th having been runner-up twice in the 1950s and twice in the 1970s in a career spanning three decades.

Some leading players are missing from the list because they turned professional at a time when only amateurs could play at the All-England Club (the championships did not go open until 1968), their careers were interrupted by serious injury or World War II, or they did not feature on grass.

However, most of the greats of the game are here and few could argue with Navratilova as the dominant player of her generation and one of the most powerful, successful and influential in the history of the sport.

99=