Best Tennis Players Without a Grand Slam

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Aug 11, 2011

Best Tennis Players Without a Grand Slam

Pam Shriver

SI.com takes a look at the most accomplished retired tennis players, male and female, never to win a major. Shriver is as accomplished as any player on this list, with 21 singles titles, 106 doubles titles (many with Martina Navratilova) and more than 600 victories apiece in both singles and doubles. She peaked at No. 3 in singles, finished sixth or better three times in the year-end rankings and made the semifinals seven times at majors. In her only Grand Slam final, she lost to Chris Evert as a 16-year-old at the 1978 U.S. Open.

Marcelo Rios

Twenty-five men have held the No. 1 spot since the computer rankings were introduced in 1973. Rios, who spent six weeks on top in 1998, is the only one of those players never to win a major. The Chilean won 18 singles titles and earned nearly $10 million in his career but he reached only one Grand Slam final, the 1998 Australian Open, where, as the ninth seed, he lost to sixth-seeded Petr Korda in straight sets.

Rosie Casals

A women's tennis pioneer, the diminutive Casals was a two-time U.S. Open finalist (in 1970 and '71), a four-time Wimbledon semifinalist and a one-time Australian Open semifinalist. In those two U.S. Open finals, the second-seeded Casals lost to the top seed each time (Margaret Court and Billie Jean King).

Thomas Enqvist

The baselining Swede won 19 singles titles in his 15-year career, including three in 1999, when he peaked at No. 4 and made his only Grand Slam final (at the Australian Open, where he lost to Yevgeny Kafelnikov).

Elena Dementieva

The Russian overcame her famously unreliable serve and shaky nerves to win 16 titles and ascend to No. 3 in the world, but she failed to cash in on two trips to major finals. In the 2004 French Open final, Dementieva double-faulted 10 times and committed 33 unforced errors in a 6-1, 6-2 loss to Anastasia Myskina. In the U.S. Open final that same year, Dementieva struggled with a thigh injury and lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 7-5.

Todd Martin

Martin reached a career high of No. 4 in 1999, the same year he held a two sets to one lead on Andre Agassi in the U.S. Open final. But Agassi denied the fellow American the major title, just as Pete Sampras had done against Martin in the 1994 Australian Open final. Martin also made two Wimbledon semifinals, including in 1999, when he lost 10-8 in the fifth set to MaliVai Washington.

Guillermo Coria

The Argentine, a nine-time tour winner and former No. 3, had as good a chance as any player on this list to win a Grand Slam. He dropped only three games en route to taking a two sets to none lead against the unseeded Gaston Gaudio in the 2004 French Open final, only to collapse amid a bout of cramps and nervousness. Coria even had two match points in the fifth set, but he ended up losing 8-6 in the fifth.

Mary Joe Fernandez

Seven-time tour winner Fernandez led Steffi Graf 4-3 in the decisive third set at the 1993 French Open final, but Graf swept the next three games to win the title. Graf also beat Fernandez at the 1990 Australian Open final, and Monica Seles did the same Down Under two years later to the formerly No. 4-ranked Fernandez.

Miloslav Mecir

Known for his movement and change-of-pace ability, Mecir was versatile enough to make at least the semifinals in all four majors, along with winning 11 titles and an Olympic gold medal in singles. But both of his appearances in Grand Slam finals, at the 1986 U.S. Open and 1989 Australian Open, resulted in straight-set losses to Ivan Lendl.

Amanda Coetzer

After turning pro in 1988, the South African cracked the top 20 in 1992 and would remain there for 10 consecutive seasons, peaking in '97 at a career high No. 3. Coetzer racked up a combined 18 career WTA singles and doubles titles, reached three Grand Slam singles semifinals and toppled world No. 1s Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis in her breakout '97 season.

Tim Henman

The Wimbledon heartache is well-documented, with the former longtime British No. 1 reaching four semifinals. But Henman also made the semis at the U.S. Open and French Open as part of a career that included 11 singles titles and a career-high ranking of No. 4.

Helena Sukova

Sukova nearly pulled off a rare triple at the 1993 U.S. Open, where she won women's doubles and mixed doubles titles but lost the singles final to Steffi Graf. That was one of two major final defeats to Graf for Sukova, who also lost once apiece to Chris Evert (1984 Australian Open) and Martina Navratilova (1986 U.S. Open). A Grand Slam title notwithstanding, Sukova's resume is packed: She ranked as high as fourth in singles and was No. 1 in doubles; she won 10 career singles titles; and she stopped Navratilova's record 74-match winning streak at the 1984 Australian Open semifinals.

Henri Leconte

Leconte entered the tennis spotlight after winning the 1981 junior French Open. The lefthander had a breakthrough year in 1986, reaching the semifinals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon while achieving a career-high ranking of world No. 5. In 1988, he reached the final of his home French Open, but fell to Mats Wilander in straight sets. Leconte cites winning the Davis Cup with France in 1991 over the United States -- beating Pete Sampras in a crucial singles rubber -- as the highlight of his career.

Anke Huber

Huber won 12 WTA singles titles and reached 11 other WTA finals throughout her career. In 1996, she lost to world No. 1 Monica Seles in the Australian Open final in what would turn out to be her only Grand Slam final appearance. Huber also represented her country in the 1992 and '96 Olympic Games, Fed Cup from 1990-98 and won the Hopman Cup with Boris Becker in 1995.

Mark Philippoussis

The Australian's big serve led to 11 career titles and finals appearances at the U.S. Open in 1998 and Wimbledon in 2003, the latter a straight-sets loss to Roger Federer, who won his first Grand Slam title.

Andrea Jaeger

Jaeger turned pro at 14 in 1980 and rose to No. 2 in the world 19 months later, and she was a finalist at the 1982 French Open and 1983 Wimbledon. But by 1985, her career was essentially over, thanks in large part to a shoulder injury. Jaeger, who became a nun in 2006, admitted that she tanked matches and wasn't committed to being No. 1 in the world.

Magnus Norman

Though Norman's career was cut short due to injury, the Swede had a strong run in the late '90s and early 2000s, including a brief stint at the No. 2 ranking in 2000. He won his first of 12 ATP titles in 1998 before undergoing corrective heart surgery, but is best known for his run at the 2000 French Open, where he dropped only a single set on the way to the final before falling in four sets to Gustavo Kuerten.

Wendy Turnbull

Turnbull never won a set in three Grand Slam final appearances, but she finished her career with 13 singles titles and was ranked in the top 10 from 1977-84.

Best Tennis Players Without a Grand Slam