5 single Grand-Slam wonders
Professional tennis has witnessed its fair share of players, who after displaying glimpses of their ability, saw fit to pass off quietly into oblivion. These, ‘Flashes in the pan’, however, remain enshrined in the memories of tennis fans the world over. Having said that, it would be remiss not to mention that, by failing to achieve greater feats, they also left many a fan disappointed. We now take a look at five single-slam wonders, who left the game of tennis, with their fans left with clutching nothing more than a huge ‘What if’.
#1 Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain)
To those who followed Tennis closely in the first decade of the new millennium, seeing Juan Carlos Ferrero’s name on this list might probably seem shocking. However, it would be hard to deny that the Spaniard’s career, in the aftermath of his hour of glory when he held aloft the Roland Garros Trophy in 2003, left a lot to be desired for.
Following his triumph in the French Open in 2003, Ferrero ascended to the top of the ATP Rankings in September 2003, only to squander it after a meagre eight weeks. A six-match losing streak and a lacklustre display at the Davis Cup meant that he ended 2003 ranked number 3.
What followed was nothing short of a prolonged nightmare. His losses kept on piling even as he began a one-way journey downwards on the ATP rankings table. A spate of injuries, cobbled with his inconsistency saw Ferrero go without a title for a staggering six years before the title drought ended in 2009, a year that he ended at No.23, a whopping 32 spots higher than the previous year.
This resurgence, though was short-lived, as his career soon floundered owing to injuries to the knee and wrist. He ended his career ranked 161 after losing to Nicolas Almagro in the first round of Valencia Open 500 in October 2012.