10 top players who never won Roland Garros, featuring Venus Williams, Pete Sampras, Andy Murray
With the claycourt season underway, the countdown to Roland Garros has already begun.
Last year, we saw Novak Djokovic win his second French Open title by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. The Serb came back from two sets down to win the match. Meanwhile, Barbora Krejcikova won the women's singles title by beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final.
It will be interesting to see who ends up becoming the singles champions at Roland Garros this year, with a number of players capable of challenging for the title. These include Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and Paula Badosa, to name a few.
Over the years, some of the best players in tennis history have won the French Open. However, there are a number of legendary figures in the sport who have never won the tournament.
So without any further ado, let’s take a look at 10 players who have never lifted the Roland Garros title.
#10 Lindsay Davenport
Former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport won the singles title at every Grand Slam bar the French Open. What made her achievements even more special was that she did so without dropping a set
Her best display in the competition came in 1998 when she reached the semifinals. This was two years after she won the women's doubles title at the event alongside Mary Joe Fernandez.
Seeded second in the 1998 edition of the tournament, Davenport reached the quarterfinals with wins over Kimberly Po, Liezel Huber, Elena Likhovtseva, and Sandrine Testud. The American beat defending champion Iva Majoli to reach her first semifinal at Roland Garros.
However, she was beaten 6-3, 7-6(5) by eventual champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.
Davenport only reached two quarterfinals at the French Open in the next seven years, making her last appearance in the competition in 2005.
#9 Arthur Ashe
One of the finest players of his time, the great Arthur Ashe won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. However, the French Open eluded him. Ashe's best performance at Roland Garros was reaching the quarterfinals in 1970 and 1971.
In 1970, the American was seeded fourth and beat 13th seed Manuel Orantes to reach the last eight. Here, he lost a marathon match against Zeljko Franulovic in five sets. Franulovic went on to reach the final where he lost to Jan Kodes.
A year later, Ashe was the second seed and took on compatriot Frank Foehling in the last eight. Like in the previous edition, he lost a thrilling contest in five sets.
#8 Stefan Edberg
Stefan Edberg thrived in what was the golden era of Swedish tennis. The serve-and-volley specialist won two titles each at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. However, he never won at Roland Garros.
The closest Edberg came to winning the French Open was in 1989 when he made the final. The third-seeded Swede won a tough five-setter against Boris Becker to reach the summit clash for the very first time in his career. Here, he was up against 15th-seeded teenager Michael Chang.
The American won the opening set 6-1 but Edberg bounced back to win the next two sets. However, Chang won the fourth and fifth sets to become the youngest-ever male Grand Slam champion, a record he still holds.
#7 Venus Williams
Venus Williams' very first Grand Slam title came at Roland Garros in 1999 when she partnered sister Serena to win the women's doubles. However, the latter ended her sibling's hopes of winning the singles title in 2002.
Venus was seeded second in the tournament that year and cruised to the final without dropping a single set, beating Monica Seles en route. Serena, meanwhile, fought off top seed and reigning champion Jennifer Capriati in the semifinals.
Serena beat Venus 7-5, 6-3 in the final to win Roland Garros for the first time in her career.
to turn photographer - and snap some pictures of the champion, her little sister @SerenaWilliams 🤣#OTD in 2002 - French Open runner-up @VenusesWilliams grabs a camera 📷 to turn photographer - and snap some pictures of the champion, her little sister @SerenaWilliams 🤣 https://t.co/ttYCz0jFEd
Also Check Out :-Venus Williams Net worth
#6 Boris Becker
Boris Becker won 49 titles throughout an illustrious career, including six Majors. However, he never won a single competition on clay. The German's best performances at Roland Garros were semifinal appearances in 1987, 1989 and 1991.
Becker was the second seed in 1987 and won three successive matches in four sets to reach the quarterfinals. He beat eighth seed Jimmy Connors to reach the semifinals. Becker was beaten by fourth seed Mats Wilander in straight sets in the last four.
The then-two-time Wimbledon champion reached his second semifinal at the French Open in 1989 and was up against Stefan Edberg. The Swede won the first two sets 6-3, 6-4 before Becker rallied to take the next two 7-5, 6-3. However, Edberg won the deciding set 6-2 to reach his maiden French Open final.
#5 John McEnroe
John McEnroe's very first Grand Slam title was the Mixed Doubles crown at the French Open in 1977. However, he never won the singles title in Paris.
The American's best outing at Roland Garros came in 1984 when he reached the final. McEnroe, who was the top seed, beat Jimmy Arias and Jimmy Connors to reach his first summit clash at the French Open.
He was then up against Ivan Lendl and won the first two sets 6-3, 6-2. However, the Czech fought back and with McEnroe losing his cool, the match slipped away from him.
Lendl eventually won the final in five sets to secure his first Major.
#4 Martina Hingis
The Swiss legend has won three doubles titles at Roland Garros but never the singles event. Martina Hingis reached the final twice in singles, with the first coming in 1997, the most successful year of her career.
Seeded No. 1, the teenager beat former champions Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Monica Seles to reach the final. However, she lost to ninth seed Iva Majoli in straight sets. Hingis notably won every other Grand Slam in 1997.
The Swiss reached the final in 1999 for the second time, doing so without dropping a set. Standing between Hingis and a maiden Roland Garros crown was sixth seed Steffi Graf, who fought off Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles in three sets in the previous two rounds.
Hingis took the first set 6-4 and was three points away from winning the match. However, Graf fought back and eventually won the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
The match was known for the crowd's hostility towards Hingis because of her antics, including a heated discussion with the umpire. They constantly booed the Swiss, who eventually broke down in tears.
The Swiss also reached the semifinals of the competition in 2000 and 2001.
#3 Andy Murray
In terms of number of wins, Andy Murray had his best clay season in 2016. He reached the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters, the final of the Madrid Masters and won the Italian Open by beating Novak Djokovic in the final.
The Scot entered the French Open with high expectations and had to fight hard in the early stages of the competition as he won his first two matches in five sets. However, Murray beat Ivo Karlovic, John Isner, Richard Gasquet and then-reigning champion Stan Wawrinka to reach his first final at Roland Garros.
He won the first set against Novak Djokovic 6-3. However, the Serb won the next three sets to lift his first French Open crown and complete the career Grand Slam.
Also Check Out :-Andy Murray Net worth
French Open
'The Djoker'
#OnThisDay in 2016:
🥇 Novak Djokovic became the first man to hold all four major titles at the same time since Rod Laver in 1969, winning the #FrenchOpen against Andy Murray.
🏆 French Open
🏆 Australian Open
🏆 US Open
🏆 Wimbledon
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#2 Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors won eight Grand Slams but the best he could do at Roland Garros was reach the semifinals on four occasions.
The first of these came in 1979, when he was seeded second. Connors faced unseeded Paraguayan Victor Pecci in the last four and lost in four sets. His second semi-final appearance came in 1980 when he lost a thrilling match to fifth seed Vitas Gerulaitis in five sets.
Connors' third Roland Garros semifinal came in 1984 and this time, he was beaten rather convincingly by John McEnroe. The American also got to the last four the following year but was comfortably beaten by Ivan Lendl.
#1 Pete Sampras
The American won 14 Grand Slam singles titles but never laid his hands on the Roland Garros trophy. Pete Sampras has a pretty disappointing record at the French Open compared to other Majors, winning just 24 out of 37 matches.
His best outing at the French Open was a semi-final run in 1996. Sampras was the top seed and won three out of five matches in five sets en route to the last four. He met his match in Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the semifinals, losing in straight sets. The Russian went on to win the tournament by beating Michael Stich in the final.
Interestingly, Kafelnikov never won another match against Sampras following their meeting at Roland Garros.
Also Check Out :-Pete Sampras Net worth
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