Posted by Tennis Supply Team on 6/14/2014 to
Players
We are coming up on one of the most popular tennis tournaments in the world - the grass-court Grand Slam championship known as Wimbledon, held over two weeks in late June and early July in England. Those who follow tennis know many of the legendary names in tennis, many of whom made their name from winning Wimbledon. But do you know many names who did not win Wimbledon?
There are quite a few great players in the tennis world who may have multiple Grand Slam titles on their resumes, including singles titles, but they never could conquer the grass courts of the All England Club. Every year about this time, a list is revealed of the "greatest players never to win a Wimbledon singles title." And of course, we have our own list of great players who have failed to win.
Our list of players is noteworthy because it includes many of the great names in professional tennis, but our list of the greatest is shorter than most because we consider the "best never to win" as those who have reached the Wimbledon singles final at least once in their careers. We cut out great players who never got to a final. Do you recognize these names? Who else do you consider a great player who is not on this list? Any come to mind?
- Andy Roddick - three-time finalist, lost all three to Roger Federer.
- Justine Henin - lost to Venus Williams in 2001, Amelie Mauresmo in 2006.
- Ivan Lendl - lost to Boris Becker in 1986, Pat Cash in 1987.
- Monica Seles - lost to Steffi Graf in 1992.
- Jim Courier - lost to Pete Sampras in 1993.
- Arantxa Sanchez Vicario - Lost to Steffi Graf in 1995 and 1996.
- Ken Rosewall - lost in four finals (1954, 1956, 1970, 1974).
- Patrick Rafter - lost in 2000 to Pete Sampras, 2001 to Goran Ivanisevic.
- Gabriela Sabatini - lost to Steffi Graf in her only final.
- Vitas Gerulaitis - lost to Bjorn Borg in 1977.
- Gottfried von Cramm - lost in three finals, 1935-37.
- Ilie Nastase - lost in 1972 and 1976.
- Tony Roche - lost to Rod Laver in 1968.
- Hana Mandlikova - lost to Chris Evert in 1981, Martina Navratilova in 1986.
- Fred Stolle - lost three finals.