Greatest men's player without a grand slam title? (sources: Forbes... SI... SteveTennis... TheTennisSpace... bleacherreport)
- Andy Murray - highest ranking #2...Olympic gold medal...4 grand slam finals...6 other grand slam semi-finals...23 career titles...363 career match wins...
- Marcelo Rios - ranking #1...1 grand slam final...0 other semi-finals...18 career titles...391 wins...
- Nikolay Davydenko - ranking #3...0 finals...4 semi-finals...21 titles...429 wins...
- Tim Henman - ranking #4...0 finals...6 semi-finals...11 titles...496 wins...
- Miloslav Mečíř - ranking #4...2 finals...2 other semi-finals...11 titles...262 wins...
- David Nalbandian - ranking #3...1 final...4 other semi-finals...11 titles...372 wins...
- Tom Okker - ranking #3...1 final...4 other semi-finals...31 titles...2 grand-slam doubles titles...520 wins...
- Thomas Enqvist - ranking #4...1 final...0 other semi-finals...19 titles...448 wins...
- Todd Martin - ranking #4...2 finals...4 other semi-finals...8 titles...411 wins...
- Guillermo Coria - ranking #3...1 final...1 other semi-final...9 titles...216 wins...
- Henir Leconte - ranking #5...1 final...3 other semi-finals...9 titles...377 wins...
- Mark Philippoussis - ranking #8...2 finals...0 other semi-finals...11 titles...313 wins...
- Magnus Norman - ranking #2...1 final...1 other semi-final...12 titles...244 wins...
- That's everybody mentioned in the above five pages. Rios got to #1; nobody else did. Murray, however, wins finals, semi-finals, titles (other thank Okker's 31 but in a very different era with far fewer tournaments). On match wins, Murray looks to climb the list quickly over the next couple of years. Clearly, if Murray retires without having won a grand slam title, he will go down as the greatest men's player without one. Once Federer's retired, I'm just fine with Murray picking up few of his own.
- Andy Murray - highest ranking #2...Olympic gold medal...4 grand slam finals...6 other grand slam semi-finals...23 career titles...8 Masters Series titles...363 career match wins...been in ATP top 5 since Sept 2008 (200+ weeks)...#2 for 3 weeks (August 2009) (source)...14-1 Davis Cup singles record...2-5 Davis Cup doubles...
- Andy Roddick - highest ranking #1...1 grand slam title (US 2003)...4 other finals...5 other semi-finals...32 career titles...5 Masters Series titles...607 career match wins...#1 for 13 weeks (late 2003 - Feb 2004)...1 year-end #1 (2003)... 52 weeks at #2...70 weeks at #3...30 weeks at #4...43 weeks at #5 (source)...208 total weeks in top 5...33-12 in Davis Cup...1 Davis Cup title...
- Roddick's highest point - the US Open 2003 and subsequent time at #1 - was higher than Murray's has been yet, but Murray's about equal in all the other ways (same non-winning finals, one extra semi-final) other than career longevity. Murray is 25 years old; Roddick is 30 (as of last week). Five years ago (at the same age as Murray is now), Roddick was rolling along, having been seeded 6th, 3rd, 3rd, and 5th at the Grand Slams that year (he would never be seeded higher than 5th again, and then only once). He finished the year ranked #6 in the world and wouldn't get any higher again, finishing 6th in 2008, as well. If - for a few more years - Murray stays near the top of the world players as he is now, he'll pick up enough titles and wins to easily surpass Roddick, especially as Federer and Nadal fade into the distance (Federer via age and Nadal via physical breakdowns). If, on the other hand, Murray begins the decline that Roddick started at about this point in his career, things could end up a little closer.
- Pat Cash - highest ranking #4...1 grand slam title (Wimbledon 1987)...2 other finals...2 other semi-finals...7 career titles...242 career match wins...
- Michael Chang - highest ranking #2...1 grand slam title (1987 Roland Garros)...3 other finals...4 other semi-finals...34 titles...662 match wins
- Alberto Costa - highest ranking #6...1 grand slam title (2002 Roland Garros)...0 other finals...1 other semi-final...12 titles...383 match wins
- Juan Martin del Potro - highest ranking #4...1 grand slam title (2009 US)...0 other finals...1 other semi-final...11 titles...234 match wins
- Mark Edmondson - highest ranking #15 ...1 grand slam title (1976 Australian)...0 other finals...2 other semi-finals...6 titles...251 match wins
- Juan Carlos Ferrero - highest ranking #1 (8 weeks)...1 grand slam title (2003 Roland Garros)...2 other finals...3 other semi-finals...16 titles...475 match wins
- Gaston Gaudio - highest ranking #5...1 grand slam title (2004 Roland Garros)...0 other finals...0 other semi-finals...8 titles...270 match wins...
- Andres Gimeno - highest ranking #9...1 grand slam title (1972 Roland Garros)...1 other final...1 other semi-final...5 titles...159 wins...(career straddled pre-open era, though)...
- Andres Gomez - highest ranking #4...1 grand slam title (1990 Roland Garros)...0 other finals...0 other semi-finals...21 titles...523 match wins...
- Goran Ivanisevic - highest ranking #2...1 grand slam title (2001 Wimbledon)...3 other finals (all Wimbledon)...3 other semi-finals (2 Wimbledon)...22 titles...599 match wins...Olympic bronze medal...
- Thomas Johansson - highest ranking #7...1 grand slam title (2001 Australian)...0 other finals...1 other semi-final...9 titles...357 match wins...
- Peter Korda - highest ranking #2...1 grand slam title (1998 Australian)...1 other final...0 other semi-finals...10 titles...458 match wins...
- Richard Krajicek - highest ranking #4...1 grand slam title (1996 Wimbledon)...0 other finals...3 other semi-finals...17 titles...411 match wins
- Carlos Moya - highest ranking #1 (2 weeks)...1 grand slam title (1998 Roland Garros)...1 other final...1 other semi-final...20 titles...573 match wins
- Thomas Muster - highest ranking #1 (6 weeks)...1 grand slam title (1995 Roland Garros)...0 other finals...3 other semi-finals...44 titles...622 match wins...0-4 match record at Wimbledon...
- Manuel Orantes - highest ranking #2...1 grand slam title (1975 US Open)...1 other final...2 other semi-finals...33 titles...647 match wins...
- Yannick Noah - highest ranking #3...1 grand slam title (1983 Roland Garros)...0 other finals...1 other semi-final...23 titles...476 match wins...
- Andy Roddick - highest ranking #1 (13 weeks)...1 grand slam title (US 2003)...4 other finals...5 other semi-finals...32 career titles...5 Masters Series titles...607 career match wins...
- Michael Stich - highest ranking #2...1 grand slam title (1991 Wimbledon)...2 other finals...3 other semi-finals...18 titles...385 match wins...Olympic gold medal (doubles)...
- Brian Teacher - highest ranking #7...1 grand slam (1980 Australian)...0 other finals...0 other semi-finals...8 titles...335 match wins...
- There are some real flukes there (Edmondson & Gimeno most prominently, even Gaudio & Gomez who never even made another grand slam semi-final).
- I'd also kind of forgotten about the world of clay court specialists. We're totally spoiled today with a group of players who are fairly well equally successful on nearly every surface. Federer & Nadal have the career set of grand slams, and Djokovic and Murray are nearly as successful on every surface available. Thomas Muster, on the other hand, seemed to be terrified of the grass of Wimbledon, playing the tournament only four times ever and never winning a match there.
- The only players in the discussion for the greatest one-slam winner are Michael Chang, Andy Roddick, Goran Ivanisevic, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Pat Cash, and Michael Stitch. They're the only ones with multiple finals in addition to their one title. I'm eliminating Stich and Cash because of their low totals of total finals & career match wins. Then it's Ferrero who is lower than the other three (Roddick, Ivanisevic, and Chang) in every measure. Chang's the next out as he didn't really threaten to win his other finals, winning only one set in his three non-winning finals. Ivanisevic, on the other hand, twice took his non-winning finals to a fifth set, but almost all of his success came at Wimbledon as his only non-grass semifinal was at the US Open.
- I guess it turns out that Roddick is the greatest one-slam champion of the open era. Who knew?
- 2004-current - Djokovic, Federer, Nadal - 447 (and counting) weeks sharing #1 ranking...won 32 of 35 grand slam titles (29 of last 30)...in 5 of the last 8 years, a single player of the three has won 3 of 4 grand slam titles...in 5 of last 6 years, they have won all 4 between the three of them...in 2011 these three took 10 of a possible 12 semi-final slots in the grand slams (Murray took four more)...three have taken 47 of 70 possible final sports at grand slam tourneys (13/18 Wimbledon, 13/18 Roland Garros, 10/18 Australian, 11/16 US) and
- 1974-1983 - Borg, Connors, McEnroe - 448 weeks sharing #1...won 24 of 40 grand slam titles...in only 1 of those years did they sweep all 4 titles...in 5 of 10 years they won 3 of 4...
- 1981-1988 - Connors, McEnroe, Lendl - 371 weeks sharing #1...won 14 of 28 grand slam titles (but Wilander won 7 in that span, too, only taking over #1 after his seventh)...1 of 8 years did they win three of four titles...never swept all 4...Connors was never #1 after 1983, never won a grand slam after 1983...
- 1981-1990 - Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, Wilander - 471 weeks sharing #1...23 of 40 grand slam titles (22 of 30 in best streak)...swept all 4 titles 1 in 10 years...won 3 of 4 in 4 of 10 years...
- No, in the Open Era, we have never seen this run of dominance among three players, especially because all three are still viable competitors for the #1 ranking (when Nadal is healthy, anyway).
Most dominant one-player runs in the open era
- Roger Federer - 2004-2008 - #1 for 237 consecutive weeks...won 12 of 20 grand slams (11 of 16 in 2004-2007)...18 consecutive grand slam semi-finals (2004-2008...streak continued to 2010)...10 consecutive grand slam finals (2005-2007)...381-39 match record 2004-2008 (90.7% wins)...315-24 match record 2004-2007 (92.9% wins)...#1 year-end 2004-2007, #2 in 2008
- Pete Sampras - 1993-1998 - #1 for 262 weeks (102 longest consecutive)...won 10 of 24 grand slams (9 of 17 in 1993-1997)...3 straight grand slam titles (1993-1994)...3 straight grand slam finals (same 3)...3 straight grand slam semi-finals (same 3)...
- There is one other player who should be mentioned here, but she's a girl.
- Steffi Graf - 1987-1990 - #1 for 186 consecutive weeks (into 1991)...won 9 of 15 grand slams (8 of 9 in 1988-1990)...won Olympic gold medal...13 consecutive grand slam finals...15 consecutive grand slam semi-finals...305-12 match record (96.2% wins)...#1 year-end 1987-1990...
- Steffi Graf - 1993-1996 - #1 187 non-consecutive weeks (into 1997)...won 10 of 16 grand slam titles...5 straight grand slam finals...5 straight grand slam semi-finals (same)...3 WTA year-end championships...#1 year-end 1993-1996...235-18 match record (92.9% wins)
Greatest men's tennis year ever...
- Only one true grand slam (all four titles) in a calendar year in the open era (Rod Laver in 1969). There's no way to compare that to the ones I'm about to look at because tennis statistics are effectively absent from that era.
- Jimmy Connors, 1974 - Australian, Wimbledon, US titles...did not play Roland Garros (banned because of participation in Team Tennis)...won 12 other titles (two in Grand Prix Championship Series - highest non-slam level at the time)...93-4 (96%) or 99-4 (96%) match record...did not play Davis Cup or tour final (later ATP final)...
- John McEnroe, 1984 - Wimbledon, US Open titles...F Roland Garros, did not play Australian...won WCT & Grand Prix year-end championships...won 9 other titles (Toronto, Stockholm, Philly, Forest Hills, Richmond, Madrid, Brussles, Queen's Club, San Francisco)...82-3 (96%) match record...
- Mats Wilander, 1988 - Australian, Roland Garros, US titles...QF at Wimbledon...RR ATP finals...won 6/14 ATP tournaments entered (6 finals)...53-11 (83%) match record...
- Roger Federer, 2004 - Australian, Wimbledon, US titles...3R at Roland Garros...3 Masters titles...QF Davis Cup...2R Olympic singles...W ATP final...74-6 (93%)...
- Roger Federer, 2006 - Australian, Wimbledon, US titles...F at Roland Garros...4 Masters titles...1st Rd Davis Cup...W ATP final...92-5 (95%) match record
- Roger Federer, 2007 - Australian, Wimbledon, US titles...F at Roland Garros...2 Masters titles...1st Rd Davis Cup...W ATP final...68-9 (88%) match record...
- Rafael Nadal, 2010 - Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US titles...QF at Australian...3 Masters titles...did not play Davis Cup...F ATP final...71-10 (88%) match record
- Novac Djokovic, 2011 - Australian, Wimbledon, US titles...SF at Roland Garros...5 Masters titles, SF Davis Cup...Round Robin ATP final...70-6 (92%) match record
- Federer 2006 was his best, and Connors's 1974 was pretty stunning. They're very different eras with Connors playing almost as a barnstormer taking any tournament and all and all comers. Federer hasn't ever played as many matches in a year as Connors did that year. I'll go with a split vote between the two. If pressed, I might take Federer because Connors didn't play Davis Cup, the French, or the tour finals that year - all because of his own choices (playing Team Tennis). Those are negatives in my book. They're points taken away because we - admittedly in retrospect - value those things and don't really value Team Tennis (even though it still exists sort of)
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