Best never to win a Wimbledon singles title | NBC Sports
Best never to win a Wimbledon singles title
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Andy Roddick
Without Roger Federer, who knows how many Grand Slam titles Andy Roddick would have won. The American came up against Federer in four Grand Slam finals, including three at Wimbledon in 2004, 2005 and 2009, and fell short each time. The 2009 contest went to 16-14 in the fifth set. Roddick's serve and power are well suited for grass courts, but he's been unfortunate enough to run up against one of the greatest grass players of all time.
Justine Henin
Unless she reconsiders her decision to retire, Justine Henin never will be able to remove her name from the list of the best players to never win a Wimbledon title. She came close twice, losing in three sets to Venus Williams in 2001 and to Amelie Mauresmo in three sets in 2006, and fell three times in the semifinals. Although Henin's career record at Wimbledon is far from shabby -- she won 27 of the 34 singles matches she played at the All England Club -- it is the major at which she had the worst winning percentage.
Jennifer Capriati
A former junior doubles champion at the All England Club, Jennifer Capriati also has the distinction of being Wimbledon's youngest-ever semifinalist. The 15-year-old beat defending champion Martina Navratilova in straight sets in the quarterfinals but fell to runner-up Gabriela Sabatini the next round. That was the farthest Capriati would go at Wimbledon, equaling that finish 10 years later in 2001. Capriati never won a title on grass.
Ivan Lendl
Although he played in 19 Grand Slam singles finals and won eight Grand Slam singles titles, Ivan Lendl was never able to add a Wimbledon championship to his career resume. Lendl fell five times in the semifinals at the All England Club, but he did reach the finals in 1986 and 1987. Both times he lost in straight sets, first to Boris Becker and then to Pat Cash.
Monica Seles
Of Monica Seles' 53 career singles titles, only one came on grass. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't on the grass courts of Wimbledon, and the nine-time Grand Slam champion never achieved a career Grand Slam. Seles made the finals at the All England Club just once, losing in straight sets to Steffi Graf in 1992. Her career record at Wimbledon was 30-9, a far cry from her 43-4 record at the Australian Open, 54-8 record at the French Open, and 53-10 record at the U.S. Open.
Mats Wilander
He did win a men's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1986, but Mats Wilander never earned the honor of hoisting the men's singles championship trophy at the All England Club. In fact, his best finish at the tournament was the quarterfinals. His struggles at Wimbledon, however, weren't related to the surface. Two of his three Australian Open titles were won when the championships were still played on grass.
Pancho Gonzales
The top-ranked professional in the world for an astounding eight years in the 1950s and 1960s and arguably the greatest men's tennis player prior to the Open era, Pancho Gonzales (also written as Gonzalez) never won a title at Wimbledon. He did, however, play in one of the most memorable matches ever at the All England Club. Competing against Charlie Pasarell in the third round in 1969, Gonzales and the amateur battled for five hours and 12 minutes in a match that spanned five sets and two days. Gonzales finally prevailed, 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9.
Tracy Austin
In the six Wimbledons in which she played, Tracy Austin bowed out before the quarterfinals just twice. However, she also never made it past the semifinals, reaching that mark both in 1979 and in 1980. Although she was disappointed with her singles result in 1980, Austin did enjoy some success at the All England Club that year; she won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon.
Jim Courier
The only American in the Open era to win two French Open titles, Jim Courier didn't experience similar success at Wimbledon. A four-time Grand Slam championship victor, Courier made it to the finals at the All England Club just once, in 1993, and he lost that year in four sets to Pete Sampras. His next best finish was a quarterfinal loss in 1991. In 11 trips to Wimbledon, he had a record of 19-12.
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
Twice Arantxa Sanchez Vicario made it to the finals at Wimbledon, and twice she fell short against Steffi Graf. In the 1995 championship match she battled for three sets before losing, while her 1996 finals defeat was in straight sets. Graf also knocked Sanchez Vicario out in the quarterfinals of the 1989 Wimbledon Championships.
Michael Chang
After winning the 1989 French Open title and becoming the youngest men's Grand Slam champion in history, Michael Chang went on to have a very lengthy and successful career. That success wasn't always evident at Wimbledon, however, where he made it past the third round just three times in 14 appearances at the All England Club.
Ken Rosewall
Enjoying a lengthy tennis career from the 1950s through the early 1980s, Ken Rosewall won 17 Grand Slam titles (eight in singles and nine in men's doubles). Although he reached the finals at Wimbledon four times -- in 1954, 1956, 1970 and 1974 -- he never was able to add a title at the All England Club, even though toward the end of his career he stopped playing at Roland Garros in order to rest up for Wimbledon. As a professional, he was prohibited from playing in Wimbledon from 1957-1966. That period of time encompassed some of his best tennis; he won at least 15 grass-court titles during that 10-year period.
Guillermo Vilas
Guillermo Vilas had a 75.3 winning percentage in Grand Slam singles matches throughout his career, but that number dropped considerably at Wimbledon, where he won just 58 percent of his matches. In fact, the four-time Slam titleist never made it past the quarterfinals at the All England Club and lost in the first round five of the 11 times in which he competed at Wimbledon.
Kim Clijsters
She won the Wimbledon mixed doubles championship in 2000 and the women's doubles championship in 2003 and was a runner-up in the 1998 Wimbledon junior event, but Kim Clijsters never made it past the semifinals in the women's singles draw at the All England Club. Clijsters' career record at Grand Slams was 98-25 (including a Slam victory at the U.S. Open in 2005) with a 24-7 record at Wimbledon.
Patrick Rafter
A two-time runner-up at the All England Club, Patrick Rafter was never able to break through for the title. After taking the first set off Pete Sampras in the 2000 finals, Rafter lost the next three. The following year he again advanced to the championship match, where he lost a heartbreaker against Goran Ivanisevic, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-9.
Gabriela Sabatini
In her one and only trip to the championship match at Wimbledon, Gabriela Sabatini fell in a thriller to Steffi Graf. The two battled for three sets before Graf finally prevailed, 8-6, in the final set. Sabatini made it to at least the quarterfinals in seven of the 11 Wimbledons in which she competed, but she could never capture a Wimbledon title to complement her lone Slam championship (the 1990 U.S. Open).
Vitas Gerulaitis
The closest Vitas Gerulaitis came to winning Wimbledon was in 1977, when he battled Bjorn Borg through five sets but finally fell, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-8. He also made the semifinals the following year, but against he came up short. The 1977 Australian Open champion did, however, take home a men's doubles title at the All England Club in 1975.
Gottfried von Cramm
A finalist at Wimbledon for three straight years from 1935-1937, Gottfried von Cramm never had a chance to see if he could win in his fourth try. After the son of a German Baron refused to be a tool for Nazi propaganda, he was imprisoned. Although he was released on parole after a number of his tennis friends -- including Don Budge, to whom von Cramm had lost the Wimbledon title in 1937 -- petitioned for his release, he never again was able to compete at the All England Club. Von Cramm finished his career with five Grand Slam titles, including two in singles at the French Championships and a 1933 mixed doubles title at Wimbledon.
Ilie Nastase
Ilie Nastase reached the Wimbledon finals both in 1972 and in 1976, but he did not break through either time. He did, however, win one men's doubles title (in 1973) and two mixed doubles titles (in 1970 and 1972) at the All England Club. Throughout his career, only one of his 56 tournament singles wins listed by the ATP was on grass.
Tony Roche
Tony Roche compiled a winning percentage of 73.9 at Grand Slams throughout his career, but his winning percentage of 76 at Wimbledon was even better than that. He never won a singles title at the All England Club, however, reaching the finals for the first and only time in 1968 but falling to Rod Laver in straight sets. Roche did win five men's doubles and one mixed doubles title at Wimbledon.
Hana Mandlikova
Her lack of a title at Wimbledon kept Hana Mandlikova from achieving a career Grand Slam. Mandlikova reached the finals twice -- once in 1981 and once in 1986 -- but she lost in straight sets both times, first to Chris Evert and then to Martina Navratilova.
Fred Stolle
A three-time runner-up at Wimbledon, Fred Stolle never hoisted the singles champion's trophy at the All England Club. His career total of 17 Grand Slam titles did, however, include two men's doubles and two mixed doubles wins at Wimbledon.