The 23 Greatest Men's Tennis Players Never to Win the French Open

Some of the finest players in history collected majors everywhere except on the Paris clay. Who is the greatest to never lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires? Cast your vote!

1. 1
   Pete Sampras

   Fourteen-time major champion whose clay-court game never delivered the French Open title.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Lleyton Hewitt

   Former world No. 1 and two-time major champion who never conquered the Paris clay.
   636pts
3. 3
   Daniil Medvedev

   US Open champion and former No. 1 who has long struggled to translate his game to clay.
   524pts
4. 4
   Jimmy Connors

   Eight-time major winner who took every Slam except the French Open.
   372pts
5. 5
   John McEnroe

   Seven-time major champion who let a two-set lead slip in the 1984 Roland Garros final.
   372pts
6. 6
   Andy Roddick

   US Open champion and former No. 1 whose game never suited the slow clay of Roland Garros.
   273pts
7. 7
   Boris Becker

   Six-time Grand Slam champion who never won on the Paris clay.
   272pts
8. 8
   Jannik Sinner

   World No. 1 and multiple Grand Slam champion who has reached a Roland Garros final but not yet lifted the trophy.
   0pts
9. 9
   Stefan Edberg

   Six-time major winner who came agonisingly close, losing the 1989 French Open final.
   0pts
10. 10
    Andy Murray

    Three-time major champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist whose only Roland Garros final ended in a four-set defeat to Novak Djokovic in 2016.
11. 11
    Arthur Ashe

    Three-time major champion and 1975 Wimbledon winner whose best runs at Roland Garros ended in the quarter-finals.
12. 12
    John Newcombe

    Seven-time major champion with three Wimbledon titles whose campaigns on the Paris clay never went beyond the quarter-finals.
13. 13
    Bill Tilden

    Ten-time major champion of the 1920s who lost both of his French Championships finals, to René Lacoste in 1927 and Jean Borotra in 1930.
14. 14
    Pancho Gonzales

    Two-time US champion who spent his peak years barred from the majors as a professional and reached Roland Garros semi-finals in 1949 and 1968.
15. 15
    Dominic Thiem

    Austrian clay-courter who lost back-to-back Roland Garros finals to Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2019 before winning the 2020 US Open.
16. 16
    Casper Ruud

    Norwegian who reached three major finals in 2022 and 2023, including two at Roland Garros, where he lost to Nadal and Djokovic.
17. 17
    Robin Söderling

    Swede who handed Rafael Nadal his first ever Roland Garros defeat in 2009 and reached the final in Paris in both 2009 and 2010.
18. 18
    Juan Martín del Potro

    2009 US Open champion whose huge forehand carried him to Roland Garros semi-finals in 2009 and again in 2018.
19. 19
    Marat Safin

    Two-time major champion and former world No. 1 whose best run at Roland Garros was a semi-final appearance in 2002.
20. 20
    Michael Stich

    1991 Wimbledon champion who came closest on clay when he lost the 1996 Roland Garros final to Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
21. 21
    Pat Rafter

    Two-time US Open champion and serve-and-volley stylist whose best result at Roland Garros was a semi-final in 1997.
22. 22
    Goran Ivanišević

    2001 Wimbledon champion with a thunderous serve who never reached a semi-final at Roland Garros in his career.
23. 23
    Frank Sedgman

    Australian winner of five major singles titles who lost the 1952 French Championships final to Jaroslav Drobný.

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