French Open: The 9 greatest ATP players never to lift title – ranked!
Winning any Grand Slam tournament is tough, but winning the French Open might be the toughest task of them all.
The physical and mental strength needed to prevail over seven best-of-five-set matches on clay, coupled with the recent dominance of Rafael Nadal, has made trying to win the event a thankless task.
Several legends of the game have been unable to claim victory at the tournament, despite huge success elsewhere.
Looking at French Open results, overall clay pedigree, and overall career success, we’ve created a list of the nine best ATP players never to lift the title in Roland Garros – largely focused on the Open Era.
What do you make of our picks below?
9) Dominic Thiem
Thiem’s French Open farewell this year was bittersweet, with the Austrian beaten in qualifying in what is set to be his final Roland Garros campaign.
US Open champion in 2020 and Australian Open runner-up that same year, the former world No 3 is still best associated with the clay of Paris.
A sublime clay courter, Thiem reached back-to-back finals in 2018 and 2019, and would have likely won at least one title in his career had it not been for Nadal.
The 17-time ATP Tour winner was also a semi-finalist in 2016 and 2017.
8) Manuel Orantes
A pioneer of Spanish tennis, Orantes won his sole Grand Slam singles title at the US Open in 1975, beating Jimmy Connors in the final.
But the year before that, the former world No 2 had been a finalist at Roland Garros, leading by two sets to love before slipping to defeat against Bjorn Borg.
Orantes was unable to ever claim victory in Paris but his US Open win did come on clay, and he won big titles in Monte Carlo, Hamburg, and Rome on the surface during his career.
After retiring in 1983, the Spaniard was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012.
Read More: 2004 French Open – What happened last time men’s Roland Garros draw was wide open?
7) Andy Murray
A modern-day great of the game, Murray has achieved huge success during his career.
The Brit has won two Wimbledons and a US Open title, alongside winning two Olympic gold medals and reaching five Australian Open finals.
And he is also an accomplished clay courter, perhaps most notably reaching the 2016 French Open final, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.
Murray also reached four further semi-finals at Roland Garros, while he is a past winner in Madrid and Rome.
6) Boris Becker
‘Boom Boom’ Becker is perhaps most associated with the grass courts of Wimbledon, where he was a three-time champion and reached four further finals.
But the former world No 1 was also well accomplished at the hard court majors, winning two Australian Open titles and claiming the US Open crown in 1989.
Clay courts were not a happy hunting ground for him, however, the French Open title the one Slam that eluded him during his career.
Despite his struggles on clay, he was still able to reach three semi-finals at the event.
Boris Becker speaks to Tennis365 about Novak Djokovic ahead of the French Open. #Tennis #NovakDjokovic #BorisBecker https://t.co/ObOSjvUvxC
— Tennis365 (@tennis365com) May 25, 2024
5) John Newcombe
A true great of the game, Aussie legend Newcombe – who recently celebrated his 80th birthday – spanned the amateur and professional eras.
The Australian found huge success in doubles but was also a superb singles player in his career, claiming seven major titles in the discipline.
Newcombe was a winner of three Wimbledon titles, two US Open titles, and two Australian Open titles, though never found his best tennis in Paris.
In fact, he only twice made it as far as the quarter-finals.
4) Stefan Edberg
Much like his great rival Becker, former world No 1 Edberg found success pretty much everywhere except the French Open.
One of the most stylish players of his day, the Swede won two titles each at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open, and reached a further four finals across those Slams.
But the French Open is the one that got away, particularly in 1989 – where he lost in a five-set final to 17-year-old Michael Chang.
The Swede never returned to the final and only reached three quarter-finals outside of 1989.
3) Jimmy Connors
One of the first superstars of modern tennis, Connors won eight Grand Slam singles titles – and his total of 109 ATP titles remains a record to this day.
The American won his home major a staggering five times and also famously won two Wimbledon crowns, alongside the 1974 Australian Open.
But, despite winning one of his US Open titles on clay, overall the surface was not a happy hunting ground for the icon.
Connors never made the final at the French Open, though did reach four semi-finals at the event.
Read More: Jimmy Connors weighs in on the prospect of Rafael Nadal retiring this year
2) John McEnroe
Ask McEnroe about the most painful loss of his career, and he’ll tell you about his defeat in the 1984 French Open final.
Controversial yet legendary, all-time great McEnroe is perhaps most celebrated for his three Wimbledon wins – but was also a four-time winner at his home major.
However, he fell short of claiming the Roland Garros title, falling to a heartbreaking defeat 40 years ago.
He led by two sets and had a 4-2 lead in the fourth set over Ivan Lendl, but ultimately it was the Czech who claimed the title.
1) Pete Sampras
It is astonishing that considering what else he achieved in the game, Sampras never did well at the French Open.
In the men’s game only the ‘Big Three’ have won more singles Slams than the American, whose total of 14 Grand Slam victories used to be an ATP record.
Sampras dominated Wimbledon with seven SW19 titles and was a five-time US Open and two-time Australian Open champion.
But clay was not his surface, and quite incredibly he only ever made one semi-final in Paris.