5 greats who played Queen’s Club but did not lift the title: ft. Novak Djokovic & Andre Agassi

Ewan West 18 Jun 2025 4:30 PM

Novak Djokovic at the Queen's Club Championships

Novak Djokovic with the Queen's Club runner-up trophy in 2018

Founded in 1886, the Queen’s Club Championships is the most prestigious grass-court tournament outside of Wimbledon, with a host of the sport’s legends having lifted the trophy.

Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe and Boris Becker have all triumphed at Queen’s, but there are some big names missing from the roll of honour at the historic event in London.

Here, we look at the five best players who have competed at the Queen’s Club Championships but missed out on the title.

Novak Djokovic

Grand Slam record-holder Novak Djokovic has played a grass-court tournament prior to Wimbledon only once since 2010. He has competed at the Queen’s Club on four occasions in his career and fallen narrowly short of victory twice.

Having lost in the third round to Arnaud Clement on his Queen’s debut in 2007, Djokovic was a runner-up the following year.

In a memorable 2008 championship match, Djokovic was beaten 7-6(6), 7-5 by Rafael Nadal, who would become his greatest rival.

The Serb lost to Xavier Malisse in the third round at Queen’s in 2010 and did not play the event again for eight years.

In the 2018 final, Djokovic fell 7-5, 6-7(4), 3-6 to Marin Cilic after having a match point in the second set in his last grass-court match outside of Wimbledon.

Andre Agassi

Andre Agassi was a Wimbledon champion in 1992, but he did not make his Queen’s Club debut until 2000, when he was forced to retire in his third round match with Gianluca Pozzi.

The closest the eight-time major champion came to winning the tournament was in 2003, when he lost a thrilling semi-final to eventual winner Andy Roddick 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-7(6).

The American featured at the London grass-court tournament on just two other occasions, losing his opening match in both 2004 and 2006.

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Jannik Sinner

Three-time Grand Slam winner Jannik Sinner made his only appearance at the Queen’s Club Championships in 2021, when he was the No 3 seed.

The Italian was upset 7-6(6), 7-6(2) by Jack Draper, who was a wildcard, in the opening round. Sinner has opted to compete at the Halle Open instead of Queen’s in three of the four years since then.

Stan Wawrinka

Stan Wawrinka is a three-time Grand Slam champion and former world No 3, but he has always been far less comfortable on grass than other surfaces.

The Swiss has played the Queen’s Club Championships eight times, with his best result a run to the semi-finals in 2014, when he lost 6-2, 6-4 to eventual winner Grigor Dimitrov.