The 9 best ATP players to never be world No 1: ft. Wawrinka, del Potro, Vilas

Oli Dickson Jefford 06 Feb 2025 4:32 PM

Juan Martin del Potro, Stan Wawrinka, and Guillermo Vilas.

Twenty-nine men have held the world No 1 ranking on the ATP Tour – but there are plenty of other legendary players worthy of celebration.

Here, we rank the nine greatest male players to never reach world No 1.

We are only focusing on players who were competing in their prime after the ATP Rankings were first introduced in 1973, and are also not including active players who are likely to contend for world No 1.

9) Richard Krajicek

Career High: No 4
Career Titles: 17
Grand Slam Titles: 1

Though he *only* climbed as high as world No 4, Krajicek was widely considered to be one of the greatest talents of his generation.

That was never more evident than it was at Wimbledon in 1996, where he beat Pete Sampras in the quarter-finals – the American’s only loss at SW19 from 1993-2000.

Krajicek would go on to win the title but he also found success at the other majors, reaching an Australian Open semi-final, a French Open semi-final, and three US Open quarter-finals.

The Dutchman was also a two-time Masters 1000 champion, a winner of 17 titles overall, and reached a further Wimbledon semi-final in 1998.

8) Marin Cilic

Career High: No 3
Career Titles: 21
Grand Slam Titles: 1

Cilic’s career has been one of peaks and troughs, though those peaks have been extraordinary.

Few can forget the Croatian’s run to the 2014 US Open title, not dropping a set in his final three matches – famously stunning Roger Federer in the last four, before dispatching Kei Nishikori in the final.

That was not a one-off run for Cilic, who would go on to reach further Slam finals at Wimbledon in 2017 and the Australian Open in 2018, and make the last four of the 2022 French Open.

Cilic has won an impressive 21 ATP titles across his career, and in 2024 became the lowest-ranked winner of a title ever at the Hangzhou Open.

7) Dominic Thiem

Career High: No 3
Career Titles: 17
Grand Slam Titles: 1

An underwhelming end to Thiem’s career could well class him as a ‘what if?’ in the annals of tennis history, but he was an extraordinary player during the peak of his powers.

The Austrian was one of the few capable of pushing the ‘Big Three’ all the way, with a combined total of 16 wins against the trio only beaten by four men.

Thiem’s greatest triumph came at the US Open in 2020 – the 17th and final title of his career – though he was also a two-time French Open runner-up, and a finalist at the 2020 Australian Open.

He could well have won more majors – and gone higher up the rankings – in different circumstances, but a career that includes further triumphs in Indian Wells, Barcelona, and Vienna is one to celebrate.

6) Goran Ivanisevic

Career High: No 2
Career Titles: 22
Grand Slam Titles: 1

Ivanisevic will always be associated with Wimbledon, where he famously made history by lifting the title as a wildcard in 2001.

Part of the reason that triumph was so emotional was three previous final defeats at SW19, losing to Andre Agassi in 1992, and then Sampras in 1994 and 1998.

However, it wasn’t just on the grass courts where he found success, with a US Open semi-final and three quarter-finals in both Paris and Melbourne to his name.

Ivanisevic won 22 titles and reached a further 27 finals across his impressive career, reaching a high of world No 2 – and achieving six year-end top-10 finishes.

5) Juan Martin del Potro

Career High: No 3
Career Titles: 22
Grand Slam Titles: 1

Large parts of del Potro’s career were defined by injury, but the ‘Tower of Tandil’ was undoubtedly one of the best players of his era.

Only Andy Murray achieved more wins against the ‘Big Three’ than del Potro, who could have well been world No 1 had he not been up against Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic so regularly.

The Argentine famously stunned Federer to win the US Open title in 2009 and would reach the final again nine years later, though was also a Wimbledon and French Open semi-finalist.

Del Potro reached his career high of third in 2018 – months after his historic Indian Wells triumph – and he won 22 titles in total, alongside Olympic silver and bronze medals.

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4) Michael Stich

Career High: No 2
Career Titles: 18
Grand Slam Titles: 1

Stich’s career was largely overshadowed by the success of compatriot Boris Becker, who was the leading German player of his era.

However, former world No 2 Stich famously stunned Becker to lift the Wimbledon title in 1991 – one of several high points of his career.

Despite competing against the likes of Becker, Agassi, Sampras, and Stefan Edberg, he was able to win 18 ATP titles and reached further major finals at the 1994 US Open and 1996 French Open.

The winner of the 1993 ATP Finals and a two-time Masters 1000 champion, Stich spent 34 weeks as the world No 2 during his career – the third-most of any player to not hold the world No 1 ranking.

3) Stan Wawrinka

Career High: No 3
Career Titles: 16
Grand Slam Titles: 3

Wawrinka reached a career-high of third during his prime, but what he was able to achieve outside of that places him among tennis greats.

The Swiss famously beat Nadal to win his first major at the 2014 Australian Open, and would then beat Djokovic in the 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open finals.

He would also make the 2017 French Open final and finish inside the top 10 of the ATP Rankings for five straight seasons, winning 16 ATP titles – including the Monte Carlo Masters in 2014.

The Swiss reached nine Grand Slam semi-finals and 31 career finals in total and is still plying his trade on the ATP Tour.

2) Michael Chang

Career High: No 2
Career Titles: 34
Grand Slam Titles: 1

Chang is famously the youngest man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles title and, while that will always be his most iconic moment, there is plenty more in his career to celebrate.

Outside of his 1989 French Open triumph, he reached a further final at Roland Garros in 1995, and was also the Australian Open and US Open runner-up in 1996.

Chang was the winner of a staggering 34 career titles and also reached a further 24 finals, holding his own in an era where power began to dominate.

With seven Masters 1000 titles and 49 weeks as the world No 2 – the second-most of any man who wasn’t No 1 – to his name, Chang deserves his place right towards the top of this countdown.

1) Guillermo Vilas

Career High: No 2
Career Titles: 62
Grand Slam Titles: 4

In a parallel universe, Vilas may well be recognised as a former world No 1.

There has been an ongoing fight to have the Argentine recognised as the world No 1 since it was discovered in 2007 that he should have been the world No 1 for seven weeks in 1975 and 1976.

This was detailed in the 2020 documentary ‘Settling the Score’, but the ATP shows no signs of budging and, for now, he is surely the best player to never hold the top ranking.

The Argentine won two Australian Open titles, a French Open title, and a US Open in the late 1970s, and reached a further four major finals.

Vilas won a staggering 62 titles across his career – including a record 16 ATP titles in 1977 – and spent a record 60 weeks as the world No 2.