Seven 21st century Grand Slam champions who have not been ATP World No 1

James Richardson 12 Nov 2023 8:37 PM

Stan Wawrinka acknowledges the crowd.

Winning a Grand Slam usually comes with a massive rankings bump, but it doesn’t quite guarantee that a player will secure a world No 1 ranking.

Since the turn of the century, there have been seven Grand Slam winners who would not hold the top spot on the rankings in their careers.

Two of them are still playing and might still harbour hopes of getting to No 1.

Here are the seven 21st century Grand Slam champions who have not been ATP World No 1.

Goran Ivanišević

Goran Ivanišević was a wildcard entrant into the 2001 Wimbledon Championships and pulled off a sensational and emotional win.

He had reached his rankings peak in 1994, a year in which he lost a Wimbledon final to Pete Sampras. Ivanišević won the Austrian Open on clay and the Tokyo Indoors on carpet and, losing four finals that season.

Ivanišević was world No 2 immediately after his 1994 Wimbledon final loss and wouldn’t achieve a higher ranking but would eventually get his Grand Slam win, having also lost the 1992 Wimbledon final to Andre Agassi.

Thomas Johansson

Injury robbed Thomas Johansson of the opportunity to make the most of his Grand Slam triumph at the 2002 Australian Open.

After his Grand Slam breakthrough, Johansson wouldn’t play another tout final for over two years.

Shortly after his second round exit from the 2002 French Open, he rose to a career-high world No 7.

Albert Costa

Another 2002 Grand Slam champion who couldn’t make it to world No 1 was the winner of Roland Garros, Albert Costa.

He defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero to win his first and only Major at the French Open but would peak at world No 6 the following month.

Costa wouldn’t play another Grand Slam final with his best effort a run to the last four during his title defence in Paris in 2003.

Gastón Gaudio

Gastón Gaudio’s 2004 French Open win stands alone as his greatest achievement, as he would never get beyond the fourth round in his 31 other Slam appearances.

He achieved a career-high world No 5 ranking in April 2005 while still carrying the points from his French Open triumph the year before.

Gaudio was a clay specialist who won eight titles on the surface and played in 16 finals.

Juan Martín del Potro

A Grand Slam champion thanks to his incredible 2009 US Open title win, Juan Martín del Potro also couldn’t scale the rankings ladder all the way to the top.

He would achieve his highest ranking nine years after his solitary Grand Slam triumph.

Del Potro rose to world No 3 after losing the 2018 US Open final to Novak Djokovic.

Stan Wawrinka

Stan Wawrinka is the only multiple Grand Slam winner who makes this list, and it is a little incredible that he hasn’t ever reached No 1, but then he had to contend with the big three throughout his career.

Wawrinka might wonder what might have been had he played in a different era during his prime.

Despite winning a Slam in 2014, 2015, and 2016 he would never carry the points from more than one Major triumph at any one time. He peaked as a world No 3 shortly after winning his first Grand Slam at the 2014 Australian Open.

Dominic Thiem

Dominic Thiem became the first man to come back from two sets down in a US Open final in the Open Era when he produced his stunning rally to claim the title at Flushing Meadows in 2020, but he also peaked at No 3 and injury would also hamper his attempts to cash in on his Major triumph.

Thiem is still just 30 years old and might yet put together a run that could see him break new rankings ground.

However, many feel that his best days are behind him and that he can only dream of more Grand Slam success.