Former US Open finalist names ‘best player in the history of the sport to never win a Slam’
Alexander Zverev’s search for a maiden Grand Slam continues and many believe he is now the best player who hasn’t won a major, but former world No 4 Greg Rusedski believes there is a former player ahead of him on the list.
The German has now finished runner-up in three Slam finals as he lost in straight sets against Jannik Sinner at this year’s Australian Open to go with his defeats in finals at the 2024 French Open and 2020 US Open.
Zverev’s biggest titles have been two ATP Finals trophies while he has also won seven ATP Masters 1000 events and peaked at No 2 in the rankings.
Other players who are often also in the conversation when it comes to stars who have failed to win a Grand Slam are Miroslav Mecir, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych, but Rusedski believes the title of “best player who have not won a major” goes to Marcelo Rios.
The Chilean competed on the ATP Tour from 1994 until 2004 and during his 10-year career at the top, he won 18 singles titles – including seven Masters – and reached No 1 in the ATP Rankings.
The closest the left-hander came to winning a major was in 1998 when he reached the final of the Australian Open, but lost 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 against Petr Korda.
“Rios is the best player in the history of the sport to never win a Slam. He was the world No 1,” Rusedski told Claytennis and RG Media.
“Rios better than Zverev? Oh, yeah. No question about it. Unfortunately for Marcelo, he wasn’t able to have a long enough career to achieve that goal of winning a major. That’s the only thing against his record.
“The talent Marcelo had was off the charts. There’s no player with his hands and he had everything in the game.”
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Rios only made it to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and the US Open while his best performance at Wimbledon was a run to the fourth round, although he only made three main draw appearances at the grass-court major as he made it clear he was not a fan of grass.
Interestingly, Rios had 22 wins against top 10 players, but he didn’t record a single win over a world No 1 with the likes of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Thomas Muster, Gustavo Kuerten and Lleyton Hewitt topping the rankings when he was at his peak.
His best wins in terms of rankings were against Korda (No 2) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (No 3).
Rios’ career went into decline after 2000 as he struggled with ankle and back injuries and he played only eight Grand Slams between 2000 and 2003 before calling it a day in 2004.
Former British No 1 Rusedski, though, added: “He would have won multiple Slams. You can see him winning in Paris. He lost in the Australian Open final. Hard courts in New York — there’s no reason he wouldn’t be successful there.
“I think the one that would have been tough for him to win is Wimbledon. The other Slams, no question about it, he could have won them all.”
