Pete Semper
Rookie
Who's your favorite player without a grand slam ?...im hesiting between Mecir (an another forgotten genious) or Leconte but my vote goes to Miloslav Mecir aka "the cat"...what's your ?
Best player without a G.S
- Thread starter Pete Semper
- Start date
Condoleezza
Banned
Condoleezza
Banned
Condoleezza
Banned
MEAC_ALLAMERICAN
Legend
I would have to say Marcelo Rios.
Pete Semper
Rookie
My bad...I wanted to say "best player who has never won any tournament of the G.S !", vote now !
noeledmonds
Professional
Got to agree with this. Rios is the only ATP number one to have never won a singles grand slam.
In the womens game it has to be Pam Shriver (if we are talking about winning a singles slam of course).
Voltron
Hall of Fame
I second that.
kingdaddy41788
Hall of Fame
As far as favorite player without a Grand Slam, I'd agree. Todd was always one of my favorites. When I was a juniors player (about 12 or so I think), he came to our tennis practice in Houston during the week of the River Oaks clay court tournament. He is an all around, generally nice guy and a gentleman.
As for you, Condi, many non-Americans love Todd Martin too. My friends from Australia love him too. He was always an honest player (overturning bad calls that went in his favor, etc.) and was a great serve & volley player. Why you would disrespect him and suggest that only Americans like him. And Condi, would it not be safe to assume that you're American too?
drakulie
Talk Tennis Guru
Yes, I am. I also stand by my opinion.
Martin was a great player who made the final of two slams (AO and US), losing to two legends along the way> Sampras and Agassi. This to me is a far greater achievement than Rios who only made the finals of one slam, and lost to a nobody like Korda in respects to players of the caliber of Sampras and Agassi.
He also made several semis, including Wimbledon, and was a member of a Winning Davis Cup team. What has Rios, who many have mentioned in this thread done that is greater?
Condoleezza
Banned
Condoleezza
Banned
I liked Martin. But Mecir was in a different league.
Of course I'm no American. Otherwise my English would be better.
Condi
Condoleezza
Banned
I don't remember Rios.
But I have watched Mecir on tape. How he humiliated Edberg and Wilander.
When Mecir was on he was unbeatable. Sadly he was a head-case. And a back injured ended his career far too soon.
Condi
I think Korda won the aussie open..
My vote goes to Todd Martin as well.. (I'm not American). Another vote to Cedric Pioline.
The Gorilla
Banned
pioline .
Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
Mecir has the best career winning % of any slam finalist that didn't win a slam in the last 20 years.
When you look at Mecir's record, he had some far more impressive wins than Rios, Martin, etc. In some matches, he completely destroyed some of the best players of his time, Becker, Edberg, Lendl, Wilander, Connors, McEnroe. I wouldn't be surprised if he has more wins over former or current #1s than any other non-slam winner.
He made at least the semis in all 4 slams. The only players in the open era to do that & not win a slam are Mecir, Okker, & Nalbandian!
Here are the win%'s of all the slamless players of the last 20 years that played at least 2 slam finals(& including Rios, Nalbandian, Coria)
Mecir-68
Rios-67
Coria-67
Nalbandian-66
Martin-64
Corretja-61
Philippoussis-61
Pioline-55
and here is how some of the 1-2 slam winners of that time fared:
Chang-68
Stich-68
Kafelnikov-67
Gomez-66
Ferrero-66
Moya-65
Rafter-65
Krajicek-65
Safin-64
Ivanisevic-64
Cash-62
Gaudio-60
Costa-59
Johansson-56
When you look at Mecir's record, he had some far more impressive wins than Rios, Martin, etc. In some matches, he completely destroyed some of the best players of his time, Becker, Edberg, Lendl, Wilander, Connors, McEnroe. I wouldn't be surprised if he has more wins over former or current #1s than any other non-slam winner.
He made at least the semis in all 4 slams. The only players in the open era to do that & not win a slam are Mecir, Okker, & Nalbandian!
Here are the win%'s of all the slamless players of the last 20 years that played at least 2 slam finals(& including Rios, Nalbandian, Coria)
Mecir-68
Rios-67
Coria-67
Nalbandian-66
Martin-64
Corretja-61
Philippoussis-61
Pioline-55
and here is how some of the 1-2 slam winners of that time fared:
Chang-68
Stich-68
Kafelnikov-67
Gomez-66
Ferrero-66
Moya-65
Rafter-65
Krajicek-65
Safin-64
Ivanisevic-64
Cash-62
Gaudio-60
Costa-59
Johansson-56
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suwanee4712
Professional
For the women, Sukova reached 4 grand slam finals without winning. Mary Jo Fernandez reached 3 without a win. Andrea Jaeger almost certainly would've won a grand slam had she not had such a bad shoulder injury. Rosie Casals had grand slam potential but was always in King's shadow. And Shriver had the US Open r/u finish and at least 6 grand slam semi finishes that I can think of off the top of my head. She was a threat on grass at least. Much of the talk going into the 1988 Australian was that she was the popular darkhorse pick to win that tournament.
Moose Malloy
G.O.A.T.
I hope that's a joke, I have some early round matches from the '88 AO on tape, Drysdale, Stolle, & Carillo all said that tournament wasn't a question of who would win, but how many games/sets Graf would lose in winning the thing. All 3 said they would be more surprised if Graf didn't win the Calendar Grand Slam in '88, than if she did.
BTW, I really hope this thread doesn't get hijacked by you know who, like every other thread in this section seems to, but I guess I'm not helping matters with this post.
Condoleezza
Banned
Condoleezza
Banned
Yes, most probably this ATPKid will start to whine about how much Seles would have won without this horrible stabbing very soon ...
Condi
CEvertFan
Hall of Fame
Petr Korda won the Australian Open in 1998.
I would have to say Pam Shriver or M.J. Fernandez or Helena Sukova for the women and Todd Martin or Miloslav Mecir for the men. I discount Rios even though he was briefly #1 because he was here and gone quicker than you could blink.
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Sorry man my bad. The Korda match that stuck to my mind was that US Open win over Sampras and then he didn't play his next match because he was sick or something.
suwanee4712
Professional
Nope, that's not a joke. Pre-tournament Shriver got a lot of publicity because of the strong year that she had in 1987, particularly the latter half. But if I remember correctly, Shriver lost in the 4th round.
Remember the term "darkhorse" does not mean the favorite. It means a popular surprise pick.
Fedfan4life
Semi-Pro
Tommy Haas...... its unfortunate that once he was 2nd in the world then plagued with injuries.
tenniko
Semi-Pro
Haas
Rios
Nalbandian
Philippoussis (Grass)
Coria (Clay)
...it's hard to say who was the BEST player not to win a GS trophy. Any Top 5 or 10 when they were on fire would've been good enough to seriously contend (finalist, maybe? i.e. Marcos and Gonzales), and sometimes when lucky run away with the title (i.e. Johansson and Gaudio).
Rios
Nalbandian
Philippoussis (Grass)
Coria (Clay)
...it's hard to say who was the BEST player not to win a GS trophy. Any Top 5 or 10 when they were on fire would've been good enough to seriously contend (finalist, maybe? i.e. Marcos and Gonzales), and sometimes when lucky run away with the title (i.e. Johansson and Gaudio).
Eddie Brock
New User
Definitely Todd Martin. He should have won that 1999 US Open final against Agassi, but they called his winner out that would have put him back on serve in the 4th. He made it to a ton of semifinals and finals and was always in every match. He played Sampras, Agassi, Courier, and Chang over and over in semis and finals. If he had been able to beat them he would have a lot more titles.
I don't know of any other player that never won a slam who came so close and did so well consistently. He also had injury problems, so that was a factor as well.
Its not just Americans that like him, everyone does.
I don't know of any other player that never won a slam who came so close and did so well consistently. He also had injury problems, so that was a factor as well.
Its not just Americans that like him, everyone does.
Yeah - ignore the troll who alluded earlier that only Americans like him, she is just a troll.
I'm an Aussie and everyone here enjoyed watching him and seeing him have a go. That said, I still think Mark Philippoussis is, well, maybe not the better player, but the player who should have got a slam more than Todd. Todd was always solid, but didn't really have the mega-weapons and movement to hurt the very very big guys. Mark, on the other hand, on the right day, could smash anyone off the court. But his mind, and his very frail body... well yeah, it seems unlikely now that he'll ever get one....
With only 8 singles titles Todd Martin wasn't solid enough on the ATP Tour to be called the best non-GS winner. Pioline is even worse with 5 titles, but IIRC he made many finals before winning his first title. Rios and Enqvist, among others, have way more titles (18 and 19) and also more Masters Series shields I believe.
Hmm, on this basis, Philippoussis has 11 titles, and his two GS finals are on different surfaces (W & UO). He also has at least one MS, and also a Queens (which should be a masters!
).bluetrain4
G.O.A.T.
I'd agree with Mecir. Too bad the two finals he did make, he got absolutely killed by Lendl. He was great to watch.
Henri Leconte - so talented, such vareity, a true shot maker, but lacked the consistency (as so many do)
Marcelo Rios - other have said what needed to be said.
Cedric Pioline - another Frenchman who was so fun to watch. A tremendous athlete with good variety and flair. Miss that style.
Todd Martin - Nice guy, classic serve and volley style.
Phillipousis - had the weapons (at least for fast courts), if not the movement.
Amos Mansdorf - kidding (though he was a decent player).
Henri Leconte - so talented, such vareity, a true shot maker, but lacked the consistency (as so many do)
Marcelo Rios - other have said what needed to be said.
Cedric Pioline - another Frenchman who was so fun to watch. A tremendous athlete with good variety and flair. Miss that style.
Todd Martin - Nice guy, classic serve and volley style.
Phillipousis - had the weapons (at least for fast courts), if not the movement.
Amos Mansdorf - kidding (though he was a decent player).
I once heard Lendl talk about beating him, he said he knew how, that he just had to play 'not very pretty' tennis (I'm paraphrasing here). From memory he said if he fed Mecir pace or gave him width, Mecir would use the pace and also create angles. Again, from memory, Lendl therefore gave him a lot of medium pace balls up the middle, and waited for the mistake or the opportunity.
Hmm, on this basis, Philippoussis has 11 titles, and his two GS finals are on different surfaces (W & UO). He also has at least one MS, and also a Queens (which should be a masters!
Yep, you're right, Philipoussis is also a good choice for the list. Better than Martin and Pioline anyway, in my opinion.
z-money
Semi-Pro
i agree. if it not for fed. i dont think anyone else in the world would have stoped philippoussis io '03. coria was on track to untill he..... well i dont know what you call that. rios was talented. nalbadian if he could have closed out roddick in 03 may have won the US. but i do love haas too. martin got close a few times but i dont think he would ever of had to ability to overcome a sampras in the late rounds of a major
Pete Semper
Rookie
Surprised no one have mentioned Andrei Medvedev ! David Wheaton was a good pick as well (for Wimbledon or US Open).
suwanee4712
Professional
Has anyone ever seen their 1987 French semi? If you can't sleep at night watch this match.
I liked watching both Mecir and Lendl play. Just not against each other.
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