Chances of "career finals slam"?

[pedro94]

Zverev could achieve something unthinkable in a few weeks time. If he reaches the Wimbledon final and loses, he'll have all 4 runner-up trophies in his cabinet, without ever winning a slam. Has any player (male or female) been anywhere close to this achievement in the history of tennis??

Mečíř (1 AO and 1 USO final)
Ruud (2 FO and 1 USO final)
Tsitsipas (1 AO and 1 FO final)
Anderson (1 WIM and 1 USO final)
Philippoussis (1 WIM and 1 USO final)
Todd Martin (1 AO and 1 USO final)
Cedric Pioline (1 WIM and 1 USO final)
EDIT: Bunny Austin (2 WIM and 1 FO final)

That's every male player I could find reaching finals at multiple slams and having no titles to their name. Anyone feeling like collating the same info for the female players?

 

[travlerajm]

Destiny will not be denied.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

I think Helena Sukova has the most. She was runner up at the Aus Open in 1984 and 1989 and also the US Open in 1986 and 1993 giving her 4 runner ups with no title.

Simona Halep herself had 3 slam runner ups at the 2014 French Open, 2017 French Open and 2018 Australian Open but she broke it by winning the 2018 French Open and went on to win Wimbledon in 2019.

Ons Jabeur also has 3 runner ups currently as an active player - Wimbledon 2022 and 2023 and also the US Open in 2022.
Dinara Safina also had 3 runner ups - Aus Open 2009, French Open 2008 & 2009.

Many, many others have had 2 runner ups including as recently as Paolini who was runner up at Wimbledon and the French Open last year.

 

[anarosevoli]

He can enjoy this from Wimbledon to US Open. Then it will be eclipsed by Sabalenka having done it in one year!

 

[ojo rojo]

I know he bagged 3 slams but MuryGOAT reached 11 major finals

 

[gamelovergold]

Z is better than 90% tennis player.
Olympic gold WTF win 3 times runner up and people make fun of him like every TTW member is ATG himself.
Yes more is expected but atleast give respect for what he has acheived.

 

[Counter-pusher]

Wendy Turnbull lost the three slam finals she played (USO '77, FO '79 and WC '80). Helena Sukova lost one more slam final without ever winning one: two at the AO and other two at the USO.

 

[pedro94]

We have to wait another year for a shot at this achievement.

 

[timnz]

I know he bagged 3 slams but MuryGOAT reached 11 major finals

Lendl won 8 and was runner up in 11. (Which vastly superior to winning 8 and having zero runner up’s )

 

[ibbi]

Has any player (male or female) been anywhere close to this achievement in the history of tennis??

It is very worth pointing out that for the entire history of tennis up till the 21st century, this feat was infinitely harder to accomplish than it is now to the point that if you were good enough to pull it off, you were probably good enough to win one.

 

[ojo rojo]

(Which vastly superior to winning 8 and having zero runner up’s )

Who are you referring to?

 

[Berrettini_Fan]

We will never see this achievement from Zverev.

FIFY

 

[pedro94]

FIFY

 

[Mainad]

I know he bagged 3 slams but MuryGOAT reached 11 major finals

He has 5 AO plates, 1 from RG, 1 from Wimbledon and 1 from the USO.

 

[timnz]

Who are you referring to?

I was challenging the common notion on this forum that no losses in finals is somehow better than the occasional loss. For instance, Sampras vs Djokovic’s record at Wimbledon. Some people here have said that Sampras’ 7-0 record is superior to Djokovic’s 7-3 record. Which it is not. It is superior to make the final than lose before the final. Slams are 7 matches not 1

 

[Cabeza del Demonio]

Zverev could achieve something unthinkable in a few weeks time. If he reaches the Wimbledon final and loses, he'll have all 4 runner-up trophies in his cabinet, without ever winning a slam. Has any player (male or female) been anywhere close to this achievement in the history of tennis??

Mečíř (1 AO and 1 USO final)
Ruud (2 FO and 1 USO final)
Tsitsipas (1 AO and 1 FO final)
Anderson (1 WIM and 1 USO final)
Philippoussis (1 WIM and 1 USO final)
Todd Martin (1 AO and 1 USO final)
Cedric Pioline (1 WIM and 1 USO final)
EDIT: Bunny Austin (2 WIM and 1 FO final)

That's every male player I could find reaching finals at multiple slams and having no titles to their name. Anyone feeling like collating the same info for the female players?

At this point Zverev isn't just the best player to never win a Major, he might be the best anyone's ever been before winning a Major. Including guys like Lendl and Murray who had impressive records before they got their first title - Murray in 2012 had 8 Masters titles, an Olympic Gold medal, and 4 Major finals with 0 titles. Zverev has reached 3 Major finals, has 2 ATP finals and an Olympic Gold, and 7 Masters titles. There's an argument that Zverev's 2 ATP finals puts him over the line in this contest too. Lendl also had 4 finals, 7 Grand Prix titles and 2 ATP Finals wins (back then called the Grand Prix Masters Cup) before he won his first major.

The only difference is that Zverev has never felt like an "inevitable" Slam winner, while it was clearly a matter of time for Murray and Lendl.

 

[timnz]

Zverev could achieve something unthinkable in a few weeks time. If he reaches the Wimbledon final and loses, he'll have all 4 runner-up trophies in his cabinet, without ever winning a slam. Has any player (male or female) been anywhere close to this achievement in the history of tennis??

Mečíř (1 AO and 1 USO final)
Ruud (2 FO and 1 USO final)
Tsitsipas (1 AO and 1 FO final)
Anderson (1 WIM and 1 USO final)
Philippoussis (1 WIM and 1 USO final)
Todd Martin (1 AO and 1 USO final)
Cedric Pioline (1 WIM and 1 USO final)
EDIT: Bunny Austin (2 WIM and 1 FO final)

That's every male player I could find reaching finals at multiple slams and having no titles to their name. Anyone feeling like collating the same info for the female players?

Before he won his first slam at the French Open in 1984, Lendl was 0-4 in Slam finals - 81 French - Borg , 82 US Open - Connors, 83 US Open - Connors, 83 Australian Open - Wilander