Who are some of your favorite players who never won a slam?

RaulRamirez

Legend
For our purposes, please list some of your favorite players (ATP or WTA) - either retired or 35-plus - who have never won a slam, but you always enjoyed watching them.
No surveys, no arguments, just the joy of watching/following various players.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
Raonic, Isner. I love how these two maximized their talents. Raonic was also injured when he had the chance but that's probably the case for most non slam winners. Raonic at Wimbledon was a treat to watch.
 
<——The Big Cat, Miroslav Mecir




David Nalbandian who possessed the most effortless and beautiful two-handed BH that looked like a left-handed FH.

Marcelo Rios who was a dick, but had otherworldly shot-making abilities. Too bad he wasn‘t taller

James Blake—super nice guy. If he had developed differently as a younger player (especially the BH), he’d have a different career
 
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Pheasant

Legend
I'm looking for players retired (or 35-plus) who have never won a major.
Tsonga "qualifies", and seems to be a popular pick.
Whoops. Got it.

Tsonga: awesome character; my wife's 2nd favorite player ever(behind Federer). He was so fun to watch.
Miroslav Mecir: He had such a beautiful game, even more beautiful than Federer's. I cannot believe that he never won a slam.
Ferrer: Dahveed has the heart of a lion; a true warrior that squeezed every single ounce out of his talent. You really can get blood out of a turnip.
Nalbandian: His touch at the net was awesome. But he's the opposite of Ferrer. He had the talent, but not the work ethic or heart of Ferrer.
 

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
Big Cat for me by a huge margin. Incredibly gifted, a joy to watch.

s-l1600.jpg
 

Lauren_Girl'

Hall of Fame
Jo Wilfried Tsonga by miles and miles. Beyond that, no joke, Bernie Tomic. What a talent.

On the women's side, Radwanska was one of the least boring athletes to ever play the sport, possessing uniquely gifted and refreshing approach to tennis.

So agree about Radwanska. She deserved 1 Slam at least. I loved her tennis.

Same for Tsonga. If I had to pick 1 and only 1 play from Fedalovic's era, that would be him...
 

Pheasant

Legend
Here's an unpopular answer, but I'll add Kygrios to the mix. He had the 1980s bad boy mouth on him. It was honestly a breath of fresh air hearing him fire from the hip, instead of always giving politically-correct rehearsed answers that we mostly hear these days. I miss the days of Connors calling Lendl a "f****** pusher" during the match, or when Lendl in an interview said that McEnroe can't beat him anymore(that ticked me off big-time when I saw that, but I respect that these days). Don't get me started with McEnroe. That guy was a riot. When interviewed after losing a slam final, he was asked what he thought about the match. He said he never received that much money for losing. Funny stuff. Kyrgios was pretty funny when interacting with the crowd in court 17 when I was at the USO in 2018. Yeah, he's a clown. But he was entertaining. My friends that weren't really tennis fans at the time thought Kyrgios was the most entertaining. He was spinning his racket with neon-colored strings and chatting with the crowd. What a clown. But he was entertaining. When you watch him live, it reminds me a lot of the retired pros playing the PowerShares tourney. They were half-serious. They wanted to win, but clowned around at times. Kyrgios' serves look so ridiculously easy when seeing him play live. Part of that was his clowning around. But the other was part was his natural motion.
 

Azure

G.O.A.T.
Here's an unpopular answer, but I'll add Kygrios to the mix. He had the 1980s bad boy mouth on him. It was honestly a breath of fresh air hearing him fire from the hip, instead of always giving politically-correct rehearsed answers that we mostly hear these days. I miss the days of Connors calling Lendl a "f****** pusher" during the match, or when Lendl in an interview said that McEnroe can't beat him anymore(that ticked me off big-time when I saw that, but I respect that these days). Don't get me started with McEnroe. That guy was a riot. When interviewed after losing a slam final, he was asked what he thought about the match. He said he never received that much money for losing. Funny stuff. Kyrgios was pretty funny when interacting with the crowd in court 17 when I was at the USO in 2018. Yeah, he's a clown. But he was entertaining. My friends that weren't really tennis fans at the time thought Kyrgios was the most entertaining. He was spinning his racket with neon-colored strings and chatting with the crowd. What a clown. But he was entertaining. When you watch him live, it reminds me a lot of the retired pros playing the PowerShares tourney. They were half-serious. They wanted to win, but clowned around at times. Kyrgios' serves look so ridiculously easy when seeing him play live. Part of that was his clowning around. But the other was part was his natural motion.
I liked Kygrios until he stooped too low especially with Wawrinka. He has an entertaining game and personality but I cannot look past his mean and often malicious comments. McEnroe or Connors were never this mean. Cringey sure, but Kyrgios is a bitter, bitter man I would never like to be around with.
 

nolefam_2024

Bionic Poster
Here's an unpopular answer, but I'll add Kygrios to the mix. He had the 1980s bad boy mouth on him. It was honestly a breath of fresh air hearing him fire from the hip, instead of always giving politically-correct rehearsed answers that we mostly hear these days. I miss the days of Connors calling Lendl a "f****** pusher" during the match, or when Lendl in an interview said that McEnroe can't beat him anymore(that ticked me off big-time when I saw that, but I respect that these days). Don't get me started with McEnroe. That guy was a riot. When interviewed after losing a slam final, he was asked what he thought about the match. He said he never received that much money for losing. Funny stuff. Kyrgios was pretty funny when interacting with the crowd in court 17 when I was at the USO in 2018. Yeah, he's a clown. But he was entertaining. My friends that weren't really tennis fans at the time thought Kyrgios was the most entertaining. He was spinning his racket with neon-colored strings and chatting with the crowd. What a clown. But he was entertaining. When you watch him live, it reminds me a lot of the retired pros playing the PowerShares tourney. They were half-serious. They wanted to win, but clowned around at times. Kyrgios' serves look so ridiculously easy when seeing him play live. Part of that was his clowning around. But the other was part was his natural motion.
Why do you need Kyrgios for that. There is similar behavior done by Medvedev but he is not a freak.
 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Usually players become favorites because they win Slams or they are local players whom you watched developing from their junior days. Exception - Anna!
 

Razer

G.O.A.T.
Fan of Nalbandian for his tennis skills
Fan of Kyrgios for his clown entertainment value

Like Dustin Brown as well when he beat Nadal on Grass.

Kournikova, Harlkeload, Vaidisova etc etc because they are pretty ... these are reasons beyond tennis
 

Razer

G.O.A.T.
I liked Kygrios until he stooped too low especially with Wawrinka. He has an entertaining game and personality but I cannot look past his mean and often malicious comments. McEnroe or Connors were never this mean. Cringey sure, but Kyrgios is a bitter, bitter man I would never like to be around with.

True, I too used to be his fan for his clown value and even now I think still am, but his recent months behaviour has become ultra cringe, especially running his mouth with boris becker.... I think he has reached that point where he is driving away his own fans by refusing to grow up.
 
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