Who is the best player to never reach the top 10?

UnderratedSlam

G.O.A.T.
To me it might be Kohlschreiber.

1. Admittedly "just" one slam QFs, but TEN 4th rounds too.

2. Has a great game.

3. Managed to beat many big names and give other ones a very tough time.

4. Won 8 tour titles. Not bad for a no. 16?

5. Five QFs at M1000s.

6. 25 wins over top 10 players. 20% winning rate, which is pretty good for a no. 16. Certainly better than Zverev in 2019.

7. Beat Djokovic twice, Murray and Nadal once each. Some top 10ers barely have any such wins. (OK, no wins over Federer, 0-14, probably coz his generation crapped their pants when playing him - unlike 1986-1987 generation (sans Gasquet of course)).

8. Also has multiple wins over Delpo, Cilic (7-5), Ferrer, Davydenko, Zverev (3-2), Thiem (2-1), Berdych, Soderling (5-1).

9. Won Halle, which some RF fans consider the 5th slam.

10. Coz I needed 10 reasons but couldn't find a 10th reason.

Who was/is better?

Let's try to keep it down to retired pros and veterans. No NextGenners.

EDIT: So far other (non-troll) suggestions have been

Smid
Schalken
El-Aynaoui
Santoro
Lopez
 
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UnderratedSlam

G.O.A.T.
Younes El Aynaoui is a candidate IMHO, although his stats aren't quite as good as Kohlschreiber or Smid (highest ranking No 14 and 5 titles won). He did however reach four slam quarter finals, one of which ended in a 19-21 5th set defeat to Roddick.
4 slam QFs is a strong argument.

The Roddick match is legendary almost.

He once scorned me for talking too much and too loudly at an ATP event. I just gave him a sarcastic smirk. He wasn't playing, he was in the stands close by. And it was a small side-court, not a center-court. Damn, that was petty... Yunez needs to learn to respect us fans more, who foot the bill for their villas and arm-candy girlfriends...
 
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jonwbecker

New User
I've always thought Sam Querrey is a talented, well-rounded player. Good mover and athletic for a big guy, plus with a big serve. Has the game to beat top players when he gets hot. He's beaten Murray, Djokovic & Wawrinka twice each, and Nadal, Cilic and DelPo once each. Querrey certainly seems better to me than Isner, who's been in the top 10 on occasion. Maybe he doesn't have fire in his belly like Isner but I like his game better.
 
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James P

G.O.A.T.
Non-trollable suggestions:

Byron Black
Jan Siemerink
Younes El-Aynaoui
Fabrice Santoro
Nicolas Escude
Jan-Micheal Gambill
Max Mirnyi
Dominik Hrbaty
Vladimir Voltchkov
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Feliciano Lopez
 

King No1e

G.O.A.T.
Fabrice Santoro for consistency. Sjeng Schalken for results. Kohlschreiber and Lopez for good consistency and good results.
 

mike schiffer

Semi-Pro
4 slam QFs is a strong argument.

The Roddick match is legendary almost.

He once scorned me for talking too much and too loudly at an ATP event. I just gave him a sarcastic smirk. He wasn't playing, he was in the stands close by. And it was a small side-court, not a center-court. Damn, that was petty... Yunez needs to learn to respect us fans more, who foot the bill for their villas and arm-candy girlfriends...
Shaddup.....
 

Lleytonstation

Talk Tennis Guru
It had better not.

We run a tight ship here...
giphy.gif

Very tight ship...
 

UnderratedSlam

G.O.A.T.
Hey now, he was busy explaining to Rafa and djoker fans that the other era of ships were not bad and that the current era of ships should be questioned.
A good captain has to be able to multi-task, otherwise cleaning ship toilets is all I could hire him for...

But what to expect from a Fedfan ship captain? We should be glad he didn't bump the ship into a cliff...
 

victa

New User
I think I heard Brad Gilbert say that Lopez has the most wins against top 10 player for someone who's never reached the top 10. So I'm going with Lopez. If this poll came out in 2016 I would have said Fabio Fognini or Kevin Anderson.
Runners up - Kyrgios and Querry
 

buscemi

Hall of Fame
I think I heard Brad Gilbert say that Lopez has the most wins against top 10 player for someone who's never reached the top 10. So I'm going with Lopez. If this poll came out in 2016 I would have said Fabio Fognini or Kevin Anderson.
Runners up - Kyrgios and Querry

I think that's wrong. Santoro had 40 top 10 wins vs. 38 for Lopez. Also, Lopez's record against top 10 players is 38-92 (29.2% winning percentage). I'm not sure how that compares to other players mentioned in this thread, but it seems low.
 
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