4 great tennis players to have never won the French Open

Pete Sampras

Sampras held the all-time Grand Slam record until it was broken by a certain Roger Federer

Former World No. 1 Pete Sampras is widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time. He has fourteen grand slam titles to his name, a record that went unbroken until a certain Swiss player named Roger Federer blew his records out of the water.

Most successful on the grass courts of Wimbledon, Sampras had multiple titles on every other surface – except the French Open. Unable to effectively handle the slow clay courts, the American only ever reached the semi-finals at Roland-Garros, in 1996.

That was his best-ever showing at the Grand Slam, one that saw his run end with a straight sets loss to Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who was also the eventual champion at the tournament.

It was often said that Sampras’ inability to adapt his playing style to the slow-moving clay court surface was his downfall at the French Open.