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The Women’s singles of the 2017 US Open ended in remarkable fashion as Sloane Stephens trounced compatriot Madison Keys in the first all-American US Open final since 2002. Stephens who was ranked 83rd coming into the tournament is the second unseeded Grand Slam winner this year after Jelena Ostapenko at the French Open.
Including Stephens’ triumph at the US Open, there have been a total of 12 instances when unseeded players won a Grand Slam title. Let’s take a look at all such instances.
#1 Mark Edmondson, 1976 Australian Open
The first such instance came at the Australian Open in 1976 and it came at a time when top professionals opted to skip the event citing remoteness of Australia and the low prize money as major reasons.
Mark Edmondson entered the tournament as an unseeded player who had won only one Grand Slam match at the time. Edmondson, 21 back then, had to fight his way in his first three matches before registering a straight set victory over 13th seed Dick Crealy.
In the semi-finals, Edmondson defeated top seed Ken Rosewall in four sets to reach his maiden Grand Slam final where he would face defending champion and 2nd seed John Newcombe. Edmondson came back from a set down to shock Newcombe and become the first unseeded champion of a Grand Slam tournament.
#2 Chris O'Neil, 1978 Australian Open
Here is a player who won a Grand Slam yet her career-high ranking was 80. Chris O’Neil came into the 1978 Australian Open as an underdog in a weak field with Sue Barker and Renata Tomanova being the most notable players participating in the tournament.
The 21-year-old O’Neil won her matches comfortably and in straight sets, reaching her maiden Grand Slam final where she was up against 7th seeded American Betsy Nagelsen. O’Neil took the first set 6-3 before holding her nerve to win the second set on a tie-break, thus winning her only Grand Slam title.
She remains to be the last Australian woman to have won the Australian Open.
#3 Mats Wilander, 1982 French Open
Following the premature retirement of Bjorn Borg, Swedish tennis needed a new torch-bearer and they found one during the 1982 French Open. An unseeded 17-year old named Mats Wilander reached the fourth round and was up against the previous year’s runner-up and second seed Ivan Lendl.
Wilander shocked Lendl in five sets and produced upsets over 5th seed Vitas Gerulaitis and 4th seed Jose Luis Clerc in the quarters and semis respectively. In the latter match, Wilander showed a remarkable display of fair play by requesting a replay of the game because he didn’t want to win thanks to a questionable referee decision.
In the final, Wilander was up against 3rd seed and 1977 French Open winner Guillermo Vilas. The match lasted 4 hours and 42 minutes and Wilander won the match in four sets that included a bagel in the third set. Mats Wilander thus became the youngest male Grand Slam champion.
#4 Boris Becker, 1985 Wimbledon
17 years and 227 days! That’s how old Boris Becker was when he entered the 1985 Wimbledon Championships. He was ranked 20th in the world but the Grand Slam seedings back then were limited to 16.
Becker defeated 7th seed Joakim Nystrom in a thrilling five-setter in the third round before defeating 16th seed Tim Mayotte to reach his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final. In the quarter-finals, he beat Henri Leconte before getting the better of 5th seed Anders Jarryd to reach the final.
Becker’s opponent in the final was 8th seed Kevin Curren who had defeated John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors in the quarters and semis respectively. Curren was the favourite but it was Becker who took the first set before the 8th seed won the second set in a tie-break.
The teenager held his nerve and won the third and fourth sets to overtake Mats Wilander as the youngest male Grand Slam champion.
#5 Andre Agassi, 1994 US Open
Most people may not be acquainted with the fact that Andre Agassi won one of his eight Grand Slam titles as an unseeded player and this title actually came after he won the Wimbledon in 1992. 1994 wasn’t turning out to be a good year for Agassi as he missed the Australian and endured second and fourth round exits at the French Open and Wimbledon respectively.
However, he rebounded brilliantly at the US Open. Agassi beat 12th seed Wayne Ferreira in the third round before beating 6th seed Michael Chang in a marathon encounter in the fourth.
In the quarter-finals, Agassi defeated Thomas Muster before beating 9th seeded US compatriot Todd Martin in the semis to set up a final clash against 1991 Wimbledon champion and 4th seed Michael Stich.
Agassi bashed the German 6-1 in the first set. Stich was showing resilience but his American opponent held his nerve and won both the second and third set by 7-6 and 7-5 respectively to win his second Grand Slam title.
#6 Gustavo Kuerten, 1997 French Open
Mats Wilander won his maiden ATP title at the 1982 French Open but since then, there was no player who won his first ATP title at a Grand Slam event. However, that streak was broken at the 1997 French Open.
20-year-old Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten produced one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when he defeated the 1995 French Open champion and clay-court specialist Thomas Muster in the third round and then defeated Ukrainian Andriy Medvedev in a nail-biting five-setter to reach the quarter-finals where he would face defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
Kuerten stunned the Russian in five sets to reach the semi-finals where he defeated qualifier Filip Dewulf from Belgium to reach his maiden Grand Slam and ATP final. In the final, Kuerten was up against two-time champion Sergi Bruguera.
The Brazilian shocked the Spaniard in straight sets to win his maiden Grand Slam -becoming the first Brazilian to win a Grand Slam title in nearly 40 years since Maria Bueno's Wimbledon triumph in 1959.
#7 Goran Ivanisevic, 2001 Wimbledon
One of the finest left-handed players during the 1990s, Goran Ivanisevic tried his luck at Wimbledon glory three times in 1992, 1994, and 1998 but lost on all three occasions in the final. By the time the 2001 Wimbledon Championships were around the corner, the Croat was out of the top 100 of the ATP rankings and could not earn an automatic berth in the main draw. However, he was awarded a wildcard to the tournament due to his past performances.
After a routine win in the first round, Ivanisevic defeated 1998 French Open champ Carlos Moya in the second round before beating a young Andy Roddick in Round 3. The Croat reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final in three years after defeating former US Open runner-up Greg Rusedski in the fourth round.
In the quarter-finals, he beat 4th seed Marat Safin to set up an encounter with 6th seed Tim Henman in the semis. Ivanisevic won the first set but Henman won the second set and bageled him in the third set.
After rain halted play twice, Ivanisevic eventually won the match to reach the final where he would face last year’s runner-up Patrick Rafter.
The final was an intense one with both players winning alternate sets as the match went into a deciding set. The final set went to sudden death and after failing to convert a few match points, Ivanisevic finally got his moment at Big W. He remains to be the only man to have won a Grand Slam as a wildcard.
#8 Gaston Gaudio, 2004 French Open
Argentine Gaston Gaudio entered the 2004 French Open ranked 44th in the world and began his tournament by defeating fellow Argentine and son of the last Argentine male Grand Slam winner Guillermo Canas in a thrilling five-setter.
He followed this up with another five-set win over former World No.5 and 14th seed Jiri Novak. He then defeated 1999 Australian Open runner-up Thomas Enqvist in the third round in four sets before registering his first straight sets win of the tournament over Russian Igor Andreev to enter the quarter-finals.
In the quarters, Gaudio defeated three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten in four sets following which, he beat compatriot David Nalbandian in the semi-finals in straight sets to set up the first and till date, the only all-Argentine Grand Slam final against Guillermo Coria.
Coria thrashed Gaudio in the first two sets 6-0, 6-3 and was looking to finally conquer his French Open title but Gaudio fought back and won the next three sets to win the match but not before saving match points. This win brought Gaudio into the Top 10 of the ATP rankings.
#9 Serena Williams, 2007 Australian Open
Serena Williams had a very disappointing 2006 as injuries and depression kept her out of the sport for a long time which resulted in the American falling out of the Top 100 of the WTA rankings for some time. Serena entered the 2007 Australian Open ranked 81st in the world and was considered by many to be “out of shape”.
However, she began her tournament pretty well by winning her first two matches easily before defeating 5th seed Nadia Petrova in a tight three-setter. Serena then defeated 11th seed Jelena Jankovic in the fourth round to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final in two years.
In the quarter-finals, Serena came from a set down to defeat 16th seed Shahar Pe’er and defeated 10th seed Nicole Vaidisova in two tight sets to reach the final where she would play top seed Maria Sharapova, their first encounter since the 2005 Australian Open semi-finals.
Unlike that game, this one was way too one-sided as Serena dropped only three games in demolishing the Russian 6-1, 6-2 to win her third Australian Open and eighth Grand Slam title.
#10 Kim Clijsters, 2009 US Open
Almost two years after winning her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2005 US Open, Kim Clijsters announced her retirement from the sport. However, in 2009, after playing an exhibition match at Wimbledon’s Center Court, Clijsters announced that she would be returning back to tennis.
The Belgian received a wildcard into the main draw of the 2009 US Open and began her tournament by dropping only two games in her first round victory over Ukrainian Viktoriya Kutuzova. In the second round, she defeated future Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli in three sets before defeating compatriot Kirsten Flipkens in the third round to set up a fourth round encounter against Venus Williams, their first game since the quarter-finals of the 2005 US Open.
Both players bageled each other in the first two sets before Clijsters won the third 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals where she registered a routine victory over Li Na to set up a semi-final clash against Serena Williams. Clijsters defeated Serena in straight to reach the final against 9th seed Caroline Wozniacki.
Clijsters defeated Wozniacki 7-5, 6-3 to become the first female wildcard winner of a Grand Slam and only the second player to do so after Goran Ivanisevic at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships.
#11 Jelena Ostapenko, 2017 French Open
Latvian Jelena Ostapenko began her French Open this year by coming back from a set down to win her first round game over American Louisa Chirico. She followed this with a second round win over Rio Olympics champion Monica Puig.
Ostapenko then defeated Lesia Tsurenko in the third round before coming from a set down to beat 2010 runner-up and last year’s semi-finalist Sam Stosur, thus reaching her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final where she beat Caroline Wozniacki in a similar fashion to advance to the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, Ostapenko was up against Timea Bacsinszky in a battle of the birthday girls. Both players fought hard but it was the 20-year old Latvian who reached the final. Ostapenko thus became the first Latvian Grand Slam finalist, bettering Ernests Gulbis’ semi-final run at the 2014 Roland Garros.
The 20-year old’s opponent in the final was Simona Halep who was in her second French Open and Grand Slam final and a win would crown her the WTA World No.1. Halep won the first set but Ostapenko was resilient and fought back hard to win the next two sets and stun Halep to become the first ever Latvian to win a Grand Slam.
#12 Sloane Stephens, 2017 US Open
Once considered to be a future star when she reached the semi-finals of the 2013 Australian Open, Sloane Stephens’ form suffered a dip from 2014-2016 due to inconsistencies and injuries. She returned to the Top 100 of the WTA rankings, having been ranked 957th in July, by reaching the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.
At the US Open, Stephens entered the main draw by virtue of protected ranking. She registered wins over Grand Slam runners-up in her first two matches against Roberta Vinci and Dominika Cibulkova respectively. She beat Ashleigh Barty in the third round in straight sets before defeating 30th seed Julia Gorges in the fourth round to enter her first Grand Slam quarter-final in four years.
In the quarters, the 24-year old defeated 16th seed Anastasija Sevastova following which, she came back from a second set bagel to beat Venus Williams in three sets to reach her first Grand Slam final. In the final, she was up against her friend 15th seed Madison Keys and dropped only three games to win her maiden Grand Slam title. Her win took her from 83rd to 17th in the WTA rankings.
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