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The French Open is the only major grand slam in Tennis to be played on the clay court. Those who follow the sport of tennis and know about its history will agree to the fact that clay court is probably one of the most trickiest courts in the sport of tennis, for it has seen many greats go down fighting on it while achieving heights of glory on other courts.
French Open is a tennis grand slam played every year from the last week of May to the second week of June in Paris, France. It hosts both male and female championships, along with doubles (men, women & mixed). This year, the Roland Garros (the other name for French Open) has already begun and the excitement is reaching new levels.
At this point of time, we felt that it’s probably apt that we go down memory lane and look at 5 of the tennis legends that failed to seize the French Cup and were therefore deprived of a career all-slam.
#5 John McEnroe
There’s very little in the world of tennis that John McEnroe hasn’t achieved and sadly, the French Cup is one of them. McEnroe is widely regarded as one of the finest to have ever set foot on the tennis court, be it his playing style, which included a terrific serve and volley, a sheer brilliant net game and of course, the temperament.
McEnroe came closest to the title against Evan Lendl in 1984 Finals, where he was 2 sets up and yet lost the final having been exhausted by the energy he devoted in the first 2 sets. Lendl breezed through the last 3 sets, making it McEnroe’s closest ever coming to lifting the French crown.
While it’s arguable whether his temperament was sporting, it is no doubt agreeable that his passion was visible through his antics. McEnroe has often regretted to have never won the cup to add to his illustrious grand slam tally of 7. We can only say to the legend that we still admire him and are delighted to have seen him play.
It just seems that the clay court isn’t very favourable to tennis greats.
#4 Pete Sampras
Talking about legends, Pete Sampras came to the world of tennis before Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and took away and was leading the grand slam tally in men’s department with 14 grand slams, that included 7 Wimbledon titles.
Sampras didn’t have a pleasant time at Rolland Garros since he usually had an early exit from the tournament. The typical Pete Sampras style of serve and volley didn’t lead to fruitful results in Paris. His best result in the French Open came in 1996 with a semi-final loss against Yevgeny Kafelnikov from Russia.
Sampras though doesn’t have a shabby record on the clay court, with a win % over 60. It is though very minimal compared to his over 70 and over 80 win % on hard and grass courts respectively.
#3 Stefan Edberg
A champion, who has to his CV, the great honour of coaching the tennis great, Roger Federer, who has 1 French Open to his name. Sad enough though, Edberg doesn’t have one to his own name.
Edberg was the only player till his time to have won the career grand slam in juniors, a feat that people saw him achieving in the men’s circuit as well. It wasn’t to be though since the French title was never seized by Edberg in men’s singles.
Edberg lost to Michael Chang in what is believed to be one of the greatest tennis matches ever for he played a very young Chang from the USA – who subsequently, upon winning the match (which was the French Open 1989 final) became the youngest grand slam winner ever.
Edberg, with 6 grand slams to his name, has often stated that he knew that he wasn’t a great clay court player but he still came back every year since he saw it as a great preparation to Wimbledon. Probably, it was this focus of his, set on Wimbledon, that seized to not yield his great results at Roland Garros.
#4 Boris Becker
“BOOM BOOM Becker”, one of tennis’ most prolific and popular faces in the 1990’s, was this young player from Germany. Becker was, by nature, an aggressive player who didn’t like the waiting game; however, the clay court is all about the waiting game. His style was more suited to Wimbledon, where he triumphed at a very young.
“Clay was against my personality,” admitted Becker in one of his interviews and he has even gone on to say that he doesn’t regret the efforts he put in on the red court. He reached the French Open semifinal’s 3 times, failing to eventually win the cup.
Becker has to his name 6 grand slams – 3 Wimbledon titles, 2 Australian Opens and 1 US Open. What is surprising in Becker’s case is that he grew up playing on these clay courts and yet it wasn’t his cup of tea. We can only say that his aggressive playing style is what gave him the title “BOOM BOOM” and while he didn’t win French Open, he still gave tough fights to Edberg (in a 5-setter), Andre Agassi, and Mats Wilander.
#1 Martina Hingis
A tennis star from Switzerland, whose career lasted for around 2 decades, in which she won many titles in singles – the French Crown, however, is a title that she didn’t have the honour of winning.
She did win this crown at the age of only 12 with the French Open Single’s Girls Title, making people see it as a sign of things to come from this little maestro from Switzerland. However, it wasn't to be.
Years later, in 1999, against Steffi Graf, Hingis lost the final and was so bitterly disappointed that she wasn’t willing to come onto the stage for the prize distribution. It was only after constant efforts from her mother that she was convinced and accepted her runner’s up trophy.
This would remain her best performance in French Open women’s singles, in a career that has otherwise ruled all the courts of tennis and added to her illustrious milestones.
