#4. Boris Becker
One of the greatest players of all-time, Boris Becker was renowned for his fast and well-placed serve. Even though he had established himself as one of the world’s top players during the late 80s, he didn’t attain the No. 1 ranking until 1991 which he would hold for a total of 12 weeks.
Becker won a total of 49 Singles titles which included six Grand Slam titles including two Australian open titles in 1991 and 1986, three Wimbledon titles in 1985, 1986 and 1989, and a US Open title in 1989.
The German former No. 1 was an exceptional player on grass and carpet courts but seldom struggled on clay courts; the French Open being the only Grand Slam that eluded him with his best performance being semi-final appearances in 1987, 1989 and 1991.During the 1987 tournament, Becker was the second seed and had made his maiden French Open semi-final after defeating the great Jimmy Connors in the quarter-finals.
In the semis, Becker was up against fourth-seeded Mats Wilander who comprehensively beat him 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. After a disappointing fourth round showing in 1988, Becker was once again the second seed in the 1989 tournament and did not have much tough competition throughout the tournament when he faced a Swede for the second consecutive time in the semi-finals.
This time it was Stefan Edberg who beat him in a nail-biting five setter by the scoreline 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-2. He had a horrific performance at the 1990 tournament, being ousted in the opening round before reaching a third Roland Garros semi-final the following year. ‘
After ousting reigning champion Michael Chang in the quarter-finals, the second-seeded Becker was up against fourth-seeded Andre Agassi in the semis. Agassi beat him in four sets to end his hopes of a Career Slam.
That was the last when Becker reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros as he only took part in two other editions of the tournament, being ousted in the second round in 1993, and in the third round in 1995.
