Jannik Sinner, the current champion, and Bjorn Borg are among the nine players who have reached world No. 1 but have never won the US Open.
Even though tennis greats like Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, and the “Big Three” have all won the championship, some of the greatest players in history have failed to do so. Here, we examine the nine men who, despite never winning the US Open, rose to the top of the ATP Rankings.
Borg Bjorn
The fact that Borg, one of the best players in sports history, has never taken home the US Open trophy, is quite amazing. The Swede spent 109 weeks at the top of the ATP Rankings and is most known for his five consecutive Wimbledon victories. He also won six French Open championships.
Nevertheless, the eleven-time Grand Slam champion was defeated in all four of his New York finals. Jimmy Connors defeated Borg in the 1976 and 1978 finals, while John McEnroe defeated him in the 1980 and 1981 finals.
Perhaps the greatest American player of the Open Era who never won a home major is Courier, one of the best players of the early 1990s.
Throughout his career, Courier won four Grand Slam titles—two at the Australian Open and two at the French Open—and held the top spot in the global rankings for an amazing 58 weeks. In 1991, he had the finest performance at the US Open when he lost to Stefan Edberg in one of the most lopsided finals ever.
Kuerten Gustavo
The sport still adores the ever-popular Kuerten, who is most known for his three French Open victories. The Brazilian never won a major outside of Paris, but he did win three Roland Garros titles in five years and held the top spot in the rankings for forty-three weeks. Kuerten’s two US Open quarterfinal appearances in 1999 and 2001 were his best finishes.
Jannik Sinner
This week, Sinner, the current world’s top player, has the opportunity to disqualify himself from this group. Sinner won his maiden Grand Slam championship in January at the Australian Open. He went on to become the world’s top-ranked player in June, holding that position for a total of 12 weeks. With just one quarterfinal performance in 2022, the US Open has been his poorest major to yet.
US Open News
US Open fashion fails miserably for Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff star, but Jannik Sinner looks unimpressive. The winner of the US Open, as predicted by Tim Henman, is not Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, or Novak Djokovic. Ferrero Juan Carlos
Ferrero is presently well-known for being Carlos Alcaraz’s longtime coach, but it’s vital to keep in mind that he was also a very successful player.
The Spaniard, whose most well-known victory came at the 2003 French Open, finished 16 times in his career and held the top spot in the world rankings for eight weeks. That was his last significant triumph, however he did almost win in New York and made it to the US Open final in 2003 before falling to Andy Roddick.
Muster, Thomas
The rising star Muster from Austria is best known for his achievements on the surface, particularly his victory at the 1995 French Open. Muster was one of the top clay court players of his period.Outside of that run, though, he held 44 career singles titles and held the top spot in the world rankings for eight weeks.
Muster’s best US Open finishes were quarterfinals in 1993, 1994, and 1996. He never made it to a major final outside of Roland Garros.
Rios Marcelo
As the only person to hold the top spot in the global rankings without winning a Grand Slam singles championship, Rios has a special place in tennis history. Shortly after making it to the 1998 Australian Open final—his only Grand Slam final—the Chilean spent six weeks as the world’s top seed. Rios’s greatest US Open performance came in 1997 when he made it to the final eight.
Kafelnikov Yevgeny
Kafelnikov, the first Russian player—male or female—to be ranked #1 in the world in singles, had to save his career. In addition to earning gold in Sydney in 2000, he was the 1996 French Open and 1999 Australian Open singles winner in addition to his four doubles Slam victories. Kafelnikov never made it to the US Open final, but he did make it to the semi-finals twice (1999 and 2001).
Carlos Moya
Moya, the 20-time ATP Tour singles champion, held the top spot for two weeks in 1999, making history as Spain’s first male world number one. That followed his lone Slam victory at the French Open in 1998, where he had been second at the Australian Open the year before. Moya advanced to the final four in 1998 but never made it to the New York final.