A week after our consultation on the hierarchy of the best French players in the history of the ATP, The Team now invites you to decide on your top 3 concerning another category of champions: those who were extremely strong, who often piled up trophies and great performances, but who perhaps did not reach their full potential and who, in any case, is missing a Grand Slam title.
Browse below the files of sixteen pre-selected players (the principle was that it was necessary to count at least one Grand Slam final, in career, which excludes candidates like Nikolay Davydenko, Gaël Monfils or Tim Henman, for example), then make your choice. We will reveal the result of this consultation on the day of the men’s semi-finals.
Pre-selected players
(in chronological order of highest ATP ranking reached)
Tom Okker (HOL)
Best ranking: No. 3 (1974)
Number of titles: 35 (the circuit structure, at the time, does not allow to locate the M1000 equivalences)
Name of finals in GC: 1 (US Open 1968)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 4
Henri Leconte (FRA)
Best ranking: No. 5 (1986)
Number of titles: 11 (including 1 M1000)
Name of finals in GC: 1 (Roland-Garros 1988)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 3
Miloslav Mecir (SLQ)
Best ranking: No. 4 (1988)
Number of titles: 11, including Olympic gold and 3 M1000
Number of finals in GC : 2 (US Open 1986 et Australie 1989)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 2
Miloslav Mecir here at Roland-Garros in 1987. (M. Deschamps/L’Équipe)
Andrei Medvedev (UKR)
Best ranking: No. 3 (1994)
Number of titles: 11 (including 4 M1000)
Name of finals in GC: 1 (Roland-Garros 1999)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 1
Marcelo Rios (CHL)
Highest ranking: No. 1 (1998)
Number of titles: 18, including 5 M1000
Name of finals in GC: 1 (Australie 1998)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 0
Alex Strap (ESP)
Best ranking: No. 2 (1999)
Number of titles: 17 (including 1 Masters and 2 M1000)
Number of finals in GC : 2 (Roland-Garros 1998 et 2001)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 0
Todd Martin (USA)
Best ranking: No. 4 (1999)
Number of titles: 8
Number of finals in GC: 2 (Open d’Australie 1994 et US Open 1999))
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 4
Todd Martin, unfortunate finalist of the 1999 US Open. (JM. Pochat/L’Équipe)
Cédric Pioline (FRA)
Best ranking: No. 5 (2000)
Number of titles: 5 (including 1 M1000)
Number of finals in GC : 2 (US Open 1993 et Wimbledon 1997)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 2
Guillermo Coria (ARG)
Best ranking: N°3 (2004)
Number of titles: 9 (including 2 M1000)
Name of finals in GC: 1 (Roland-Garros 2004)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 1
David Nalbandian (ARG)
Best ranking: N°3 (2006)
Number of titles: 11, including 1 Master and 2 M1000
Name of finals in GC: 1 (Wimbledon 2002)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 4
David Nalbandian reached the Wimbledon final in 2002. (N. Luttiau/L’Équipe)
Robin Söderling (SUE)
Best ranking: N°4 (2010)
Number of titles: 10 (including 1 M1000)
Number of finals in GC : 2 (Roland-Garros 2009 and 2010)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 0
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) Free Mp3 Download
Best ranking: N°5 (2012)
Number of titles: 18 (including 2 M1000)
Name of finals in GC: 1 (Open d’Australie 2008)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 5
David Ferrer (ESP)
Best ranking: N°3 (2013)
Number of titles: 27 (including 1 M1000)
Name of finals in GC: 1 (Roland-Garros 2013)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 5
The needy David Ferrer has one Grand Slam final and five semi-finals to his credit. (N. Luttiau/The Team)
Tomas Berdych (RTC)
Best ranking: N°4 (2015)
Number of titles: 13 (including 1 M1000)
Name of finals in GC: 1 (Wimbledon 2010)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 6
Alexander Zverev (ALL)
Best ranking: N°3 (2017)
Number of titles: 19 (including 2 Masters, 1 Olympic gold and 5 M1000)
Name of finals in GC: 1 (US Open 2020)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 4
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
Best ranking: N°3 (2021)
Number of titles: 8 (including 1 Masters and 2 Masters 1000
Number of finals in GC: 1 (Roland-Garros 2021)
Number of other semi-finals in GC: 4
