The one that got away: 10 near-Slammers missing only the French Open

Whether it’s the long, grueling rallies on the terre battue, or the fact that there are more specialized clay-courters to grind past, the French Open is generally regarded as the toughest Grand Slam to win, and the stats tell the story—of all the players who’ve won three of the four majors, it’s the most common missing piece.

There’s one player on this list who can still take their name off this list. But as of now, there are exactly 10 players in the Open Era, men and women included, who won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open, but never Roland Garros. Some came so close, though.

1. John Newcombe

The Australian legend’s best years straddled the Open era—he won two Grand Slam titles before it, and five more after. But the one major to elude him throughout his career was the French Open, where his best results were a pair of quarterfinals in 1965 and 1969.

2. Arthur Ashe

The first of several players on this list to win the other three majors once each but never the French Open, Ashe conquered the US Open in 1968, the Australian Open in 1970 and Wimbledon in 1975. But he never completed the set, his best runs in Paris being two quarterfinals in 1970 and 1971.

3. Virginia Wade

Like Ashe, Wade won all the others once—the US Open in 1968, the Australian Open in 1972 and Wimbledon in 1977, which made her the last British woman to win a major. But just like Newcombe and Ashe, she never made it past the quarterfinals in Paris, falling at that stage in 1970 and 1972.

4. Jimmy Connors

The American tennis icon already had the other three majors in his pocket by the end of his breakout year in 1974, and he would eventually win one more Wimbledon and four more US Opens. He never won Roland Garros, but he also didn’t play it between 1974 and 1978, which were five of his very best years. His best results on the terre battue were four semifinals in 1979, 1980, 1984 and 1985.

5. Stefan Edberg

The Swedish serve-and-volleyer won each of the other three majors twice but never won the French Open. He’s the first of two players on this list to come within one win of completing his career Slam, reaching the 1989 final in Paris before falling to a 17-year-old Michael Chang in five sets.

In an interview ahead of his International Tennis Hall of Fame induction in 2004, Edberg was asked if there was one match he could point to as the one that got away.

“It comes back to the French Open because I had a great chance of winning it in 1989, playing Michael Chang in the final,” he said. “That is really the match you would like to replay a few points, which could have made a big difference.

“At the time I didn’t really think about it that much because, hey, I just had my best French Open, and I thought I would get more chances to win the title. But it never came around again.”

6. Boris Becker

Like Edberg, the big-serving German won six majors, though his split was slightly different—he won two Australian Opens, three Wimbledons and one US Open. He never got past the semifinals in Paris, falling at the final-four stage three times, in 1987, 1989 (to Edberg) and 1991.

7. Pete Sampras

The most decorated champion on this list, Sampras won a total of 14 Grand Slam titles—two Australian Opens, seven Wimbledons and five US Opens—but never Roland Garros. His best result was reaching the semifinals in 1996. After winning three five-setters in five matches leading up to the semis, he ran out of gas against Yevgeny Kafelnikov, losing 7-6 (4), 6-0, 6-2.

“I was very tired. Very, very tired today,” the American said afterwards. “After the first set, I just felt the balloon popped.”

8. Martina Hingis

The player on this list who came the closest to not being on it is Hingis. After winning the other three majors as a 16-year-old in 1997, the Swiss eventually racked up five majors, with another two Australian Opens. She came agonizingly close at Roland Garros, reaching two finals—she fell to Iva Majoli in the 1997 final, 6-4, 6-2; and to Steffi Graf in a dramatic 1999 final, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, having been three points from victory while serving for the match at 6-4, 5-4, 15-0.

During her final year as a singles player in 2007, she was asked if there was anything she’d change in her career.

“Maybe that French Open final. I wish I won that one,” she said. “I was in control, but all of a sudden it slipped away. I let it slip away. I was three points from victory. But that’s maybe one of the only ones that didn’t go my way—many other things did, some didn’t. It kind of balances out.”

9. Lindsay Davenport

One of Hingis’ chief rivals, Davenport won each of the other majors once, beating the Swiss in the 1998 US Open and 2000 Australian Open finals, and Graf in the 1999 Wimbledon final. Her best result in Paris was the semifinals in 1998, where she fell to the tireless Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, 6-3, 7-6 (5). She also reached another three quarterfinals at the clay-court major, in 1996, 1999 and 2005.

“The French Open was always going to be the toughest for me personally,” Davenport said. “I started playing tennis at age 5 in Southern California, where there were no real options to practice on clay. I didn’t step foot on a clay court until I was 11 years old, and then it was only for two or three weeks every summer. I never learned how to move on clay, how to slide, how to get in and out of the corners on balance.

“It’s a much different, more creative game on clay—more building of points, more use of angles. The slower surface of the clay negates the power of hard serves or hard groundies, making it a little easier to fight off those shots. The physicality of playing on clay is also very tough. The endurance, the speed, the strength.

“In my opinion, it’s the hardest one to win.”

10. Angelique Kerber

The former No. 1 is the only active player on this list. She’s won each of the other majors once—the Australian Open and US Open in 2016, Wimbledon in 2018—but her best results at Roland Garros are a pair of quarterfinal finishes in 2012 and 2018.

“Winning three different Grand Slams, I think it’s just the best thing,” she said after her win at the All-England Club in 2018. “About clay, I think we’ll have to see. I think it’s a longer way to go for that.”