At the first grand slam of the season in Melbourne, Jannik Sinner won his first grand slam title. In the final, Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev, who has also won one Grand Slam title. Medvedev has two consecutive defeats in Grand Slams, including the 2023 U.S. Open when he was defeated by Novak Djokovic. Like Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz also has a perfect record when playing in Grand Slam finals. He won both Grand Slams in which he made it to the finals.
Rather than talk about players with perfect records in the finals, this article will focus on players who have made it to the multiple Grand Slam finals without being able to win.
Casper Ruud
In September 2022, Casper Ruud reached a ranking of #2 in the ATP rankings. In 2022, he paying in two Grand Slam finals. In the final of the French Open, the Norwegian player was defeated badly by the king of the clay, Rafael Nadal. Nadal defeated Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0. A few months later, Ruud played in the final of the U.S. Open against Carlos Alcaraz, with Alcaraz emerging victorious. Alcaraz, from Spain, defeated Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(7-1), 6-3.
Ruud played in his third Grand Slam final at the 2023 French Open. Unfortunately for Ruud, he faced the all-time Grand Slam leader, Novak Djokovic. Like Nadal, Djokovic swept Ruud in three sets, 7-6(7-1), 6-3, 7-5. Ruud, who is currently ranked #12 in the world and has won 10 ATP 250 tournaments, is still chasing his first Grand Slam victory.
Harry Hopman
Like Ruud, Harry Hopman, after whom the prestigious Hopman Cup tennis tournament is named, has also lost three Grand Slam finals. Hopman had great success in the Davis Cup where he won a record 16 titles as Captain of the Australian team. Hopman did not have nearly as much success in Grand Slam tournaments, where he went 0-3 in Grand Slam finals. In the 1930s, Hopman played three times in the finals of the Australian Open against other Australians, and each time he was unable to emerge victorious.
At that time, the Australian Open was played on grass. Hopman was defeated twice by his Jack Crawford and once by Edgar Moon. The closes Hopman came to winning was in 1932 when he was defeated by Crawfor in five sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. While Hopman never won a singles Grand Slam tournament, he did win two doubles and four mixed doubles Grand Slam titles.
Several other players lost three times in the finals of grand slams
Bunny Austin was famous for being the only Briton to play in the Wimbledon final for more than seven decades until Andy Murray made it to the finals of the 2012 Wimbledon. Austin was defeated three times in the finals of Grand Slams, twice at Wimbledon and once at the French Open.
Frank Hunter, a gold medal doubles winner at the 1924 Paris Olympics, was also defeated three times in the finals of Grand Slam tournaments. He was defeated twice at the U.S. Open and once at Wimbledon. Frank Riseley lost three Wimbledon finals in 1903, 1904 and 1906, although he did win Wimbledon in doubles in 1902 and 1906. South African player Eric Sturgess was defeated twice in the French Open finals and once at the U.S. Open.
FUN FACT: Novak Djokovic, from Serbia has won the most Grand Slam titles (24). he also has the record for the most defeats in the finals of a Grand Slam, with 12 defeats. With his loss in the Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic overtook Ivan Lendl and Roger Federer, who each had 11 defeats in Grand Slam finals.
Kevin Anderson
Kevin Anderson, from South Africa, reached a career high ranking of #5 in the world in 2018. He played twice in Grand Slam finals. Andersom, who had a great serve, was in the finals of the 2017 U.S. Open and 2018 Wimbledon. Unfortunately for him, he did not manage to win a single set in these two finals. At the US Open, he was defeated by Rafael Nadal 3-6, 3-6, 4-6, and then at Wimbledon the following year, he was defeated by Novak Djokovic 2-6, 2-6, 6-7(3-7).
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Kevin Anderson, aged 37 with a current ranking of #624 in the world, will almost certainly not have the opportunity to play another Grand Slam final. Stefanos Tsitsipas, however, should play in several more Grand Slam finals in the coming years. The Greek player is currently ranked #3 in the world and is playing great tennis. He has previously made it to two Grand Slam finals and was defeated by Djokovic both times. Tsitsipas played his first Grand Slam final at the 2021 French Open. He had a two-set advantage against Djokovic before Djokovic staged an amazing comeback to win the title, 6-7(6-8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Their second clash in a Grand Slam final took place at the 2023 Australian Open, and this time Djokovic won in three sets 6-3, 7-6(7-4), 7-6(7-5).
Alex Corretja
Alex Corretja, who was ranked #2 in the world in 1999, never managed to win a Grand Slam title. The Spanish player was best on clay and made it to the French Open finals twice. The first time, Corretja played against his compatriot Carlos Moya in 1998 with Moya winning 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. Three years later, Corretja lost again in the French Open finals, this time to Gustavo Kuerten, 6-7(3-6), 7-5, 6-2, 6-0.
FUN FACT: Andy Murray and his former coach, Ivan Lendl, had the most consecutive defeats in Grand Slam finals, with each losing four times before winning their first Grand Slam title.
Philippoussis, Martin, Pioline
Mark Philippoussis, Todd Martin, Cedric Pioline all appeared in two Grand Slam finals without winning. Philippoussis was defeated in the finals of the 1998 U.S. Open by Patrick Rafter and the 2003 Wimbledon by Roger Federer. Martin lost in the finals at the 1994 Australian Open and 1999 U.S. Open. Pioline was defeated twice by Pete Sampras in the finals of the 1993 U.S. Open and 1997 Wimbledon.
FUN FACT: During the 1880s, Richard Sears dominated the U.S. Open. He played in seven finals and left the court victorious each time. Thus, with a perfect 7-for-7 record in Grand Slam finals, he is the player with the best success rate in Grand Slam
