Now that we’re coming down to the wire at the US Open tourney, many tennis fans are wondering if Nadal can win it for the first time ever. But win or lose, his reputation is secure with all his other Grand Slam titles.
But there are a whole raft of players who never managed to win more than one slam.
I’ll admit that calling them one-win wonders is a bit harsh as to reel off seven victories in a row in a Slam takes an awful lot of talent. However, for one reason or another, they weren’t able to do the trick again. In alphabetical order, and without noting which of the slams they won, here’s an incomplete list of one-slam winners going back quite a few years:
Mal Anderson, Sven Davidson, Pat Cash, Michael Chang, Mark Edmondson, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gaston Gaudio, Andres Gimeno, Andres Gomez, Goran Ivanesivic, Thomas Johansson, Petr Korda, Carlos Moyer, Thomas Muster, Yannick Noah, Manny Orantes, Rafael Osuna, Adriano Panatta, Andy Roddick, Roscoe Tanner, Brian Teacher.
For Australian interest, Anderson won in NY (at Forest Hills on grass), Mark Edmondson won the Aussie, also on grass, and Pat Cash won famously at Wimbledon. Of all the players, Tanner had the fastest recorded serve in his victory – 153 mph.
Only two of the above are still playing. Tennis scribes give Ferrero zero chance of winning another slam title, and they feel the odds of Roddick doing it are extremely long.
As for Federer’s shot at a Grand Slam next year, or the year after when he’ll probably retire not long after the Olympics, the odds are again extremely long. All of which makes Rod Laver’s double truly remarkable.
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