"One Slam Wonders"

Everyone pretty much agrees that barring some unforeseen occurance (injury, kidnapping, Andy Roddick developing a backhand), Roger Federer will continue to win Grand Slam tournaments. By the time he's through he will have surpassed Pete Sampras as the top Slam winner of all time. But what of the players who, one time and one time only, put it all together to win a Slam final. Who is the unlikeliest Slam winner of all time?

I'm not going to go through every one-time winner of a Slam. Number one, I don't know the names of every winner off the top of my head and number two, I don't get paid to write this column and therefore do not have the time to do the research. So let's go over the winners that I can think of.

Michael Stich, winner of the 1991 Wimbledon final over Boris Becker. The big question is not how he won one Slam final but how did he keep from winning more? He had a picture perfect serve and one of the sweetest one handed backhands of his time. He made it to a couple more Slam finals and also won the ATP World Championship in 1993. But he's not the unlikeliest.

Thomas Muster, winner of the 1995 French Open. Who knows if Muster would have been able to add a couple of more French crowns to his resume had he not had had his left knee mangled by a drunk driver after his semi-final at the Lipton Championships in 1989. Muster won the majority of his career titles on clay but also was a two time semifinalist at the Australian Open. But he is far from the unlikeliest winner.

Adriano Panatta was one of the most stylish players in history and also the winner of the 1976 French Open (you're going to see a pattern here shortly). He is also the only player to have ever beaten Bjorn Borg at the French Open, actually doing it twice, in 1973 and again in 1976. He also helped Italy win the Davis Cup in 1976. Too many credentials to be the unlikeliest winner.

Michael Chang won the 1989 French Open at the age of seventeen defeating Stefan Edberg in five sets in the final. He's probably best remembered for serving underhanded to Ivan Lendl in a fourth round match. Not exactly a class move but it helped him to win the match. Still, he's not the unlikeliest winner.

Andres Gomez, winner of the 1990 French Open. It seems that the red clay of the French open is the great equalizer. Gomez was not the favorite going into the final. That distinction belonged to Andre Agassi who was defeated by Gomez in four sets. Gomez was also the number one ranked doubles player in 1986. Too good to be the unlikliest winner.

Yannick Noah and Albert Costa (and to think of it, Juan Carlos Ferrero) also won their only Slam titles at the French Open. So who earns the honors of being the most unlikeliest Slam winner of all time? That honor would have to go to the Huddled Masses Hall of Famer Mark Edmondson who defeated John Newcombe in the final of the 1976 Australian Open. "Eddo" as he was affectionately called was ranked number 212 in the world at the time which made him the lowest ranked player to win a major since the ATP rankings were introdued in 1973. Of such humble achievements are the Heroes of the Huddled Masses made.

Tennis Factoid: Edmondson's victory at the 1976 Australian Open was also his first career singles title.

back to Jerry Rules