The glorious history of tennis, which spans over decades, has witnessed numerous iconic unseeded players who have gone against the odds and defeated the most seasoned and seeded players in prestigious tournaments, leaving the fans absolutely stunned. Although these unseeded players entered the tournaments randomly, they ended up giving a tough time on the court to the greatest of tennis stalwarts in the world and earned enormous fame and recognition from the millions of tennis aficionados from all over the world for their spine-chilling exploits and lethal moves in the prestigious tennis Grand slam tournaments.
Have you ever wondered about the top-notch unseeded players who entered the tournament with any seed number and went on to defeat the seeded players clinching the coveted grand slam titles? Well, let’s find out.
In this article we will take a look at the top four unseeded players who won grand slam titles.
Top 4 Unseeded Players Who Won Grand Slams
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Boris Becker – Wimbledon 1985
The legendary German former professional tennis player Boris Becker, who is often regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all-time, is at the first spot in our list of the top four legendary unseeded players who clinched Grand Slam titles and left the fans stunned. Boris Becker entered Wimbledon 1985 as an unseeded player and left tennis aficionados from all over the world stunned when he established himself as the youngest ever men’s singles champion at the prestigious tournament at the age of seventeen.
Boris Becker defeated numerous seeded players throughout the tournament, including Kevin Curren to lift the prestigious trophy and earned massive recognition in the world of professional tennis for being the first-ever unseeded player in the history of tennis to clinch a grand slam title.
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Goran Ivanišević – Wimbledon 2001
At the second spot in our list of the top four unseeded players who have won grand slam titles, we have the Croatian former professional tennis player and current coach Goran Ivanišević, who was ranked world No. 2 in men’s singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 1994. Although Goran Ivanišević evolved to become one of the greatest professional tennis players in the world, he faced his share of downfall due to shocking injuries and entered Wimbledon 2001 as a wild card.
Although fans did not anticipate Goran Ivanišević to even make it to the finals of Wimbledon 2001, he ended up delivering one of the most shocking upsets in the history of the grand slam tournaments and clinched the five-set final against Patrick Rafter, with a score of 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 2–6, 9–7, establishing himself as the first ever wild card and unseeded player ever to win Wimbledon.
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Gaston Gaudio – French Open 2004
Next, at the third spot in our list of the top four legendary unseeded players who clinched the Grand Slam titles and left the fans stunned, we have the trailblazing Argentine former professional tennis player Gaston Gaudio, who clinched a record total of eight singles titles and achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 5 in April 2005.
Gaston Gaudio delivered one of the most sensational performances of his entire professional tennis career at the French Open in 2004 and defeated world No. 45 Guillermo Coria with a score of 0–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1, 8–6 and successfully established himself as the first ever unseeded player to clinch a French Open title earning massive appreciation from the tennis aficionados from all over the world.
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Emma Raducanu – U.S. Open 2021
Finally, at the fourth spot on our list of the top four unseeded players who have won grand slam titles, we have the legendary British professional tennis player Emma Raducanu, who reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 10 by the WTA. Emma Raducanu created history in the 2021 U.S. Open m and captured the title at the young age of eighteen despite entering the tournament as an unseeded player.
In the final of the 2021 U.S. Open, Emma Raducanu went ahead and defeated Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3, to clinch her maiden grand slam title at the age of eighteen and garnered an unimaginable streak of fame and recognition in the world of professional tennis. Emma Raducanu’s star-studded victory at the 2021 U.S. Open is still hailed as one of the biggest inspiring stories in the world of professional tennis that will continue to resonate in the realms of the grand slam tournaments for decades to come.
