WITH no live tennis on currently due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Draft Central will take a look back at some of the best players of past and present and rank them based on a specific set of guidelines. In our first Top 10 countdown, we look at the Top 10 ATP Players to never have won a Grand Slam title, moving onto number four who held his own as an American during a strong period for the United States in the 1970s and early 80s.

#4 Brian Gottfried (1024 matches – 68.0% winning record, 25 career titles, #3 career-high ranking)

Not many tennis followers might remember Brian Gottfried, but the American was as consistent as they came when it went down to year-on-year success, winning at least a title every year for 11 years and 25 all up. The 11 seasons went from 1973 to 1983, and along with his 25 career titles, reached a singles final 28 times. Gottfried was known as the consummate professional, with legend Arthur Ashe telling a story of how his compatriot missed a training session to get married one afternoon, but arrived the next day to complete a double session.

In an era when Ashe, Jimmy Connors and Eddie Dibbs were all representing the United States, Gottfried still earned a place on the Davis Cup side, winning 50 per cent of his matches (7-7) between 1975 and 1982, including successful titles in 1978 and 1982. He might not have a Grand Slam, but reached the 1977 French Open final, going down to clay court sensation Guillermo Vilas. He did win three Grand Slam doubles titles however – two French and one Wimbledon – teaming up with Mexican, Raul Ramirez. In his most recent Grand Slam doubles win, it was the same French Open he reached the final showing just how much time he had to spend on court.

Such was his passion for tennis, Gottfried played an impressive 1024 matches in his career, and considering it went for 13 seasons, that was an average of 79 per season. To put that in perspective, Jimmy Connors played for 25 seasons for 1557 matches to hold the record, and he averaged just 62 a season. Gottfried finished with a 68 per cent winning record, and after reaching the Roland Garros final in 1977, peaked at third in the overall rankings. He was one of four Americans in the top six, led by Connors as the world number one. It was fitting that his final match came in the US Open against Connors in 1984, going down in the second round. It marked the end of an era as he retired with a title in every season he played bar his debut and final seasons.

He might not be the biggest American name from the time period, but for games played, sheer consistency – he won five titles in 1977 and reached a mind-boggling 10 finals. If he had won all 15, then he would have been in the top three for season records. Gottfried could have been even higher on this list and makes it hard to compare past and present, but of those in the early Open era, Gottfried was one of the best.

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Top 10 ATP Players without a Grand Slam title:

#10 Wojciech Fibak (Poland)
#9 Fernando Gonzales (Chile)
#8 Tim Henman (Great Britain)
#7 Robin Soderling (Sweden)
#6 David Nalbandian (Argentina)
#5 Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic)
#4 Brian Gottfried (USA)