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 seven with one of the most unfortunate careers to-date with a Swedish star cut down in his prime before he could triumph in a major.

#7 Robin Soderling (480 matches – 64.6% winning record, 10 career titles, #4 career-high ranking)

Our countdown at number seven heads to Sweden with the underrated Robin Soderling. His professional career stretched just 10 years – much shorter than others on this list – and had retired by the age of 27. If there is a way to go out on top, then Soderling did just that, ranked fifth in the world he smashed sixth seed David Ferrer – who spoiler alert also features in this list – 6-2 6-2 in Bastad, Sweden to win the title. While many players go out scraping the last bit of energy out of themselves, Soderling wrapped up his career obliterating talented players in his home country. He dropped just 13 games in four matches on his way to the title in Bastad before calling it a day, and had even reached a quarter final at Roland Garros just a month and a half earlier.

So why did Sodeling retire? He was diagnosed with mononucleosis – similar to glandular fever that is also known as the “kissing disease” that is transferrable through saliva. Given the highly contagious nature of the disease – at least three months and up to 18 months – Soderling had to take the year off. Unfortunately he never got to take the court again and his career ended with him potentially at the top of his game. But what made him stand out from the rest of the tour? Ask anyone in the know, and they will say the 2009 Roland Garros. Soderling shocked the world becoming the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal there, winning in four sets. He was one of four top 15 players the Swede knocked off on his way to the final, also defeating Ferrer, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Gonzalez. Unfortunately his run was halted by Roger Federer before he could win a Grand Slam.

It is a travesty that Sodeling never got to win one, because in his final year, he won four titles – double his best from the year before and had won 10 career titles in total to that point. Along with Bastad, he also won at Marseille, Rotterdam and Brisbane, and even the year before had claimed his sole ATP Masters 1000 title at Paris. There he had bundled out Gilles Simon, Stan Wawrinka, Andy Roddick and Gael Monfils all in straight sets on his way to the title. Having made the Roland Garros final twice, he was strong on clay, but even more impressive on hard court. While his career ended prematurely, he has not strayed from the game, coaching young Swede, Mikael Ymer who is an up-and-comer on the tour. If a player is forced into retirement, the best you can hope for is obliterating top 10 players on your way out, which is exactly what Soderling did. He might not go down as one of the greats, or even remembered in the same way that other Swedish stars have, but Soderling might just be the best candidate for ‘what could have been?’

—

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)