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 next Top 10 countdown, we look at the Top 10 WTA Players to never have won a Grand Slam title, and in at third is one of the greatest doubles players of all-time who could not find a way to get past her doubles partner in singles consistently enough.

#3 Pam Shriver (894 matches – 70% winning record, 21 career titles, #3 career-high ranking)

There is little doubt when it comes to tennis names, Shriver is one that is synonymous with success. In fact, no doubt some who see this list automatically think ‘surely she won a Grand Slam singles?’ but in fact she did not. She did win a casual 21 women’s and one mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, but finished her career in 1997 without a singles one to her name. If we were to discuss her doubles ability and where she ranks in history, she would be at the top of the list right with her partner and the greatest doubles player to ever play, Martina Navratilova.

While this list is about the players’ singles exploits, it would be remiss not to look at her doubles record briefly. Winning her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 1981, she would win 19 of the next 24 Grand Slam events. The ones she did not, she reached two finals, two semis and a quarter finals. Throw in the two finals and two quarter finals efforts in 1980-81 prior to her title, and Shriver reached the final eight in 28 consecutive Grand Slam titles. She only competed at Roland Garros four times – she went undefeated in the format winning all four titles. It is a record that is simply unbelievable in every facet.

Looking at her singles record in that time, she as just as strong, reaching six semi-finals in the three years between 1981-83, but her only final came in her debut year in 1978. That year she reached the US Open final on debut, ranked 16 and stormed past a bunch of Americans and Australians, including Kerry Melville Reid and Navratilova to reach the final before bowing out to Chris Evert in straight sets.

It was a bizarre out of the box result considering the next year she won just five of 18 matches, predominantly across the ITF circuit. Having won just the one title in 1978 at Columbus, Shriver would have to wait two years until Carlsbad in 1980 and Perth in 1981 to pick up her second and third titles respectively.

Her titles began to grow by the mid 80s and a further four came in 1983-84, with 1985-88 being a golden run on the singles tour. Shriver won 14 of her singles titles in that time – which would also prove to be the end of her success in that format – but a number came in tournaments where the likes of Navratilova and Steffi Graf were absent and Shriver won as the number one seed.

Her doubles partner in Navratilova would end her title dreams a massive six times in 1986, as Shriver would prove time and time again, she was in the top five, with just a couple of elite all-time greats ahead of her. If she did not run into them, she would usually win. In 1987 she would win a career-high five titles from eight finals, including a crucial win over Evert in New England. A further four titles would come in 1988, but it was only doubles after that.

To give an idea of how much her playing partner would be a thorn in her side, Shriver would take on Navratilova 43 times, winning just three of the – twice at the US Open and once in Sydney – otherwise it was Navratilova who had her measure every time. Shriver only took on Evert a total of 21 times, but again had just the three wins from their encounters. As Evert racked up a casual 154 singles titles to stake a claim as the best ever player, Shriver would be fondly remembered as one of the great doubles players who came close to a singles Grand Slam but could not quite achieve it.

—

Top 10 WTA Players without a Grand Slam title:

#10 Manuela Maleeva (Bulgaria/Switzerland)
#9 Zina Garrison (USA)
#8 Jelena Jankovic (Serbia)
#7 Elena Dementieva (Russia)
#6 Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland)
#5 Mary Joe Fernandez (USA)
#4 Wendy Turnbull (Australia)
#3 Pam Shriver (USA)