Pete Sampras and Boris Becker enjoyed phenomenal tennis careers, but remarkably neither was able to win the French Open.
Sampras boasts 14 Grand Slam titles, with the figure placing him behind only the Big Three in the all-time list.
That Big Three comprises legendary players Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who combined to win a stunning 66 Grand Slam titles.
It was, however, Nadal who enjoyed the most success at Roland Garros, lifting the French Open trophy an extraordinary 14 times.
But falling short were fellow icons Sampras and Becker, who failed to emerge victorious in Paris despite their brilliance on the court.
Why Roger Federer thought Pete Sampras and Boris Becker never won the French Open
And their shortcomings were discussed by Federer at the Monte Carlo Masters in 2006, where he was asked why he thought Sampras, Becker and indeed Stefan Edberg never won the French Open.
He told reporters after his first round match in Monaco: “Well, either one or the other should have won it, but they didn’t, you know.
“Obviously, I think, by serve and volleying first and second serves, or especially first serves all the time, it’s not easy.
“You’re going to run into a guy who’s returning so well and who’s just on a good day. That’s why I think [Pat] Rafter has so few really ATP titles, if you think about it, what a great player he was.
“But he always runs into these very hot players who return extremely well and like to play with targets, and on clay you get plenty of opportunities. So I guess that’s the reason.”
How far did Pete Sampras and Boris Becker go at the French Open?
The Swiss star ironically endured similar French Open struggles, which he finally put to bed at Roland Garros in 2009.
Federer called the 2009 French Open final his “greatest victory”, in which he defeated Robin Soderling for his only clay-court Grand Slam title.
Sampras, in contrast, only ever made it to the semifinals in 1996, while Becker reached that stage on three occasions in 1987, 1989 and 1991.
It was indeed their fellow former world number one Edberg who enjoyed the most success out of the trio, losing the 1989 French Open final to Michael Chang.
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