Tennis greats who became world number one without winning a Grand Slam

It is uncommon, but some tennis greats became world number one without having won a single Grand Slam title. Read on and find out who.

One of the biggest names to have done so is Belgian Kim Clijsters.

Clijsters reached world No. 1 in 2003, when she had yet to win a Grand Slam tournament. Later, however, she won the US Open (3 times) and the Australian Open.

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Next up is France's Amélie Mauresmo, who became the world's best on 13 September 2004.

Mauresmo filled this gap in 2006, when she crowned herself Australian Open and Wimbledon champion.

Simona Halep has also managed to reach the top of the rankings without having won a Grand Slam tournament.

She became world No. 1 on 9 October 2017, but went on to win the French Open (2018) and Wimbledon (2019) thereafter.

The first male player on our list is Ivan Lendl, who became world No. 1 on 28 February 1983.

The former Czech-American tennis champion nevertheless retired with no fewer than eight major titles to his name. Impressive.

Next up is former Serbian tennis star Jelena Janković.

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On 11 August 2008, Janković topped the rankings without having won a major, a gap she has never been able to fill thereafter.

The first Latin American player to be ranked No. 1 in the world, Marcelo Ríos is a legend in his native Chile.

Ríos has never achieved Grand Slam success, however, despite reaching the final of the Australian Open in 1998.

The next name in our list is Russian Dinara Safina, the sister of former male tennis champion and world No. 1 Marat Safin.

Marat managed to win two majors in his career, but Safina was unable to follow his example. That didn't stop her, however, from reaching world No. 1 on 20 April 2009.

Karolína Plíšková was on top of the tennis world on 17 July 2017, when she crowned herself world No. 1.

Plíšková has fought her way to two Grand Slam finals in her career, but lost on both occasions.

Perhaps one of the bigger names on this list, Caroline Wozniacki reached world No. 1 on 11 October 2010.

That was long before her one and only Grand Slam title, at the 2018 Australian Open.

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