Masters 1000 tournaments offer the biggest prizes in men’s tennis after the Grand Slams and the ATP Finals, and these prestigious titles have eluded some outstanding players.
The Masters Series was introduced in 1990 and since 2009, the nine Masters 1000 events have been: Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome, Canada, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris.
Here, we rank the five best players to never win a Masters title.
5. Gael Monfils
Gael Monfils has won 13 titles from his 35 appearances in finals on the ATP Tour, with his tally featuring three ATP 500 crowns (Washington 2016, Rotterdam 2019 and 2020).
The Frenchman’s best Grand Slam results are reaching the semi-finals at the 2008 French Open and the 2016 US Open, while he has featured in a further eight major quarter-finals.
Monfils has reached three Masters 1000 finals, falling to Novak Djokovic (Paris 2009), Robin Soderling (Paris 2010) and Rafael Nadal (Monte Carlo 2016).
He reached his best ranking of world No 6 in 2016, finished two seasons in the top 10 and eight in the top 20. Monfils has defeated 38 opponents ranked in the top 10.
4. Todd Martin
Todd Martin collected eight ATP singles titles from the 20 championship matches he reached, including three at ATP Championship Series (ATP 500 equivalent) level in Memphis (1994 and 1995) and Barcelona (1998).
The American was a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, losing to Pete Sampras in straight sets at the 1994 Australian Open and Andre Agassi in five sets at the 1999 US Open.
Martin reached his only Masters final at the 1993 Canadian Open in Montreal, where he lost to Mikael Pernfors.
He peaked at fourth in the world rankings in 1999, ended two years in the top 10 and six inside the top 20. Martin registered 34 top 10 wins.
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3. Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic has won eight titles from his 23 appearances in ATP Tour finals, with his biggest triumph coming at 500 level at the 2014 Washington Open.
The Canadian was beaten in straight sets by Andy Murray in his only Grand Slam final at Wimbledon in 2016, while he is a four-time Masters 1000 runner-up.
In his Masters finals, Raonic lost to arguably the two greatest players ever in Nadal (Montreal 2013) and Djokovic (Paris 2014, Indian Wells 2016 and Cincinnati 2020).
Raonic has finished two seasons in the top 10 and seven in the top 20, while he reached a career-high ranking of No 3 in 2016. He has registered 31 wins over opponents in the top 10.
2. Kei Nishikori
Kei Nishikori has secured 12 titles from the 25 singles finals he has contested. He has won six ATP 500 events (Japan 2012 and 2014), Memphis (2013), Barcelona (2014 and 2015) and Washington (2015).
The Japanese was beaten by Marin Cilic in straight sets in his only major championship match at the 2014 US Open, while he has also lost four Masters 1000 finals.
Like Raonic, all of Nishikori’s Masters final losses were against Nadal (Madrid 2014 and Monte Carlo 2018) and Djokovic (Miami and Canadian Open in 2016).
Nishikori peaked at world No 4 in 2015 and he has ended four seasons in the top 10 and seven in the top 20. He has racked up 40 wins against top 10 players.
1. Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Yevgeny Kafelnikov is one of just two male Grand Slam champions since 1990 not to win a Masters title, along with Gaston Gaudio. Having claimed 26 ATP singles titles from 46 finals, Kafelnikov is undoubtedly the best player without a Masters crown.
The Russian won two majors, having beaten Michael Stich to win the 1996 French Open and Thomas Enqvist to win the 1999 Australian Open, while he was also a runner-up to Andre Agassi at the 2000 Australian Open.
Kafelnikov secured the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics and reached the final at the 1997 ATP Finals, while he lost all five of the Masters finals he contested.
His defeats in Masters finals were against: Andrei Medvedev (Hamburg 1994), Thomas Enqvist (Paris 1996), Richard Krajicek (Stuttgart 1998), Thomas Johansson (Canadian Open 1999) and Sebastian Grosjean (Paris 2001).
Kafelnikov spent six weeks as the world No 1 in 1999 and finished six seasons inside the top six in the rankings. He earned 46 top 10 wins, five of which were against world No 1s.
Honourable mentions
Richard Gasquet, Fernando Gonzalez, Kevin Anderson, Matteo Berrettini, Fernando Verdasco and Nick Kyrgios.
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