Australian Open 2012: Top 10 Players Ever Who Failed to Win Epic Tourney

For all those who take to the tennis courts during the year, their focus is going out and playing the best tennis possible that will hopefully yield a win.

And when speaking of wins, there is none more prestigious than a Grand Slam.

There's a special place that the Australian Open holds. It's the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, providing initial insight into how the field is shaping up for the upcoming tennis season.

There are many who have come so close to winning, yet somehow they came up just a little short.

Let's take an around-the-world, through-the-years, look at 10 of the best players ever (male and female) who do not have an Australian Open (Championships used prior to Open Era) singles title in their win column.

Photo: Great Britain's pride, Andy Murray, comes into this tournament having reached the final in both 2010 and 2011. Will 2012 be his year to finally achieve an Australian Open singles title?

Thanks to Wikipedia for the data presented in this slideshow.

Marcelo Rios

Country: Chile

Best Australian Open Performance: Final

Year: 1998

Opponent: Petr Korda

Match Length: three sets

Fernando Gonzalez

Country: Chile

Best Australian Open Performance: Final

Year: 2007

Opponent: Roger Federer

Match Length: three sets

Gabriela Sabatini

Country: Argentina

Best Australian Open Performance: Semifinals

Year: 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994

Opponent: Steffi Graf, Mary Joe Fernandez, Monica Seles and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, respectively

Match Length: all four matches were two sets long

Neale Fraser

Country: Australia

Best Australian Championships Performance: Final

Year: 1957, 1959 and 1960

Opponent: Ashley Cooper, Alex Olmedo and Rod Laver, respectively

Match Length: four, four, five (sets), respectively

Dinara Safina

Country: Russia

Best Australian Open Performance: Final

Year: 2009

Opponent: Serena Williams

Match Length: two sets

Michael Chang

Country: United States

Best Australian Open Performance: Final

Year: 1996

Opponent: Boris Becker

Match Length: four sets

Nell Hall Hopman

Country: Australia

Best Australian Championships Performance: Final

Year: 1939 and 1947

Opponent: Emily Hood Westacott and Nancye Bolton, respectively

Match Length: both were two sets long

John McEnroe

Country: United States

Best Australian Open Performance: Semifinals

Year: 1983

Opponent: Mats Wilander

Match Length: four sets

Venus Williams

Country: United States

Best Australian Open Performance: Final

Year: 2003

Opponent: her sister, Serena Williams

Match Length: three sets

Bjorn Borg

Country: Sweden

Best Australian Open Performance: Third Round

Year: 1974

Opponent: Phil Dent

Match Length: three sets