French Open 2012: Top 10 Surprise Finalists in the Open Era

With Serena Williams' shocking loss in the French Open first round, could there be room for a surprise finalist or champion on the women's side?

Virginie Razzano, who beat Williams, could find inspiration from these 10 finalists—such as Martin Verkerk (pictured), the runner-up in 2003—listed here.

Some went on to win the title in Paris, others never saw such heights again. Still, the two weeks in the City of Lights were ones to remember for the players, even if it's actually hard for others to remember their feats.

10. Arantxa Sanchez (1989)

Up until the 1989 French Open, Steffi Graf had won five Grand Slam tournaments in a row.

On the other side of the draw at that year's tournament, 17-year-old Arantxa Sanchez was steadily creeping through the tournament, eventually making her major final debut.

Though Sanchez (she added Vicario, her mother's last name, later on) was ranked in the Top 10 at the time, it was still a surprise she had broken through in '89 to not only make the finals, but win the title on the way to a Hall of Fame career.

9. Natasha Zvereva (1988)

One of the greatest women's doubles players in history, Natasha Zvereva also had a solid singles career and entered the 1988 French Open as the 13th seed.

It's what she did from that spot that was shocking.

In the fourth round, Zvereva knocked off the No. 2 seed, Martina Navratilova, in straight sets. She then did the same to No. 6 seed Helena Sukova a round later.

Her final-round appearance did not go as planned as she then fell to Steffi Graf by the dreaded double-bagel, 6-0, 6-0.

8. Gaston Gaudio (2004)

2004 was supposed to be the year that Argentine Guillermo Coria won his first Grand Slam title on the clay of Roland Garros. And he came awfully close.

But his countryman, unseeded Gaston Gaudio, had other plans.

Gaudio, who had beaten three seeded players on the way to the finals, fought off two match points against Coria to win his first and only major title.

7. Francesca Schiavone (2010)

Francesca Schiavone lost the first eight singles finals of her career before she won her maiden title, a minor event in Austria.

By the time the 2010 French Open rolled around, Schiavone had established herself as a consistent top-20 threat, but getting to the final round at a Grand Slam was out of the question.

Or was it?

That year, she defeated three top-10 players on the way to the title, and managed to crack the Top 10 for the first time.

6. Mats Wilander (1982)

Nos. 2, 5, 4: Those were the seeds the unheralded Mats Wilander, 17 at the time, beat on his way to the finals of the French Open in 1982.

And for good measure, he added No. 3 to the list in the title match: beating Guillermo Vilas for his first career title. Wilander would go on to add 32 tournament wins to his resumé, including six more Grand Slams.

5. Gustavo Kuerten (1997)

Ranked No. 66 at the time and thrown into a draw with three former French Open champions—Thomas Muster, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Sergi Bruguera—potentially standing in the way to the title, Gustavo Kuerten did the unexpected: He mowed through them.

The 1997 French Open was his first career appearance in a tour-level singles final, and the Brazilian took full advantage of the opportunity.

4. Mariano Puerta (2005)

It would make the answer to a good trivia question:

Who did Rafael Nadal defeat for his first French Open title?

The answer would be Mariano Puerta. The Argentine's run to the finals was surprising since he was in the midst of a comeback from a doping-related suspension. This was the highlight, by far, of his return and he eventually reached the Top 10 in 2005.

However, Puerta's place among the game's elite was cut short again by another controversy.

3. Mikael Pernfors (1986)

Mikael Pernfors took a nontraditional route to singles success for a Swede in professional tennis, honing his game in college at the University of Georgia.

It did him a world of good as he surprisingly made it to the finals of the 1986 French Open for his lone Grand Slam final appearance. His baseline game, built on shot-making, enabled him to have a solid career as a professional.

2. Martin Verkerk (2003)

Thundering down aces on the slow red clay, Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands beat two of the greatest clay-court players of his generation—Carlos Moya and Guillermo Coria—on his way to the finals. Juan Carlos Ferrero ended his dream run.

Verkerk had never cracked the top 40 in the rankings before the tournament. Near the end of 2003, he would go on to reach the top 15 for the first time.

1. Michael Chang (1989)

An American teenager who developed his game on hard courts in California making the finals of the French Open, and defeating a three-time champion along the way?

If you asked anyone beforehand the likelihood of that happening, 10 times out of 10, the answer would've been "no way."

But it happened: Michael Chang not only made the finals, beating Ivan Lendl in the fourth round in one of the game's biggest upsets ever, but won the tournament by defeating Stefan Edberg in the finals.

Chang's win was the first by an American male in Paris in more than 30 years and was the springboard for him reaching the Hall of Fame.