Back when Alexander Zverev emerged in 2017, winning two Masters 1000 as a teenager and rising as high as #3 in the world, many predicted him to win several Slams and dominate. Over seven years later, Zverev has undoubtedly had a stellar career: two ATP World Tour Finals, Olympic Gold, seven Masters 1000 and 23 overall titles already make him an all-time great player at best-of-three level and the aforementioned numbers are almost sure to be improved in the coming years. However, the German is yet to win a single Grand Slam title and there’s no doubt that if he ends up Slamless his career will ultimately be looked at as a disappointment.
Statistically, there’s no doubt that Zverev is the greatest player to never win a Slam, with his big title haul at best-of-three level already far surpassing that of any other Slamless player. It is probably a safe bet to say that out of the nine Masters 1000 events and the World Tour Finals to be played in 2025, Zverev is likely, assuming good health, to win two or three of those events.
However, his performances at Slam level have often been very disappointing; of course there is that US Open final he lost from two sets to zero up (and then served for the title in the 5th set) against Dominic Thiem, as well as last year’s Roland Garros final where he was two sets to one up on Alcaraz–but even aside from that his Slam career is full of bad losses against overall inferior opposition and being dragged into dogfights against unseeded players in early rounds. As dominant as Zverev can be in best-of-three tournaments when he plays his best, that has never translated into Slams, even in the two events where he did reach the final.
After a serious injury sidelined him for most of 2022 and turned 2023 into a comeback years of sorts for the German, 2024 was overall a very good year for Zverev, as shown by him finishing #2 in the world. However, all four of his Slam losses were quite disappointing; in Australia he led 2-0 against Daniil Medvedev and couldn’t close it out. The same happened at Wimbledon against Taylor Fritz, who also beat him at the US Open. While Fritz is a solid player, overall he’s a clear tier below Zverev and is someone the German should be beating more often than not. At Roland Garros, he reached the final and led 2-1 against Alcaraz but imploded in the end. The common theme, as in past years, was Zverev’s inability to play his best tennis when the pressure was really on, always retreating into his shells in the big moments; not coincidentally, his best Slam performance of the year arguably came in the Australian Open quarterfinals against Alcaraz where he was a big underdog after surviving back-to-back long five setters against much lower ranked opponents and could just swing freely.
There are some factors in favor of Zverev: although it looks like he has been around forever, he’s only 27 years old and should be well in his prime. More importantly, he has proved that he has the ability to repeatedly beat any opponent that comes his way, even elites like Alcaraz, Sinner, and Djokovic. However, years of failure at Slam level have turned into a mental barrier that’s difficult to overcome; given his history, it will be tough for Zverev to back himself even if he is 2-0 up in a big semifinal or final. Each Slam that he doesn’t win only adds to that mental barrier, especially if he keeps losing from dominant positions.
If he is to break that barrier, 2025 is the time to do it. He got back to his best after his horrendous injury and is well in his prime. Aside from improving his mentality in big matches, the other key to giving himself the best chance possible will be to avoid his classic early round dogfights against much lower ranked players so he is in the best condition possible when facing top ranked opposition. Whether he can finally break through at Slam level will certainly be one of the most interesting stories to follow in 2025.
Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
