PARIS — The pressure is finally off Alexander Zverev, who played more matches at majors than anyone in the professional era – 125 to be exact – before he won a Grand Slam title.
After raising the French Open trophy, he no longer has to deal with being called “the best player never to win a major title.”
Now, Zverev feels, more Grand Slam titles are a possibility.
“It happened for me very early at the Masters Series because I won one when I was 20 years old, and I´ve won a lot of Masters after that,” said Zverev, who has won seven Masters 1000s – the tournaments just below the Grand Slams in terms of importance.
“So, I had that release at a Masters-level event very quickly, and at a Grand Slam it took longer,” Zverev explained according to AP.
“Now, no matter what happens, I will always be a Grand Slam champion, and nobody can take that away from me,” Zverev added.
“Maybe that does give me some freedom. Maybe my mind will just be a little bit calmer when I play a final, meaning that even if I lose it, I will still be a Grand Slam champion.”
Zverev won´t have to wait long to find out how he plays in a major as a Grand Slam champion: Wimbledon starts in exactly three weeks.
It was at Wimbledon where Zverev made his Grand Slam debut as an 18-year-old back in 2015. In all, Zverev has played 125 matches across tennis´ four majors: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. He lost three Grand Slam finals before finally beating Flavio Cobolli in the Roland Garros championship match.
According to statistics provider Opta, the next players in the professional era (since 1968) on the list of most Grand Slam matches before winning a title are: Goran Ivanisevic with 105 before he won Wimbledon in 2001 and Andy Murray with 100 before he won the US Open in 2012.
Ivanisevic never won another Grand Slam title, while Murray ended up with three.
At 29, Zverev potentially has many prime playing years remaining in his career.
But the main stumbling block for Zverev lately has been two guys named Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Zverev has lost nine straight matches to the top-ranked Sinner and four of his last five against No. 2 Alcaraz.
Zverev took full advantage in Paris after Alcaraz had to skip the tournament due to an injured right wrist and Sinner was stunningly defeated due to physical issues amid a heat wave in the second round.
Sinner and Alcaraz had accounted for nine straight Grand Slam titles until Zverev´s victory.
While Alcaraz will also miss Wimbledon, Sinner will be defending his title at the All England Club.
