How Alexander Zverev went from 'Next Big Thing' to Grand Slam nobody: Looking into the German's most concerning numbers

Alexander Zverev lost in the quarterfinals of the 2025 French Open after losing to Novak Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 4-6 after three hours and 17 minutes. The German, who has been a threat at the Grand Slam level for the majority of his career, will continue the hunt for his elusive Grand Slam title.

Zverev has made it to a Grand Slam final thrice in his career: the 2020 US Open, the 2024 French Open, and the 2025 Australian Open. Though he came awfully close to winning the title on his first two tries, he was decimated by Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open.

There have been a lot of talks about the German's shot at winning a Grand Slam title ever since he burst on the scene, with many greats such as Roger Federer opining on his 'passive' style of play, which won't help him in the latter stages of Majors. Though many believe he still has all the tools in his arsenal to get that big title, his lack of offense has been holding him back against big players.

Interestingly, a worrying statistic highlighting Alexander Zverev's problems against the higher-ranked players came to light following his defeat to Novak Djokovic at the French Open this year. In his career, Zverev has played a top 10 player at a Grand Slam 23 times and has only managed to win five of those matches at a poor 27.78%.

Those five wins came against Carlos Alcaraz at the 2022 French Open 6-4, 64, 4-6, 7-6(7) and the 2024 Australian Open 6-1, 6-3, (2)6-7, 6-4, Jannik Sinner at the 2023 US Open 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, Casper Ruud at the 2024 French Open, and Novak Djokovic at the 2025 Australian Open. It is also worth noting that Ruud and Djokovic were struggling with some form of injury during their defeat to the World No. 3.

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A look into the losses suffered by Alexander Zverev against Top 10 players in Grand Slams

Alexander Zverev and Janik Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open - Source: Getty

Here's a look at the losses suffered by Alexander Zverev against Top 10 players at the Grand Slam level.

Australian Open 2016 (Round of 128): (2) Andy Murray defeats Zverev 6-1, 6-2, 6-3

Wimbledon 2016 (Round of 32): (10) Tomas Berdych defeats (24) Zverev 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1

Australian Open 2017 (Round of 32): (9) Rafael Nadal defeats (24) Zverev 4-6, 6-3, (5)6-7, 6-3, 6-2

Wimbledon 2017 (Round of 16): (6) Milos Raonic defeats (10) Zverev 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1

Roland Garros 2018 (QF): (7) Dominic Thiem defeats (2) Zverev 6-4, 6-2, 6-1

Roland Garros 2019 (QF): (1) Novak Djokovic defeats (5) Zverev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2

Australian Open 2020 (SF): (5) Dominic Thiem defeats (7) Zverev 3-6 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(4)

US Open 2020 (F): (2) Dominic Thiem defeats (5) Zverev 2-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6(6)

Australian Open 2021 (QF): (1) Novak Djokovic defeats (6) Zverev (6)6-7 6-2 6-4 7-6(6)

Roland Garros 2021 (SF): (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas defeats (6) Zverev 6-3 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-3

US Open 2021 (QF): (1) Novak Djokovic defeats (4) Zverev 4-6 6-2 6-4 4-6 6-2

Roland Garros 2022 (SF): (5) Rafael Nadal defeats (3) Zverev 7-6(8) 6-6 RET

Roland Garros 2023 (SF): (4) Casper Rudd defeats (22) Zverev 6-3 6-4 6-0

US Open 2023 (QF): (1) Carlos Alcaraz defeats (12) Zverev 6-3 6-2 6-4

Australian Open 2024 (SF): (3) Daniil Medvedev defeats (6) Zverev 5-7 3-6 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 6-3

Roland Garros 2024 (F): (3) Carlos Alcaraz defeats (4) Zverev 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2

Australian Open 2025 (F): (1) Jannik Sinner defeats (2) Zverev 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3

Roland Garros 2025 (QF): (6) Novak Djokovic defears (3) Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

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Alexander Zverev's struggles to clinch wins in a best-of-five match

Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev after their 2025 Roland-Garros battle - Source: Getty

It is interesting to see that Alexander Zverev has lost 8 out of 18 matches after clinching the first set. Another interesting fact is that more often than not, the German fails to capitalize on his opportunities when the match goes into a fifth set. He has won multiple Masters 1000 titles and also an Olympic Gold, meaning he definitely is the player with a skill set to trouble the best players.

However, five-set tennis is a different ball game altogether, and this is where the German has been lacking something to get that one extra step, which can push him towards a potential Grand Slam triumph.

After his crushing defeat to Sinner in the final of the Australian Open, Alexander Zverev claimed that maybe he was 'not good enough' to win a Major during the presentation. However, he later admitted that he regretted his statement and wanted to keep believing in himself and his chances of winning that elusive trophy.