Alexander Zverev’s Grand Slam journey can be aptly summarized as being tantalizingly close yet ultimately out of reach – evidenced by his 0-3 record in Grand Slam finals. Unlike his first two agonizing defeats in major finals – the 2020 US Open and the 2024 French Open, both five-set heartbreakers where he held a lead – Zverev found himself significantly outmatched in the 2025 Australian Open final against Jannik Sinner, losing in straight sets. Following that defeat, Zverev expressed his determination, stating, “I don’t want to end my career as the best player of all time to never win a Grand Slam, that’s for sure.” To Zverev’s disappointment, he is already the first man in tennis history to lose his first three major finals at three different Grand Slam events. But the question remains: can Alexander Zverev ever break through and secure a Grand Slam title? Jannik Sinner’s coach, Simone Vagnozzi, is optimistic.

Following his straight-sets defeat in the 2025 Australian Open final, Alexander Zverev described his emotional state as “quite down” and “quite emotional.” Seeing this, Sinner offered support to Zverev during the prize ceremony by putting an arm around his shoulder and saying, “Keep believing in yourself. Keep working hard, because we all believe that you can lift one of these very, very soon.“ At that time, even Vagnozzi shared a few comforting words with the German, saying, “I really hope, sooner or later, he wins a slam because he deserves it.“

Although Zverev regretted saying, “I’m maybe not good enough” after the Grand Slam final, he later changed his mind, saying he still believes he can and will “win a Grand Slam this year and hopefully in the next few years to come.” Highlighting these narrow misses and speaking about his chances in the near future, Sinner’s coach Simone Vagnozzi has yet again backed Zverev to make his Grand Slam breakthrough during an interview with Italian publication II Venerdi di Repubblica on Saturday.

“I am convinced that Zverev will win a Slam, at least,” Vagnozzi began. “He improved a lot after the ankle injury. He made more progress from that moment on than in the whole period before.“

The bigger question? That one key aspect in the German’s game that stops him from fulfilling his dreams: offense.

Last year, after seeing his performance against Taylor Fritz in the QF of the US Open, where he was defeated by the American in four sets, tennis legend Roger Federer made a very interesting comment.  “I’m not his coach, so I can speak freely. To win a Grand Slam, you have to play far more offensively. The title doesn’t just come to you,” he said. 

After hearing this from the 20-time Grand Slam champion, Zverev admitted, “That’s nothing I don’t know. It’s absolutely clear to me that I didn’t play the way I wanted to play. That was a terrible game from me. That’s why it’s completely okay what Roger said.“

Interesting Fact: Alexander Zverev is the seventh man in the Open Era (since 1968) to start a career with an 0-3 record in grand slam finals.

With the French Open knocking at the door, Zverev is now keen to get some wins in his bag before taking his flight to Paris. And despite falling to deliver in Monte Carlo, the world number 3 has got off to an impressive start at the BMW Open.

Alexander Zverev’s bittersweet memories from his QF clash at the BMW Open

Alexander Zverev narrowly escaped an Indian Wells repeat in the QF of the BMW Open. Just a month ago, he was defeated by Tallon Griekspoor by 4-6,7-6(5),7-6(4) in the R64 of the Indian Wells. Now, although he went down to the Dutchman in the first set, Zverev managed to seal the deal at 6(6)-7,7-6(3),6-4 on his home soil. 

Zverev had a couple of challenging months following the AO final. After embracing six early losses and missing a chance to become the 30th world number-one in ATP History, the two-time champion (2017,2018) made it to the first semifinals since AO. 

“I’m extremely happy,” he said post the win. “Finally, I won a close one. I’ve lost a few of those in the past few months and I always said, ‘I need to get one of these’. I did today. I’m extremely happy with how I hung in there, especially in the third set, being 0/40 down in my second service game. I’m proud to win this match and looking forward to the next two, hopefully.”

While he’s happy with the win, there was an incident during the match that perhaps left a bitter taste in his mouth after this epic duel.

The score was at 5-5, 15-0 in the second set when a spectator was heard yelling at Zverev, saying, “Let’s go, you f—ing wife beater” (translated from German). Although the German kept his cool at that time, later on during the changeover, he asked the chair umpire to kick out the heckler. Speaking about his incident during his post-match interview, he further added, “Unfortunately, there are always one or two idiots in the stadium. That is no problem.“

Zverev has three more Grand Slam tournaments on the calendar this year. Could this finally be the year he breaks through and claims a major title?