Alexander Zverev has, for some time, been regarded as the best player to have never won a Grand Slam title.
That title was bestowed upon him for many reasons, not least of all because he had reached three major finals without winning a single one.
What made things worse was that in two of them, he was just one set away, having actually led by two sets to love in his 2020 US Open loss, and served for the match in the fifth set.
However, his catalogue of other elite trophies, whilst impressive, arguably only contributed to the pressure surrounding his lack of Grand Slam success.
At last, that pressure is gone, and what makes it even more impressive is that he predicted it would happen earlier in the year.
Alexander Zverev predicted he would win a Grand Slam title this year
Back in March, after he had just lost yet another match to Jannik Sinner, the German made a bold claim.
Zverev stated that he would win a Grand Slam title this year.
Who is now the best active ATP player without a Grand Slam title after Alexander Zverev’s French Open victory?
His comments were ridiculed by large sections of the tennis fanbase, who had revelled in his inability to get over the line for years now.
It’s fair to say that he has backed up his argument, which went as follows: “One of the main things among those that matter to me is to improve my game to win a Grand Slam; that is my main focus, my main goal. I feel that I am capable.
“This year I feel different, and I feel that it can happen… and that it will happen.”
Could Alexander Zverev now win more Grand Slam titles?
For years now, it’s been clear that this pressure to finally win a Grand Slam has impacted Alexander Zverev’s play. In fact, it seems to have dominated his entire thinking.
He has tried to change his entire game to become more of a threat at events such as these, and has routinely been vocal about how badly he wanted it as well.
So, the new question is whether, now that this burden of expectation is gone, he could win more?
How many more Grand Slams does Alexander Zverev win now?
What a final!
There is no obvious answer to this query, and with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz still set to be ever-present for the foreseeable future, the chances are slim.
After all, there will not be many tournaments like the Roland Garros we have just experienced. It was wholly unpredictable.
But if Zverev does put himself in good positions at the majors, routinely reaching the latter stages as he so often does, he can play with the freedom knowing that, if he loses, it doesn’t matter. He has already achieved that ultimate goal, and nobody can take that away from him.
That could make him a really dangerous player.
