Alexander Zverev has lost his first three slam finals. Now he's in a battle to avoid a tag he despises
Zverev joins elite club
By losing the 2025 Australian Open final, Alexander Zverev joined a very small club of players to have played in three grand slam finals and lost each of them.
The players in that club are divided into those who played four or more and eventually won a major and in some cases put together legendary careers - and those who never won a slam and are vying for the unwanted title of greatest men's player never to have tasted the ultimate success at the highest level.
Speaking after the final, Zverev made it clear that he doesn't want to wear that tag when his career finishes. But if he doesn't win a major, will that label be legitimate?
Scroll on to see who he joins as having lost his first three slam finals - and the other players who have a case for the title of greatest player never to have won one.
The Terminator
For part of his career, Ivan Lendl was a dominant world No.1 and he finished his career with a legendary tally of eight slam titles.
However, just as Zverev has lost his first three major finals, the Czech-American also had his share of heartbreak before cashing in. His overall record in major finals was 8-11 and three of the losses came before he lifted his first slam trophy by winning the 1984 French Open. He would go on to win the French another two times to go with three US Open titles and two Australian Open crowns.
The ultimate enigma
Like Lendl, Andre Agassi will go down as one of the all-time greats of the sport, having also won eight major titles, but there was a time when he had a mental block in major finals, just as Zverev is experiencing.
He lost two French Open finals in two years in 1990 to Andrés Gómez and in 1991 to Jim Courier, and also made the US Open final in 1991 only to lose to Pete Sampras, who he'd crushed in a match the year before, claiming at the time that the future 14-time major winner would never make it as a pro.
Agassi won his first slam at Wimbledon in 1992 and completed a career grand slam by winning the French Open in 1999.
Finally!
Croatian leftie Goran Ivanisevic had a thumping serve and an imposing net game and was a huge threat at the majors, particularly Wimbledon, for the best part of a decade.
Despite his big game and ability to mix it with the best players in the world on grass, at one stage it looked as though Ivanisevic would never win a major, having blown a big chance against Andre Agassi in the 1992 final, in which he was the heavy favourite.
He lost to Pete Sampras in straight sets in the 1994 final and then lost to him again in the 1998 decider, after missing a chance to take a two sets to love lead.
But those heartbreaks ultimately steeled him for one of the most extraordinary runs ever witnessed at a grand slam, when he came back from two sets to one down to beat Australia's Pat Rafter in the 2001 final (pictured as he collapsed in tears after match point), when the Croatian was ranked 125 in the world and needed a wildcard just to get into the main draw.
Had he not won that five set thriller, to finish his career with a 1-3 record in major finals, Ivanisevic would have been a strong contender for the tag of best player never to win a slam.
Tennis' most common bridesmaid
Few players have been less lucky with the timing of their careers than Andy Murray, who eventually won three grand slams while competing in the prime years of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Murray lost his first three slam finals, two at the Australian Open, in 2010 and 2011, and one at Wimbledon, in 2012, before opening his account at his fourth attempt, when he got the better of Djokovic in an epic five set final at the US Open just a few months later.
He would go on to win Wimbledon twice, in 2013 and 2016 and also twice won Olympic gold medals, at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
A big chance goes by
Alexander Zverev poses with the runners-up plate after he was defeated in the 2024 French Open final by Carlos Alacaraz.
Playing some of the best tennis of his career, the German took a two sets to one lead over Alcaraz in this match, before tensing up and dialling back the aggression that had put him in a strong position to win his first major.
The change of game plan was fatal, with Alcaraz seizing the opportunity to win the fourth and fifth sets 6-1, 6-2 to lift the trophy at Roland-Garros for the first time.
It was Zverev's second heartbreaking five set defeat in a slam final, with the 27-year-old succumbing 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 1-6, 2-6.
Ruud awakening
Norwegian 26-year-old Casper Ruud, pictured here with the runner-up plate at the 2023 French Open after losing the final to Novak Djokovic, is the other current player to have played in three grand slam finals without winning one, having also made the French Open final in 2022, as well as the US Open final in the same year.
That 12 month period between the two finals he played at Roland-Garros was a purple patch for Ruud and he rose to No.2 in the world for three weeks because of it.
While he is one year younger than Zverev and has risen to the same highest ranking, Ruud wouldn't yet be considered on a par with Zverev in terms of what they've achieved in their careers, with the German having held his top five ranking for most of the last nine years, while Ruud took longer to break through.
Zverev has also won 23 titles, compared with Ruud's 12.
Battle of the 90s kids
There was more than usual resting on this US Open final in 2020, with the winner to be the first slam champion who was born in the 90s - an extraordinary stat given that the oldest players eligible to achieve that feat had already turned 30.
The reason it took so long, of course, was the total dominance of the 'big three' when Dominic Thiem (the winner of this final, pictured right) and Zverev came through, making the decade that preceded this match the most difficult of the open era to win a major.
This match was all on the German's terms and even he has conceded that he froze up and to put it a little more bluntly, choked when he was two sets to love up and cruising.
Thiem won the match 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), giving him a record of 1-3 in slam finals after losses in the 2018 and 2019 French Open final as well as the 2020 Australian Open final.
If not for Zverev's collapse, Thiem would instead have perhaps the strongest case for the title of best player never to win a slam.
Twice a finalist, never a champ
Steve Denton (far right) is pictured with Kevin Curren, after the doubles pairing won a title together in Denver.
In some ways that was the story of Denton's career, with the Texan climbing to world No.2 in the doubles, winning both the US Open and the Tour Finals in doubles in 1982, without ever winning a singles grand slam final.
We've included Denton on this list, however, because he shares a place in history with every other men's player to have played in two grand slam singles finals, without ever winning one - some but not all of those players are worthy considerations for the title of best player to never win a singles major but we've included all of them for the sake of using black and white criteria for the shortlist.
Denton made the Australian Open final in both 1981 and 1982, losing to Johan Kriek on both occasions during an era when the world's best tennis players didn't always fly down to Melbourne for the first slam of the year.
With a best singles ranking of world No.12, Denton was a good player but is somewhat of an anomaly on this list.
Czech star a nearly man
Czechoslovakia's Miloslav Mecir was a nearly man of the '80s, twice losing grand slam finals to superstar Ivan Lendl - the US Open in 1986 and the Australian Open in 1989.
Mecir rose to world No.4 and won 11 ATP titles, as well as the 1988 Olympic Games gold medal.
