Is Alexander Zverev The Greatest (Open Era) Player Without A Slam?

[Lozo1016]

I'm thinking he'd be competing with guys like Marcelo Rios, Tom Okker, David Ferrer, David Nalbandian, Miloslav Mecir, Robin Soderling, Nikolay Davydenko, and a host of others.

On pure resume, his argument is might be the strongest.

2 YECs
Olympic Gold
5 Masters
Year-End Top 10 player for 5 straight years
Reached #2 in the world
USO Finalist (lost in a 5th set TB)
4 Other Major SFs

8 Big Titles is impressive for any tennis player. Only 20 male players in the Open Era have more than that. Among non-Slam winners, the next highest total is Rios with 6. Then you have players like Okker, Mecir, Andrei Medvedev, and Davydenko with 4.

Maybe when you factor in level of play, peak, quality of era, etc., other players surpass Zverev? What do you think?

 

[Beerus]

Miloslav Mecir won the 5th Slam in 1987.

 

[Babolast]

No.

 

[The Blond Blur]

 

[Rosstour]

Hate to say it, but this is probably correct.

 

[TheNachoMan]

Statistically, yes. I’d still take Berdych, Tsonga and Nalbandian over him though.

 

[Razer]

Most Big Titles won without wininng a slam

 

[Sampras-Bruguera 1993]

Probably not. Berdych and Nalbandian were better players than Zverev. So was Rios. Probably tstsipas as well. top 5-6 though

 

[Tennfan123]

Nalbandian, Rios are both better.
Actually Zod game is quite basic and generic. Poor volleys. Weak mentality. The serve is a joke. I could go on.

 

[Rosstour]

Nalbandian, Rios are both better.
Actually Zod game is quite basic and generic. Poor volleys. Weak mentality. The serve is a joke. I could go on.

Serve stats tell a much different story

 

[TheNachoMan]

Most Big Titles won without wininng a slam

Murray with 20, and certain posters here wanna say Wawrinka is better. lol

 

[The Fedfather]

With the highest peak, I'd say. Granted, that's in this poly and baseline-dominant era. In the serve&volley times, with tech that doesn't yeild as much power and control, peak Zverev would probably get humbled.

 

[HFK]

LOL... no.

 

[TheNachoMan]

With the highest peak, I'd say. Granted, that's in this poly and baseline-dominant era. In the serve&volley times, with tech that doesn't yeild as much power and control, peak Zverev would probably get humbled.

Peak Zverev didn’t do much to impress in the slams. He peaked for the BO3 tournaments.
Even his USO 2020 run was lacklustre.

 

[fedfan24]

id take nalbandian or Berdych first

 

[The Fedfather]

Peak Zverev didn’t do much to impress in the slams. He peaked for the BO3 tournaments.
Even his USO 2020 run was lacklustre.

It's because he's such a choker under high pressure. In some of those BO3 tournaments his potential skill-wise can be seen and it's very high. Again, in this era.

 

[Razer]

It's because he's such a choker under high pressure. In some of those BO3 tournaments his potential skill-wise can be seen and it's very high. Again, in this era.

Peak Zverev is not greater than Peak Nalbandian who defeated all 3 members of Big 3 in the same tournament. Peak Nalbandian troubled Roger in ways that Roddick and Hewitt could only dream of but never accomplish.

 

[Jacko20]

To say AZ and ‘greatest’ regarding tennis is a joke unless it relates to biggest baby/pathetic on court antics…..then yeah

 

[TheNachoMan]

Peak Zverev is not greater than Peak Nalbandian who defeated all 3 members of Big 3 in the same tournament. Peak Nalbandian troubled Roger in ways that Roddick and Hewitt could only dream of but never accomplish.

This is a great match. Shame WTF is no longer BO5.

 

[Jacko20]

Fe

This is a great match. Shame WTF is no longer BO5.

fed had an ankle injury….hence his ankle brace

 

[Razer]

This is a great match. Shame WTF is no longer BO5.

Fed had inured his legs there but the first 2 sets were very good. Nalbandian did trouble Fed a lot, Fed was lucky to face Baggy in AO06, had Nalbandian reached the final then the title would have been his given how confused Fed was in the final.

 

[travlerajm]

I’d say Mecir, Soderling, and pre-fat Nalbandian are better.

 

[Dominic & Andrey]

Statistically yes, peak wise ? Probably not, even though he peaked pretty high in BO3.

 

[neytron]

Obviously yes, and he is still far from completing his career. I don't like him, but that doesn't stop me from looking objectively.

 

[BeatlesFan]

The very suggestion provokes rage and disbelief in all human beings.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

Mecir’s 87 Miami win was seven rounds best of five so it was factually the same format as a slam. You can quibble of course that it still has not the same prestige as a slam so players would not go completely all out as they would at a slam but you could say the same about some of these early AOs. On top Mecir has one more slam final than Zverev and also the WCT final and OG so it is clearly Mecir.

 

[Musterrific]

This is a great match. Shame WTF is no longer BO5.

OMG, another big final where Fed couldn't serve it out

 

[Vanilla Slice]

Give Zverev one slam win and he’s got a very impressive career - probably more successful than most one slam winners.

It’s all perception. He’s a bit of a choker in big matches and wasn’t #1 like Rios, but his achievements are quite solid.

 

[thrust]

id take nalbandian or Berdych first

What important tournaments have they won?

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

Peak Zverev is not greater than Peak Nalbandian who defeated all 3 members of Big 3 in the same tournament. Peak Nalbandian troubled Roger in ways that Roddick and Hewitt could only dream of but never accomplish.

8-11 is a really respectable H2H, and three of those wins were between 04-07. Even in his losses he pushed Fed a couple of times. He also beat him when both were juniors which is why he played with self-belief and didn’t choke so much unlike Roddick.

 

[Shaolin]

What important tournaments have they won?

Nalbandian won the Tour Finals for starters.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Another vote for Mecir.

 

[mike danny]

He has never shown a high level in slams so for me it's a big no.

 

[fedfan24]

What important tournaments have they won?

i take my tennis opinion from watching these guys play, not reading their wikipedia page. Nalbandian has big wins over peak fed and peak speed nadal by the way

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

Another vote for Mecir.

Don’t understand how this can be a debate, WCT, Miami, two slam finals sets the deal for me.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

i take my tennis opinion from watching these guys play, not reading their wikipedia page. Nalbandian has big wins over peak fed and peak speed nadal by the way

So does Soderling and he has more slam finals than both Zverev and Nalbandian.

 

[mike danny]

So does Soderling and he has more slam finals than both Zverev and Nalbandian.

Soderling only had like 2.5 years of prime tennis. A shame.

I wonder if he could've taken out Djokovic at RG as well? Tsonga and Seppi in 2012 both came close so who knows?

 

[nolefam_2024]

Any player without grand slam is obviously not great. So this question is meaningless.

Is Zverev better than another seamless punk? TBH who cares. The strongs must also rule.

 

[mike danny]

USO 2020 should pretty much answer this question. There's your best player never to win a slam.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

USO 2020 should pretty much answer this question. There's your best player never to win a slam.

This abysmal performance alone should rule it out.

 

[TTMR]

Statistically it's Ferrer. Highest ELO of a non-slam winner ever.

 

[BorgTheGOAT]

Soderling only had like 2.5 years of prime tennis. A shame.

I wonder if he could've taken out Djokovic at RG as well? Tsonga and Seppi in 2012 both came close so who knows?

Definitely. If he can beat Nadal and Federer i dont see why he shouldn’t be able to do the same with Djoko. Novak in general has some subpar performances against good but not great opposition at RG, losing to Thiem twice, to Cecchinato, Stan, getting destroyed against Rafa in 2020. In some of those years Robin could definitely have caught him.

 

[Deleted member 629564]

The very suggestion provokes rage and disbelief in all human beings.

 

[Midaso240]

In terms of achievement, yes but in terms of talent, he's probably out of the top 5 maybe even top 10

 

[TearTheRoofOff]

If he is, then no.

 

[I Am Finnish]

Z bash in 3 2 1

 

[TheNachoMan]

Soderling only had like 2.5 years of prime tennis. A shame.

I wonder if he could've taken out Djokovic at RG as well? Tsonga and Seppi in 2012 both came close so who knows?

Hypothetical Sod probably wins an RG or two from 2014-2018.

 

[Mainad]

In terms of Big Titles won that's right. Zverev is just behind Djokovic, Nadal and Murray on the Leaderboard of Active Players with Big Titles.

 

[duaneeo]

On pure resume, yes.

 

[McGradey]

Most would only begrudgingly deem Zverev the 'best' in any metric that spans generations.

Why? Because he is a heavily flawed player who has maximised certain aspects of the game (first serve, backhand, rallying) but is embarrassingly poor at basic fundamentals like volleying and the second serve. Not to mention his lack of aggression and variety — exposed on many occasions.

We see this in many cases with the younger guys: extremely good at some aspects of the game, bafflingly weak in others. So it’s hard to see them as truly great because they don’t feel solid or reliable. Their performances in tournaments mirror their games in being erratic rather than consistent.

Zverev is not delivering choke-slam beatings like Tsonga did in 2008 against Nadal, or beating two of the big 3 in a row like Berdych did at Wimbledon 2010. Zverev is no mercurial magician like Nalbandian and his slam record is not impressive even when compared to the much less gifted Ferrer.