Zverev, if not now, then when?

The 2026 Roland Garros is an unmistakable chance for Alexander Zverev to finally win a Grand Slam, yet the question remains: can he do it?

It is often said that Alexander Zverev is the best player never to have won a Grand Slam. Sascha has won many prestigious titles that many peers envy: an Olympic gold medal, two ATP Finals championships, 13 ATP 1000 finals appearances with 7 titles, plus 14 other Tour trophies, and so on. Yet somehow, the prestigious throne at Major tournaments still eludes this "world number one in diabetes."

Roland Garros 2024 and Australian Open 2025, Zverev lost to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner respectively. In the Roland Garros 2022 semifinal, Sascha played an excellent match against Rafael Nadal but suffered an injury and had to retire. Then two years later at the Australian Open semifinal, the German-born Russian player led 2-0 but eventually lost to his arch-rival and fellow "authentic" Russian - Daniil Medvedev after five sets. Similarly, in the Australian Open semifinal earlier this year, Zverev was very close to victory over Alcaraz before reverting to his old ways.

The clearest opportunity for Zverev's Grand Slam ambitions came at the 2020 US Open, where he did not have to face any member of the "Big 3" (Novak Djokovic was disqualified in his match against Pablo Carreno Busta, while Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer did not participate) as well as his nemesis Medvedev, but in the end Sascha lost to Dominic Thiem. Yes, another comeback defeat after five sets.

The door to a Major title opened once again for Zverev at Roland Garros 2026 - a level of favorability similar to the US Open six years ago. This year's clay court Grand Slam is truly strange as Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, withdrew early due to injury, while Jannik Sinner, Djokovic, Medvedev, Casper Ruud, etc. also fell one by one. No Grand Slam champion reached the round of 16 in Paris this year - an unprecedented record in the Open Era.

Immediately, Zverev became the center of attention. Naturally, the German player became the top candidate for the title, and he himself is surely well aware of his opportunity. If not now, then when, Sascha?

The world No. 3's journey on French soil this year has been fairly smooth. With his somewhat cumbersome necklace, the familiar habit of sticking out his tongue when hitting, and his trademark backhand, he has successively defeated Benjamin Bonzi, Tomas Machac, Quentin Halys, and Jesper de Jong to reach the quarterfinals, dropping only one set to Halys in the third round. Zverev's next opponent will be the young talent Rafael Jodar.

A Grand Slam title would help Alexander Zverev gain broader recognition, rather than being remembered merely as the greatest supporting actor, or having his scandals dug up again - girlfriend issues, attacking the umpire, and his latest claim that he is on the same level as Alcaraz and Djokovic, and only behind Sinner.

There is a rather familiar scenario in Zverev's losses at big tournaments: the German player often plays very passively, somewhat overly cautious (partly due to diabetes), and against the likes of Alcaraz, Sinner, and Djokovic, this is nothing short of "digging his own grave." Federer has also spoken about this hard-to-break habit of Sascha, the German player needs to make adjustments to change his fate.

If he cannot stand on the highest podium in a tournament that no longer features Alcaraz, Djokovic, Sinner, Medvedev, etc., the mockery directed at Zverev will surely appear with much greater frequency. A great opportunity comes with considerable pressure for the "best player never to have won a Grand Slam."