Greg Rusedski Picks ‘This’ Former Player Ahead of Alexander Zverev as the Best in History to Never win a Grand Slam
Alexander Zverev has reached three Grand Slam finals in his career.
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Greg Rusedski and Alexander Zverev (Image via Tennis365)
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Greg Rusedski has termed Marcelo Rios the greatest player in tennis history never to win a Grand Slam. The former British No.1 believes that the Chilean is ahead of Alexander Zverev and the rest because of the fact that he was ranked World No.1.
Rios achieved that feat in March 1998 and also has a Grand Slam Cup alongside his name. However, he could only reach an Australian Open final in major events.
Rios is the best player in the history of the sport to never win a Slam. He was the world number one. Ríos better than Zverev? Oh, yeah. No question about it. Unfortunately for Marcelo, he wasn’t able to have a long enough career to achieve that goal of winning a major. That’s the only thing against his record. The talent Marcelo had was off the charts. There’s no player with his hands and he had everything in the game.
Greg Rusedski said to Clay Tennis
Zverev has never reached the World No.1 spot in his career. However, he has practically everything outside of the Grand Slam events.
He (Rios) would have won multiple Slams. You can see him winning in Paris. He lost in the Australian Open final. Hard courts in New York — there’s no reason he wouldn’t be successful there. I think the one that would have been tough for him to win is Wimbledon. The other Slams, no question about it, he could have won them all.
Greg Rusedski added
The German won the Olympic singles gold medal at Tokyo in 2021. Moreover, he won two ATP Finals and seven Masters 1000 events. In Grand Slam events, he has reached 3 Grand Slam finals, losing at the US Open 2020, Roland Garros 2024, and the Australian Open 2025.
Alexander Zverev secures 50 wins in 2025
Recently, Alexander Zverev earned his 50th tour-level win of the season with a strong performance in Vienna. The German defeated Italian qualifier Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-4 in just 87 minutes, securing a spot in the quarter-finals. Impressively, he has never failed to reach at least the last eight at this indoor tournament.
Zverev previously captured the Vienna ATP 500 title in 2021 and continues to show consistent form this year. His recent victory marks his 12th quarter-final appearance of the 2025 season, putting him just behind Carlos Alcaraz, who has 13.
At 28, Zverev is currently ranked fourth in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin. This strong standing puts him on the brink of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for the eighth time in his career.
A two-time champion of the year-end event, Zverev will now face Tallon Griekspoor in the next round in Vienna, aiming to extend his impressive run. The German will also be playing the Paris Masters before the ATP Finals, where he is the defending champion.
Alexander Zverev sparks new injury concerns in Vienna
German tennis star Alexander Zverev has had his fair share of injury troubles throughout the 2025 season. Now, as reported from his press conference (H/T: Tennis World), those injury concerns have created further doubts about his plans for the rest of 2025 and the start of 2026.
I’m happy to have made it through the first round here in Vienna. I think it was a good test, although I have to admit that my body is not responding in the best possible way. I had some uncertainty before the start of this tournament and I only realized during the warm-up that I would be able to play normally.
Zverev started the season really well by reaching the Australian Open final. However, he endured a devastating loss at the hands of Jannik Sinner in Melbourne. This loss considerably hampered his 2025 season as early exits at Wimbledon and the US Open followed.
He reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, but lost to Novak Djokovic in four sets. Amidst all of those results, the physical condition of the former World No.2 has continued to deteriorate. Despite the issues, he should be optimistic about ending his Grand Slam duck in 2026.
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