Jimmy Connors Sends Grand Slam Warning to Alexander Zverev: “He’s Not Getting Any Younger”

Time is running out for Alexander Zverev? The 28-year-old is called by many as one of he best players on the tour who has not yet won a Grand Slam title.

Sascha is in Paris, bidding to win his second title of the season, and is playing the indoor hardcourt Masters 1000 as the defending champion. He arrived in Paris following the Vienna Open final, where he lost in three sets to World No.1 Jannik Sinner, who tied his head-to-head record to 4-4 against him.

It was the four-time Grand Slam champion who stopped him from winning the Australian Open earlier this year. Zverev was heartbroken and sobbed after a straight-set defeat, and since then, he has only dealt with ups and downs, making deep runs but also losing early-round matches. Recently, former player Jimmy Connors made his feelings known on Zverev’s Grand Slam chances.

But when you hang up the racket, you are going to look back and say I won a few tournaments, but I never won a Grand Slam. I know he has beaten Alcaraz and Sinner, and you get to the point where it’s like, what’s it going to take for him to win a Grand Slam? The reason I like talking about him is that I think he can.

Jimmy Connors said on his Advantage Connors podcast

Zverev first reached a Grand Slam final at the 2020 US Open, and despite a 2-0 lead, he ended up losing the match in five sets against Dominic Thiem. Last year, he lost a tight five-set French Open final against Carlos Alcaraz.

For someone like him, who has the talent and has had three or four opportunities to win. It’s not like he’s getting any younger, and he has got these young guys crawling up his back in Alcaraz and Sinner.

Jimmy Connors added

Zverev is a seven-time Masters 1000 champion, last winning a title of his level at the Paris Masters last year. This year in the Masters 1000, the World No.3 has reached just two semifinals, at the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters.

Andy Roddick calls Alexander Zverev statistically the best player without a Grand Slam title

During his Served podcast, former player and the winner of the 2003 US Open, Andy Roddick, called Alexander Zverev “statistically” the best player to have never won a Grand Slam title. Roddick made this comment while he was discussing Zverev’s three-set final defeat to Jannik Sinner at the Vienna Open.

Zverev is such a good player, has been so good for so long, he is the best player to have not won a major, and there’s not a statistical argument to be made against it at this point.

After the Paris Masters, Zverev will be in Turin for the ATP Finals. He has already won two year-end championships (in 2018 by beating Novak Djokovic and in 2021 by beating Daniil Medvedev).

This year, Zverev, after losing the Australian Open to Jannik Sinner, defeated Ben Shelton to win the Munich Open. Zverev then suffered his fifth consecutive defeat to Taylor Fritz in the Stuttgart Open final, before Sinner denied him the Vienna Open title.

If he defends the Paris Masters, there won’t be any changes in the top two rankings, as World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and World No.2 Sinner are way ahead of him. But Sinner’s win will make him the World No.1 once again, as Alcaraz suffered a three-set defeat at the hands of Cameron Norrie in his opening round. Zverev, a former World No.2, has never reached the top of the rankings table.

Also read: Alexander Zverev Expresses Dissatisfaction About the New Facilities at the Paris Masters

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Join our newsletter to receive exclusive updates and curated insights directly to your inbox.

Subscribe NOW