Zverev relishes best chance of winning a Grand Slam title

World No 1 Jannik Sinner is out, No 2 Carlos Alcaraz is not playing and No 4 Novak Djokovic has also been taken out. On the face of it, world No 3 Alexander Zverev is now the odds-on favourite to win the French Open at Roland Garros, having previously come close to a Grand Slam title three times in his career.

The big-serving German, who has won 24 titles on the ATP Tour, beat Spaniard Rafael Jodar 7-6 (3), 6-1, 6-3 in the quarter-finals on Tuesday to move into yet another Grand Slam semi-final and will take on 20-year-old Austrian Jakub Mensik, who beat Djokovic-slayer Joao Fonseca.

Under the circumstances, 29-year-old Zverev should be desperate to win a Grand Slam title given that he has never won one despite reaching three finals – leading in two – and getting to at least two semi-finals at every Grand Slam except Wimbledon, where he has not been past the fourth round.

The most notable loss at a championship decider was the first, when he wasted a two-set lead in the 2020 US Open final against Austrian Dominic Thiem. Defeat was even more galling because Thiem became the first man in 71 years to win that tournament after dropping the opening two sets.

Then, Zverev led 2-1 in sets against Alcaraz in the 2024 French Open final, and lost that one, too. He was resoundingly beaten in straight sets by Sinner in the 2025 Australian Open final.

Despite that, Zverev said he would never swap a victory in one of those for the Olympic gold medal he won in the men's singles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

"No chance. The gold medal for me is the most difficult thing to win, because you get a chance once every four years," Zverev said. "You do it for your country. You do it for the people back home. I will never trade my gold medal for anything, but I wouldn't mind to add a few things to my list as well."

Asked about his chances of winning the title in Paris, Zverev said, "I feel like the draw opened up a lot on the top half. Of course, with Joao Fonseca beating Djokovic, it's a big match that opened up the draw."

Zverev added, "We have fantastic players that are young on the tour right now; we have a lot of potential. I have to trust myself, trust my game."