Alexander Zverev joins to the list: Sixth player to lose first three Grand Slam finals

Alexander Zverev faced yet another disappointment in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title, losing his third consecutive final, this time against Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open. The world No. 2 remains one of the players closest to claiming a major title without yet achieving it.

Zverev has now joined five other players from the Open Era who lost their first three Grand Slam finals. However, the German can take solace in the fact that four of them — including Andre Agassi and Andy Murray — eventually lifted a Grand Slam trophy before retiring.

Only two active players 

Zverev isn’t the only active player to lose his first three Grand Slam finals. Norwegian Casper Ruud also shares this distinction, having finished as the runner-up three times. The 26-year-old fell in the finals of Roland Garros 2022 (to Rafael Nadal) and 2023 (to Novak Djokovic) and the US Open 2022 (to Carlos Alcaraz).

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Zverev’s attempts came at the 2020 US Open (losing to Dominic Thiem), the 2024 French Open (losing to Alcaraz), and now the Australian Open, where he was defeated by Sinner. His career includes 107 wins in major tournaments, six additional semifinal appearances, and five quarterfinal finishes.

Former players who lost first three major finals

Four retired players also lost their first three Grand Slam finals consecutively, but Zverev can find encouragement in the fact that all of them eventually secured a major title.

The first to experience this was Andre Agassi, who lost two consecutive French Open finals (1990, 1991) and the 1990 US Open. However, he won his first major title at Wimbledon 1992.

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Goran Ivanisevic lost three Wimbledon finals, the first of which was against Agassi in 1992. He came up short again in 1994 and 1998 but finally claimed the title in 2001, nine years after his first final. That Wimbledon triumph, against Patrick Rafter, was his only Grand Slam title.

Andy Murray needed four attempts before clinching his first Grand Slam at the 2012 US Open. The Brit, who competed in the shadow of the Big Three, achieved world No. 1 status and won three Grand Slam titles in his career. However, he also suffered heartbreak in eight Grand Slam finals, including three losses to Federer and two to Djokovic.

Dominic Thiem also struggled before finally capturing a major title. The Austrian lost two consecutive French Open finals to the almost invincible Rafael Nadal and was then defeated by Novak Djokovic at the 2020 Australian Open. Thiem secured his first Grand Slam title at the 2020 US Open, defeating none other than Zverev.

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Players who lost their first three Grand Slam finals

Andre Agassi: French Open 1990 (lost to Andres Gomez); US Open 1990 (lost to Pete Sampras); French Open 1991 (lost to Jim Courier).

Goran Ivanisevic: Wimbledon 1992 (lost to Andre Agassi); Wimbledon 1994 and 1998 (both lost to Pete Sampras).

Andy Murray: US Open 2008 (lost to Roger Federer); Australian Open 2010 (lost to Federer); Australian Open 2011 (lost to Novak Djokovic).

Dominic Thiem: French Open 2018 and 2019 (both lost to Rafael Nadal); Australian Open 2020 (lost to Novak Djokovic).

Casper Ruud: French Open 2022 (lost to Rafael Nadal); US Open 2022 (lost to Carlos Alcaraz); French Open 2023 (lost to Novak Djokovic).

Alexander Zverev: US Open 2020 (lost to Dominic Thiem); French Open 2024 (lost to Carlos Alcaraz); Australian Open 2025 (lost to Jannik Sinner).

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