The king of 'almost': Alexander Zverev officially tops the list no player wanted to lead

Alexander Zverev has risen to the top of what is a very unfortunate list. He has spent the most weeks in the top 10 rankings without winning a Grand Slam title, recently rising above Tomas Berdych with 373 weeks.

The German has regularly been at the business end of big tournaments, showcasing his remarkable consistency to be placed at the right end of the rankings. He has collected an Olympic gold medal, two ATP Final titles and seven Masters 1000 titles in what is already a decorated career. However, it seems that if he does put his racket down now, more people would be talking about his lack of a major title.

This does not mean he has come close to cementing his name amongst the greats of the sport. His maiden Grand Slam final was going swimmingly against Dominic Thiem. Zverev found himself 2-0 ahead and on the brink of the biggest title of his career. Nevertheless, the Austrian mounted an impressive comeback to dash the dreams of Zverev to win his sole major title in his fourth final.

While this was a huge disappointment and setback, it was still a huge step for Zverev. It would be four years until he had the chance for redemption. After three consecutive French Open semi-finals, he finally managed to bypass this stage to set up a showdown with Carlos Alcaraz. It was another five-set battle in which Zverev found himself 2-1 ahead. From this point, though, he only won three games as the talented Spaniard ran away with it for his first title at Roland Garros. Less than a year later, Zverev would try again in his third major final. Things just were not going his way, as an imperious Jannik Sinner took his second Australian Open crown.

Overall, this leaves the current world number three without a Grand Slam title to boast despite all he had achieved. His chances to taste glory were squandered, but that does not mean it is the end of the road. The 28-year-old still has the time and class to fend off the opposition in his quest for the illusive silverware that has been eluding him his whole career.

Zverev tops the list with 373 weeks. Closely following him is Berdych who had sat in top for a very long time. Despite making seven semi-final, just one of them was converted into a final. This came in the 2010 Wimbledon. Despite defeating the reigning champion and overwhelming favourite Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, he could not replicate that form against Nadal.

In third is David Ferrer with 358 weeks. He also made just one major final. This came at Roland Garros where he faced the totally dominant Nadal. There was only ever going to be one result, with Ferrer not having the chance to redeem himself. In total he made 17 quarter-finals but could only make it into six semi-finals, leading to that singular final in Paris.

Nikolay Davydenko sits a distance behind the Spaniard in fourth with 268 weeks tallied. He never made a final, failing to get past the four semi-finals he reached between 2005 and 2007. Culminating the top five is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with 260 weeks. Another player regularly going deep into major events, he peaked very early after making it to the 2008 Australian Open final. It was only his fifth Grand Slam and beforehand he never made it past the fourth round, at the time being the world number 38. He would succumb to defeat against Novak Djokovic who clinched the first of 24 Grand Slam titles. From then, he was unable to reach the heights destined. Five semi-finals were all he could show along with a number of quarter-finals.