"It's kind of like a backhanded compliment": Casper Ruud now the best player not to win a Grand Slam

A certain Alexander Zverev managed to win the French Open and finally put an end to a barren run of no Grand Slams. But who is the best player never to win one now.

Speaking on Nothing Major, Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson and John Isner see Casper Ruud now as the best player without one from the current ATP Rankings. As well as that, they ran the rule over those without Grand Slam titles all time.

"This is tough. It's not that obvious anymore. The best current player, I think it's Casper Ruud. He's got three Slam finals, a couple of other Masters Series titles. Although those three finals that he did play, he was a heavy underdog against Novak, Rafa and Carlos in all those finals. But three finals, a staple in the top 10, top five for the last, I don't know, five, seven-ish years. I think he's there. There's a few other guys I think you guys will name, but it's tricky to pick at the moment," said Johnson.

John Isner went on to agree about Ruud saying that he is obviously not a top five player right now, but going off finals. He is up there. "Yeah, I think Stevie's right, actually. If you look at it, we're talking right now. Yes, Casper's not a top-five player. He's not playing at that level. But if you look at the entirety of his career, three finals, obviously losing to Rafa, Novak and Carlos. No shame in that. But I agree, it's Casper because of the three Slam finals."

Stefanos Tsitsipas was mooted but his name was soon scratched off the list. "Maybe you would have said Tsitsipas, but he's not close right now. He's been so bad the last two years," said Querrey.

But in addition, Taylor Fritz has been added into the conversation. "Now's his chance. Taylor Fritz is weirdly in the conversation now."

What about all time though outside of right now. "I always leaned towards David Ferrer just because of how consistent he was. He just couldn't get through those guys. Just couldn't do it. Tough era," said Johson.

"Ferrer and Tomas Berdych," chimed Querrey. Steve Johnson added about Berdych. "Berdych was 1A and 1B. Those guys' careers are identical in tournament wins, match wins, Masters Series, all of the above. I like those two as well. You can go with Marcelo Rios, older school. Got to No. 1, didn't win a Slam."

But another added perhaps was in fact Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. "He's definitely on the list. I don't think he's as high as those guys. I don't think he accomplished as much. But he's sneaky. Got one Slam final."

"He had that insane run in Montreal or Toronto where he beat everybody. Roger... I mean, it's one week, but still. It's an impressive week on the résumé."

But to go back to the start, Querrey and the Nothing Major guys had Ruud as the general consensus. "I think the consensus is, though, Casper now holds the... it's kind of like a backhanded compliment."