"We have to compete against them" - Alexander Zverev refuses to accept the Grand Slam dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

German tennis star Alexander Zverev was touted as a future World No.1 and Grand Slam champion early in his career, but the 28-year-old has failed to live up to expectations. Standing in his way are the dangerous duo of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, whom Zverev believes can still be beaten at Grand Slam events.

Zverev has won an impressive 24 ATP singles titles, an Olympic gold medal and even climbed as high as World No.2 in the ATP Rankings. However, the Hamburg native has fallen short of two of his aspirations, winning a Grand Slam title and establishing himself as World No.1.

The German has come close on three occasions, finishing runner-up at the 2020 US Open, 2024 French Open and 2025 Australian Open. After a third round exit at the 2025 US Open, Zverev would reach the quarterfinals in Beijing before falling in the third round at the Shanghai Open.

Nonetheless, the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist received an invitation to the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Saudi Arabia. The German played one match, losing to American Taylor Fritz in one hour, although he did leave Riyadh with a $1.5 million appearance fee.

The dynamic duo of Alcaraz and Sinner have won the last eight Grand Slam titles, with each man winning four apiece. With both men only showing improvements, it remains to be seen if anyone else can break the stranglehold the duo have on Grand Slam titles.

Following his loss in Riyadh, Zverev was asked if she still had motivations to win a major and become World No.1, given how dominant Alcaraz and Sinner have looked over the past two years.

Well, this year it's about health because the Grand Slam tournaments are over," said the German. "At the end of the day, I'm still number three in the world. There's a group of players, obviously Jannik and Carlos, who are light years away from us and the rest at the moment. They're much, much better than us , but I think Fritz, myself, and Novak, but also some other players like Draper.
"I think we can't just say that in the next ten years, Jannik and Carlos will win every single tournament and we'll just sit there and watch. We have to compete against them and we have to keep that in mind. But, again, right now, that's not something I'm thinking about. Health is the most important thing I'm thinking about."