Follow us on Google Discover Jannik Sinner picked up another ATP title last time out in Vienna.
Travelling to Austria as the number one seed, Sinner defeated Daniel Altmaier, Flavio Cobolli, Alexander Bublik, and Alex de Minaur on his way to the final.
There, Sinner beat Alexander Zverev in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, to win the Vienna Open for the second time in three years.
The win was Sinner’s third in a row against the German, as he tied their head-to-head record at 4-4.
Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images
He didn’t have things all his own way, however, dropping the first set against Zverev, who looked to have Sinner on the ropes early on.
Weighing in with his thoughts on the Vienna Open final, Andy Roddick has claimed the way people react to Sinner’s matches is ‘not normal’.
Andy Roddick says that fans being surprised by Jannik Sinner winning in three sets is ‘not normal’
During the latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick’, the former world number one gave his verdict on Sinner’s three-set win over Zverev.
“[Jannik] Sinner won this week. Nuts,” he said.
“You know someone is good when you see the scoreline and think he had a tough one, he almost lost to the number three in the world, that’s crazy. That’s not normal.
“Wins 7-5 in the third, loses the first set against Alexander Zverev, and it’s like, that was a tight one, it’s the number three player in the world.”
Roddick believes Sinner deserves more credit for beating someone as talented as Zverev.
“He [Zverev] is probably the best player ever not to win a Slam… I can say that statistically, you can argue with me on, you like this person or that person, but statistically…” he said.
“Zverev is such a good player, has been so good for so long, he is the best player to have not won a major, and there’s not a statistical argument to be made against it at this point.
“He is so, so good, but that also speaks to the greatness of Sinner, where someone who has made a bunch of finals, won the Olympics, won a bunch of tournaments, won year-end finals multiple times, all of this stuff, and it’s like ‘He got taken to 7-5 in the third’, that’s how dominant Jannik Sinner has been, especially indoors.”
Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images
Roddick claimed Zverev is ‘statistically’ the best player without a Slam title to his name, but do the numbers really back that up?
Is Alexander Zverev the best player without a Grand Slam?
The German is one of just 12 players to have never won a Grand Slam despite playing multiple major finals.
PlayerGrand Slam final recordCareer titlesCareer-high rankingAlexander Zverev0-3242Casper Ruud0-3142Alex Corretja0-2172Stefanos Tsitsipas0-2123Miroslav Mecir0-2114Robin Soderling0-2104Todd Martin0-284Kevin Anderson0-275Cedric Pioline0-255Kevin Curren0-255Mark Philippoussis0-2118Steve Denton0-2012ATP players with multiple major finals but no Grand Slams (Open Era)
Having won more titles than anyone else on the list, Zverev certainly has a claim to the ‘best to never win a Slam’ moniker.
However, there’s another name in the discussion, who, despite never winning a Grand Slam, achieved something Zverev has yet to do in his career.
30 Jan 1998: Marcelo Rios of Chile in action during the semi final against Nicolas Escude of France in the Australian Open at Melbourne Park, Australia. Rios won the match. Mandatory Credit: Clive Brunskill/Allsport
Chile’s Marcelo Ríos only played one major final (1998 Australian Open, lost to Petr Korda), but became number one in the world.
Zverev has yet to reach world number one and looks unlikely to do so anytime soon.
Official ATP top 101. Carlos Alcaraz (11,340 points)2. Jannik Sinner (10,500 points)3. Alexander Zverev (6,160 points)4. Taylor Fritz (4,685 points)5. Novak Djokovic (4,580 points)6. Alex de Minaur (3,935 points) 7. Ben Shelton (3,820 points)8. Lorenzo Musetti (3,685 points)9. Casper Ruud (3,235 points)10. Felix Auger-Aliassime (3,195 points)
It’s up for debate whether Rios’ ascendancy to world number one puts him above Zverev in the ‘best to never win a Slam’ debate, although one thing is for certain: the German wants to remove himself from the discussion.
When he returns to Melbourne for the 2026 Australian Open, Zverev would love nothing more than to finally win his maiden Grand Slam title.
The 2026 Australian Open is scheduled to begin on Monday, January 12.