CoCo Vandeweghe says Alexander Zverev lacks one key thing

Speaking on the latest episode of ‘The Big T Podcast’, Vandeweghe weighed in on Zverev’s comments.

“I think it’s a non-starter,” she said.

“Sascha [Zverev] is not in the same conversation as Jannik [Sinner], Carlos [Alcaraz], or Novak [Djokovic], because of the one thing that he’s missing, a Grand Slam.”

“He’s not a Grand Slam-winner, has been close, for sure, has been three in the world, two in the world, for a long time, but that elusive Grand Slam, that’s what changes the difference of who becomes a Hall Of Famer.

“Do you have that Grand Slam title?

“Because there are plenty of world number ones who never won a Grand Slam, [Marcelo] Rios being one of them that comes straight to mind, who won’t be a Hall Of Famer, because he doesn’t have that Grand Slam.

Vandeweghe continued by saying: “So I think it’s not fair to the accomplishments of Novak, Carlos and Jannik that Sascha would even think that he’s in that same category.

“I think that’s a completely separate category.”

However, Vandeweghe did acknowledge where Zverev stands among today’s contenders.

Looking back at Zverev’s missed Grand Slam opportunities

Alexander Zverev often finds his name in the conversation about the best players who haven’t yet won a Grand Slam title.

So far, he’s reached three finals but hasn’t managed to come away with a trophy.

The first of those came in New York back in 2020, where he built a two-set lead over Dominic Thiem before falling short in the fifth set tiebreaker.

He returned to another final four years later at Roland Garros, this time facing Alcaraz. Again, he had an early lead but ended up losing over five sets: 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 1-6, 2-6.

Zverev’s most recent shot came just last year when Sinner beat him in straight sets.

As for what comes next? The French Open starts on Sunday, May 24th – and we’ll see soon enough if Zverev can put himself back into contention for that elusive major title.