Andy Roddick says he won't be the one to speak critically of Alexander Zverev but highlights that being Grand Slam-less is "the biggest knock" against the world No. 3 because he could possibly go down as "the best ever without a Major."
The German, who turned 28 in April, has been one of the best players in the game ever since winning two Masters titles in 2017 and breaking into the top-3.
At the time, Zverev had been widely regarded as the top choice to challenge the Big Three for Grand Slams and potentially become the next all-time great. Eight years later, he has 24 titles in his collection – of which seven Masters, two ATP Finals, and also has an Olympic gold medal in his collection.
At the Grand Slam level, the German has also been making deep runs consistently – but he is 0-3 in his Major finals and he was also a semifinalist on several different occasions.
Evidently, Zverev has a very rich resume and will undoubtedly go down as one of the best players of his generation. But he is lacking one thing and it's a huge one.
Roddick: Zverev is clearly the best player to have not won a Grand Slam…
"The biggest mark against him (Alexander) is that he's not Roger, Rafa, Novak, Alcaraz or Sinner. The biggest knock is that he is pretty clearly the best player to have not won a Major at this point in his career. And I'm not talking about right now, ever." the American tennis legend said on the Served with Andy Roddick.
"It's this weird thing where I'm not going to criticize someone for being elite. At Majors specifically, because he has to talk about it so much, there is an extra pressure set there… It's just the margins. I'm not going to criticize someone and pretend like they haven't accomplished a lot because they haven't accomplished the thing."
Following a three-set Australian Open final loss to Jannik Sinner, a dejected Zverev confessed to reporters that he didn't want to finish without a Grand Slam and have people talk about him as one of the best without a Major.
