PARIS, May 20 (Reuters) - Germany's Alexander Zverev has been knocking on the door for the best part of a decade but is still waiting to enter the club of Grand Slam champions and time might be running out.
Zverev, 29, will get another chance at Roland Garros where he will chalk up a 41st Grand Slam main draw appearance. With one sizeable hurdle removed, he may not get a better one.
The world number three will be seeded second following the withdrawal of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and while he still faces a daunting task, he is capable of a deep run.
Few players have been as consistent on the Parisian red clay as Zverev. After successive semi-final appearances between 2021 and 2023 he reached the final in 2024 only to lose to Alcaraz. Last year he bowed out in the quarter-finals to Novak Djokovic.
Zverev possesses a damaging first serve and backhand and moves serenely on clay. The dilemma though is how he can convince himself that his time is still to come.
While he would not have to contend with Sinner until the final, the mere presence of the Italian in the draw is enough to darken his mood. Four times he has faced Sinner this season and four times he has shaken hands defeated, without winning a set.
'BIG GAP BETWEEN SINNER AND EVERYBODY ELSE'
After the most recent beating, in the Madrid final when he won only three games, Zverev spelled out the problem.
"It's not like I'm the only one losing to him. I'm just losing to him more because I get to him every single time and I lose to him. So it's like that," he said.
"I think there's a big gap between Sinner and everybody else right now. It's quite simple."
Zverev suffered from fatigue at the Italian Open where he lost to Luciano Darderi in the last 16 and pulled out of his home city tournament in Hamburg with a back niggle.
He will need to be firing on all cylinders if he has any hope of breaking through the glass ceiling and might secretly be hoping world number one Sinner's relentless run of form will end before June 7 -- the date of the men's final.
Publicly, however, he remains hopeful that even if he crosses paths with the Italian again he can find the key.
"I do have to believe that I'm capable of beating him. I do have to believe it, otherwise we can just give him the trophy without playing the tournament," Zverev said.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
