2024 ATP Player of the Year Countdown, No. 5: Alexander Zverev

2024, by the Numbers

• 69-21: Overall win-loss record
• 18-4: Grand Slam win-loss record (AO SF, RG runner-up, W 4R, USO QF)
• 2: Titles (Rome, Paris Indoors)
• 2: Runner-ups (Roland Garros, Hamburg)
• 2: Year-end ranking

The Story of the Season

Alexander Zverev was the most prolific player of 2024. He played 90 matches at 23 tournaments, winning 69—his personal best, corresponding to a win-rate of 76.7%. These figures are a fairly accurate reflection of his season: He was a consistently good player, only dropping out of five events before the quarterfinals and winning two Masters 1000 titles—but is still clearly behind Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in these statistics.

Zverev started the year by winning the United Cup and reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open. But he finally found his form on the red clay, winning in Rome and finishing runner-up at Roland Garros, where he was just one set away from his first major title before falling to Alcaraz.

Setbacks like these bitter defeats, the lingering effects of his ankle injury from the 2022 French Open semifinal against Rafael Nadal, a knee injury suffered this summer at Wimbledon and even pneumonia did not stop the 27-year-old from continuing to tour the world and compete at the highest level.

His ambition was clear to see throughout the season. But despite his consistent performances, he still lacked the achievement by which he's measured himself throughout his career: a Grand Slam title.

Nevertheless, the German ended the year in second place in the world rankings, which was a goal for the season.—Franziska Bruells

What's to Come in 2025?

The only way 2025 will be a true success for Zverev is if he wins his first major title. Unfair or not, it’s his own fault for having the game to do it, along with numerous oh-so-close calls. In fact, an argument could be made he is the best men’s player to never win a Grand Slam.

Zverev has all the physical tools—his serve and two-handed backhand are as good as any—but nerves can rattle him in the big moments. His losses this past year in the Australian Open semifinals (to Daniil Medvedev) and Roland Garros final (to Alcaraz), both where he was in winning positions, are prime examples. Three of his four losses at the majors came in a fifth set, and he was 15-12 in deciding sets for the season. Not an abysmal stat, but somewhat ordinary for a No. 2-ranked player.

Getting better return-of-serve numbers and shoring up his net game would also help, but becoming more clutch is really Zverev’s biggest need. Doing so late in a career isn’t an easy assignment—most players can’t pull it off. To Zverev’s credit, he continually puts himself in positions to test the assumption.

But whether he develops the capacity to rise to the occasion and put that major on his resume is the only thing left for him to prove.—Jon Levey