Many tennis fans might argue that Alexander Zverev might be the best player to have never won a Grand Slam. He certainly is of his generation. He's never reached No. 1 on the ATP tour, though he was close to getting there before he was sidelined by a gruesome ankle injury in June 2022.
He has always had the skills to be great, and he reaches that level on occasion. He just cannot seem to sustain that, and he has suffered far too many early-round losses in 2025. He still holds the No. 3 ranking, but he is nowhere near as good as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Zverev proved again why, in the first round of Wimbledon 2025, when he bowed out to unseeded Arthur Rinderknech, who has never won a title and is currently ranked No. 76 and has never sniffed the top 10. If one did not know which player Zverev was on the court, one might assume the more aggressive and crisper shot-maker was, and was Rinderknech.
Arthur Rinderknech shocks Alexander Zverev in the first round of Wimbledon 2025
Zverev played had his exit from Wimbledon was delayed by a day. The match began on Monday, and the Frenchman took the first set before the German won the second. Then darkness set in, and that might have changed the Frenchman's momentum. Even though the sets were tied at one apiece, Rinderknech was clearly playing better than Zverev.
The German's body language almost implied he didn't want to be playing. He showed little feistiness and seemingly was not upset too much by his poor play. This was likely not the case, though it was difficult to tell what the German was thinking.
He was consistently dominated during Rinderknech's service games as the Frenchman had 25 aces but only three double faults. Both players were performing efficiently with far more winners than unforced errors, but Zverev could never get a break off Rinderknech, even though he had nine chances.
The Frenchman broke the normally stellar serving of Zverev three times. That was enough to constantly change the narrative of the match as the German always seemed to be playing from behind. This is not what an elite player does, but Zverev often shrinks in the biggest tournaments for whatever reason. His first-round loss to Arthur Rinderknech is simply inexcusable.
The five-set match concluded with the Frenchman winning 7-6 6-7 6-3 6-7 6-4.