Champion Jannik Sinner of Italy and runner-up Alexander Zverev of Germany pose with their trophies after the lads’s singles final at Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday, July 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
LONDON — Alexander Zverev is used to being “the third guy” in tennis.
After following up his French Open title with a run to his first Wimbledon final, he’s hoping to be greater than that in the longer term.
Despite losing to Jannik Sinner on Centre Court on Sunday, the 29-year-old Zverev thinks he’s closer than ever to difficult the top-ranked Italian and his major rival Carlos Alcaraz and giving tennis a Big Three again.
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The 2026 Gentlemen’s Singles runner up, Alexander Zverev 👏#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/C0ngxzBRsJ
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 12, 2026
Sinner and Alcaraz had won the last nine Grand Slam tournaments between them before Zverev won his first major at Roland Garros this yr.
“There was at all times this conversation, ‘who will probably be the third guy?’” Zverev said. “I’ve at all times been the third guy, but I used to be just distant from those two. But I’ve at all times been No. 3 in a way. So if I catch up with to them … it could be great.”
Alcaraz missed this yr’s French Open — and Wimbledon — with a wrist injury, and Sinner was eliminated within the second round in Paris after wilting in the warmth. Zverev lost in five sets to Alcaraz within the semifinals on the Australian Open this yr and lost 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4 to Sinner on Sunday after overextending his knee within the third set.
“I believe I’ve been pushing those guys,” Zverev said. “I haven’t beaten them this yr, but I’ve pushed them to the boundaries, I might say.”
He can have been in a position to push Sinner much more had it not been for a slip in the course of the third set, on Zverev’s only break point of the match. The German fell to the bottom and clutched his right knee in pain, with Sinner coming over to examine on his opponent before helping Zverev up off the grass.
Zverev said he overextended his knee and that it hampered his serve — his biggest weapon — after that.
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“I used to be struggling to push off on the serve a bit bit. So my serve speed went down,” he said. “But every part else went positive. I used to be moving positive from the baseline and playing from the baseline positive.”
Despite the loss, Zverev will shed the “third guy” moniker in no less than a technique — he’ll overtake Alcaraz as No. 2 within the rankings on Monday.
Zverev had never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon before this yr, but seems to have finally discovered how one can play on grass.
“I’m 29 years old and that is the primary time I actually consider I can win this trophy,” Zverev told the Centre Court crowd after his defeat.
Sinner seems to share that belief.
“Today you were so, so close. For those who play like this, I’m very, very sure you’re going to have this (trophy) at home as well,” Sinner told his opponent. “I do know the goal is so that you can turn out to be the No. 1 on the planet. You’re very, very close. So we now have to be very careful now.”