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Lindsay Davenport says who she thinks is more likely to win a Grand Slam title out of Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz

Split image of Alexander Zverev of Germany looks on against Arthur Rinderknech of France during the Gentlemen's first round match on day two of The...
Credit: Visionhaus/Visionhaus/Fran Santiago for ITF/Getty Images
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Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev have both reached Grand Slam finals over the past year.

Fritz has reached his first Wimbledon semi-final this year, continuing his strong grass court form after winning titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne.

However, the American will be up against it to reach the final, with Carlos Alcaraz standing in the way of Fritz.

While Fritz is just two matches away from winning a first major, Zverev lost in the first round of Wimbledon this year.

Lindsay Davenport, manager of Team USA looks on during the Billie Jean King Cup Finals group stage match between Slovakia and USA at Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena.
Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images for ITF

Lindsay Davenport says who she thinks is more likely to win a major out of Alexander Zverev or Taylor Fritz

With the dominance of the ‘big three’ of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer now seemingly coming to an end, there was thought to have been an opportunity for other players to challenge for major titles.

Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have won the last six Grand Slam titles, but things have not quite gone to plan for players born in the 1990s.

The only two male players born in that decade who have won a Grand Slam title are the now retired Dominic Thiem (US Open 2020) and Daniil Medvedev (US Open 2021).

With that in mind, three-time major winner Lindsay Davenport was asked on Tennis Channel which player born in the 1990s who she thought would win their first Grand Slam title.

Despite previously thinking Zverev would be that person, Davenport has now backed her compatriot Fritz to become that person.

“I originally would have said Zverev, but you look at that list. I love the way Taylor’s playing here [Wimbledon], I think we are all talking about that, it’s hard to bet against him,” said Davenport.

“He’s now been to a Grand Slam final, he’s now pushing at this year’s Wimbledon to try and give himself another chance at one. But, his desire and his belief in himself is a little bit different than the other players on that list.

“And you hear Zverev talking here at Wimbledon saying he needs a break and he’s struggling right now, right now it seems that Fritz is the closest.”

Jim Courier explains what we must remember when talking about Stan Wawrinka

Former world number one Jim Courier joined the debate, and while he also backed Fritz as one of the top players, also pointed out something about Stan Wawrinka.

Wawrinka did not win his first Grand Slam title until 28 years old, and would end up with three majors to his name.

“Here’s what I would say, the name that keeps ringing in my head as we are talking about this list is Stan Wawrinka,” said Courier. “Because Stan Wawrinka was about 28-years-old when he started to turn his career around, so you don’t want to call time on these players’ careers yet.

“A coaching change, something shakes them up, something might happen that sends them in a different path the same way that it did with Stan. Taylor’s on a clear path, right, he’s still ascended.

“For players like Sascha [Zverev], for players like [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, they are in regroup, restructure mode. And with Goran Ivanisevic coming in and being a truth teller already to Stefanos, that may be what sends him in the right direction.

“For Sascha, I’m not sure what it is. Can he lean back and say, ‘I won the gold medal, that’s amazing!’, can he use that energy, so far the answer has been no in the finals. He hasn’t quite been able to do that in a major final yet, Prakash [Amritraj].”

Zverev lost in the Australian Open final earlier this year, which was his third time as a runner-up, while Stefanos Tsitsipas has twice been in a Grand Slam final, but not since January 2023.

Fritz reached the US Open final last year and is one win away from reaching the championship match at Wimbledon this year.