Roger Federer made a big prediction about Alexander Zverev in 2017 that has since come true

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Alexander Zverev is continuing to seek that maiden Grand Slam title that has eluded his career so far.

Zverev was devastated at the Australian Open after losing his third Grand Slam final, this time against Jannik Sinner.

This follows the German’s previous final defeats at the US Open (2020) and Roland Garros (2024), where he was a set away from the title on both occasions.

With Zverev having big hopes for Roland Garros this year, he has made changes to his schedule for the 2025 season.

However, after arriving in Buenos Aires for his first clay court tournament of the year, Zverev has already suffered a setback.

While Zverev is yet to make that breakthrough at a Grand Slam tournament, he has achieved some things that Roger Federer once predicted him to.

Roger Federer makes big prediction about Alexander Zverev in 2017

Federer co-founded the Laver Cup in 2017, with the inaugural edition taking place in Prague that year.

With the two teams being selected, there was just one member of Team Europe to be announced who would join Federer, Rafael Nadal, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem and Tomas Berdych.

Team Europe captain Bjorn Borg selected a then 20-year-old Zverev to fill that final spot, with Federer announcing the news in a press conference.

“The last member of Team Europe is going to be picked by Bjorn Borg as a captain’s pick is going to be Alexander Zverev, which we are very excited about, because he’s had a wonderful year,” said Federer. “It’s great news. We were very excited when we heard it.

Zverev had enjoyed a breakout year in 2017, having won five titles that enabled him to break inside the top 10 for the first time.

Of those five title victories, two of those were at Masters 1000 level that include Zverev beating Federer to win the Canadian Open title in Montreal.

When continuing to speak about Zverev, Federer was full of praise and backed him to achieve big things in the sport over the next decade.

“Yeah, I think it’s a great pick. I’m happy he made himself available. He’s had a wonderful year,” said Federer.

“I think we share the opinion, I think he’s going to be one of the great players for the next ten years in our game, a great sport, and I’m sure he’s going to be a great team player, as well. Of course we’re very, very happy to have him on the team.”

Team Europe would go onto beat Team World that year, with Zverev winning both of his singles matches.

Federer retired at the Laver Cup in 2022 after playing doubles alongside rival Nadal.

Since then, Zverev has overtaken Federer with a record at the Laver Cup following the most recent edition that took place in Berlin.

What has Alexander Zverev achieved since the 2017 Laver Cup?

That was not the only time that Federer had praised Zverev in 2017, and the German has gone onto achieve some big things since then.

Despite not winning a title, Zverev has produced consistent results at the majors and has won a number of big events.

This includes five Masters 1000 tournaments and becoming a part of an exclusive group of men to win the ATP Finals on multiple occasions.

Zverev is often labelled the best player without a major, but is still yet to surpass the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Federer is not the only one to back him to achieve big things, with Novak Djokovic also backing Zverev to win Grand Slams.