Stefanos Tsitsipas is a very polarising player, but few can deny his obvious quality.
Clearly one of the top players on the ATP tour, he comes under fire more than most due to his glaring frailties which he fails to address.
The one-handed backhand, no matter how elegant, regularly breaks down, and it is for this reason that many write him off as a serious contender for elite honours.
That being said, he has come so close to achieving the ultimate goal in tennis on two occasions, leading him to be mentioned in the conversation as one of the best active players without a Grand Slam title.
Who is the best player to have never won a Grand Slam title?
Posing this question to the Tennis Channel panel, Paul Annacone had plenty to say on the four biggest contenders for the unwanted crown who are still playing today.
The former coach of another infamous one-handed backhander, Roger Federer, went through them all, starting with his standout candidate: ‘By far and away I think Zverev. I mean, he’s had the best career out of all of those guys over the last decade. You look at the year-end championships that he’s won. He’s been the most consistent out of those three.
‘Taylor [Fritz], as much as I love him and I’ve helped him, he’s the newcomer there. Last year was his first time to the semi or better of a major so he’s just beginning.
‘Casper Ruud’s a tough one. He lost a couple of finals to some pretty good guys on clay last time I checked and the guy he lost to at the US Open was a guy named Alcaraz and that was a heck of a match.
‘To be honest with you, Tsitsipas, I think he’s never been the same since he lost to Novak after being up two sets to love in the final of the French. That’s my own personal opinion.’
Stefanos Tsitsipas seeking to prove people wrong at Roland Garros
Stefanos Tsitsipas will be hoping to prove everybody wrong with a strong run at the French Open, given this is historically the Grand Slam where he has enjoyed the most success, just behind Australia of course.
As aforementioned by Annacone, he is a finalist at this event, and arguably has come closer than anyone else to a major title given he was two sets up on Djokovic.
And whilst the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have emerged to pose their own threats, the field has arguably never been so open.
Having just come through a battling win against an impressive clay-courter like Tomas Etcheverry, confidence should be flowing through the Greek despite Tsitsipas admitting he’d like to change one part of his game earlier this month.
Currently 18th in the world, he will have aspirations of a strong run to try and propel him closer to where he stood back in 2021: third in the world.
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