The 7 men to lose their first three Grand Slam finals: Zverev joins Agassi, Lendl

Alexander Zverev is just the seventh man in the Open Era to lose his first three Grand Slam finals.
As the German digests his latest major defeat, we look at the men who share his unfortunate fate.
This list only includes players who competed in the Open Era.
Ivan Lendl
Lendl is one of the greatest players to ever pick up a racket, but it took the Czech some time to finally bring home a major title.
The former world No 1 lost the 1981 French Open final to Bjorn Borg, before defeats to Jimmy Connors in the 1982 and 1983 US Open finals.
Lendl would ultimately fall 0-4 after defeat to Mats Wilander at the 1983 Australian Open, though would go on to win eight Grand Slams – starting with victory at the 1984 French Open.
Andre Agassi
Much like Lendl, Agassi would also win eight Grand Slam singles titles after initially losing his first three finals.
The American reached his first final at the 1990 French Open, beaten in four sets by Andres Gomez, and then fell to Pete Sampras in the US Open final later that year.
Agassi would then lose the 1991 French Open final to Jim Courier, though finally captured his first major at the fourth attempt, triumphing at Wimbledon in 1992.
Goran Ivanisevic
All four of Ivanisevic’s Grand Slam finals came at Wimbledon, and it took the Croatian until his fourth attempt to break his major duck.
The former world No 2 was beaten by Agassi in the 1992 final and then fell to Sampras in the 1994 and 1998 finals on the lawns of the All England Club.
Defying his 0-3 record and his wildcard status, Ivanisevic won his sole major at SW19 in 2001.
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Andy Murray
Up against arguably the three greatest male players in tennis history, it took Murray some time to finally achieve Grand Slam glory.
The Brit fell to Roger Federer in the 2008 US Open final and again was beaten by the Swiss at the Australian Open in 2010, before losing to Novak Djokovic in Melbourne the following year.
Murray fell 0-4 in major finals after defeat to Federer at Wimbledon in 2012, though would go on to win three Grand Slam titles – starting at the US Open in 2012.
Dominic Thiem
Much like Murray, Thiem had to battle against some of the greatest of all time to try and finally win a Grand Slam.
The Austrian reached back-to-back finals at the French Open in 2018 and 2019, only for a certain Rafael Nadal to stand in his way and hand him two losses.
Thiem then fell to 0-3 after a defeat to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in 2020, though he would win his fourth final at the US Open in 2020.
Casper Ruud
Now one of two active players on 0-3, former world No 2 Ruud is still searching for his first Grand Slam singles title.
Ruud reached his first final at the 2022 French Open, losing to Nadal, and then was beaten by Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open later that year.
The Norwegian’s most recent final came at Roland Garros in 2023, when he was beaten by Djokovic.
Alexander Zverev
World No 2 Zverev now finds his name on this list after a stinging defeat in Melbourne.
The German so nearly won his first Grand Slam title at the first attempt, losing from two sets up in the 2020 US Open final to Thiem.
That was followed by a defeat to Alcaraz in the 2024 French Open final, and now a loss to Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open.
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