"You don't have Nadal, Federer or Djokovic" - Alexander Zverev's brother questions 'consistency' of WTA players

Alexander Zverev's brother Mischa recently talked about the WTA Tour and the absence of dominant players like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in it. The 38-year-old opined that women's tennis players have been far more inconsistent over the years when it comes to winning the singles titles across the four tennis Majors.

Speaking on a recently-released episode of the Courtside Capital podcast, former World No. 25 Mischa Zverev initially cast his mind back to the prime years of WTA icons Jennifer Capriati, Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki. He also highlighted how women's tennis has produced a significantly greater variety of Major champions in recent decades compared to men's tennis.

"Open night session, Kim Clisters against Jennifer Capriati or something like that, Wozniacki playing. There were so many great players back then. And now I feel like there was also a random stat, like at some point they had 12 or more Grand Slams where they had 12 different Grand Slam champions," Zverev said.

He went on to talk about the absence of dominant figures like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in women's tennis. The 'Big Three', as they are fondly known, have won 66 Grand Slams between them, with the Serb still going strong despite the present-day dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Zverev also wondered what the future of women's tennis looks like considering the perceived inconsistency.

"But you don't have that Rafa Nadal in Paris. You don't have Roger or Novak or someone who's like, okay, they've won 10 already. See if someone can be as good as they are. Now, it's like every week there's a new champion and they're not as consistent, I feel like. And I don't know if it's good for the sport, bad for the sport," he added.

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"You can’t win everything" - Iga Swiatek's blunt response to suggestions of WTA players being inconsistent

Iga Swiatek during a press conference at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships (Source: Getty)

During a press conference at this year's Wimbledon Championships, eventual champion Iga Swiatek was asked about her thoughts on the perceived lack of inconsistency among WTA stars. The Pole was irked by the question and dismissed the suggestions of inconsistency citing the recent achievements of herself and rivals Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, saying:

"I have no idea what’s gonna happen in the future. And also, I remember you guys asking me questions why there’s no consistency on the WTA. I don’t feel that. Me and Aryna and Coco have been winning a lot."

The Pole also took a swipe at the tennis schedule, claiming that its hectic nature significantly contributes to different players emerging triumphant spanning different tournaments.

"Sometimes we lose early, because the schedule is pretty crazy. You can’t win everything. I feel like on grass there are many upsets every year… I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter what happens here when we go to the hard court season I would say," she added.

Since the start of 2024, there have been five different singles champions at the Majors from the WTA Tour. Swiatek won last year's French Open and this year's Wimbledon. Sabalenka clinched the 2024 Australian Open and also the 2024 and 2025 editions of the US Open. Barbora Krejcikova won the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. Madison Keys and Coco Gauff won this year's Australian Open and French Open respectively.

In comparison, ATP stars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have shared the spoils at all eight Majors between them within the same timeframe. Sinner won the 2024 and 2025 editions of the Australian Open, the 2024 US Open, and the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. Meanwhile, Alcaraz won the 2024 and 2025 editions of the French Open, the 2024 Wimbledon Championships and most recently, this year's US Open.