India, June 5 -- In his on-court interview after the quarter-final, Alexander Zverev was asked if he felt proud that he had entered his fifth French Open semi-final. "Not really," said the German. "Don't really care. I want to win the matches that are ahead of me."

The answer was unusual, but in a way summed up the almost paradoxical storyline of Zverev and Grand Slams.

This is a guy who has only twice not made it to the second week of Majors since 2024, who has been to at least the quarter-finals at Roland Garros since 2021, and who has been to as many Slam finals as the player who beat him for the 2020 US Open title, Dominic Thiem.

But this is also a guy without a Slam.

Zverev has another shot at it. Perhaps as good as the 29-year-o...