Alexander Zverev will end 2026 as the world's top-ranked men's tennis player, sportschau.de reports. The German secured the year-end No. 1 position on Monday without playing, after Carlos Alcaraz lost in Shanghai.
Alcaraz, the Spaniard who had held a theoretical chance of overtaking Zverev, fell to Belgium's Zizou Bergs 5-7, 6-7 (4-7) at the Masters event. According to the ATP's calculations, cited by sportschau.de, Alcaraz can no longer close the gap. American Ben Shelton, the other player with a mathematical path to the top spot, had already been eliminated from contention.
Zverev, the reigning French Open and US Open champion, is the first German man to reach world No. 1 since Boris Becker in 1991. He is also the first German to finish a season in the top position, a distinction Becker never achieved during his eleven weeks at No. 1, which began 35 years ago.
Why it matters
The ranking milestone caps a season in which Zverev won two Grand Slam titles and completes a comeback from a serious ankle injury in 2022 that left his career in doubt.
"It is a fantastic season for me — I won in Paris and New York, and to know that I will finish the year at the top of the rankings is simply a dream come true," Zverev said, according to sportschau.de. He added that he and his team had invested "so much work and effort to reach this goal, especially in returning from the ankle injury."
Zverev becomes the 30th player to hold the No. 1 ranking since it was introduced in 1973.
How the math fell into place
Zverev had been in position to claim the top spot since Jannik Sinner, the current No. 1 from South Tyrol, ended his season early. The ATP congratulated Zverev in a social media post, calling it "Sascha's year" and noting the historic nature of his achievement, according to sportschau.de.
Becker, the six-time Grand Slam champion, had already offered his congratulations on October 6, when Sinner's season-ending decision became public. "Congratulations Sascha," Becker wrote on X at the time, as reported by sportschau.de.
The timing of Zverev's official rise to No. 1 is now set. He can pass Sinner at the ATP tournament in Vienna. To do so, he needs at least a final appearance in Shanghai, where he faces Alexander Bublik in the round of 16 on Tuesday, followed by a tournament victory in Vienna on November 2.
Zverev's run in Shanghai continues as he plays for the results that would make his ascent official on the court rather than through calculations.
