Alexander Zverev is the new world No. 1 (and only the second German ever to get there)
Zverev beat Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 7-5 in Vienna to lock up top spot when the ATP rankings update on Monday 2 November. At 29 he becomes the 30th No. 1 in history and only the second German, after Boris Becker in 1991.
Alexander Zverev will be world No. 1 on Monday. The German beat Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 7-5 in the second round in Vienna on Thursday, and reaching the quarter-finals was enough to guarantee that he replaces Jannik Sinner when the rankings update on 2 November, the ATP has confirmed.
It has been a long time coming. Zverev spent years among the very best in the men’s game without ever reaching the summit. At 29 years and six months, he is the second-oldest man to reach No. 1 for the first time. Only John Newcombe, who was 30 in 1974, got there later.
The year it finally clicked
The difference in 2026 is that he won the majors that had always slipped away. Zverev took Roland Garros and the US Open (the same US Open where Portugal was quickly down to Jaime Faria), reached the Wimbledon final, where Sinner beat him, and made the semi-finals in Melbourne.
The ATP’s own numbers show how relentless he has been. He is 64-16 for the season, and Thursday’s win was his 13th quarter-final of the year, more than anyone else on tour. Against Griekspoor he hit 11 aces and won 35 of 39 points behind his first serve.
Sinner, who had been No. 1 since 13 April, and Carlos Alcaraz both lost big chunks of the season to injury, which opened the door. Zverev had already wrapped up the year-end No. 1 spot as well.
Member number 30
He becomes the 30th member of the ATP’s No. 1 club and the first newcomer since Sinner himself in June 2024. Germany’s only previous No. 1 was Boris Becker, who got there on 28 January 1991.
“To have the feeling to be on the top of the world is amazing,” he said in Vienna. Next up is Britain’s Arthur Fery, who knocked out Lorenzo Musetti, in the quarter-finals.
By Vasco Almada
Image: Daniel Cooper / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)