German tennis player Alexander Zverev today rose to the lead of the world tennis ranking for the first time, in exchange for Italian player Jannik Sinner, by accessing the final rooms of the Vienna ATP 500 tournament.
© Lusa
29/10/2026
by
Lusa
O german tennis player Alexander Zverev today rose to the lead of the world tennis ranking for the first time, in exchange for Italian player Jannik Sinner, when he accessed the final rooms of the Vienna ATP 500 tournament.
In the capital of Austria, Zverev imposed himself on the ‘eighties’ of Dutch Tallon Griekspoor, 50th of the world hierarchy and newly champion of the ATP 250 of Brussels, winning the partials of 6-4 and 7-5 in an hour and 36 minutes.
Alexander Zverev, 29 years old, will face the British Arthur Fery, 35th ATP, in the next round and made the rise to the ranking command official, two and a half weeks after having guaranteed that the season would end in this condition, in succession of Sinner, who no longer acts in 2026, by injury.
In a season marked by unprecedented successes in Grand Slam tournaments in his career, triumphing in Roland Garros and the US Open, among the defeat in the Wimbledon final, Zverev became the 30th tennis player, and the second German – after Boris Becker – to reach the top position of the ATP ranking, which was created in 1973, and will be the 20th to finish the season as number one.
“It’s special to be on the court and know that on Monday [day of announcement of the next ranking update], I will be the number one in the world. It’s the best feeling,” said German, who this year was still semifinalist at the Australian Open and was defeated by the Madrid Masters 1000 decision.
Upon arriving at the 64th victory at this time, Alexander Zverev secured at least 9,450 points in the next update of the hierarchy, as many as Jannik Sinner, over which he always has the advantage due to the highest number of victories achieved in Grand Slams in 2026 (two against one).
This rise takes place in a season in which Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who dominated tennis in recent years, were injured and lost several competitions, although the Spanish had already returned to the courts.
The Germanic sum 26 trophies of singulars and three pairs in the career, having triumphed at the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games, played in 2021, due to the covid-19 pandemic, and in two ATP Finals, in 2018 and 2021.