Alexander Zverev Becomes World No. 1 at 29, 100 Points Ahead of Sinner

Alexander Zverev is the world No. 1 in men's tennis for the first time. The ATP rankings published today, Nov. 2, put the German on 9,550 points, 100 clear of Italy's Jannik Sinner on 9,450. Spain's Carlos Alcaraz is third with 6,100.

At 29, Zverev is the oldest man in more than 50 years to reach the top spot for the first time. Novak Djokovic moved up one place but sits 11th, outside the top 10.

How he got there

Zverev entered 2026 as an Olympic champion, a two-time ATP Finals winner and a former world No. 2 with three Grand Slam final appearances. He had no major title.

That changed in June. He beat Italy's Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final, cramping along the way, and took the deciding set 6-1. He then added the US Open, giving him two majors in three months.

He also reached the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Sinner. Zverev has lost 10 straight matches to Sinner, according to one account of the season.

The turnaround traces to July 2025, when Zverev spent 10 days training with Rafael and Toni Nadal in Mallorca. He said he wanted to hear how his game looked from their side of the net.

"Rafa, for example, played against me for 10 years," Zverev said. "So now, as a spectator and also as an opponent, he can probably give you the best advice anybody can, because he knows what it's like to be on the court with me."

He came out of it promising more speed, more risk and more variety in rallies. The pressure had broken him before. In the 2020 US Open final he led Dominic Thiem two sets to love and lost in a fifth-set tie-break after two double faults.

Zverev was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age four. His father, Alex Sr., is a near-constant presence in his box, and his older brother Mischa, a former tour player, has joined the team since retiring.

The ranking has an asterisk

Sinner has not competed since Wimbledon this summer. Zverev gained the top spot partly because the gap between the top two was small and the Italian was sidelined. The numbers show a 100-point lead, not a field left behind.

With Sinner's return date unannounced, it is unclear how long Zverev holds the spot once the Italian starts adding points again.

The off-court record

The BBC's tennis correspondent, Russell Fuller, called Zverev a "deserved" No. 1 but wrote that a "sense of discomfort remains" because of abuse allegations from two former partners and a major independent investigation by the sport.

In October 2020, his former partner Olga Sharypova accused him of physical violence and coercive control. Zverev denied all of it. The ATP's independent investigation concluded in January 2023 that there was insufficient reliable evidence to substantiate the allegations. The tour later introduced a new global safeguarding framework.

A second former partner, Brenda Patea, made separate allegations of bodily harm. In October 2023 a German court issued a €450,000 penalty order against Zverev. He contested it, and a public trial opened in Berlin in May 2024. It ended without a verdict after both sides reached an out-of-court settlement.

So no court has convicted Zverev, and the ATP's own investigation found the evidence insufficient. Zverev has consistently denied wrongdoing.

He also served a suspended eight-week ATP ban for striking an umpire's chair in Acapulco in 2022. That incident is on the public record and is not in dispute.

Zverev's job in 2027 is to turn a Sinner-Alcaraz duopoly into a genuine three-way contest. The 10-match losing streak to Sinner stands in the way.

Whether he is still No. 1 once Sinner returns remains to be seen. A 100-point lead will not last long against a player with a clean run at the biggest events.