Alexander Zverev has secured that he will finish the 2026 season as world number one, after Carlos Alcaraz suffered a surprising defeat at the Shanghai Masters. The German player will thus overtake current champion Jannika Sinner, who has dropped out for the rest of the year due to a knee injury.
Alcaraz lost to Belgium's Zizou Bergs in the third round on Monday with a score of 7-5 7-6 (7-4). This mathematically secured Zverev the top spot at the end of the season, although he cannot overtake Sinner before Monday, 2 November, at the earliest.
Zverev will thus become the first German to finish the season at the top of the rankings, as well as the oldest player to achieve this for the first time. He is 29 years old and has been ranked in the top four continuously since March 2024.
"It has been a fantastic season for me. Knowing that I will finish the year at the top of the rankings is simply a dream come true," Zverev said. "So much work and effort has been put into achieving this goal, especially after returning from an ankle injury. I am looking forward to finishing the season in the best possible way."
The German player has had a difficult path to this success. He severely injured his ankle in the French Open semi-finals in 2022, which kept him out for seven months. After losing three major finals, Zverev won his first Grand Slam title in June at the French Open, and added a victory at the US Open last month.
However, both of his major titles were won without one of the two main rivals. Zverev won the French Open and the US Open with either Sinner or Alcaraz absent, and in neither instance did he have to play against Sinner or Alcaraz. He did not face any player from the world's top ten before the finals in Paris and New York.
Zverev himself admitted that he might not be the world's best player if both his rivals were "healthy and at the peak of their game". Sinner and Alcaraz shared all eight Grand Slam titles in 2024 and 2025.
Ahead of 2026, Alcaraz led the rankings with 12,050 points, Sinner followed closely with 11,500 points, while third-ranked Zverev had 5,110 points.
