Alexander Zverev says he has been "annoyed" by the reaction to him becoming world number one. The German, 29, claims he is the only tennis player who "has to explain why it's OK" for him to be top of the rankings. Zverev lost to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti at the Paris Masters on Wednesday, his first match since becoming the ATP Tour's number one for the first time.
He has won his first two Grand Slams titles in 2026, but his success has come in a year in which Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have struggled with injuries. "I don't think anybody had to explain themselves as much as I had to do in the last couple of days, which for me, is annoying, to be honest," Zverev said. He has a 62-8 win-loss record against opponents ranked 11 and below this year, but has only won three of 12 matches against top-10 players.
Zverev has lost in each of his 10 most recent meetings with Sinner, who has not played since Wimbledon after injuring his knee and has dropped to number two in the rankings. He has also lost four of his past five matches against Alcaraz, who missed large parts of the season with a wrist injury. "I was a bit annoyed, to be honest, because achieving the world number one status is something that every player dreams of," said Zverev, who won this year's French Open and US Open titles.
His ascent has led to previous accusations of physical abuse by two of his former partners being highlighted again. Zverev has always firmly maintained his innocence and insisted the allegations are baseless. Beaten 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 by Musetti after receiving a bye, he admitted: "To simplify it, he played really good and I played really bad."
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing