Alexander Zverev is guaranteed to finish the 2026 season as world number one after Carlos Alcaraz's surprise defeat in the Shanghai Masters. German Zverev was on course to climb above current world number one Jannik Sinner, who has been ruled out for the rest of the year with a knee injury. Alcaraz still had a mathematical chance of stopping Zverev until he was beaten 7-5 7-6 (7-4) by Belgium's Zizou Bergs in the third round on Monday.
"It's been a fantastic season for me. Knowing that I will finish the year on top of the rankings is just a dream come true," said Zverev. After losing three major finals, Zverev landed the first Grand Slam title of his career by winning the French Open in June, and followed that with victory at the US Open last month. The 29-year-old has taken advantage of the injury problems suffered by Spaniard Alcaraz and Italian Sinner, the dominant pair on the ATP Tour in the previous two seasons.
Zverev cannot overtake Sinner until 2 November at the earliest. He will become the first German man to end the year as number one, and the oldest player to achieve the feat for the first time. After a serious ankle injury at the 2022 French Open kept him out for seven months, he regained his place among the sport's elite and has been ranked inside the top four continuously since March 2024.
At the start of the year, it seemed unthinkable that anyone other than Sinner or Alcaraz would finish as world number one. Alcaraz led the rankings with 12,050 points going into 2026, closely followed by Sinner on 11,500. Third-ranked Zverev had 5,110 points. There is no escaping the fact that Zverev has benefited from Sinner and Alcaraz missing large chunks of the season through injury. Zverev has said he would "maybe not" be the world's best player if both rivals were "healthy and at the top of their game". But, as the old adage goes, you can only beat what is in front of you.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing