Monday, January 28, 1991: The grinning Boris Becker graces the front page of the “Bild” newspaper. A crown is mounted on his head. The day before, Becker had defeated the great Ivan Lendl in the final, although his back had broken down in the meantime. Fifth Grand Slam success, number one in the tennis world rankings for the first time. A new king is born. “Boris I. King of Tennissania,” is the headline in “Bild”.
A Monday in November: transfer of power in Tennissania. Jannik I leaves the throne, his body forcing him to give up his office for the time being. For the first time in 35 years, a German is available as his successor. It's time for King Sascha I. It has been clear since last Tuesday that Alexander Zverev will become the new number one in the world rankings. Jannik Sinner announced his end of the season via video message and said that he had to think about his “long-term career” in view of his complicated knee problems.
Sinner loses 3,050 points in the remaining four tournaments this year, while Zverev only has 980 points to defend in the same period. Currently 1,280 points behind, it is simple math that Zverev will overtake the lanky Italian sooner or later, no matter how terrible the Hamburg player may play until the end of the season. The pursuers, ex-king Carlos Alcaraz and the American upstart Ben Shelton, are too far away to pose a threat to Zverev this year. The only question now is when the 29-year-old German will take over the place in the sun.
The earliest date is November 2nd, the day after the ATP tournament in Vienna. To do this, Zverev would need a title at the current Masters in Shanghai, where he won his opening match against the Chinese Wu Yibing 6:4, 7:6 (7:4), and a semi-final in Austria - or the final in China and the title in Vienna. Only these two combinations lead to early adoption. Otherwise, Zverev would have to wait until the tournament in Paris or the ATP finals in Turin from November 12th. By then at the latest, Zverev will be king of the tennis world.
Zverev's image is still burdened
It will be a different reign than under Becker. “Bobbele” had the German people at their feet in their heyday. With Zverev there is still a certain distance mixed in with fair recognition for his sporting successes. It has been building up over years. Sporty through rowdy behavior, which found its most negative outcome in a bully attack in the direction of the referee's chair (Acapulco 2022). Or most recently through his intense ball ticking before every serve, which unnerved opponents and experts. In the first five games alone on the way to his US Open victory, Zverev let the ball bounce more than 12,000 times, according to ESPN statistics.
And then there are the allegations from Zverev's private life. Two ex-girlfriends accused him of domestic violence, the matter ended in court with a fine, but expressly without a guilty verdict. Nevertheless, the topic keeps coming up - like after the French Open victory in the summer, when he is said to have canceled an interview with the French newspaper "L'Équipe" after questions about the topic. Zverev's image is burdened.
Zverev's reputation is the same even before the upcoming changing of the guard. Critics see him as a gap-filler who will only be at the top because Alcaraz was out for almost five months this year with a wrist injury - and Sinner hasn't played a game since his Wimbledon victory in mid-July. If one or both of them had stayed fit, the argument goes, Zverev would not have come close to number one.
It's a story that enrages Becker. "He can only ever beat the opponent he has to compete against on the pitch. I find it a bottomless impudence and an incredible disrespect for his performance," he said on the "Becker Petkovic" podcast last month.
There are two truths: Of course, Zverev can't help it that he is perhaps in the best condition of his career while his opponents are physically falling apart. On the other hand, Zverev has never won against the absolute top players – Sinner, Alcaraz and oldie Novak Djokovic. Zverev has lost the last 13 games against the three in a row - nine of them against Sinner. So there is a good statistical argument that the German will at least be a weaker number one than previous ones.
Zverev shouldn't care. “The Unfinished,” is the now inaccurate title of a biography about Zverev that was published this year. After his first two Grand Slam titles this year, he is about to complete his last big dream.
A look back: Zverev is sitting in the DeLorean shortly before Wimbledon. Not in the original from the “Back to the Future” films, but in a replica by the entertainer and influencer Jens “Knossi” Knossalla. He has had greats like Jürgen Klopp, Joko Winterscheidt and Elyas M'Barek as guests in his car. Now Zverev's 1.98 meters squeeze into the DeLorean, which is made for 1.80 meters. The head just barely doesn't hit the ceiling.
"World number one is the only thing I haven't achieved yet. I was very close. Then unfortunately I got injured in 2022. That's the goal I still want to achieve," says Zverev in the interview when asked about his next dreams. He alludes to the semifinals at the French Open that year. If he had won the tournament, he would have been number one back then. But Zverev suffered a nasty injury in the semifinals against Rafael Nadal. In the cries of pain, his hope for the throne was lost; for months he couldn't even remotely think about it.
The horror record of the players from the 1990s
Instead of him, the Russian Daniil Medvedev took the top spot. Which brings us to the next strand of significance of Zverev's rise to number one. The German is becoming the savior of a lost generation. The 1990s produced some good tennis players. In addition to Zverev and Medvedev, Dominic Thiem, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz. Apart from Medvedev, no one has made it to the top yet. There are only four Grand Slam successes (Zverev 2, Medvedev 1, Thiem 1). In this statistic, the 1980s, led by the “Big Three” Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, have 80 titles, while the 2000s already have twelve thanks to the “New Big Two” Alcaraz and Sinner.
Zverev always represented a generation between two eras of pure dominance, which hardly got any of the cake. Things are changing for him just in time. “At 29, you don’t really know how many chances are still to come,” said Zverev in Knossalla’s DeLorean. At the time he spoke about the pressure of having to win Roland Garros as favorite in the final against Italian Flavio Cobolli. However, the statement can be transferred 1:1 to the status of number one. Zverev took advantage of perhaps his last chance before Sinner and Alcaraz become uncatchable again.
Congratulations have already been received from the highest levels. “Congratulations Sascha,” Becker wrote on X on a post in which Zverev was announced as the 30th number one in men’s tennis. Everything is ready for the coronation. Only Zverev himself doesn't want to know anything about it.
"It's a topic of conversation for everyone at the moment. The only thing I can control is what I do on the tennis court," said Zverev before the start of the tournament in Shanghai. Sascha I. practices restraint.
