The handover of the baton is imminent – Zverev is on his way to number one

For tennis star Alexander Zverev, after his Grand Slam triumph, his second big career dream will most likely come true. The Hamburg native will most likely become number one in the tennis world this year because current leader Jannik Sinner is out for the rest of the season due to ongoing knee problems. The Italian announced this in a video message via social media.

Sinner cannot defend his many points from the successful previous season in the remaining tournaments. Zverev, who has significantly fewer points to lose, will soon catch up with the South Tyrolean - regardless of how successfully the 29-year-old plays in the coming weeks. The two athletes are currently separated by 1,280 points in the world rankings. It is extremely unlikely that the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz will catch up with him this year.

Zverev would be only the second German after Boris Becker on the tennis throne among men. Becker was number one in the world for a total of twelve weeks. For the three-time Wimbledon winner, it was only “a matter of time before Zverev becomes number one,” as he noted on “sporteurope.tv” during the US Open.

Leading the world rankings would crown Zverev's best year of his career. At the French Open in Paris in the spring, after years of unsuccessful attempts, he finally celebrated his first Grand Slam tournament victory, followed by his triumph at the US Open in September.

Zverev is currently also benefiting from the bad luck with injuries of his big rivals Sinner and Alcaraz. At the beginning of February after the Australian Open, Zverev was still over 9,000 points behind the then leading Alcaraz and almost 5,700 behind second-placed Sinner. But Sinner has been out for months, Alcaraz only celebrated his comeback at the US Open in New York after a break of more than four months due to a wrist injury.

Sinner said he made the decision in consultation with the doctors because his knee needed further treatment. At the moment he “also has to think about my long-term career,” said Sinner: “I will do everything possible to come back with 100 percent.”

Zverev was consistently fit and played very consistently; he also reached the final against Sinner at the Wimbledon grass classic. “I will stay focused for the rest of the year and do everything I can to get the results so that I have the chance to be number one,” the 2021 Olympic champion said recently.

Zverev still has a third big goal in his successful year of 2026: the first triumph in the Davis Cup. In the duel with Croatia, he played a key role in ensuring that the German team reached the final round in Bologna from November 24th to 29th. “We as a German team will get older at some point,” said Zverev: “And I want to take every opportunity to win the Davis Cup.”