Alexander Zverev assured of becoming world number 1

The German Alexander Zverev, winner of Roland-Garros and the US Open this season, is guaranteed to become world number 1 in the ATP rankings for the first time on Monday, after his victory against the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor (6-4, 7-5) in Vienna on Thursday.

Thanks to his qualification for the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 tournament in the Austrian capital, Alexander Zverev is guaranteed to have at least 9,450 points in Monday’s ranking, as many as the Italian Jannik Sinner, but the 29-year-old German will be ahead of him in the number of Grand Slam tournaments won (2 against 1) this season.

Already assured of finishing the year 2026 at the top of the ATP rankings (a first for a German), accession to the throne of world number 1 was only a matter of time for Zverev, who seized the first opportunity.

Before the start of the Vienna tournament, he knew he needed to reach the quarterfinals. In the first round, he had to battle for more than three hours to overcome the Spaniard Martin Landaluce in three sets 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (13/11), after being trailed 5-2 in the decisive tie break and saving four match points, including one on his opponent’s serve.

Thursday, he took Tallon Griekspoor’s serve twice: once at the start of the match and a second time on the Dutchman’s last service game to win in an hour and a half (1h36) and two sets 6-4, 7-5.

Zverev will thus become on Monday the 30th player at the top of the hierarchy since the introduction of the ATP ranking in 1973. His late rise comes as the two players who dominated the last seasons, the Italian Jannik Sinner and the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, missed a large part of 2026 due to injury.