Zverev vents his frustration at Jannik Sinner and plans to overtake him by November

Alexander Zverev is aiming for the big prize: overtaking Jannik Sinner as the No. 1 player in the ATP rankings—a feat considered unimaginable just a few months ago. The German tennis player, who reached the 2026 U.S. Open final where he will face Ben Shelton, has narrowed the gap to 2,510 points behind the South Tyrolean, and if he defeats the American, he’ll be just 1,810 points behind Sinner, as the season winds down.

Thanks in part to Sinner’s long hiatus due to his knee injury, Zverev has quickly closed the gap and is also favored in the final stretch of the season because he has significantly fewer points to defend compared to the Italian champion. Jannik, in fact, dominated the end of 2025, winning in Beijing, Vienna, Paris, and at the ATP Finals: a quartet of victories that will be difficult to defend, especially given the unknowns regarding his physical condition.

Zverev, on the other hand, achieved only the Vienna final and the Paris semifinal as significant results at the end of 2025, exiting in the group stage of the ATP Finals: Many strong finishes will allow him to close the gap on Sinner even further and claim the top spot in the ATP rankings by November, unless the Italian suddenly starts winning every tournament from here until the end of the season.

The German player also seems eager for redemption and more motivated than ever: at a press conference after advancing to the final, he spoke plainly to the journalists present. “Winning more Grand Slams than Sinner and Alcaraz and reaching more Grand Slam finals than them this year? I believed it, absolutely. Maybe some of you believed the opposite.”