Alexander Zverev to become tennis world number one for first time

Alexander Zverev secured his place as the new ATP world number one on Thursday after defeating Tallon Griekspoor at the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna, France 24 and the BBC reported. The 29 year old German player beat Griekspoor 6-4, 7-5. The ATP Tour and France 24 confirmed he will officially top the rankings on Monday, November 2, replacing Jannik Sinner. [1][7][9]

Upon reaching the milestone, Zverev noted that sometimes you have to wait for the best things in life, according to Olympics. France 24 and DW reported that Zverev is the first German man to achieve the number one ranking since Boris Becker in 1991. France 24 added that he will be the 30th player in history to reach the top ranking. France 24 also noted that Carlos Alcaraz reached the quarter-finals in Vienna. [1][3][8]

Zverev was born on 20 April 1997 in Hamburg, Germany, to Russian parents who were former professional tennis players. He has won 26 ATP Tour singles titles, including two majors at the 2026 French Open and 2026 US Open, a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, seven ATP 1000 events, and the ATP Finals in 2018 and 2021. [10][12]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, Zverev had already secured the year-end world number one spot for the 2026 season after Carlos Alcaraz lost in the Shanghai Masters in October. Sinner missed the end of the year due to a knee injury. [14]