Germany's Alexander Zverev will be the world No. 1 in men's tennis from 2 November, when the ATP publishes its next ranking update. The spot was secured mathematically on 29 October, with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in the second round of the Erste Bank Open, the ATP 500 in Vienna.
It is the first time Zverev has reached the top, in his 11th year as a professional. He becomes the 30th player to lead the ranking since the list was created in 1973, and the first German in the position since Boris Becker in 1991 — a gap of 35 years.
The match
Zverev closed the match out in one hour and 35 minutes without facing a single break point, according to the ATP website and Tennis Majors. He hit 11 aces and won 35 of the 39 points on which he landed a first serve, a 90% rate.
It was his tenth win over Griekspoor in 13 meetings — the first time the German has beaten the same opponent ten times. His 2026 record moved to 64 wins and 16 losses, and the win in Vienna was his 13th quarter-final of the year, more than any other player on tour.
What comes next
In the quarter-finals he faces Britain's Arthur Fery, 24, a Vienna semi-finalist this season, who knocked out Italy's Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours and 44 minutes.
At 29, Zverev is the second-oldest player to reach No. 1 for the first time. He moves ahead of Spain's Carlos Alcaraz and Italy's Jannik Sinner, who is injured, as reported by SBS and Tennis Majors. If he holds the lead through the end of the Australian Open, he will have 13 weeks at the top, one more than Becker's German record.
In his own words
"To have the feeling to be on the top of the world is amazing," Zverev told the ATP website. In an interview reproduced by Tennis Majors, speaking in German, he described the achievement as something he had worked towards for years, with a caveat about his Italian rival: "I was the second-best player," he said, adding that in terms of pure tennis, when fit, Sinner is the best player in the world.
On the risk of losing the top spot right after reaching it, he was blunt: "I'd have to play pretty badly from here to lose No. 1."
The caveat the number carries is about the calendar, not talent: Zverev reaches the top in a year without a Grand Slam title, but with more weeks of physical availability than the two rivals ahead of him — and he himself insists that staying healthy is "an absolute massive part" of the sport.
With information from the ATP website, Tennis Majors, SBS and Prensa Latina.
