This Monday, when the ATP tennis rankings were up to date, there was a new identify at the prime of the listing. Alexander Zverev has capped the best 12 months of his life by ascending to world No 1 for the first time, at the conclusion of a season in which the 29-year-old finally ended his grand slam drought with two titles. It has been an glorious 12 months for one of tennis’s most constant athletes, who has been a fixture in and around the prime 10 since 2017.
On paper, the German’s story is one of triumph over adversity, of the extraordinary problem of managing kind 1 diabetes with life as an elite athlete and not letting health situations inhibit one’s sporting desires. He overcame a debilitating ankle damage sustained in the French Open semi-finals in 2022, which left him needing to be helped off court in a wheelchair.
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Then there are the notorious slam finals, the complete and utter implosions from two-sets-to-love up and two-sets-to-one up against Dominic Thiem and Carlos Alcaraz respectively at the US Open 2020 and Roland-Garros 2024. He overcame that psychological turmoil too, finally breaking his duck at the French Open this 12 months.
But Zverev’s ascent to the prime of the sport in many methods feels exhausting to rejoice. The feelgood story summarised above, of resilience and self-discipline, is all true. Yet, if true, other tales about his historical past and character may make it ring hole to many observers uncomfortable with his continued presence in the sport at all.
He has been accused by two former companions of home abuse, allegations which Zverev adamantly denies. Olga Sharypova made allegations of bodily and emotional abuse against him in interviews with Racquet magazine in 2020 and Slate in 2021, but did not convey a court motion, insisting she only needed to share her story and to encourage girls in comparable conditions to come ahead.
Zverev settled out of court with another ex-partner, Brenda Patea, in 2024, after he had beforehand been issued a penalty order – which happens under German law where the evidence for one aspect is thought-about compelling and a trial deemed pointless – and fined. The court was clear in its assertion after the 2024 settlement: “The decision is not a verdict and it is not a decision about guilt or innocence.”
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Zverev has since inaccurately claimed it proved his innocence. He has not been convicted. There has been no verdict at all, leaving him in a limbo state, a gray space with no legally definitive end result but where the harrowing particulars of the accusations can not be forgotten by those who have learn them. He is clearly not the first sportsman to be in this place, nor will he be the last. That does not detract from the severity of what he has been accused of and the incapability of many tennis viewers to, in good conscience, support him.
Zverev ends the 12 months a two-time main champion (Getty)
If we are to put apart that monumental moral and ethical quandary, there are other parts to Zverev’s behaviour which rankle, including a disqualification at the Mexico Open in 2022 after he violently and repeatedly smashed his racquet into the umpire’s chair and swore at the official.
There are incidents of gamesmanship on court, which have put him at odds with fellow gamers, the two-and-a-half hours’ price of ball-bouncing before each second serve – according to Sky Sports – at this US Open and its impact of grinding his opponents down. It is not technically against the guidelines as there are no guidelines at all governing the time taken before second serves – but in the “gentlemen’s game”, ruled as much as it is by unstated conventions of etiquette, it feels distinctly out of order.
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That clearly would not make a participant ineligible for the prime rating in the sport; it is not determined on vibes, nor should it be. But the tennis itself that has introduced him here was hardly inspiring or befitting the rating either. Zverev’s report against top-10 gamers this 12 months stands at three wins and 9 losses as of the time of writing; his only victory in two years and 14 matches against the trio of Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner came when the Serb retired in their Australian Open semi-final in January 2025.
Most considerably, his victory has come in a 12 months when Alcaraz and Sinner, the standard-bearers of the males’s tour, have both missed enormous chunks with damage – and are still on course to stay in the prime three regardless, such is their superiority when match.
Zverev overcame Cobolli in 5 units in Paris this summer time (Getty)
When Andy Murray was year-end world No 1 in 2016, he had reached the most finals and won the most titles of anyone on tour; this 12 months Sinner holds both those accolades, not Zverev, despite only enjoying for six months. Djokovic’s astonishing 2015 season saw him win 11 tournaments including three majors, the ATP Finals, and six Masters titles. Zverev’s tally, with one Masters event still to play in 2026, stands at two titles and one extra Masters closing – when he lost to Sinner.
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He has taken his possibilities at the greatest tournaments and largely been constant across the relaxation, but he beat only two top-10 gamers in his whole grand slam marketing campaign – an ailing Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon and first-time finalist Ben Shelton in the New York showpiece.
His first main title came against another first-time finalist in Flavio Cobolli at Roland-Garros, a match which it is not uncharitable to call one of the worst grand slam finals of all time, given that both gamers appeared decided to lose it due to nerves until Cobolli ran out of steam completely and Zverev could loosen up. The truth that he ultimately got over the line after repeated, crushing disappointments is exceptional – but it was basically handed to him.
So the glory of changing into world No 1 feels in many methods a hole triumph. That will not matter to Zverev or his crew, of course. As the adage goes, you can only beat what’s in entrance of you. But to many observers this entire 12 months, and that world No 1 rating, will be accompanied by a small but highly effective asterisk.
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