ATP Tour

Zverev clinches ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours

Alexander Zverev clinched ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours for the first time on Monday.

Eight times previously, Zverev finished inside the Top 10 of the year-end PIF ATP Rankings. On five occasions, he was inside the Top 5. Now, at the end of 2026, the 29-year-old will finish the season as World No. 1.

“It’s been a fantastic season for me winning in Paris and New York and knowing that I will finish the year on top of the rankings is just a dream come true," Zverev said. "So much work and effort have been put into achieving this goal, especially after coming back from the ankle injury. I look forward to finishing the season in style.”

Zverev became the first German to earn ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours and the oldest player to accomplish the feat for the first time. Set to be 29 years, 217 days old on the date of the year-end PIF ATP Rankings (23 November 2026), he will be three days older than Andre Agassi was in 1999 (29 years, 214 days) and 20 days older than Andy Murray was in 2016 (29 years, 197 days).

It has been the best season of Zverev’s career, claiming his two biggest titles. The German began 2026 without a major title to his name, but he triumphed at both Roland Garros and the US Open to position himself for year-end No. 1 honours.

Zverev reached the Australian Open semi-finals in January, ultimately falling short to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-hour, 27-minute thriller. The righty then reached at least the semi-finals at the first four ATP Masters 1000 events of the season in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo and Madrid (where he was a finalist), losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner on each occasion.

The Hamburg-born Zverev faced first-time major finalist Flavio Cobolli in the Roland Garros final, lifting his first Slam trophy in five sets to join Agassi, Goran Ivanisevic and Dominic Thiem in capturing his first major crown in his fourth final. He became the first man from his country to triumph at Roland Garros in the Open Era. Shortly thereafter, he made the Wimbledon final to become the first German man in history to reach the final at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

The 29-year-old needed five sets in his first two matches of the US Open, but that did not stop him from making history. Zverev dropped just one set the rest of the tournament to emerge victorious in New York, becoming only the fourth man in the Open Era to win his second major title in the same year as his first, joining Jimmy Connors (1974), Guillermo Vilas (1977) and Sinner (2024). He tallied a 25-2 record at the majors this season.

Zverev is the fourth active player to earn ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours. Record-holder Novak Djokovic (8x), Alcaraz (2x) and Sinner (1x) have also done it.

In 2024, Zverev finished as year-end No. 2 for the first time. Two years later, he will complete the season as World No. 1.

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said: “Finishing the season as year-end No. 1 is the ultimate achievement in our sport. Congratulations to Sascha, who became just the 20th player to do so. For a decade, he has consistently been one of the best players in the world. To finish as year-end No. 1 for the first time aged 29 shows his grit and determination to continue pushing forward.”

Later this year, Zverev will become the 30th player to reach World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, with the earliest he can achieve the feat being 2 November.

Zverev will now turn his attention to the end of the season, with plenty still at stake. The German is in the Round of 16 at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he is attempting to claim his eighth Masters 1000 title. At the end of 2026, he will try to become the eighth player to earn at least three Nitto ATP Finals titles.