Alexander Zverev becomes world number one in 2026 after French and US Open wins, controversy persists
Alexander Zverev became world number one in men's tennis in 2026 after winning the French Open and the US Open, ending the year as a two-time major champion. The 29-year-old is the oldest man in more than 50 years to reach world number one for the first time.
Zverev spent 13 years waiting to win a Grand Slam title and then secured two in three months this year. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age four, he arrived at 2026 already an Olympic champion, a two-time winner of the season-ending ATP Finals, a former world number two and a player who had previously appeared in three Grand Slam finals.
Before this breakthrough he had been widely regarded as the best male player never to have won a major, and his most excruciating Grand Slam loss came at the 2020 US Open where he led Dominic Thiem by two sets to love but lost in a fifth-set tiebreak after serving two double faults as his opponent began to cramp. The inability to play with the same freedom and attacking intent in the biggest matches had been a recurring issue in his career.
Zverev said he sought a change of approach after spending 10 days with Rafael and Toni Nadal in Mallorca in July 2025, adding: "I wanted to see and then hear a new vision of what tennis in their mind looks like - and how my tennis, in their mind, looks like." He vowed to hit the ball with more speed, take greater risk and employ more variety; despite moments of extreme anxiety, including cramping in June's French Open final against Flavio Cobolli, he won the deciding set 6-1 to claim his long-awaited first major trophy.
His on-court team and family have been prominent throughout his career: his father, Alex Sr, has been a near-constant presence in the coaching box, while older brother Mischa has joined him since retiring from the tour. Zverev has said of his parents: "The big difference with my parents is that they never forced me to do anything. They wanted me to play different sports so they didn't have to coach me. They always told me 'why don't you play football, or field hockey?' as that was the sport I loved."
Zverev was also runner-up at Wimbledon, where he lost in four sets on Centre Court to Jannik Sinner after playing what the article describes as his best tennis of the year and being aggressive and daring. The piece says he will need to take a leaf out of that performance in future meetings with both the Italian and Carlos Alcaraz.
He has faced serious allegations off court and been the subject of a major independent investigation by the sport after being accused of physical abuse by two former partners. In October 2020 his ex-partner Olga Sharypova accused him of physical violence and controlling behaviour; Zverev maintained his innocence and the investigation conducted by third-party investigators found "insufficient evidence to substantiate published allegations of abuse."
Following the handling of those allegations, a director of safeguarding was appointed and this year a new safeguarding programme was launched to introduce a "clear, global framework for preventing and responding to abuse, including cases of harassment, bullying, domestic violence and other forms of misconduct." In October 2023 Zverev was issued with a penalty order and fined 450,000 euros (£392,000) by a German court for bodily harm against another ex-girlfriend, Brenda Patea; Zverev denied the claims and contested the order.
A public trial in Berlin in May 2024 ended a week into the process when the court terminated the proceedings, the court saying: "The decision is not a verdict and it is not a decision about guilt or innocence." The court added: "One decisive factor for the court decision was that the witness [Zverev's ex-partner] has expressed her wish to end the trial." Zverev argued of the dropped case: "That's what dropping the case is. That is innocence. ... Done. We move on. I never ever want to hear another question about the subject again. That goes out to everybody." Patea has not publicly commented on the settlement.
Zverev has also been heckled by spectators, notably at the 2025 Australian Open and Munich Open, and received an eight-week suspended ban from the ATP in 2022 after smashing his racquet into the umpire's chair four times following a doubles defeat in Acapulco. He was thrown out of that tournament, swore at umpire Alessandro Germani and accused him of destroying the whole match; one of the four angry swipes at the chair nearly caught the umpire on the foot. Zverev later apologised and said it was "difficult to put into words" how much he regretted his behaviour, and the ban was never imposed after he avoided being fined for "disrespectful or aggressive behaviour, or verbal or physical abuse" in the 12 months following the incident.
Zverev reached the final of three of the four Grand Slams in 2026 and has lost 10 matches in a row to Jannik Sinner; the article says that "if he and Alcaraz are fit for the start of next season, Zverev's challenge will be to make 2027 a three-way rivalry for the major titles."