Zverev is the new ATP No. 1, 100 points ahead of Sinner

Alexander Zverev is the new world No. 1. With the ATP ranking update of 2 November 2026, the German moves to the top with 9,550 points and overtakes Jannik Sinner, who drops to second with 9,450. The gap is 100 points: small in absolute terms, but enough to open a new chapter in German tennis history.

This is Zverev's first time at the top of the rankings. He has gained two places since 10 August 2026, and the player page on our site lists 2 November as the date of his career-best ranking. According to Eurosport he is the 30th No. 1 in the history of the computerised ranking and the second German after Boris Becker.

The overtaking did not come out of nowhere. Sinner has left the throne after 29 consecutive weeks and 95 in total, and according to SuperTennis he will only return to the court in 2027. With the Italian out of action, the points count did the rest: SuperTennis writes that Zverev is already mathematically certain to finish the season in first place.

Behind the two there is a huge gap. Carlos Alcaraz is third with 6,100 points, 3,450 behind Zverev, a margin that protects the top spot. Ben Shelton (4,530) and Daniil Medvedev (3,860) complete the top five, while Flavio Cobolli is sixth with 3,690.

The 2026 season explains why the German got here. He won the U.S. Open, worth 2,000 points, and reached the Wimbledon final, worth another 1,300. In London he met Sinner, who won 6-7(7) 7-6(2) 6-3 6-4 in a gripping final.

The autumn months were solid too. In Shanghai Zverev beat Yibing Wu 6-4 7-6(4), Quentin Halys 6-4 6-7(8) 6-3, Alexander Bublik 7-6(6) 4-6 7-6(1) and Alex De Minaur 6-4 6-4 in a row, before losing in the semifinal to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7 6-4 6-3. In Beijing he had lost in the quarterfinals to Novak Djokovic, 4-6 6-4 6-4.

His latest outing is the Vienna semifinal. The German got past Martin Landaluce 7-5 3-6 7-6(11) after 34 games, then Tallon Griekspoor 6-4 7-5 and Arthur Fery 6-0 6-2, before losing to De Minaur 6-4 1-6 7-6(4). His last ten matches read seven wins and three defeats; over the last thirty it is 24 wins and six losses.

Now the No. 1 has to prove he deserves it on court, and he does so straight away. At the Rolex Paris Masters, the season-ending Masters 1000, Zverev starts in the second round on Wednesday 4 November at 10:00. The tournament carries special weight because, as SuperTennis writes, it will hand out the last places at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

His opponent is Lorenzo Musetti, who beat Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(3) 7-6(10) in the first round. The Italian is No. 24 with 2,010 points, but a deep run could be worth up to 2,960. This is not a match to underestimate.

Their head-to-head is perfectly level at 2-2. Zverev won in Madrid in 2022 (6-3 1-0 after his opponent retired) and in the Vienna semifinal in 2025, 6-4 7-5. Musetti answered with a quarterfinal win in Vienna in 2024, 2-6 7-6(5) 6-4, and another in Rome in 2025, 7-6(1) 6-4.

Paris holds happy memories for Zverev. In 2024 he won the title here, beating Ugo Humbert 6-2 6-2, while in 2025 he stopped in the semifinals, so he now has 400 points to defend. The 2025 title went to Sinner, who beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 7-6(4): those 1,000 points expire with this edition.

With the Paris draw under way, the top of the ranking does not look set for upheaval. Even an early exit for Zverev would not threaten his No. 1 spot, given his margin over Alcaraz. It is different for those chasing a place in Turin: every round won counts there, and for contenders like Cobolli, No. 6 and one step from qualifying according to Eurosport, every point matters.

Then there is the wider picture. Italian tennis is well represented: seven Italians are in the top 100, from Sinner at No. 2 to Mattia Bellucci at No. 66, including Cobolli, Luciano Darderi, Musetti, Matteo Arnaldi and Matteo Berrettini. In Paris, the first meeting with the new No. 1 will be Musetti's.

As for Zverev, his player page tells a story of great consistency. Between 2021 and 2025 he played 272 matches at the tournaments tracked by the site, with 196 wins, or 72%, eight titles and fifteen finals. This year he added the U.S. Open to his record, and now comes the top ranking too.

For Sinner, meanwhile, 2026 remains an important year: he won the Wimbledon final against Zverev himself and has left the summit after 95 weeks in total as No. 1. His return in 2027 will be one of the most awaited stories of the winter, while the race for Turin is being decided these very days in Paris.

Now it is over to the court. If Zverev beats Musetti, he will face the next round, and every win will add points to an already solid lead. For those following the tour, it is the snapshot of a strange season in which the No. 1 changes days before the Finals and the German becomes the symbol of consistency.