Zverev Clinches Year-End No. 1 After Alcaraz Loss

Alexander Zverev is going to finish 2026 as the world No. 1. The German clinched year-end No. 1 for the first time on Monday when Zizou Bergs stunned Carlos Alcaraz 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the third round of the Shanghai Masters, the ATP announced.

This is the one honor that kept slipping past Zverev for a decade. He is the first German man ever to finish a season at No. 1, per the ATP. Boris Becker reached the top spot in 1991 but never ended a calendar year there.

Bergs flips the race

Alcaraz was the only player who could still catch him with Jannik Sinner shut down for the year, and Bergs ended that in two sets. The 39th-ranked Belgian broke Alcaraz three times, blew a chance to serve it out at 6-5 in the second set, then won the tiebreak and closed it with his ninth ace, per the AP. It was the biggest win of his career and his first in two meetings with the Spaniard.

"I feel like now I really can win against these guys. Not just I can play against them, but I can win against them," Bergs said. He gets Tommy Paul in the fourth round.

A season that finally broke through

Zverev, 29, won his first two Grand Slam titles this year at the French Open and the US Open, reached the Australian Open semifinals and made the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Sinner. Sinner hasn't played since that final and announced last week he is out for the rest of the season with right knee inflammation.

"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, per the AP. He pointed to the brutal ankle injury from the 2022 French Open semifinal against Rafael Nadal as part of what makes this one hit.

He also lands in the history books for age. Zverev will be 29 years, 217 days old on the date of the year-end rankings, making him the oldest player to clinch year-end No. 1 for the first time, three days older than Andre Agassi in 1999, per the ATP. He finished No. 2 in 2024.

Still plenty left in Shanghai

Zverev is still alive in Shanghai and plays Alexander Bublik on Tuesday, chasing his eighth Masters 1000 title. After that comes the ATP Finals, where he can try for a third title.

He joins Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz and Sinner as the only active players to finish a year at No. 1. Now he gets to play the rest of the fall with nothing to protect, and that might be the scariest version of Zverev yet.