German tennis player Alexander Zverev is about to experience the incomparable feeling of ending the season at the very top of the ATP world rankings. The 29-year-old player has secured the first place at the end of the year after the previous leader Yannick Sinner announced an early end to his season due to injury, and the pursuer Carlos Alcaraz suffered an early exit at the “Masters“ tournament in Shanghai.
The news of the historic achievement came immediately after Sasha's victory in the fourth round in Shanghai over the representative of Kazakhstan Alexander Bublik.
Zverev's comeback and dominance are the result of an extremely uncompromising campaign. During the year, he won his first two Grand Slam titles - triumphing at “Roland Garros“ and the US Open. With an impressive 61 wins, he has also established himself as the most successful tennis player on the men's tour this season.
Although the officialization of the first place is a matter of days, the German shared his emotions from his big breakthrough:
„This is extremely special. It's different from winning major tournaments or Grand Slam titles. Being number one in the world carries a serious responsibility on your shoulders, but I accept it willingly. I'm turning 30 soon and it's a very special feeling for me to achieve this at this age.“
Despite his enormous success, the German tennis player showed respect for his competitors and acknowledged the circumstances that led to this development:
“I think that emotions really come over you only when you see number 1 next to your name. For now, interesting as it is, I'm still number 2 in the world. The fact that I secured the number one spot at the end of the year is of course due to an unfortunate combination of circumstances due to Yannick's absence. But I believe that when the moment officially arrives, it will be really special for me.“