Alexander Zverev will finish 2026 as the world No. 1 for the first time after Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters by Belgium’s Zizou Bergs. The ATP confirmed on Monday that the German had clinched year-end No. 1 honours, with Jannik Sinner already ruled out for the rest of the season.
Bergs, ranked 39th, beat the second seed 7-5, 7-6(4) in two hours and three minutes on Monday evening in Shanghai, the biggest win of his career by ranking, according to the ATP Tour. The result ended Alcaraz’s mathematical chance of stopping Zverev, BBC Sport reported.
Zverev, 29, is currently No. 2 behind Sinner and cannot move to the top of the rankings until November 2 at the earliest, but he is guaranteed top spot when the year-end rankings are published on November 23, the ATP said.
Sinner has not played since beating Zverev in the Wimbledon final in July, and announced last week he would miss the rest of the season because of inflammation in his right knee, AP reported.
‘A dream come true’
“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 in comments released by the ATP. “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.”
Read more: Alexander Zverev wins 2026 US Open
The ankle injury came in the 2022 French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal, when Zverev severely twisted his right ankle, AP noted. It kept him out for seven months, according to BBC Sport.
Oldest first-time year-end No. 1
Zverev is the first German to finish a season as No. 1 and, at 29 years and 217 days on the date of the year-end rankings, the oldest player to do it for the first time, the ATP said. That is three days older than Andre Agassi in 1999 and 20 days older than Andy Murray in 2016.
Read more: Alex de Minaur Beats Rei Sakamoto at Shanghai Masters
He is the 20th player to finish a year as No. 1 since 1973 and joins Novak Djokovic (eight times), Alcaraz (twice) and Sinner (once) as the only active players to have done it.
“Finishing the season as year-end No. 1 is the ultimate achievement in our sport,” ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said. “Congratulations to Sascha, who became just the 20th player to do so.”
Two majors in a breakthrough season
Zverev began 2026 without a Grand Slam title after losing his first three major finals. He beat Flavio Cobolli in five sets in the Roland Garros final, made the Wimbledon final and won the US Open. The ATP said he went 25-2 at the majors this year and leads the tour with 60 match wins, with no other player above 44.
BBC Sport noted Zverev has benefited from Sinner and Alcaraz missing large parts of the season through injury, and that he won both majors without having to face either of them. Zverev has previously said he would “maybe not” be the world’s best player if both rivals were healthy and at the top of their game, BBC Sport reported.
What’s next in Shanghai
Top seed Zverev meets 19th seed Alexander Bublik in the round of 16 on Tuesday, in a night match scheduled for no earlier than 6pm local time (9pm AEDT), according to the tournament’s order of play. He is chasing an eighth Masters 1000 title.
Australian Alex de Minaur, the ninth seed, opens the day session against 26th seed Karen Khachanov at noon local time (3pm AEDT), while Bergs faces American Tommy Paul for a place in the quarter-finals.
More News
