When he squandered the service game against Carlos Alcaraz that would have put him in the final of the Australian Open earlier this year, Alexander Zverev might have feared he was in for another season of being a nearly man on the ATP Tour.
But after years of being labelled ‘the greatest player to have never won a major’, Zverev finally captured an elusive Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in early June. From there, the German has gone from strength to strength, shattering his personal best finish at Wimbledon with a trip to the final in SW19 before hoisting a second major trophy at the US Open.
With the proverbial monkey off his back, Zverev is playing with newfound confidence and is arguably the best player on the planet for the first time in his career. Of course, the rankings say otherwise, with Jannik Sinner still at the top of the pile, but that could change very soon after the Italian’s withdrawal from the China Open.
Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal from Beijing helps Alexander Zverev
On Friday, Sinner pulled out of the China Open, despite it being revealed the day before that he had planned to make his eagerly anticipated return to action at the ATP 500 event. The 25-year-old has not played a professional tennis match since beating Zverev in the Wimbledon final, having missed the Canadian Open, the Cincinnati Open and the US Open.
The China Open marked one of four title defences Sinner has to take care of between now and the end of the season. Sinner is also the reigning champion at the Vienna Open, the Paris Masters and the year-end ATP Finals.
Discuss: Alexander Zverev will finish his career with _ Grand Slam titles?
He’s just won his second at the US Open!
With his withdrawal from Beijing, Sinner will drop 500 ATP points in the rankings, meaning his tally is now 11,000. Zverev currently has 9,690 ATP points to his name, and is only set to defend 100 points at the China Open following his quarterfinal exit in 2025.
Even after the China Open, Sinner still has 3,050 ATP points to protect across the Shanghai Masters, Vienna, Paris and the ATP Finals. Zverev, meanwhile, has just 980 ATP points to defend after Beijing.
Zverev now has a golden opportunity to become the first German men’s world number one since Boris Becker in 1991. Across men’s and women’s tennis, he would be the first world number one from his country since Angelique Kerber in 2017.
Alexander Zverev’s competition at the China Open
With Sinner out, the next-highest-ranked player set to feature at the China Open after Zverev is Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian will be Zverev’s toughest competition in Beijing by seeding, but he has struggled for form recently.
The next highest-ranked players on the entry list for the China Open are Flavio Cobolli, Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur, none of whom made it past the fourth round at the US Open.
Though he has dropped to 12th in the world after his shocking first-round exit in New York, Novak Djokovic will likely be Zverev’s biggest threat. The Serb is returning to the China Open, where he has never lost, for the first time in 11 years.
Other potential banana skins for Zverev include Jakub Mensik, Learner Tien, Alexander Bublik and Francisco Cerundolo. Though Sinner has withdrawn from the China Open, his rival, Alcaraz, is due to feature at the Japan Open in Tokyo.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
Add to Preferred Sources 