Alexander Zverev has addressed the prospect of becoming world No 1 for the first time ahead of his appearance at the 2026 China Open.
The German — who won both the French Open and US Open this year — is second in the ATP Rankings with 9,630 points, and he trails world No 1 Jannik Sinner by 1,370 points.
Zverev has the chance to close the gap to Sinner at the China Open as his Italian rival is not competing this week.
The 29-year-old is currently in pole position to finish 2026 as the world No 1 as he is top of the ATP Race to Turin — the ranking system that measures points collected in the current season — with 8,650 points.
Sinner, who has been sidelined since Wimbledon due to a knee injury, is second in the Race with 7,950 points.
At his pre-tournament press conference at the ATP 500 event in Beijing, Zverev was asked about the world No 1 ranking.
Q. “The battle for No 1 is ongoing as the season comes to an end. How much of that is in your mind at the moment? How much of a goal is that?”
Zverev: “I think it’s a goal for anyone. I think in the beginning of the season everybody expected that battle to be between Carlos and Jannik, so I’m very pleased that I’m in that conversation (smiling).
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“Of course, yeah, there’s some of it in my head. Again, I think I’ve said it so many times this year, the only thing that I can control is play good tennis, play well on the court, try to feel well on the court, try to do everything I can to prepare myself to play good tennis.
“Everything else will fall into place. Yeah, in my control, out of my control… There’s certain factors there, as well. So yeah, I’m just going to try to focus to win the matches that I can.”
Zverev was also asked how his mindset has changed after making his Grand Slam title breakthrough this year.
“I think I’ve said it before. I think after winning the French Open, your mind changes because you feel like you’ve won one,” said Zverev.
“Straight after the French Open, I made it to the finals of Wimbledon. I really felt like I can win again.
“Before winning your first one, especially at my age, I was 29 years old, I still am 29 years old, you have question marks whether it’s ever going to happen or not.
“But those questions marks are not there anymore. As you could probably see on the court, as well, I was enjoying New York a lot more than I was enjoying French Open.
“In French Open I had a lot of stress in me. I had a lot of nerves in me. Whereas in New York, I was just enjoying being there. I was enjoying being in the finals of Grand Slams.
“I really felt different there than I did the previous Grand Slams.”
Zverev will face Cameron Norrie in the opening round at the China Open.
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