Daniil Medvedev believes Alexander Zverev’s consistency has been key to his impending rise to No 1 in the rankings, saying “he has earned it”.
Zverev is assured of finishing as the year-end No 1 in the ATP Rankings with his achievement coming on the back of winning the French Open and US Open, while he also finished runner-up at Wimbledon and made the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
However, some online commentators have declared that his impending No 1 feat is not deserved as they feel he got lucky with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz’s injuries this year.
Alcaraz didn’t play at Roland Garros and Wimbledon as he missed four months of action due to a wrist injury, while Sinner’s last match was the Wimbledon final against Zverev as he has been forced to finish his season early due to a knee injury.
Zverev was more than 8,000 points behind No 1 Sinner in April while No 2 Alcaraz had a 7,000-point advantage over the then-third-placed German.
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But the top two were unable to defend a lot of points due to injury, allowing Zverev to close the gap and he will eventually take over at the top in the next few weeks.
During an interview with Championat, Medvedev asserted that Sinner and Alcaraz remain the players to beat, but that doesn’t mean Zverev didn’t earn the No. 1 achievement.
“There are these ‘top two’ players who, of course, when they’re in shape and injury-free, are tough to play against,” the former world No 1 said. “And in that regard, Sascha Zverev has done absolutely brilliantly, and he deserves everything he’s achieved.
“Because he was in that situation – he’s the world No 1, and he’s incredibly consistent. Even if you watch every match in Shanghai, he might not have played his best tennis, but he still made it to the semi-finals.
“That’s what strength is all about; that’s what consistency is all about, and that’s why he deserves it. He’s had three Grand Slam finals and another semi-final – he’s earned it all.”
With Sinner and Alcaraz absent for long periods this year, the opportunity to win a Grand Slam increased for players, but Medvedev admitted that he wasn’t really close to winning a major in 2026.
He added: “I wasn’t anywhere near that. I never even made it to the quarter-finals.”
Medvedev had a poor Grand Slam season by his high standards as his best performances came at the Australian Open and US Open where he reached the fourth round, while he lost in the first round at Roland Garros and the third round at Wimbledon.
