Patrick Mouratoglou believes Alexander Zverev is fully deserving of his year-end No 1 ranking, despite many critics arguing otherwise.
Zverev will end 2026 atop the ATP Tour rankings for the first time in his career, thanks in no small part to winning the French Open and US Open.
While Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner and Australian Open winner Carlos Alcaraz have spent months on the sidelines with respective knee and wrist injuries, the German has remained injury-free.
His detractors point to the fact that Zverev won his maiden majors without having to beat either Sinner, Alcaraz, or Novak Djokovic – all of whom have a winning head-to-head against the 29-year-old this year. Moreover, his top-10 record of 3-8 does not make for great reading.
Boris Becker has hit back at the naysayers following the 6ft 6in player’s ranking achievement, and now Serena Williams’ former coach, Mouratoglou, has argued you can only beat what is in front of you, and managing your body is part and parcel of the sport.
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He also cited Rafael Nadal‘s famous quote at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, when he said, “If, if, if… doesn’t exist,” in response to a question about Nick Kyrgios’ potential if he applied himself fully.
Mouratoglou said on his YouTube channel, “Zverev might not be the best player, but he’s the number one in the world and he fully deserves it. The first way I rate the situation is that your ranking is your value. If others are injured, bad luck for them.
“I think a player is not only performing on the court, it’s also being healthy, it’s also managing your body, so it’s part of it. If someone is never injured and others are often injured, the one that is not injured will probably end up having a higher ranking.
“For example, Jack Draper is an amazing player, but he cannot maintain this ranking because he’s too injured. So that’s part of his history, his career, and in a way his value. Your health, your fitness is part of it.
“There are the same discussions about Rafa. Oh, if Rafa would not have been injured, he would have won X Grand Slams. Yeah, but there is no if. He was injured. There are reasons why he was and there are reasons why others were not injured, like Novak [Djokovic] was barely injured all his career.”
Zverev would likely not have been No 1 had it not been for Sinner suffering a knee injury after beating the world No 2 in the Wimbledon final. The Italian has not been seen since and will not return until next year.
And while the draws opened up for Zverev in Paris and New York in 2026, you have to take your chance when it comes your way – something he did.
Mouratoglou added, “He’s number one because he deserves to be number one. Do I think that the two other guys (Sinner and Alcaraz) are better than him? Yes, but they’re not number one. He’s number one.
“I think it’s important to give him credit because he played two Grand Slams this year, being the super favourite, which was Roland Garros after Sinner lost early and the US Open. Technically, there were 128 guys who could win it and he did. Twice.
“He showed also a lot of mental qualities. He didn’t play well, but he won the tournament and that’s a huge quality. So yeah, maybe he’s not the best player, but he’s the number one in the world.
“Staying healthy when you’re a professional athlete is a real skill and it requires a lot of work, a lot of professionalism, a lot of sacrifice. It requires to be very careful with what you eat, to be extremely disciplined with all the physio work every single day.
“There is a price to pay for everything and I think if Alcaraz has not been injured and the players in general that are not injured or very rarely injured, it’s a skill.”
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