"Zverev will be number one, but I would like him to do it with more brilliance"

Andrés Tomás Rico - 9 Oct 2026 | 21:18
ATP Alexander Zverev Nicolas Mahut

Former tennis player Nicolas Mahut stated that Zverev "deserves it," but urges him to win against Alcaraz in a final "to prove that he is also number one on the court."

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"Zverev will be number one, but I would like him to do it with more brilliance." Photo: Getty Images

The decision of Jannik Sinner to withdraw from playing for the rest of 2026 due to his knee injury has directly affected Alexander Zverev, who will mathematically become the new world number one in a few weeks. However, despite having won his first two Grand Slams (Roland Garros and US Open), many people criticize him for only managing to win against one Top 10 player in all of 2026 and for not having defeated Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, or Novak Djokovic, so far this season.

In fact, the tennis world seems to be divided between those who believe the German deserves this and those who feel he has not yet proven he is the true world number one. And Nicolás Mahut falls into the latter group.

“He is going to become the world number one and I would like him to do it with more brilliance”, said the Frenchman in comments to Eurosport France. However, he did not want to take away any merit from his two major victories. “In any case, it's not his fault. If Alcaraz has lowered his level, if Sinner has declined now, when he had to beat the players to win a Grand Slam, he did.”

For the former world number 37, he wanted to highlight that Zverev delivered when it mattered: “He hasn't necessarily played his best tennis, neither at Roland Garros nor at the US Open, but he was always the favorite, he had the pressure on his shoulders, he embraced his status and won. In the end, you always have the ranking you deserve, that's how tennis works. Yes, because it is based on a year of results. If he is going to be the world number one, it's because in some way he deserves it.”

But he took the opportunity to send a message to Zverev, encouraging him to prove he is the best in the world on the court: “However, it is true that when we look at the head-to-head matchups, every time he has faced Alcaraz, Sinner, or even Novak Djokovic last week, he has lost. He is going to become the world number one and I would like him to do it with authority, defeating Alcaraz in the final of the ATP Finals. Also, on a surface that favors him, I think perhaps a little more or at least more than Alcaraz, given the conditions in Turin.”

Zverev has not beaten Alcaraz since the ATP Finals of 2024

The Frenchman insisted that Alexander Zverev must beat a figure like Carlos Alcaraz to be legitimized as the world number one: “We would like to see him beat Alcaraz in a final to show that he is also really the number one on the court. To ultimately reinforce his legitimacy." He added: “After that, you always have the ranking you deserve, so he will deserve it.”

Alexander Zverev still has three options to face Carlos Alcaraz in a potential final, whether at the Shanghai Masters 1000, the Paris Masters 1000, the ATP Finals, or in a hypothetical match-up at the Davis Cup finals. The last time the German defeated the Spaniard was in the Round Robin of the ATP Finals in 2024.
 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, "Zverev será número uno, pero me gustaría que lo hiciera con más brillantez"