Zverev at the top of tennis: dramatic three-way battle

Now he's done it. As of this Monday, Alexander Zverev is officially the new number 1 in men's tennis. It took a lot of effort for him, it also took a bit of luck, and the good opportunity, so to speak, was the moment. And he made use of it: He remained stable in this varied tennis year and was in his place when it mattered most.

He won two Grand Slams this year, first in Paris, then in New York, where he was also able to overcome his Corona-Dominik Thiem trauma, the failure to take a comfortable lead in the final. And now he has made it to the throne. The respect should be huge - and it was in the Wiener Stadthalle, which celebrated him extensively after the round of 16.

And yet the criticism of him will not die down so quickly, neither the sporting nor the personal one. His legal concerns, let it be said, have not yet been conclusively clarified - keyword domestic violence. This will stick with him for a long time, no matter how he settles out of court with his ex-girlfriends or not.

But Boris Becker, mentor, critic, role model and, not least, forerunner as the last German number 1, never had a clean slate, even if his “misdeeds” were different. Nevertheless, not without: tax evasion, delay in insolvency, prison sentence; His “women’s stories” were never justiciable, but they didn’t make him a man of honor either.

And yet Becker remains an icon of “white sport”. Maybe also because of his mistakes - overcoming them through sport made up part of the fascination of his career. Things are different with Zverev: he has found stability, but at the same time the impression of repression can never be shaken.

Now let's finally get to the sporty side. In Vienna, at this year's ATP 500 in the Wiener Stadthalle, Zverev first knew how to convince. In round 1 against the qualifier Martín Landaluce (Spain) he was surprisingly really challenged. But Zverev didn't fall: he stayed stable, fought out, and ultimately won 7:5, 3:6, 7:6 (13:11).

The decisive game against the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, against whom he had already lost, was also close, but in the end he won it comfortably 6:4, 7:5. The next game was finally something of a bye, with Zverev playing a perfect first set and a dominant second set, 6-0, 6-2 against the unfortunate Arthur Fery of Great Britain, despite a near-sleepless night after it was finally clear that he would wake up Monday morning as world No. 1.

Which brings us to the semi-finals and the sporting criticism of Sascha Zverev will not be silenced any time soon. Against an equal opponent he often gets into trouble at the very least. Endurance runner Alex de Minaur from Australia ultimately ran into him and reached the final in Vienna instead of him (4:6, 6:1, 6:7 (4:7)).

Which had several funny, perhaps even good side effects for Zverev. On the one hand, he conveniently avoided the real duel with the other god of carnage, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. Zverev is number 1, the real number 1 is perhaps Sinner, who took a long break due to injury, or Alcaraz, who also has to fill a hole in his points collection because he had an injury break earlier in the year.

Next irony: Zverev missed the 500 points in Vienna; After clearly losing the final against Sinner 2025, he even lost points because this time he only made it to the semi-finals. Sinner loses 500, Alcaraz, not in Vienna in 2025, can make up for 500 if he wins the final against de Minaur after going to press, which is what the tennis world assumes. The race to catch up has begun, and Sinner has already announced his early return before the end of the year.

So the real showdown will take place in Australia, at the Grand Slam in January. The two dominators of the last few years are finally playing at the same time again; In addition, veteran Novak Djokovic may finally be ringing in his final year. Sascha Zverev, however, will have to prove himself: Can he stand up to “Sincaraz” or will his reign as number 1 remain a temporary phenomenon and he will go down in history as the Liz Truss of men's tennis?