Alexander Zverev says he has been “annoyed” by the reaction to his rise to world number one, arguing that he is the only player in tennis history who “has to explain why it’s OK” to hold the top ranking.
The 29-year-old German spoke after losing to Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti at the Paris Masters on Wednesday, his first match since becoming ATP number one for the first time. He received the world number one trophy in Paris on Monday, but after a bye through the first round, he lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.
“I don’t think anybody had to explain themselves as much as I had to do in the last couple of days, which for me, is annoying, to be honest,” Zverev said.
A debated ascent
Zverev has won his first two Grand Slam titles in 2026, the French Open and US Open. His success has come during a season in which Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have dealt with injuries. Before this year’s French Open, Sinner and Alcaraz had shared the previous nine Grand Slam titles, and Sinner beat Zverev in last year’s Australian Open final.
Zverev has a 62-8 win-loss record against opponents ranked 11th or lower this year. Against top-10 players, however, he has won only three of 12 matches.
He has also lost each of his 10 most recent meetings with Sinner, who has not played since Wimbledon after injuring his knee and has since dropped to number two. Zverev has lost four of his past five matches against Alcaraz, who missed large parts of the season with a wrist injury.
Frustration over the reaction
Zverev, who lost to Sinner in the Wimbledon final, said he felt conflicted about the attention his ranking has drawn.
“I was a bit annoyed, to be honest, because achieving the world number one status is something that every player dreams of,” he said. “But then I feel like I’m the only world number in tennis history that has to explain why it’s OK for me to be world number one, which I find quite difficult, because I think I deserve to be where I am, even though I lost today.”
Zverev did not specify which criticisms had bothered him. His rise has also brought renewed attention to accusations of physical abuse made by two of his former partners. Zverev has always firmly maintained his innocence and has insisted the allegations are baseless.
Assessing the defeat
Zverev offered a blunt assessment of his performance against Musetti.
“To simplify it, he played really good and I played really bad,” he said. “I think this was not a very good match from me, I think it might be one of the worst in the last couple of months.”