How Alexander Zverev’s China Open exit affects world No 1 battle as Jannik Sinner handed lifeline
Alexander Zverev fell in three sets to Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals at the 2026 China Open, but how has the defeat impacted his world No 1 hopes?
The world No 2 was beaten 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 by the 24-time Grand Slam champion at the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing on Sunday.
Zverev captured his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2026 French Open before adding his second major at the US Open last month.
Following his triumph in New York, Zverev moved onto 9,690 points in the ATP Rankings, which put him within 1,810 points of world No 1 Jannik Sinner — who had 11,500 points.
Sinner is currently out of action due to a right knee injury, and he has not played since beating Zverev in the Wimbledon final in July.
The Italian has lost the 500 points he collected for winning the China Open last year, which has seen his total drop to 11,000.
The five-time Grand Slam champion has also pulled out of the Shanghai Masters, which will begin on Wednesday, and this will see him drop a further 50 points after his third round result in 2025.
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With Sinner absent from the Asian swing, Zverev had the chance to replace the Italian as world No 1 if he won both Beijing and Shanghai.
Zverev’s failure to achieve this means he will have to wait until after Shanghai to have another opportunity to reach top spot for the first time.
The German’s quarter-final result in Beijing leaves him with 9,720 points, which puts him 1,280 points behind Sinner.
Like Sinner, Zverev is defending just 50 points in Shanghai after reaching the third round a year ago, which means he can close the gap at the top to 280 points if he wins the Masters 1000 title.
After Shanghai, Zverev and Sinner are both scheduled to play at the Vienna Open, which will be held from 26 October to 1 November.
Sinner is the reigning champion at the ATP 500 event in Austria, having defeated Zverev in the final at last year’s edition.
While Sinner still has the edge in the 12-month ATP Rankings, Zverev is leading the Race to Turin — the ranking system that measures points accumulated in the current season.
The reigning French Open and US Open champion is top of the Race with 8,790 points, while Sinner is second with 7,950.
Zverev is, therefore, the favourite to end 2026 as the world No 1, with Sinner requiring a very strong finish to the year to have a chance of retaining top spot.
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