Alexander Zverev responds to Carlos Alcaraz calling him the best player in the world
Carlos Alcaraz was full of praise for his Laver Cup teammate Alexander Zverev ahead of Team Europe taking on Team World at The O2 Arena in London.
The Spaniard has largely watched from the sidelines as Zverev has dominated tennis over the summer months.
Zverev won Roland Garros and reached the final of Wimbledon during Alcaraz’s hiatus from tennis due to a wrist injury he suffered at the Barcelona Open.
Alcaraz returned at the US Open, but he was unable to stop Zverev winning the US Open and claiming the second Grand Slam title of the year, and his career.
As a result, Alcaraz said Zverev was the best player in the world at the Laver Cup and now Zverev has reacted to the Spaniard’s kind praise.
More Alexander Zverev news
Andre Agassi explains why Alexander Zverev is at a disadvantage at the Laver Cup this year
Grand Slam winning coach says he rejected the chance to coach Alexander Zverev
“I’m very honoured when people like Carlos think that way. I am very grateful for that, but I’ll let him say it,” said Zverev about Alcaraz’s claims.
“I don’t want to say anything like that about myself at all. I think I’ve had a great year if you look at the Grand Slams. The year is not over yet. I still have goals I want to achieve and I want to continue playing good tennis.”
One of those goals for Zverev will undoubtedly be to continue climbing up the rankings and reaching the summit of the ATP Tour.
Zverev will now be looking to usurp Jannik Sinner as the world No 1 and he has been boosted by the Italian’s withdrawal from the China Open.
Sinner has confirmed he will not be defending his title in Beijing, so he will be losing the full 500 ranking points.
The German will now be the top seed at the ATP 500 tournament and he will be the overwhelming favourite to win the title. Should he do so, there will be less than 1000 points between Zverev and Sinner ahead of the final few events of the year.
Zverev has never been the world No 1, with his peak on the ATP Tour being world No 2, but he will arguably not get a better chance to do so with Sinner’s injury issues.
Should Sinner also withdraw from the Shanghai Masters, which many have suggested he might do, then Zverev can become the world No 1 by winning the penultimate Masters tournament of the year.
If he does just manage to reach the summit of the ATP Tour, he will certainly live up to Alcaraz’s claims that Zverev is currently the best player in men’s tennis.
