Before this year, Alexander Zverev was, for many, the best male player never to have won a Grand Slam. He will end 2026 as a two-time major champion and deserved world number one. The 29-year-old has become the oldest man in more than 50 years to reach world number one for the first time, with victories at the French Open and US Open providing the springboard.
Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes aged four, Zverev finally claimed his overdue Grand Slam breakthrough, a reward for persistence and intense hard work. However, the new standard-bearer for men’s tennis has been accused of physical abuse by two former partners and has been the subject of a major independent investigation by the sport.
How 10 days with Nadal changed his on-court approach
At the start of this year, Zverev was already an Olympic champion, a two-time winner of the season-ending ATP Finals and a former world number two who had appeared in three Grand Slam finals. The most painful of those was the 2020 US Open final, in which he led Dominic Thiem by two sets to love but lost in a fifth-set tie-break after serving two double faults as his opponent began to cramp.
For years, he struggled to play with the freedom and attacking intent that he often showed in big matches on the ATP Tour. This year, he promised himself, would be different. He set out to hit the ball with more speed, take greater risks and bring more variety to his rallies.
The impetus came from the 10 days he spent with Rafael and Toni Nadal in Mallorca in July 2025. “I wanted to see and then hear a new vision of what tennis in their mind looks like, and how my tennis, in their mind, looks like,” Zverev explained.
“Rafa, for example, played against me for 10 years. So now, as a spectator and also as an opponent, he can probably give you the best advice anybody can, because he knows what it’s like to be on the court with me.”
Anxiety still surfaced at times, including cramping in June’s French Open final against Flavio Cobolli. This time, though, Zverev made no mistake in the deciding set, winning it 6-1 to claim his long-awaited first major trophy.
His on-court success is very much a family affair. His father, Alex Sr, has been a near-constant presence in the coaching box, while older brother Mischa, who also played on the ATP Tour, has joined him since retiring. The relationship has come full circle: Zverev once sat as a toddler by the side of the court while Mischa practised with Andy Murray as a junior.
Zverev has said his relationship with his father works so well because they spend “zero time together” off court. “The big difference with my parents is that they never forced me to do anything,” he once recalled. “They wanted me to play different sports so they didn’t have to coach me. They always told me ‘why don’t you play football, or field hockey?’ as that was the sport I loved.
“They are very smart. They’ve been through it. They’ve been tennis players themselves.”
Zverev also ended the year as Wimbledon runner-up, where he played his best tennis of 2026. He was aggressive and daring in a four-set defeat by Jannik Sinner on Centre Court, and he will need to adopt the same approach in future meetings with both the Italian and Carlos Alcaraz. Zverev has lost 10 matches in a row to Sinner, and if he and Alcaraz are fit for the start of next season, his challenge will be to make 2027 a three-way rivalry for the major titles.
A polarising world number one
Zverev has previously faced serious allegations. In October 2020, his former partner Olga Sharypova accused him of physical violence and controlling behaviour. Zverev maintained his innocence from the start and described the allegations as baseless.
No legal proceedings followed, but the ATP Tour opened a major investigation carried out by third-party investigators. It found “insufficient evidence to substantiate published allegations of abuse”. “Based on a lack of reliable evidence and eyewitness reports, in addition to conflicting statements by Sharypova, Zverev and other interviewees, the investigation was unable to substantiate the allegations of abuse,” the ATP said in January 2023.
The tour subsequently appointed a director of safeguarding, and this year it launched a new safeguarding programme to introduce a “clear, global framework for preventing and responding to abuse, including cases of harassment, bullying, domestic violence and other forms of misconduct”.
In October 2023, a German court issued Zverev with a penalty order and fined him 450,000 euros (£392,000) for bodily harm against another former girlfriend, Brenda Patea. Zverev denied the claims and contested the order, and a public trial took place in Berlin in May 2024. A week into the process, the court terminated the proceedings before reaching a verdict, after a settlement between Zverev and Patea was announced.
“The decision is not a verdict and it is not a decision about guilt or innocence,” the court said. “One decisive factor for the court decision was that the witness [Zverev’s ex-partner] has expressed her wish to end the trial.”
Zverev reached the French Open final on the day the settlement was announced. Having spoken earlier in the tournament about the trial being a chance to prove his innocence, he was asked whether he regretted settling before that was possible.
“That’s what dropping the case is. That is innocence,” he argued. “They’re not going to drop the case if you’re guilty at the end of the day. I don’t know what translations you have, but that’s what it means.
“Done. We move on. I never ever want to hear another question about the subject again. That goes out to everybody.”
Patea has not publicly commented on the settlement. Spectators heckled Zverev over the allegations at the 2025 Australian Open and Munich Open.
His temper has also landed him in trouble before. In 2022, the ATP Tour handed him an eight-week suspended ban after finding him guilty of a “major offence” for smashing his racquet into the umpire’s chair four times after losing a doubles match at the Mexican Open. Zverev, who was thrown out of the Acapulco tournament for unsportsmanlike behaviour, was incensed by a line call that went against him and partner Marcelo Melo in a deciding tie-break. He swore at umpire Alessandro Germani and accused him of ruining the whole match. One of his four angry swipes at the chair nearly struck the umpire’s foot.
Zverev later apologised and said it was “difficult to put into words” how much he regretted his behaviour. The ban was never imposed, because he avoided a fine for “disrespectful or aggressive behaviour, or verbal or physical abuse” in the 12 months after the incident.