Alexander Zverev brands Jannik Sinner a ‘robot’ and shares true thoughts about rival

Detailed summary

Alexander Zverev joked that Jannik Sinner is a “robot” as he addressed his poor record against top-10 opposition this year. Coming into the ATP Finals, the new world No. 1 had…

Alexander Zverev joked that Jannik Sinner is a “robot” as he addressed his poor record against top-10 opposition this year. Coming into the ATP Finals, the new world No. 1 had just three wins and nine losses against fellow top-10ers in 2026. That’s already changing this week, however, as Zverev defeated Rafael Jodar 6-4 6-4 in his first group stage match at the season-ending championships.

When Zverev reached the top of the rankings for the very first time in his career earlier this month, the German said he felt like “the only world No. 1 in tennis history that has to explain why it's okay for me to be world No. 1”. This is likely because there’s been a spotlight on his record this year, and how much Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner’s respective injury layoffs have left room for Zverev to win Majors and rise to the top spot.

The 29-year-old lifted his first two Grand Slam titles this year, but notably beat only one top-10 player across both of those tournaments – Ben Shelton in the US Open final. He also failed to beat Alcaraz, Sinner and Novak Djokovic when he faced them this season.

Zverev could, of course, only beat whoever was in front of him at those Major tournaments. Most importantly, he managed to stay fit and healthy across a whole season, a huge part of being the world No. 1.

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And when asked about his 3-9 record against his fellow top-10 rivals this year, Zverev pointed out that most of those losses were to a “robot”. The top seed joked: “I'd like to say something about that. Six [sic] of them were against Jannik. So can we take him out? He's a robot, not a human being. So cut six. One against Carlos, that's seven, right? And the other two, I'm not sure who they are.”

Zverev just miscalculated, as five of those losses came against Sinner. One came against Alcaraz at the Australian Open.

The world No. 1 continued: “But the top 10 this…

Ah…

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