Alexander Zverev’s time at the Shanghai Masters came to an end as he was beaten in three sets by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
According to Tennis365, Zverev has been confirmed to reach the top of the summit of the ATP Tour and he will also be the year-end world No 1, but his only tournament victories in 2026 have come at Roland Garros and the US Open.
The German has, however, been impressive at Masters level, achieving four semifinals and one final out of the nine tournaments on the ATP Tour calendar.
As a result, Zverev put himself within a chance of finishing at the top of the bonus pool standings prior to the Shanghai Masters.
But his defeat in the semifinals to Davidovich Fokina has confirmed that Jannik Sinner is now the best-peforming player at Masters level in 2026.
However, as Sinner has missed three Masters tournaments this year, he will forfeit the $4.5 million bonus the best player receives from the ATP Tour.
That now puts Zverev with a very good chance of winning the ‘second’ prize of $2.5 million for finishing as the runner up.
Zverev is in a battle with Arthur Fils for that prize and it will come down to the Paris Masters, the final Masters event on the ATP Tour calendar.
The German will need to better Fils’ performance at the Paris Masters in order to pocket the $2.5 million bonus pool, which will be another nice present for the player who is set to become the world No 1.
It would be quite the achievement for Zverev considering he is yet to win a single Masters tournament on the 2026 calendar.
Zverev lost in the latter stages of his first four Masters events to Jannik Sinner, before a worrying string of results in Rome, Montreal, and Cincinnati.
