Paul Annacone, Roger Federer’s former coach, has expressed doubts about the ATP ranking system after Alexander Zverev finished the season ahead of Carlos Alcaraz. After the confirmation of the year-end rankings, Jannik Sinner is the world number one, followed by Zverev (No. 2) and Alcaraz (No. 3).
Annacone was surprised that the Spaniard ended the season behind Zverev despite two Grand Slam titles at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Zverev’s consistency trumps Alcaraz’s Grand Slam title in the year-end rankings
Sinner had an exceptional season, winning eight titles and amassing a remarkable 73-6 record, including his most recent victories en route to Italy’s Davis Cup title. The Italian finished the year with 11,830 points, well ahead of Zverev (7,915) and Alcaraz (7,010).
Annacone, who currently coaches world No. 4 Taylor Fritz, said on a recent episode of the Tennis Channel’s Inside In podcast that while Zverev had an excellent year, it was a tough year given his 21st century Grand Slam successes -year-olds it is difficult to understand how he can trump Alcaraz.
“In my opinion, Sasha Zverev had an amazing year,” said Annacone. “The points don’t lie. He played an incredible amount of tennis, but when you win two majors and aren’t ranked No. 2 in the world, to me that means there’s a glitch in the system.”
Zverev won two titles this season, the Masters 1000 Rome Open and the Paris Masters, and finished the year with a record of 69-21. He also reached the finals in Hamburg and Roland Garros and reached the semifinals at the Australian Open, Miami, Cincinnati, Halle Open and Los Cabos.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz secured four titles, including Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the Masters 1000 Indian Wells and the ATP 500 Beijing Open, finishing the tournament with a record of 54-13. His other top results included a semi-final appearance at the ATP 250 Buenos Aires Open.
