It may have taken him 13 years, but Alexander Zverev has finally reached the pinnacle of tennis. He dethroned Jannik Sinner and sealed the No. 1 spot in the rankings with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Tallon Griekspoor in the Round of 16 at the Vienna Open. Having chased the feat for a very long time, Zverev fell short of words when trying to describe what the achievement meant to him.

“Yeah, we had to wait, but sometimes you have to wait for the best things in life,” he said during his on-court interview. “It is what it is, I’m super happy and super thrilled. This year, I mean… I have no words for this year. So, again, I’m just thankful and happy and all of the above.”

Zverev has joined Boris Becker as only the second German male player to reach No. 1 in the rankings. At the start of the season, barely anyone would have predicted that Zverev would take over the rankings. Both Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz had far more points, and it didn’t seem like any player would be able to dethrone them.

For context, Alcaraz led the rankings with 12,050 points at the start of the year while Sinner was right behind him at 11,500 points. Zverev stood third with 5,105 points and had a lot of ground to cover. But unlike Alcaraz and Sinner, the German maintained his fitness level throughout the year and played matches regularly. Now, both Zverev and Sinner have 9,450 points, while Alcaraz is third with 5,700 points.

Zverev’s win-loss record of 64-16 shows how successful he has been. His performances at Grand Slams have been particularly impressive. He started the season by reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open before going on to clinch his maiden Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. He then reached the final at Wimbledon, where Sinner got the better of him. But Zverev finished on a high and won the US Open title.

These two title victories were enough for Zverev to close in on Sinner’s points tally. The Italian’s withdrawal from the latter half of the season confirmed that Zverev will take over the rankings for the first time ever. It was only a matter of when. After winning the US Open, Zverev entered the Asian swing with the China Open. He reached the quarterfinals but was defeated 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Novak Djokovic in a thrilling encounter.

The German then reached the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters. However, he suffered an unexpected defeat against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who later went on to clinch the title. Zverev had a shaky start to the Vienna Open as Martin Landaluce almost upset him in the opening match. But the 29-year-old eventually pulled through to win 7-5, 3-6, 7-6. The win against Griekspoor has seen Zverev reach the quarterfinals, which will be a repeat of this year’s Wimbledon semifinals.

Alexander Zverev will take on Arthur Fery for the first time since Wimbledon

Zverev is set to be up against Fery for the second time this year. The local hero had a Cinderella run to the semifinals of the SW19 earlier this year. But his campaign was brought to an end by Zverev, who triumphed 7-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Fery wasn’t able to maintain the same level in the tournaments that followed. His only promising performance came at the Winston-Salem Open, where he reached the final but was defeated by Ignacio Buse. The Brit has only won two matches in the other five tournaments he has played. But he has looked in better touch at the Vienna Open.

Fery advanced to the Round of 16 after his compatriot Jacob Fearnley retired while trailing 5-1 in the first set. He was then involved in a dramatic clash against Lorenzo Musetti and emerged victorious by 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

While the win will certainly give Fery a lot of confidence, defeating Zverev will be an uphill task. The newly-crowned World No. 1 will be the clear favorite to advance to the semifinals. It remains to be seen if Fery will be able to defy the odds and cause the biggest upset of the tournament.