Alexander Zverev will finish 2026 at the top of the world rankings without playing another match to clinch it. The German’s path was cleared on 6 October, when Jannik Sinner confirmed to Sky Sports that he would not return this year.

The Italian has not competed since lifting his second consecutive Wimbledon title in July.

Sinner said he had decided together with doctors that he needed “a course of treatment for my knee, which means that the 2026 season is officially over.”

He finished the year with a 44-3 record, including a 30-match winning streak earlier in the season that ended at Roland Garros. His withdrawals ran across both the North American hard-court swing and the Asian swing.

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Zverev’s No. 1 sealed by the maths

Zverev entered October trailing Sinner, but the ranking numbers tilted sharply once the Italian was ruled out of Vienna, the Paris Masters, the ATP Finals and Shanghai. Tennis Majors calculates that Sinner is set to shed roughly 3,050 points from expiring results, dropping him to around 7,950 while Zverev’s floor sits near 9,140.

That makes Zverev the first German man to end a season at world No. 1 since Boris Becker. He has already won two of the four 2026 Grand Slams, taking the French Open and the US Open while both his main rivals were sidelined.

Swiatek pulls out of Ningbo

Iga Swiatek joined the exit list on 20 October, withdrawing from the Ningbo Open and citing a left thigh problem that she said had been troubling her over the past weeks.

“I feel that giving myself the time to rest and recover is the right decision,” Swiatek wrote.

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She closes the year with a 39-15 record and a title in Toronto. The withdrawal also knocks her out of the WTA Finals, ending a run of year-end qualifications stretching back to 2020.

The injury first surfaced during her Wuhan semifinal loss to compatriot Maja Chwalinska, where she required a medical timeout and finished the match with the thigh bandaged.

Draper will not return until 2027

Jack Draper’s season had been shortened long before. The British No. 1 confirmed in September that he would not play again in 2026, aiming to come back at the start of next year.

“I am taking this time to reset and heal so when I return I am 100% ready to go,” Draper wrote.

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He was limited to 15 matches across the year, with a bone bruise in his left arm forcing withdrawals from both Wimbledon and the US Open. His final appearance came in a 6-3, 7-5 loss to Martin Landaluce in Cincinnati. Andy Murray remains part of his coaching team.

Draper will not carry a protected ranking into 2027, meaning he may have to go through qualifying at the Australian Open.

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