“He’s a robot, not a human being”: Zverev on Sinner and his record against the top 10
Facing a question on his 3-9 record against top-10 opponents this season, the world No 1 broke down the numbers at the ATP Finals in Turin, pointed to a changed top 10 and dismissed the criticism as background noise.
Alexander Zverev, ATP Finals 2026 | © Imago / PsNewz
Asked about his 3-9 record against top-10 players this season, Alexander Zverev answered with a joke and a calculation: six of those defeats (five, according to the ATP record) came against Jannik Sinner, who is “a robot, not a human being”, and one against Carlos Alcaraz. The world No 1 spoke at the ATP Finals in Turin on Sunday, after his 6-4, 6-4 win over Rafael Jodar in the opening match of the tournament.
“Can we take (Sinner) out?”
The question came from a journalist who wondered whether the criticism over that record had given him extra motivation. Zverev asked to respond first, and went through the defeats one by one.
“Six 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.”
He then pointed to his record against the rest of the field in Turin: “If you look at the record against the players that are here, who are now currently the eight best players in the world, I have a 6-2 record against them all.” (The ATP record confirms it: 6-2 this season before Sunday against the other seven qualifiers, with defeats to Alcaraz and Flavio Cobolli, and 6-1 without Alcaraz.)
The ATP record almost proves him right. Zverev is indeed 3-9 against top-10 opponents in 2026, if his Laver Cup defeat to Alex de Minaur is counted, but five of those defeats came against Sinner, not six: in the semi-finals at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo, then in the Madrid and Wimbledon finals. With Alcaraz, who beat him in five sets in the Australian Open semi-finals, that makes 0-6 against the top two. Against the rest of the top 10, he is 3-3, and the remaining defeats were three, not two: Taylor Fritz in Halle, and De Minaur at the Laver Cup and in Vienna. These figures do not include Sunday’s win over Jodar.
| Rank | Player | Country | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Carlos Alcaraz
Australian Open, semi-final
|
|
L | 4-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 5-7 |
| 2 |
Jannik Sinner
Indian Wells, semi-final
|
|
L | 2-6, 4-6 |
| 2 |
Jannik Sinner
Miami, semi-final
|
|
L | 3-6, 6-7(4) |
| 2 |
Jannik Sinner
Monte-Carlo, semi-final
|
|
L | 1-6, 4-6 |
| 1 |
Jannik Sinner
Madrid, final
|
|
L | 1-6, 2-6 |
| 1 |
Jannik Sinner
Wimbledon, final
|
|
L | 7-6(7), 6-7(2), 3-6, 4-6 |
| Rank | Player | Country | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 |
Taylor Fritz
Halle, semi-final
|
|
L | 7-6(4), 4-6, 5-7 |
| 7 |
Taylor Fritz
Wimbledon, quarter-final
|
|
W | 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 |
| 9 |
Ben Shelton
US Open, final
|
|
W | 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 |
| 9 |
Alex de Minaur
Laver Cup
|
|
L | 6-2, 6-7(5), 9-11 |
| 9 |
Alex de Minaur
Shanghai, quarter-final
|
|
W | 6-4, 6-4 |
| 10 |
Alex de Minaur
Vienna, semi-final
|
|
L | 4-6, 6-1, 6-7(4) |
| Rank | Player | Country | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 |
Frances Tiafoe
Indian Wells, round of 16
|
|
W | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 32 |
Arthur Fils
Indian Wells, quarter-final
|
|
W | 6-2, 6-3 |
| 16 |
Flavio Cobolli
Munich, semi-final
|
|
L | 3-6, 3-6 |
| 13 |
Flavio Cobolli
Madrid, quarter-final
|
|
W | 6-1, 6-4 |
| 29 |
Rafael Jodar
Roland-Garros, quarter-final
|
|
W | 7-6(3), 6-1, 6-3 |
| 14 |
Flavio Cobolli
Roland-Garros, final
|
|
W | 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 |
| 9 |
Ben Shelton
US Open, final
|
|
W | 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 |
“It’s noise that you hear from the side”
Pressed on whether the numbers had fuelled him heading into the tournament, Zverev said they had not: “No, because it’s noise that you hear. It’s noise that you hear from the side. I don’t really recognize that. I think I played a fantastic season.”
He also explained why he thinks the figure says little. “The top 10 this year has changed so much,” he said, adding that “we have a new generation, a new wave of players coming up, and this year was the year where they all went from 20, 25 in the world to being top 10. So I think the rankings just changed so much.”
Zverev, a two-time champion at the ATP Finals (2018, 2021), held all 10 of his service games against Jodar and saved both break points he faced. Sinner, meanwhile, has been injured since Wimbledon.
