Alexander Zverev jokes that Jannik Sinner 'sucks' when asked about probability of World Number One charge

Alexander Zverev commented on the chances of Jannik Sinner reaching the world No. 1 in 2024 and jokingly remarked that the Italian "sucks" when discussing his statistics. Both players are in the semifinals of the Miami Open after the German defeated Fabian Maroszan (6-3, 7-5) and Sinner defeated Tomas Machac (6-4, 6-2).

Zverev has previously been in contention for the top spot in the rankings when he was world No. 2 in 2022. Currently, Sinner is ranked world No. 3 and has the opportunity to equal Sascha's achievement, closing in on the leader Novak Djokovic.

Following Zverev's victory over Maroszan, he was asked in a press conference about Sinner's chances of reaching No. 1 this year and jokingly mentioned the achievements of the 22-year-old star:

"No. I think he sucks.Look, he won the Australian Open, won Rotterdam, and he's what, 19-1 [20-1] so far this year? I think if you have these kind of statistics, it's very logical that you're on the right path and you're on the way to be there, right?

"Do I think that he's going to be as unbeatable as he is so far this year? I don't know. Because right now he's lost one match. It's unbelievable. It's like a statistic like Djokovic started in his best years. Federer started like this in his best years. Rafa started like this I think once in his career."

Zverev also mentioned that Sinner could dominate the ATP rankings for many years if he maintains the level he has shown in 2024, although he also made a nod to the other top-4 players: Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Daniil Medvedev. He also mentioned that Sinner is someone his team is keeping an eye on:

"If he keeps it like that, then he's not only going to be No. 1 in the world, he's going to be No. 1 in the world for the next ten years. But it's up to him and it's also up to me, up to Carlos, up to Daniil, up to Novak as well to stop him from doing that," Zverev said.

"Of course, he's somebody that we now probably look out for, you know, one of two or three players that we look out for the most. We study him, we try to understand his game, we try to understand what can make him feel uncomfortable. And we'll see if we can use it," he concluded.