Alexander Zverev’s hopes of becoming world No 1 before Jannik Sinner returns to the tour are over after he lost his first match at the 2025 Monte Carlo Masters to Matteo Berrettini.
Berrettini made an impressive fightback to prevail 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 on Court Rainier III in the second round of the Masters 1000 tournament.
The Italian’s victory over Zverev — the world No 2 — is the biggest win of his career by ranking and his 11th against a top 10 player.
The world No 34, who has been ranked as high as sixth, revealed what helped him turn the match around after losing a one-sided opening set.
“The game plan was the same but I changed my attitude and the way I was believing in my strokes,” Berrettini explained.
“I wasn’t hitting my forehand and serve like I had in previous days and I had to adapt and adjust to the conditions and Sascha was playing unbelievable, so it was not easy. Then I told myself to be more aggressive and if I am going to lose this match, I am going to do the right things and luckily it worked.”
Zverev’s defeat extends his dismal run of form since he lost to Sinner in the Australian Open final in January.
The Australian Open is the only tournament that Sinner has played so far in 2025, with the world No 1 sidelined due to a three-month doping ban.
The Italian’s absence presented Zverev with the best opportunity of his career to reach the top of the ATP Rankings.
The three-time Grand Slam finalist has struggled badly, though, having amassed a 6-6 record since the Australian Open.
At the six tournaments he has played during Sinner’s ban, Zverev has lost his opening match twice and failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals anywhere.
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Zverev’s results in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami left him with a very slim chance of overtaking Sinner during the clay-court season.
The 27-year-old’s loss to Berrettini, however, has ruled out the possibility of him replacing Sinner as the world No 1 before the Italian Open.
Zverev sits on 7,595 points in the Live ATP Rankings — 2,335 adrift of Sinner, who will be on 9,930 points after he loses the 400 points from his 2024 Monte Carlo semi-final run.
The world No 2 will look to bounce back at the ATP 500 tournament in Munich next week. He will then play the Masters 1000 event in Madrid, where he is a two-time champion.
With 1,500 points on offer at these two tournaments, Zverev can still make up ground on Sinner before Rome.
However, it feels like the German may never get a better chance to reach the pinnacle of the ATP Tour than he has had in recent months.
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