Zverev loses Vienna semi-final to de Minaur, missing Alcaraz final before No. 1 ranking

Narrow defeat in Vienna

Alexander Zverev lost the ATP semi-final in Vienna to Australian Alex de Minaur, world No. 10, 4:6, 6:1, 6:7 (4:7) after 2 hours and 33 minutes. The loss removed a much-anticipated final against Carlos Alcaraz, who had earlier beaten Daniil Medwedew 6:4, 7:6. Zverev had led the rankings only after reaching the quarter-final, so the Vienna title would have been his second there after 2021. He had won the 2025 final's rival stage against Jannik Sinner in a close final that year.

The German was hampered by his serve early on. He faced eight break chances in the first set, and de Minaur converted one of them to go 3:2 and take the opening set after 50 minutes. Zverev finished with 31 unforced errors, according to the match report.

Complaints about the balls

Zverev repeatedly complained during the semi-final that the balls flew too fast off the court. He held a felt ball up to the umpire's face and asked whether it was normal to play a tournament with these balls. Reports say he struggled with precision during parts of the match.

Rankings and the lost rematch

Zverev had secured the top ranking with his quarter-final win over Briton Arthur Fery, 6:0, 6:2. He will replace the injured Jannik Sinner as world No. 1 from Monday, becoming the second German man to hold the position after Boris Becker about 35 years ago. Alcaraz led the ranking for 66 weeks in total, with five interruptions, and lost the top spot to Sinner in April during an injury break.

The lost match would have been a rematch of the Australian Open semi-final in January, when Alcaraz won a five-set match in Melbourne. That was the thirteenth meeting between the two, which Alcaraz leads 7:6, and it was the last between them before Alcaraz was sidelined for a long spell.

Struff and the Davis Cup

In Basel, Jan-Lennard Struff lost his semi-final to Czech player Jiri Lehecka, 6:3, 5:7, 4:6, after missing a match point in the second set. Lehecka will face Monegasque player Valentin Vacherot in the final. Germany's Davis Cup team meets Great Britain in the quarter-final on 26 November, with the aim of a first title since 1993.