Alexander Zverev says he has been “annoyed” by the reaction to him becoming world number one.
The German, 29, claims he is the only tennis player who “has to explain why it’s OK” for him to be top of the rankings.
Zverev lost to Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti at the Paris Masters on Wednesday – his first match since becoming the ATP Tour’s number one for the first time.
He has won his first two Grand Slams titles in 2026, but his success has come in a year in which Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have struggled with injuries.
“I don’t think anybody had to explain themselves as much as I had to do in the last couple of days, which for me, is annoying, to be honest,” Zverev said.
Zverev has a 62-8 win-loss record against opponents ranked 11 and below in the world this year – but he has only won three of 12 matches against top-10 players.
Before this year’s French Open, Sinner and Alcaraz had shared the past nine Grand Slam titles, with Sinner beating Zverev in last year’s Australian Open final.
Zverev has lost in each of his 10 most recent meetings with Sinner, who has not played since Wimbledon after injuring his knee and has subsequently dropped to number two in the rankings.
He has also lost four of his past five matches against Alcaraz, who missed large parts of the season with a wrist injury.
“I was a bit annoyed, to be honest, because achieving the world number one status is something that every player dreams of,” said Zverev, who won this year’s French Open and US Open titles and lost to Sinner in the final of Wimbledon.
“But then I feel like I’m the only world number in tennis history that has to explain why it’s OK for me to be world number one, which I find quite difficult, because I think I deserve to be where I am, even though I lost today.”
Zverev did not specify which issues had been annoying him after going to the top of the rankings.
His ascent has led to previous accusations of physical abuse by two of his former partners being highlighted again.
Zverev has always firmly maintained his innocence and has insisted the allegations are baseless.
He was presented with the world number one trophy in Paris on Monday but, after receiving a bye through the first round, was beaten 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 by Musetti.
Looking at his performance on Wednesday, Zverev said: “To simplify it, he played really good and I played really bad.
“I think this was not a very good match from me, I think it might be one of the worst in the last couple of months.”