Alexander Zverev says he is “annoyed” by the reaction to him becoming men’s world No 1 in the last few weeks.

The 29-year-old German, who had a breakthrough season after claiming his first two Grand Slams at the French Open and US Open, insists he is the only player who “has to explain why it’s OK” for him to be at the top of the rankings.

Zverev, who was knocked out of the Paris Masters by Lorenzo Musetti on Wednesday, did not specify what has actually annoyed him.

His table-topping achievement has come in a year blighted by injuries for Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who won the last nine majors prior to Roland Garros. Zverev also becomes the first year-end world No 1 to not win a single Masters 1000 tournament despite playing in every event.

"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.

"I was a bit annoyed, to be honest, because achieving the world number one status is something that every player dreams of.

"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 has a 62-8 win-loss record against players ranked outside the top-10 this year but has actually only won three out of 12 matches against top-10 players.

The two-time major winner has also had his reputation impacted in recent years by allegations of physical abuse from two former partners. Zverev has always denied the accusations and insists they are baseless.

Zverev lost 7-5(5), 6-2 to Italian world No 24 Musetti and said of his performance: "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."

Zverev will now focus on the ATP Finals in Turin and the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna as he looks to close his season on a high.