Alexander Zverev loses first match as world No 1 to Musetti in Paris
Zverev fell 7-6, 6-2 to Lorenzo Musetti two days after reaching No 1, on a day of Paris upsets. Where it leaves Djokovic and the ATP Finals race.
Alexander Zverev’s first match as world number one lasted 1 hour and 42 minutes. Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, ranked 24th, beat him 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the second round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday, 4 November, on a day when four seeds went out before the evening session.
How Musetti did it
Zverev was in control of the first-set tie-break at 5-2, then lost five points in a row. After that the German never found his rhythm on the fast indoor court. Musetti held all 10 of his service games, broke twice in the second set and finished the match with an ace. He hit 29 winners to Zverev’s 25 and made 12 unforced errors to Zverev’s 21.
“Very fast surface, everything can happen very, very fast here,” Zverev said afterwards, according to the ATP.
It was Musetti’s second win over a reigning world number one, and he now leads Zverev 4-2 head to head. The ATP says he is only the fifth man since 1973 to beat a new No 1 in that player’s first match at the top. He plays Frenchman Luca Van Assche next.
Why Zverev was No 1 at all
Zverev, 29, went to the top of the rankings on Monday, 2 November, replacing Jannik Sinner, who has not played since winning Wimbledon in July because of a right knee injury. It caps the best year of Zverev’s career: his first two Grand Slam titles, at the French Open and the US Open. He is the second German man to be ranked No 1, after Boris Becker, and the second-oldest player to get there for the first time.
The loss does not cost him much. His place at the ATP Finals in Turin (15 to 22 November) was already secure.
A day of upsets
Zverev was not alone. By Wednesday evening, the official results showed:
- Ignacio Buse beat fourth seed Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4.
- Quentin Halys beat seventh seed Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (9), after Tiafoe wasted four match points.
- Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat eighth seed Alex de Minaur 7-6 (2), 6-3.
- Luca Van Assche beat 15th seed Learner Tien 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Tiafoe’s loss confirmed Arthur Fils for Turin, the first Frenchman to qualify since Gael Monfils in 2016.
And Djokovic?
Djokovic, the seven-time Paris champion, was on court against Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata in Wednesday’s evening session as we published. He needs at least a semi-final in Paris to stay in the race for Turin, where only two places are left, and only the title would guarantee one. On Tuesday he came from a set down to beat Valentin Vacherot 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1, needing treatment on his right shoulder along the way, and became the oldest man to win a match at this tournament.
What to watch
Only the Paris Masters and the small Stockholm event are left before Turin. With Zverev, Medvedev and de Minaur gone, the bottom half of the Paris draw has opened up for Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. The last two Turin places are settled by Sunday’s results.
