Musetti beats Zverev: the world No. 1 falls in his opener

Lorenzo Musetti beat Alexander Zverev 7-6(5), 6-2 in one hour and 42 minutes in the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday, November 4. It was the German's first match as world No. 1, a ranking he reached on Monday after a season with the first two Slams of his career, Roland Garros and the US Open.

In the first-set tie-break Musetti trailed 1-4, then closed it out 7-5.

"You had to stay in there at 5-2. I played five great points in a row,"

the Italian said in his on-court interview. In the second set he let Zverev win just two games.

Zverev is the fifth player since 1973 to lose his first match as No. 1. The last was Carlos Alcaraz in 2022. The German spoke of two excellent returns from Musetti in the tie-break and of a very fast court, where anything can happen in a few points.

With this win Musetti leads the head-to-head with Zverev 4-2. In the round of 16 he will face Frenchman Luca Van Assche.