Paris Masters: Musetti stuns Zverev, the new world No. 1
· BehindLines newsroom
Alexander Zverev lost his first match as world No. 1. On Wednesday, November 4, in the second round of the Paris Masters 1000, the German fell 7-6 (5), 6-2 to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti, according to Tennis Majors and the AP agency as relayed by News4Jax.
A match decided by details
According to Tennis Majors, Musetti, ranked 24th, won in 1 hour 42 minutes, after taking the first-set tie-break, holding all ten of his service games and breaking Zverev's serve twice in the second set. The AP notes 29 winners for the Italian against 25 for his opponent, and 12 unforced errors against 21. Zverev, who had taken the No. 1 spot on Monday, judged his performance poor: "It was bad, it's quite simple," the AP reports. He also felt that the very fast surface allowed things to turn quickly, according to Tennis Majors.
A statistical rarity
It is Musetti's second win over a world No. 1, and he now leads their head-to-head 4-2, Tennis Majors says. The site cites the ATP: Musetti is the fifth player since 1973, the year the rankings were created, to beat an opponent in his first match as No. 1, after José-Luis Clerc, Sandon Stolle, Nicolas Escudé and Félix Auger-Aliassime. Zverev had risen to the top spot after his first two Grand Slam titles, at Roland-Garros and the US Open, according to the AP.
What this changes
For Zverev, the next appointment is the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, from November 15 to 22, Tennis Majors recalls. Another consequence of the day, according to the AP: Frances Tiafoe's defeat to Quentin Halys qualified Arthur Fils for this season-ending tournament, the first Frenchman to get there since Gaël Monfils in 2016.
As for Musetti, he was due to face Frenchman Luca Van Assche in the round of 16. According to the ATP results page, he lost that match on Thursday, November 5, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. That same day, Taylor Fritz beat Arthur Fils 6-3, 6-4, and Casper Ruud, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton also won their round-of-16 matches. The tournament continues, and the sources read do not allow us to say who will win.