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World No. 1 Alexander Zverev’s Paris Masters campaign ended in the Round of 32 as Lorenzo Musetti pulled off a stunning straight-sets upset.
Alexander Zverev lost in the opening round of Paris Masters (Picture credit: AP)
Two-time Grand Slam champion Alexander Zverev, who was recently crowned World No. 1, was stunned by an unseeded Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets in a Round of 32 encounter at the Paris Masters, as his run without a trophy since the US Open continues.
Making his opening appearance in the round of 32 in Paris, Zverev committed a series of errors as he suffered an early exit at the hands of the 24-year-old Italian.
Former world No. 5 Musetti became only the fifth player to beat a reigning world No. 1 in his opening match at a tournament.
Both players saved break points in consecutive games midway through the opening set, but neither could gain the upper hand, making a tie-break seem inevitable.
Zverev raced to a 5-2 lead in the tie-break, but Musetti fought back to win five successive points and take the opening set, sealing it with a powerful wide serve to the German’s backhand.
Riding the momentum, Musetti missed a break opportunity in the opening game of the second set but made no mistake two games later, capitalising on a flurry of errors from Zverev to break serve.
Musetti continued to exploit his sliced backhand as Zverev’s unforced errors piled up, breaking serve for a second time to move within a game of the win.
Musetti made no mistake, serving out the match to love to seal his place in the last 16, leaving a dejected Zverev to rue his errors.
Since winning the US Open in September, the German has endured a tough run, losing both his singles matches at the Laver Cup before suffering losses to Novak Djokovic in the China Open quarter-finals, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Shanghai Masters semi-finals and Alex de Minaur in the Vienna Open semi-finals.
With Zverev now out of the way, Carlos Alcaraz looks the frontrunner for the Paris Masters title. He will take on Alex Michelsen on Wednesday.
November 04, 2026, 8:30 PM IST
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