Tennis
Lorenzo Musetti Beats New No. 1 Alexander Zverev at Paris Masters
Musetti won 7–6(5), 6–2 in Zverev’s first match as world No. 1 and will face Luca Van Assche in the round of 16.
Lorenzo Musetti beat Alexander Zverev 7–6(5), 6–2 at the Paris Masters on Wednesday, ending the German’s first tournament appearance as world No. 1. The Italian needed one hour and 40 minutes to reach the round of 16, according to the tournament’s match report.
Zverev had received his world No. 1 trophy during a ceremony Monday at Plenitude Arena. His opening match in that position brought a difficult opponent: Musetti arrived in Paris after winning the Lyon title 10 days earlier.
The opening set went to a tiebreak. Zverev led the tiebreak 4–1 and then 5–2, but Musetti recovered to take it 7–5. He followed that escape with two service breaks in the second set.
Musetti won 79% of the points played behind his first serve and finished with 29 winners against 12 unforced errors. Those numbers helped him turn a close first set into a straight-set victory.
He next faces Luca Van Assche, who defeated No. 15 seed Learner Tien to reach the last 16 of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time.
