Musetti Stuns New World No. 1 Zverev In Paris Second Round

Lorenzo Musetti, Chengdu Open
Lorenzo Musetti (photo: Chengdu Open)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, November 4, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Lorenzo Musetti had gone three years since the last time he beat a World No. 1 player. One needed to go all the way back to the 2023 season at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo, when Musetti defeated No. 1 Novak Djokovic. However, Musetti’s dubious 1-7 streak against World No. 1 players came to an end at the Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday afternoon.

Musetti, who was 3-1 versus Top 10 players this year, reached the round of 16 at the ATP Masters 1000 level for the fourth time this season and extended his indoor win-loss record to 7-1 with his 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory over newly-crowned World No. 1 Alexander Zverev of Germany.

Zverev, who was playing in his first tournament as World No. 1 after ascending to the top spot on Monday, becoming the 30th World No. 1 in PIF ATP Rankings history, was outplayed by Musetti, who improved his 2026 win-loss record to 28-13 in what has been a season filled with injury setbacks. Meanwhile, Zverev, who leads the ATP Tour in wins with 65, fell to 65-18.

Musetti, who arrived in Paris after recently winning an ATP 250 indoor title in Lyon, won 79 percent (33 of 42) of his first-serve points, hit 29 winners to 12 unforced errors and saved the only break point he faced. He converted two of six break-point chances against Zverev and outpointed him 71-59 in collecting his eighth victory in his last nine matches. Zverev countered with 25 winners – nine of them aces – but also made 21 unforced errors.

The Italian No. 4 closed out his stunning performance with his eighth ace of the match. It put a cap on an hour and 40 minutes of brilliance from the 24-year-old from Carrara. It was Musetti’s fourth career victory over Zverev in six meetings.

“It’s pretty shocking the level I was able to play in front of Sascha, who was serving really well, especially in the first set,” Musetti said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “It was really close. It could have gone both ways. The key was to stay there at 5-2. I played four great points in a row.”

During his post-match news conference, Zverev tersely summed up his performance: “To simplify it, he played really good and I played really bad; if you want to simplify it. Yeah, just the way it is.”

Now, Zverev will have a respite to go home, recover and regroup for the Nitto ATP Finals, which begins in Turin on November 15.

On Thursday, Musetti will face No. 47 Luca Van Assche of France in the third round.

Halys leads a quartet of French into Paris third round

After saving four match points during a 20-point third-set tiebreaker, 30-year-old Frenchman Quentin Halys pulled off the biggest win of his career. He beat World No. 8 and seventh seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (9), in an entertaining one hour and 57 minutes to open play on Court Central Wednesday afternoon.

The 46th-ranked Halys, who prevailed on his first-match point opportunity, was in a state of disbelief mixed with joy. The 30-year-old native of Bondy, in the northeast suburbs of Paris, couldn’t believe what he had just achieved in front of the supportive crowd that filled Plenitude Arena. However, he was smiling for all to see and appreciative as he soaked in the applause.

“I’m a miracle survivor,” Halys quipped during a post-match interview broadcast on Eurosport. “I honestly don’t know how I got out of it at the end. I broke back with a great game, but mentally, physically and tennis-wise I completely disappeared for about a set and a half. Somehow, I managed to regroup. I can’t explain it. It’s crazy that I won this match!”

Halys, who won 15 of the first 17 points of the match and led 4-0 from the outset, rallied from down 3-1 in the final set. He drew even at 5-all before getting the match to a tie-break. By the end, he had ripped 17 aces and hit 40 winners overall to overcome 33 unforced errors. Halys saved six of 10 break points he faced from Tiafoe and converted all three of his break-point chances against the American No. 2. Although Halys surrendered 31 winners, he outpointed his opponent 93-85.

Next, Halys will face another American foe, World No. 14 Tommy Paul. The 12th-seeded Paul needed just 48 minutes to eliminate No. 42 Daniel Merida of Spain, 6-1, 6-1, on Court 2. The American No. 4 dropped just three points on his first serve, saved the only break point he faced and outpointed Merida 58-27 en route to collecting his 48th victory of the season.

 

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Looking back, it was a memorable start to Day 3 for the French, who began the week with 10 players in the 56-player main draw. As play began on Wednesday, there were just five Frenchmen remaining: Halys, Arthur Rinderknech, Luca Van Assche, Ugo Humbert and Arthur Fils. By the end of day, all but Humbert won.

• The 68th-ranked Rinderknech broke a four-match losing streak in the first round. Now, with his 6-4, 6-1 win over 66th-ranked Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci, he’s reached the round of 16 at an ATP Masters 1000 for the fifth time in his career. The 31-year-old Rinderknech became the fifth Frenchman to record 20 tour-level wins this season.

“It’s the end of the season, so a lot has happened and both the body and the mind are tired,” Rinderknech said during a post-match interview with Eurosport. “Yesterday I won without really feeling the ball. Today I felt it perfectly and played a fantastic match. That’s the magic of tennis. Every day tells a different story.”

• Van Assche, ranked 47th, won just his second-career Top 20 match with his 7-6 (4), 6-4 surprise victory over World No. 19 and 15th seed Learner Tien of the United States. Tien, who owned a 7-1 record on French indoor hard courts coming in – including run to his 1st ATP Tour title in Metz last year – needed to reach the third round to avoid dropping out of the Top 20 for the first time since making his Top-20 debut in May.

• The lefty Humbert, ranked 38th, lost to No. 43 Matteo Berrettini of Italy in the final match of the day on Court 1, 7-6 (3), 7-5, in an hour and 46 minutes.

Finally, World No. 7 and sixth seed Fils beat 69th-ranked Czech qualifier Tomas Machac, 6-3, 7-6 (4), in one hour and 27 minutes in the final match of the day on Court Central Wednesday evening.

Fils became the first Frenchman in 10 years – since Gaël Monfils in 2016 – to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals following Tiafoe’s loss to Halys. Against Machac, Fils won all but three of his first-serve points (35 of 38, 92 percent), faced no break points and outpointed Machac 81-66.

Around the Rolex Paris Masters

• No. 83 Rinky Hijikata of Australia has become the lowest-ranked player to defeat World No. 11 and 10th seed Novak Djokovic this season. A qualifier, who came in 3-21 lifetime against Top 20 players – including 3-5 this season – Hijikata surprised the seven-time Paris Masters champion Djokovic, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, in two hours and 14 minutes on Court Central to wrap up Wednesday afternoon play.

Hijikata hit 41 winners and saved nine of 11 break points. He broke Djokovic’s serve three times in seven opportunities, including twice in the final set. The 25-year-old from Sydney knew he would have to play at a high level for a long time – and he did. He won 50 percent (18 of 36) of his second-serve points and 66 percent (19 of 29) of his returns on Djokovic’s second serve. 

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether I was going to be able to take the court today,” Hijikata said during his on-court interview with ATP Media, noting he woke up with a sore neck. “I was just happy I could come out and play. He was playing too good for me for the first set and a little bit [of the second]. I was just trying to hang tough for as long as I could.

“To be honest, I wasn’t feeling great last night or this morning, but I guess a bit of adrenaline kicked in and I did whatever it took to come out [and play]. I’m glad that I did.”

After Djokovic defeated Valentin Vacherot of Monaco in the first round Tuesday to extend his tournament record for most wins (51), he was denied by Hijikata from reaching the third round for the 15th time in 18 appearances. The loss effectively ended Djokovic’s 2026 season. The 39-year-old Serbian (21-10) needed to reach at least the semifinals this week for a chance to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.

“Disappointment, obviously, losing a match that I felt like I was dominating for a set and a few games,” Djokovic said, quote by the ATP Tour website. “… Nobody loves losing. It’s just another match, but I should have won this match. I played well in the first set and then completely lost control.”

Next, Hijikata will face No. 31 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, who took out World No. 9 and eighth seed Alex de Minaur of Australia, 7-6 (2), 6-3, in one hour and 59 minutes on Court 2. Last week’s Vienna finalist, de Minaur was sitting in 10th place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. However, with the loss, he was effectively eliminated from advancing to the Nitto ATP Finals. Etcheverry hit 19 winners and took advantage of 28 unforced errors by de Minaur. The Aussie No. 1 was able to convert just one of 13 break-point chances and was outpointed by Etcheverry 77-67.

• World No. 5 and fourth seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia was upset in the second round by No. 33 Ignacio Buse of Peru, 6-4, 6-4, in an hour and 39 minutes on Court 1. Buse hit 22 winners and took advantage of 27 unforced errors by his opponent. He broke Medvedev’s serve three times in five tries and outpointed him 66-60.

Next, Buse will face 49th-ranked lucky loser Nuno Borges of Portugal, who continued his run of good fortune this week in Paris. Borges defeated World No. 25 Karen Khachanov of Russia, 6-3, 6-4, in 73 minutes on Court 1 in back of 21 winners to advance to the third round.

• World No. 12 and 11th seed Taylor Fritz of the United States came back from a set down to defeat 78th-ranked qualifier Alex Molcan of Slovakia, 6-7 (6), 7-5, 7-6 (5), in two hours and 30 minutes on Court 2. Fritz fired a tournament-best 37 aces and hit 61 winners overall in beating Molcan for the second time in his career. It was Fritz’s tour-leading 11th indoor victory of the 2026 season.

Next, Fritz will face World No. 7 and sixth seed Arthur Fils of France in the third round.

• No. 39 Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany advanced to the third round with a come-from-behind 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over 53rd-ranked Argentine lucky loser Thiago Agustin Tirante in two hours and 22 minutes on Court 2. Next, Struff will face World No. 23 Casper Ruud of Norway in Thursday’s third round.

• In doubles, Americans Robert Cash and Brandon Nakashima upset No. 5 seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy, while French duo Theo Arribage and Albano Olivetti upset No. 7 seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain to advance to the second round. Also, No. 8 seeds Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos of Brazil also advanced to the round of 16, and No. 2 seeds Christian Harrison of the United States and Neal Skupski of Great Britain received a walk-over win.

Meanwhile, Vienna champions Lucas Miedler and Neil Oberleitner of Austria advanced to the second round as did Czech pair of Adam Pavlasek and Patrik Rikl. Sadio Doumbia of France and David Pel of the Netherlands also moved into the second round.

Wednesday’s Paris Masters results

Thursday’s Paris Masters order of play

By the numbers

Carlos Alcaraz came into his second-round match at the Rolex Paris Masters against No. 35 Alex Michelsen of the United States riding a five-match winning streak after winning the Vienna title last week. He aimed to extend his 10-0 win-loss record in opening rounds this season. At the conclusion of his one-hour, 41-minute skirmish on Court Central to begin the Wednesday night session, Alcaraz prevailed with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory. Alcaraz hit 26 winners and outpointed Michelsen 79-62.

Alcaraz, who improved to 39-5 with his win over Michelsen, will be back on Court Central Thursday evening against No. 43 Matteo Berrettini of Italy.

“Quotable …”

“It’s a special day, for sure. I think Paris has been quite special to me this year, generally. You know, it’s a place where I had a lot of up-and-downs, I had a lot of heartbreak, but this year, of course, winning my first Grand Slam here and becoming World No. 1, it’s a very special feeling.”

– World No. 1 Alexander Zverev of Germany, during his pre-tournament news conference Monday, on returning to Paris as the No. 1 player in the world.

 

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