The tennis year has been a good one for Alexander Zverev. He won the first two majors of his career and, for the first time, reached No. 1 on the ATP Tour. He will finish that way, too. But he still has tournaments to play, including the Paris Masters, where he faced Lorenzo Musetti in the second round.
Somewhat surprisingly, Musetti led the all-time head-to-head 3-2, including winning three of the last four meetings between the two players. Zverev seemingly does everything a tick better than the Italian, but sometimes individual matchups get weird for whatever reason.
Most of the sets in those previous meetings were tight, though, so it was no surprise that the first set of their Paris Masters match was no different. Both were playing at a high level. To play any differently would have caused the match to be one-sided. Each had more winners than unforced errors while landing more than 70 percent of their first serves.
Lorenzo Musetti defeats Alexander Zverev at the 2026 Paris Masters
The set eventually ended in a tie-break as neither player could break the other. This is where Zverev likely had the advantage because one of his keys to 2026 success has been his ability to seize control of tie-breaks early. He is 37-18 in tie-breaks alone this year.
Against Musetti, after winning the first point, Zverev hit a ridiculous drop shot with sideways spin that forced Musetti off the court. It was the kind of point that the German has played many times in 2026, and an example of why he has been the most consistently successful player on the ATP Tour.
The shock was that after getting a 5-2 lead, Zverev couldn't hold it. Musetti, through sheer willpower and the ability to cover the court, won the next five points to take the tie-break 7-5 and the first set along with it.
Musetti carried the momentum of winning the tie-break into the second set, getting an early break and frustrating Zverev with his speed and shot-making. By the end of the set, Zverev seemed to just want to be done with the whole match. Every game was difficult for him.
Serving at 4-2, he was broken again by Musetti, and relatively easily. As good a year as Zverev has had, he appears to be the same player he always has been, but sometimes loses matches to lesser players when he has no business doing so.
Next for Lorenzo Musetti, after taking the second set 6-2, will be Luca Van Assche in the third round of the 2026 Paris Masters. Van Assche defeated American Learner Tien in his second-round match.
Add us as a preferred source on Google