Alexander Zverev, 29, lost to Lorenzo Musetti at the Paris Masters in his first match since becoming ATP Tour number one for the first time. He said the reaction to his ranking has annoyed him and that he thinks he deserves his position.
Alexander Zverev, 29, says he has been annoyed by the reaction to him becoming world number one. He did not specify which issues had been annoying him. Zverev said he feels he is the only world number one in tennis history who has to explain why it is OK for him to be number one, and that he thinks he deserves his position.
Zverev lost to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti at the Paris Masters on Wednesday, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2, in his first match since becoming the ATP Tour's number one for the first time. He had been presented with the world number one trophy in Paris on Monday and received a bye through the first round. Zverev said Musetti played really good and he played really bad, and that it might be one of his worst matches in the last couple of months.
His rise to number one has led to previous accusations of physical abuse by two former partners being highlighted again. Zverev has denied the allegations, has always firmly maintained his innocence and insists they are baseless.
Zverev won the French Open and US Open titles in 2026, his first two Grand Slam titles, and lost to Sinner in the Wimbledon final. His success has come in a year in which Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have struggled with injuries. Sinner has not played since Wimbledon after injuring his knee and has dropped to number two, while Alcaraz missed large parts of the season with a wrist injury.
Zverev has lost each of his 10 most recent meetings with Sinner and four of his past five matches against Alcaraz. This year he has a 62-8 win-loss record against opponents ranked 11 and below, but has won only three of 12 matches against top-10 players.
