Zverev hits back at critics after shock loss on Paris Masters debut as No 1

Alexander Zverev's first match as world No 1 ended in a 7-6(5), 6-2 defeat to Lorenzo Musetti at the Paris Masters, and he used the post-match press conference to confront suggestions that his rise to the top ranking owes more to others' misfortune than his own form.

It is the first time Zverev has held the top ranking, a reward that came his way after Jannik Sinner announced, as reported by Tennis365, that a knee injury would keep him out for the rest of 2026. Carlos Alcaraz, meanwhile, spent more than four months of the season out with a wrist problem.

That sequence of events has fuelled commentary, on social media and in the mainstream press, that Zverev's ascent to the summit of the rankings is a product of the absences of Sinner and Alcaraz rather than his own achievements.

Asked whether he had felt stress during the loss to Musetti, Zverev said the sensation was different. "Stress, I don't know if stress," he said, before adding: "I was a bit annoyed, to be honest, the last couple of days, because, you know, achieving the world No 1 status is something that I think every player dreams of."

Zverev's defeat was one of several high-profile casualties on the third day of the Paris Masters. Rinky Hijikata beat Novak Djokovic, and seeded exits also claimed Daniil Medvedev, Frances Tiafoe and Alex de Minaur, Yahoo Sports reported.

Alcaraz was unaffected by the upheaval elsewhere in the draw. He saw off Alex Michelsen by a scoreline of 7-6(4), 6-3, stretching his run of consecutive wins to six following his title in Vienna last week. With Zverev out, Alcaraz is now the highest-ranked player left in the tournament.

Speaking to reporters in Paris after his win over Michelsen, Alcaraz was asked directly about the defeats suffered by Zverev and Djokovic. He acknowledged keeping an eye on how the draw had shifted even while trying to stay focused on his own matches. "Of course I like to look at the draw," he said, describing the Paris Masters as one of only two remaining ATP 1000 events played over a single week.

The scrutiny of Zverev's No 1 status had already been building before the Musetti defeat. Independent Sport argued that his triumph this year, built on two major titles and a long-standing place in the top 10 since 2017, nonetheless rests on shaky foundations given that it arrived only once Sinner and Alcaraz were absent for extended spells.

That assessment also set Zverev's achievements in a longer career context, pointing to his management of type 1 diabetes, his recovery from the ankle injury suffered in the 2022 French Open semi-final that forced him off court in a wheelchair, and the finals collapses he suffered from two sets up against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open and against Alcaraz at the 2024 French Open.

Zverev now faces an early examination of his new ranking as he looks to regroup from the Musetti defeat, while Alcaraz continues his push through the Paris draw as the tournament's most prominent survivor among the leading contenders.