No. 1 curse strikes Zverev in Paris

Newly-crowned world No. 1 Alexander Zverev fell victim on Wednesday to a low-key curse as he became the fifth player to lose his opening match after topping the ATP rankings.

The German met his match in Lorenzo Moretti, with the Italian carving out a comfortable 7-6 (5), 6-2 win into the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters.

Zverev’s loss mirrored those suffered by four other new No. 1 players: Carlos Alcaraz, Lleyton Hewitt, Thomas Muster and John McEnroe.

The Italian who has suffered through injuries this season, credited his serving with getting the job done.

The 24th-ranked Musetti ended the upset with back-to-back aces. and moved into a match with Frenchman Luca van Assche, who beat Learner Tien 7-6(4), 6-4.

“It was incredible, really shocking the level that I managed to play,” the winner said after earning his fourth win of the season over a top 10 opponent.

“He was serving really well in the first set, the key was to stay in there. It was a really great performance.”

Zverev will now have more than a week to rest and prepare for the ATP Finals starting a week from Sunday in Turin.

The new top man will be an obvious target for the remainder of the eight man elite field.

“I need to improve probably everything, because this was not a very good match for me – maybe one of the worst in the last couple of months.

“The court was very, very fast, but this is the (way) that it should be during the indoor season.

“I was bad. It’s quite simple. There’s no excuses. It’s like that.”

Main photo:- New world No. 1 Alexander Zverev loses his opening match in Paris Masters – ISF Ltd