Alexander Zverev Opens Paris as No. 1 vs. Musetti

Alexander Zverev plays his first match as world No. 1 on Wednesday, opening his Paris Masters run against Lorenzo Musetti on Court Central. The top seed had a first-round bye, and he couldn't have drawn a trickier opener. Musetti actually leads their head-to-head 3-2.

The stakes are simple. Zverev rose to No. 1 on Monday, and Paris is where he wants to prove it wasn't just a ranking quirk with Jannik Sinner out for the season. He's already guaranteed to finish the year on top, but nobody wants their first match as No. 1 to be a second-round exit at the event he won in 2024.

Why Zverev's the Favorite

Zverev's 2026 has been the best of his career. He beat Flavio Cobolli for the French Open title in June, then beat Ben Shelton to win the US Open in September, and he's 65-17 on the year, as ESPN reported. He became the 30th man to reach No. 1 and only the second German after Boris Becker.

His last event wasn't perfect, though. He reached the Vienna semifinals before Alex de Minaur beat him in a third-set tiebreak, and he said this week he feels good after being tired in Shanghai.

Musetti Isn't Just Happy to Be Here

Don't sleep on the Italian. Musetti, ranked No. 24, beat Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10) on Monday, and it was all about his serve. There wasn't a single break of serve in the match, and he called it one of his best serving days.

He's also coming off a title run in Lyon, where he beat Taylor Fritz in the final. And the head-to-head gives him real belief. Musetti won three straight meetings, including the 2024 Olympic quarterfinal in Paris and a 2025 Rome quarterfinal, before Zverev beat him 6-4, 7-5 in the Vienna semifinals last October.

What's Next

The match is set for not before 1:30 p.m. in Paris, which is 4:30 a.m. PT. The winner moves into the round of 16 later this week. If Zverev gets through, he stays on track for a deep run in the event he won two years ago. If Musetti pulls it off, it's the biggest upset of the week so far.

Zverev's the favorite on indoor hard courts with his serve. But Musetti held every service game against Hurkacz, so this one could stay tight.

Smacktok pick lean: Lean higher on total games. Musetti didn't get broken once against Hurkacz, and Zverev's big serve won't hand out many breaks either, so tiebreaks are in play.