ATP Tour

Musetti shocks Zverev in Paris; Halys saves 4 MPs to shake up Live Race

Lorenzo Musetti gave Alexander Zverev little time to settle into his newfound status on Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he ousted the World No. 1 7-6(5), 6-2 to reach the third round.

Competing for the first time since becoming the 30th man to rise to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Zverev looked poised to take control when he led 5/2 in the first-set tie-break. However, Musetti raised his level, uncorked powerful groundstrokes from both wings and reeled off five consecutive points to snatch the opener before building on that momentum with a classy finish at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

“It’s pretty shocking the level I was able to play in front of Sascha, who was serving really well, especially in the first set,” Musetti said in his on-court interview. “It was really close. It could have gone both ways. The key was to stay there at 5/2. I played five great points in a row.”

Musetti has battled injuries throughout the 2026 season, most notably when he retired while leading by two sets against Novak Djokovic in their Australian Open quarter-final. Yet the 24-year-old has rediscovered some of his finest form during the European indoor hard-court swing.

Having ended his four-year title drought in Lyon last month and secured his second victory over a World No. 1, Musetti has now won eight of his past nine tour-level matches, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

Musetti set a third-round clash with Frenchman Luca Van Assche, who continued his career-best season with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over 15th seed Learner Tien. It marks Van Assche’s second career victory over a Top-20 player, having also defeated Andrey Rublev en route to his maiden ATP Tour title in Estoril in July.

Another home hope, Quentin Halys, produced one of the stories of the day by saving four match points to defeat Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(9), shaking up the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin in the process.

Halys’ one-hour, 57-minute victory dealt a blow to Tiafoe’s Nitto ATP Finals hopes while also ensuring that countryman Arthur Fils secured his debut spot at the season finale. Tiafoe remains inside the qualification spots in eighth place in the Live Race, but 11th-placed Novak Djokovic, 12th-placed Taylor Fritz and 13th-placed Tommy Paul are all still alive in Paris.

Halys will next face Paul, who raced past Daniel Merida 6-1, 6-1 to underline his own bid for a place at the year-end championship.