Zverev Loses First Match as World No 1, Djokovic Season Ends in Paris: Wednesday Carnage and the Turin Field

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What happened to Zverev in his first match as world No 1?

Alexander Zverev said he was annoyed at having to justify being world number one, and then he went out and lost his first match as world number one. The German, who became the 30th player in history to top the ATP rankings on Monday 2 November and the first German since Boris Becker in 1991, lost 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 to 24th-ranked Lorenzo Musetti in the second round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday.

It was not a close defeat that could be explained away. Zverev was in a dominant position in the first-set tie-break, then accumulated errors to lose five consecutive points, and then lost six of the following eight games to crash out at the first hurdle. Musetti, who leads Zverev 3-2 in their head to head after this win, eased through the second set, and Zverev never found a way back into the match.

Zverev broke his Grand Slam duck this year by winning the French and US Opens, which propelled him to the top of the rankings for the first time in his career at 29 years old. But his reign got off to the worst possible start, and the questions he was annoyed about will now be asked louder. A world number one is supposed to win his first match as world number one. Zverev lost his in straight sets to the world number 24, and he did it after leading the tie-break. That is the kind of defeat that follows a player, and it happened on the same day as two other huge upsets, which is why Wednesday in Paris will be remembered as one of the great days of carnage in Masters history.

How did Djokovic's season end?

Novak Djokovic saw his hopes of winning an eighth Paris Masters title and qualifying for the ATP Finals disappear as he went out 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to world number 83 Rinky Hijikata. The 24-time Grand Slam champion, who is 39 years old and a record seven-time Paris champion, won the first set 6-2 and then lost the next two, and with them his season.

The defeat ends Djokovic's Turin bid completely. He started Paris 11th in the Live Race, on about 2,900 points, about 319 points behind the last qualifying place, and he needed at least a semifinal, worth 400 points, and probably a final, to have a chance. A first round win over Valentin Vacherot on Tuesday had kept that chance alive, and he had become the oldest match winner in Paris Masters history in doing so. But a second round defeat to a qualifier ends it. There is no more maths to do. His season ends in Paris, and the Turin field will be decided without him for the first time in many years.

Hijikata, an Australian qualifier, fought back from losing the opening set to win in three, and it is the biggest win of his career. Djokovic had beaten him on paper in every way that matters, with 102 tour titles and a record that Hijikata cannot match, but on the day the qualifier played the better tennis after the first set, and Djokovic could not find the rhythm he had found in the second and third sets against Vacherot on Tuesday. His shoulder, which needed a medical timeout on Tuesday, was not blamed for the defeat in reporting, and this post does not blame it either. He lost to the better player on the day, and that is the story.

What did Medvedev do in Paris?

Daniil Medvedev endured another difficult day at the Paris Masters, and this time the result was not the only talking point. The Russian, seeded fifth, was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Ignacio Buse, a 22-year-old Peruvian, in his opening match, but the match will be remembered for the row that broke out in the second set, when Medvedev argued with the chair umpire and the ATP supervisor, threatened to stop playing, and did not shake the umpire's hand when he left the court.

It all started in the second set when the scoreline was tied at 4-4. Medvedev had led 4-3 and 40-0 on his serve, but lost that game. He then lost the first point of Buse's service game and dragged his racket along the surface. Chair umpire Adel Nour had seen it before and gave him a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct. Medvedev walked to his bench, packed his racket away and sat down. Nour called supervisor Cedric Mourier to the court.

The exchange that followed was captured on camera, and it was extraordinary. Medvedev told Mourier his legs hurt and asked for the physio, raising the possibility of retiring. Mourier replied that the physio could not be used as an excuse, since the player was merely unhappy with the warning. Medvedev said: "If I retire, what do I get? My legs hurt really badly. I'm in a lot of pain, I can't play. Do we call the physio? Physio!" He added: "I just tore something in my leg. If the physio decides there's nothing wrong, I'll play. But I tore my adductor, and I've been playing for 7 weeks."

Then he turned on the umpire. "I can't hit the ground? Every time it's something new? How many times? Five times? What happens if it's not five? Do you apologize after the match?" Nour had said he counted five gestures towards the ground, and at least two marks on the surface, and Medvedev seized on the difference between the two numbers. "2!? You just said 5!" he shot back, and closed the exchange with one last remark: "Were you not on the court or what?"

Play resumed. Buse held serve and then broke Medvedev in the final game, and the fourth seed did not shake Nour's hand before leaving the court. He subsequently withdrew from the doubles draw with partner Alexander Erler. Medvedev has now lost in the second round in four of the last five editions of the tournament, and he said afterwards: "I don't want to play anymore this season, but I have to." He has recently been disqualified from one match and threatened to retire from his Shanghai Masters semi-final as well, so this is not an isolated incident. It is a pattern, and it is the pattern that will follow him to Turin, where he is already qualified.

Who else fell on Wednesday?

Wednesday was not just about Zverev, Djokovic and Medvedev. It was a day of upsets across the draw, and the table below gives the full picture of the carnage.

| Wednesday upset | Score | What it means | | Musetti beat Zverev, 1st seed | 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 | World No 1 loses his first match as No 1 | | Hijikata beat Djokovic, 10th seed | 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 | Djokovic season ends, Turin dream over | | Buse beat Medvedev, 5th seed | 6-4, 6-4 | Medvedev meltdown, fourth early Paris exit in five years | | Halys beat Tiafoe, 7th seed | 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (11-9) | Tiafoe out, and his defeat qualified Arthur Fils for Turin | | Alcaraz beat Michelsen | 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 | The only top seed to survive Wednesday |

Frances Tiafoe, the seventh seed, lost his opening match to France's Quentin Halys, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (11-9), in another marathon upset. Alex de Minaur also went out on Wednesday, which matters for the Turin race because he was one of the players fighting for the last places. The only top seed to survive was Carlos Alcaraz, who beat 35th-ranked American Alex Michelsen 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the night session, avoiding a repeat of last year's opening-round Paris exit.

How did Alcaraz survive, and who does he play next?

Alcaraz came through a tight tie-break before pulling away to beat Michelsen, and he did it in front of a Paris crowd that had already watched three top seeds fall. Michelsen, ranked 35th, was bidding to become the first man younger than Alcaraz to beat him, and he pushed the second seed hard in the first set before Alcaraz took the tie-break 7-4 and then the second set 6-3.

Next up was supposed to be Matteo Berrettini, whom Alcaraz leads 3-1 head to head, in the last 16 on Thursday. But Berrettini withdrew on Thursday with arm pain, sending Alcaraz into the quarter-finals without playing. It is a strange way to reach the last eight, and it is good news for Alcaraz, who arrived in Paris after winning the Vienna title last week and is now on a seven-match winning streak. He has never gone beyond the quarter-finals in Paris, which he reached in 2022, so Friday's quarter-final is a chance to go further than he has ever gone at this tournament, and to do it fresh, without having played a third-round match.

Who is in the Turin field now?

The Paris Masters is the last qualifying event for the ATP Finals in Turin, from 15 to 22 November, and Wednesday settled most of the field. Six players are now qualified: Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli and Arthur Fils. Fils became the sixth on Wednesday, and his story is the happiest of the day.

Fils, the 22-year-old French world number seven, qualified for his first ATP Finals thanks to Quentin Halys beating Frances Tiafoe, and then celebrated by beating Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in the evening. He is the first French player to qualify for the season-ending tournament since Gael Monfils in 2016, and he called it a childhood dream. He faces Taylor Fritz in the last 16 on Thursday night, not before 20:30 Paris time, a week after retiring against the American in the Basel quarter-finals with a back problem.

Two places remain, and four men are still in contention. According to the ATP, Frances Tiafoe will qualify if Tommy Paul or Taylor Fritz loses, and Rafael Jodar if both of them do. Two French players will settle much of it on Thursday. Quentin Halys faces 12th seed Tommy Paul at 11:00 on Court Central, and Fils takes on 11th seed Taylor Fritz in the night session. If Halys and Fils both win, Tiafoe and Jodar qualify and the line-up for Turin is complete. If only one of them wins, Tiafoe qualifies. If Paul and Fritz both win, nothing is settled on Thursday.

| Turin status after Wednesday | Players | | Qualified, 6 of 8 places | Zverev, Alcaraz, Shelton, Medvedev, Cobolli, Fils | | Still in contention for the last 2 places | Tiafoe, Jodar, Paul, Fritz | | Out after Wednesday | Djokovic, de Minaur | | Thursday deciders | Halys v Paul, Fils v Fritz |

What is on Thursday in Paris, and when does it start?

Thursday is the last 16, and the order of play gives French fans three home players in a row on Court Central, followed by the night session. Ben Shelton, the third seed, headlines the day session against home favourite Arthur Rinderknech for a spot in the last eight. Alcaraz, who was due to play Berrettini, is through on a walkover. Fils against Fritz closes the night.

| Thursday match, Court Central | Paris time | London | New York | Karachi | | Quentin Halys v Tommy Paul, 12th seed | 11:00 CET | 10:00 GMT | 05:00 EST | 15:00 PKT | | Arthur Rinderknech v Ben Shelton, 3rd seed | Follows | Follows | Follows | Follows | | Luca Van Assche v to be confirmed | Follows | Follows | Follows | Follows | | Carlos Alcaraz v Matteo Berrettini | Walkover, Berrettini withdrew with arm pain | Walkover | Walkover | Walkover | | Arthur Fils, 6th seed, v Taylor Fritz, 11th seed | Not before 20:30 CET | Not before 19:30 GMT | Not before 14:30 EST | Not before 00:30 Friday PKT |

In the UK, Sky Sports Tennis covers the tournament. In the United States, Tennis Channel carries it. The final is on Sunday 8 November at 15:00 Paris time, at the Plenitude Arena in Nanterre. Wednesday was the day the top seeds fell. Thursday is the day the Turin field gets decided, and Friday is the day Alcaraz tries to go further in Paris than he ever has before.

Related live posts: Djokovic Oldest Paris Winner, Zverev v Musetti and Alcaraz Tonight: Wednesday Paris Guide and Turin Race, and Zverev Wakes Up World No 1 as Paris Masters Starts: Djokovic v Vacherot and the Last Turin Race.

Sources: AFP via Dawn, No 1 Zverev, Djokovic crash out of Paris Masters, Alcaraz advances, 5 November 2026; Sportskeeda, Why are they giving me warning, Medvedev heated exchange with umpire, 4 November 2026; Tennis Temple, Were you not on the court or what, eliminated Medvedev loses his cool in Paris, 4 November 2026; Tennis Majors, Race to Turin daily, Fils and Halys hold the keys for Tiafoe and Jodar in Paris, 5 November 2026; Rolex Paris Masters, Second round, Alcaraz and Fils make a winning start, 4 November 2026; Tennis Majors, Berrettini withdraws with arm pain, Alcaraz into the quarter-finals without playing, 5 November 2026.