Alexander Zverev’s troubled start as world No 1 sums up dismal year for men’s tennis | Tumaini Carayol

The Guardian

Winning his first two grand slams and leading the rankings should be cause for celebration, but the German benefited from a vacuum at the top Alexander Zverev had plenty of thoughts in the miserable aftermath of his loss at the Paris Masters last week, a 7-6 (5), 6-2 second-round defeat by Lorenzo Musetti marking him as the first ATP No 1 to lose his first match as the top-ranked player in straight sets. Rather than feeling any pressure surrounding his new status in the buildup to the final Masters 1000 tournament of the year, Zverev had simply been annoyed. “Achieving the world No 1 status…