Zverev joins Sampras on unwanted list after Paris loss

Alexander Zverev has joined Pete Sampras on an unfortunate list after losing to Lorenzo Musetti in the second round of the Paris Masters.

Zverev, who became world No. 1 just last week after Jannik Sinner’s ranking points fell off, went out in straight sets to the Italian 22-year-old.

The loss ended Zverev’s 2026 Masters 1000 campaign without a single title at any of the nine events.

According to tennis statisticians OptaAce, since 1990, only four year-end world No. 1s have failed to win an ATP Masters 1000 title in the same season.

Zverev is now the fourth.

The list: Stefan Edberg (1991), Pete Sampras (1996 and 1998), Lleyton Hewitt (2001) — and now Alexander Zverev (2026).

Zverev reached the final at just one Masters event this year: the Madrid Open, where he was beaten 6-1, 6-2 by Jannik Sinner.

That loss in Madrid was his fourth consecutive defeat to Sinner at Masters tournaments.

At all other eight Masters 1000 events in 2026, Zverev failed to get past the quarterfinals or lost earlier.

The Paris defeat came in Zverev’s first match as the official world No. 1.

He had snatched the top spot from Sinner after beating Tallon Griekspoor in the Vienna Open second round last week.

Since then, Zverev lost to Alex de Minaur in Vienna and then to Musetti in Paris.

Despite the Masters drought, Zverev has had his best year on the Tour overall.

He won two Grand Slam titles in 2026: Roland Garros and the US Open.

He is also guaranteed to finish the year as world No. 1 after Carlos Alcaraz’s shock loss in Shanghai.

Zverev is a two-time champion at the ATP Finals, winning the title in 2018 and 2021.

The ATP Finals begin later this month.

Musetti, meanwhile, advanced to face Frenchman Luca Van Assche in the Paris third round.

Van Assche later beat Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to reach his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal.

That match was a revenge win for Van Assche, who lost to Musetti in a 3-hour-32-minute marathon in Lyon two weeks earlier.