Musetti speaks plainly about Zverev’s victory over Sinner

In an interview with Sky, Lorenzo Musetti congratulated Alexander Zverev on overtaking Jannik Sinner at the top of the ATP rankings, though he emphasized how much the South Tyrolean’s absence had influenced this outcome. The German tennis player won two Grand Slam tournaments for the first time in his career and managed to climb to the top after the Italian decided to take a break until 2027 due to a knee injury.

“I know how hard he’s worked to reach this well-deserved milestone. He’s had an incredible season and proven this year that he’s the best. Jannik didn’t play for half the season,” Musetti noted. “But with him out of the picture, Sascha deserved the number one spot.” The Carrara-born tennis player will face Zverev on Wednesday in the second round of the Paris Masters 1000.

The change at the top became official with the ranking update on Monday, November 2. Zverev, this year’s champion at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open, has climbed to the top spot for the first time in his career—a feat no German tennis player had achieved in more than thirty-five years, since Boris Becker in 1991. Sinner thus brings his third stint as No. 1 to a close, a run that began on April 13 when he overtook Carlos Alcaraz.

Zverev himself played down the comparison when discussing his standing against Sinner: “I’d be an idiot to sit here and say I was as good as Jannik Sinner. I wasn’t. I was the second-best player because Carlos Alcaraz was injured and couldn’t play. But physical conditioning is a fundamental part of this sport.”