With the year-end World No. 1 ranking secured earlier this week, Alexander Zverev can swing freely and with a little less pressure as the Rolex Shanghai Masters quarter-finals begin Thursday.
And he’ll need a clear mind heading into battle against a player who has given him a lot of trouble in recent meetings: Alex de Minaur. The match kicks off the evening session at 6 p.m. local time.
The Australian has won three of their past four meetings on hard courts since the start of 2024, including last month, when he saved a match point to defeat Zverev at the Laver Cup for the second consecutive year.
“I was in a fair bit of strife and things were looking bleak,” said De Minaur, who was outgunned in the first set before edging a second-set tie-break and pulling out a remarkable 2-6, 7-6(5), 11-9 victory.
Zverev, 29, will not want to lose three in a row to the Australian, who will be looking for ways to get into a neutral position off Zverev’s thunderous serve and then use his legs to extend rallies.
De Minaur came into the tournament after retiring with a groin injury in the Beijing final against Novak Djokovic. But after getting an extra two days to recover when he received a walkover in his opening match, the World No. 9 appears to be back to near full fitness.
“It's been feeling better and better every single day,” De Minaur said of his groin after a convincing 6-3, 6-4 win over Karen Khachanov Tuesday. “It's been seven to eight days since that [Djokovic] match, and there's been a lot of focus on the recovery aspect of it. I've been doing everything in my power to feel better each and every day. Today was by far the best day.”
Looking ahead to his clash with the German, De Minaur said: “Well, Zverev, No. 1 player in the world. He has played incredible this whole year, immense amount of confidence, the most in-form player, for sure.”
Zverev will remain World No. 2 a little longer, even with a title in Shanghai, but he is certain to become the first German to finish a year-end World No. 1.
Zverev leads their career meetings 8-4, which includes a 6-1, 6-4 result in the Shanghai fourth round in 2018. He has won all three of their matches at ATP Masters 1000 level.
Arthur Gea vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (2.30 p.m.)
Fast-rising Frenchman Arthur Gea looks to extend his spectacular ATP Masters 1000 debut when he meets never-say-die Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for the first time.
Now sitting at No. 44 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, Gea, 21, has won 13 of his past 15 tour-level matches, a run that includes his maiden ATP Tour title in Los Cabos and a US Open fourth-round appearance.
Here in Shanghai he upset third seed and US Open finalist Ben Shelton in the third round and 13th seed and 2025 Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik in the fourth round.
“I'm enjoying how I'm playing,” Gea said. “I feel I'm improving all the time. I think it's a great way to continue like this.”
Davidovich Fokina is enjoying a remarkable tournament, taking out seventh seed Frances Tiafoe after saving one match point, and 2023 champion Hubert Hurkacz in back-to-back third-set tie-breaks to reach the quarter-finals.
By beating Hurkacz, he reached 30 wins in a season for the third time in the past four years and advanced to his sixth career ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.
Doubles Quarter-finals
US Open champions and top seed Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski will take a 3-1 head-to-head lead over Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner into their doubles quarter-final, which is the first match in Qi Zhong Stadium Thursday. The US-British duo beat the Germans en route to their recent title at Flushing Meadows.
In the last match of the night, Austrian duo Lucas Miedler and Neil Oberleitner take on Australian Marc Polmans and Poland's Jan Zielinski.
