Alexander Zverev reached the quarter-finals at the Rolex Shanghai Masters for the first time since 2019 on Tuesday, when he earned a battling 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(1) win against Alexander Bublik.
The German saved four set points in the first set, managed an ankle issue in the second set and then raised his level in a ruthless third-set tie-break to triumph after two hours and 41 minutes. The top seed, who is into the quarter-finals at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the 40th time, is chasing his eighth title at this level and first in Shanghai.
"My ankle was acting up, unfortunately," Zverev said. "It was kind of understandable because I have been playing a lot of tennis, which is kind of a good sign because I have been playing well. I am starting to feel my body more and more but I am happy to get through. It was a difficult match because he has been playing amazing tennis."
Zverev was competing for the first time since he clinched ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours for the first time on Monday. The German, who has won two majors in 2026, will become the 30th player to reach World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, with the earliest he can achieve the feat being 2 November. Current World No. 1 Jannik Sinner is out for the rest of 2026 due to a knee injury, while World No. 3 Alcaraz can not overtake Zverev this year.
After a serve-dominated first set, Bublik conjured up four set points but still fell behind. The first came on the Zverev serve at 5-6, but Bublik pulled out of a forehand and only found the bottom of the net. Then, from 6/3 in the tie-break, the 29-year-old played two loose drop shots and struck a forehand wide, before Zverev sealed the opener on his first set point with a volley.
Bublik responded in the second set, though, and became just the second player to break Zverev’s serve all tournament when the German powered a backhand wide. Bublik reduced his unforced error count from the baseline, committing eight in the set to level. Zverev seemingly struggled physically in the second set, holding his right ankle on several occasions.
However, Zverev refused to fade in the third set and rallied from a break down in the decider before he sealed victory with one of the 14 aces he hit in the match. The top seed has reduced his Lexus ATP Head2Head deficit with Bublik to 2-3.
Zverev will next play Alex de Minaur after the Australian produced one of his best performances of the year to down Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4.
De Minaur reached the final last week at the ATP 500 event in Beijing and has yet to drop a set in Shanghai. The 27-year-old is into his 10th Masters 1000 quarter-final and second of the season after reaching that stage in Monte-Carlo.
De Minaur is currently ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and in effectively the final Nitto ATP Finals qualification spot, with Sinner out of the prestigious year-end event due to a knee injury.
