Davidovich Fokina beats top seed Zverev 5-7 6-4 6-3 to reach Shanghai Masters final

Mixed · 2Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat top seed Alexander Zverev 5-7 6-4 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Shanghai Masters final. 1 2 Mixed · 2He will face either former world number one Daniil Medvedev or fellow Spaniard Rafael Jodar, who were playing the second semifinal; Medvedev is seeded fifth and Jodar, 20, is seeded 12th. 2 1 Right · 1The 25th seed hit 36 winners in a match lasting two hours and two minutes, and landed 82 percent of his first serves while repeatedly targeting Zverev's forehand side. 2

Mixed · 2It was only his second win over Zverev in eight meetings; the first came in the round of 32 at the Canadian Open in 2023. 1 2 Mixed · 2Davidovich Fokina won his first break of the match to take the second set, finishing a bruising baseline exchange with a backhand passing shot on the run, then broke for a 2-0 lead in the decider and kept control. 1 2 Right · 1It will be his second ATP Masters 1000 final, after finishing runner-up in Monte Carlo in 2022. He missed the North American hard-court swing in August through injury, won the ATP 250 title in Chengdu last month, and has now won nine straight matches in China. 2

Left · 1Davidovich Fokina said he knew one chance would come if he stayed in the match, that he was better physically in the third set, and that the early break gave him a lot of power. 1 Left · 1Zverev, 29, said he had carried some injury and fatigue into the tournament and had felt his ankle at times in Shanghai. He said a break was necessary and that he would monitor his fitness ahead of the Vienna tournament starting October 24. 1 Right · 1Zverev is a seven-time Masters 1000 champion whose best Shanghai result remains the 2019 final, which he lost to Medvedev. This season he ended his Grand Slam drought at the French Open, won a second major at the US Open, and secured the year-end world number one ranking after Jannik Sinner was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. 2