Zverev outhits De Minaur to reach first Shanghai semi-final since 2019

Alexander Zverev is into the semi-finals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters for the first time since 2019. The world No. 1, who three days ago became the first German to secure the year-end top spot, beat Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday in 78 minutes and never faced a serious crisis in the process.

After two draining wins earlier in the week – including a three-set battle with Alexander Bublik in which his ankle was a talking point – this was the cleanest performance of Zverev's Shanghai campaign so far. He hit ten aces against a single double fault and won 35 of his 44 first-serve points, according to the ATP.

A step up against a tough opponent

De Minaur arrived in excellent form. The Australian had reached the final in Beijing the week before and had not dropped a set in Shanghai, including a convincing win over Karen Khachanov in the last 16. His best chance came in the sixth game of the opening set, when he earned two consecutive break points. Zverev saved both, broke in the decisive moments of each set and closed the match out without drama.

Zverev himself pointed to the improvement in his ball-striking. "I think it was a huge step up," he said, quoted by the ATP. "I was, a lot of the time, outhitting Alex, which is difficult to do from the baseline because he is so fast and he loves this kind of court speed here." Speaking to Sky Sports, he added: "I felt good and I'm happy with the step up from the last couple of matches."

Reports from Shanghai noted that the German showed no visible signs of the ankle problem that had troubled him earlier in the tournament – an encouraging sign with the indoor swing and the ATP Finals approaching.

Numbers behind another deep run

The win was Zverev's ninth in 13 meetings with De Minaur and lifts his 2026 record to 62-14 on the ATP's Win/Loss Index. Tennis Now counted it as his 11th semi-final of the season and the 89th tour-level semi-final of his career. It is also his third semi-final in Shanghai overall.

For De Minaur, the defeat ends a productive Asian swing that included the Beijing final. The Australian has now lost to Zverev in each of their two Shanghai meetings, having also gone down to him at this event in 2018.

Davidovich Fokina saves match point to stun Tiafoe in Shanghai thriller

Davidovich Fokina waits on Saturday

Zverev's opponent for a place in the final will be Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The Spaniard, seeded 25th, reached the last four earlier on Thursday when French debutant Arthur Géa retired with a psoas injury after 22 minutes, trailing 1-4 in the first set.

Davidovich Fokina has had to fight hard all week, saving a match point against Frances Tiafoe and two more against Hubert Hurkacz on his way through the draw. It is his fourth Masters 1000 semi-final. History, however, favours the German: Zverev leads their head-to-head 6-1, with Davidovich Fokina's only win coming at the 2023 Canadian Open in Toronto.

The semi-final is scheduled for Saturday. In the other half of the draw, the quarter-finals are still to be completed, including Daniil Medvedev against Tommy Paul.