Zverev survives ankle scare against Wu to stay on course in Shanghai

Alexander Zverev gave his camp a brief fright on Friday but kept his Shanghai campaign – and his push for the year-end No. 1 ranking – on track. The top seed beat Chinese wildcard Wu Yibing 6-4, 7-6(4) in his opening match at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, despite grabbing his left ankle late in the second set.

A dive, a fall and a nervy finish

The world No. 2 had controlled most of the contest against Wu, ranked 113th, after taking the first set 6-4. The trouble came in the second set. With the score at 5-5, Zverev dived for a ball near the baseline, went down and clutched his left ankle. Wu took the game to move 6-5 ahead, and for a few moments the home crowd sensed an opening.

After a short pause, Zverev was able to move with relative freedom again. He held serve to force a tie-break and then profited from a string of errors from the home favourite, sealing the win on his second match point when Wu sent a ball long.

The fall inevitably brought back memories of the 2022 Roland Garros semi-final against Rafael Nadal, when Zverev badly injured his ankle and was taken off court in a wheelchair. This time, there was no lasting drama – at least on the evidence of the closing games.

The race for year-end No. 1

The stakes in Shanghai are high for the German. With Jannik Sinner having ended his season early because of a knee problem, the Italian cannot defend the points from last year's titles in Vienna, Paris and the ATP Finals. That has opened the door for Zverev to finish a season at the top of the rankings for the first time.

According to beIN Sports, Zverev could clinch the year-end top spot by reaching the semi-finals in Shanghai, or if both Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton are eliminated early. Alcaraz, fresh from defending his title in Tokyo, opens his campaign on Saturday against Juan Manuel Cerúndolo.

Shelton did his part on Friday, celebrating his 24th birthday with a 6-3, 7-6(6) win over Daniel Altmaier. The third seed now faces France's Arthur Géa, who beat compatriot Ugo Humbert 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

Halys next, Rublev out

Zverev's next opponent is Quentin Halys. The Frenchman came through a dramatic match against Alexander Blockx, saving two match points in the second-set tie-break, which he won 11-9, before closing out a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory.

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

Elsewhere on Friday, the day's biggest shock outside the Novak Djokovic and Italian exits came from Japanese qualifier Rei Sakamoto. The world No. 137 beat 23rd seed Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4 and will now play Alex de Minaur, who advanced on a walkover after Alex Molcan withdrew.

Other seeds had smoother days. Frances Tiafoe beat Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 6-4, Jakub Menšík defeated Miomir Kecmanović 6-3, 6-3, and Brandon Nakashima got past Matteo Berrettini 7-6(4), 7-5. Alexander Bublik, Francisco Cerúndolo, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Karen Khachanov – who needed three tie-breaks to beat Arthur Fery – also moved into the third round.

For Zverev, the key question now is the ankle. If it holds up, a run to the last four in Shanghai could settle the year-end No. 1 race before the ATP Finals even begin. His third-round meeting with Halys is expected on Sunday.