Davidovich Fokina beats top seed Zverev to reach Shanghai Masters final, reports say

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat top seed Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Shanghai Masters final, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters.

He will face either former world number one Daniil Medvedev or fellow Spaniard Rafael Jodar in the final on Sunday, the two outlets reported. When Al Jazeera published its report, fifth seed Medvedev was playing 12th seed Jodar, 20, in the second semifinal. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not include the result of that match.

How the match unfolded

According to Al Jazeera, the match lasted two hours and two minutes. Davidovich Fokina hit 36 winners and landed 82 percent of his first serves. He won the second set with his first break of the match. He then broke Zverev early in the third set to lead 2-0 and kept the lead from there.

Background

Al Jazeera reported that Davidovich Fokina is ranked 26th and was the 25th seed. It was his second win over Zverev in eight meetings. The first came in the round of 32 at the 2023 Canadian Open. This is his second ATP Masters 1000 final. He was runner-up in Monte Carlo in 2022. He missed the North American hard-court swing in August because of injury. He has now won nine consecutive matches in China, including his run to the ATP 250 title in Chengdu last month, his second tour-level title.

Zverev, 29, is a seven-time ATP Masters 1000 champion, according to Al Jazeera. His best Shanghai result remains his runner-up finish to Medvedev in 2019. This season he won the French Open and the US Open. He secured the year-end world number one ranking after Jannik Sinner was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, the outlet reported. Al Jazeera also reported that Zverev had felt his ankle at times during the tournament. The reports do not describe the nature or severity of that issue.

What each side says

"I knew that if I stayed there all match, I could get at least one chance and I took it there in the second set," Al Jazeera quoted Davidovich Fokina as saying. "Then in the third set, I think I was better physically. The early break in the third set gave me a lot of power." He also said: "I focused on just playing, not mattering about the result but enjoying."

"I think a break is quite necessary now," Zverev told reporters, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet also quoted him as saying: "I carried a little bit of injury, I carried fatigue into the tournament, and I'm OK to lose to a player like this today." He said he would monitor his fitness before a tournament in Vienna that begins on 24 October. The reports do not say whether he will play there.

About these reports

Al Jazeera and Reuters belong to the same cable group, and Al Jazeera's lead matches Reuters' summary word for word. They therefore count as a single origin. The reports do not include an official ATP or tournament statement verifying the score or statistics. They also do not give a start time for Sunday's final.

Analysis

If official records match the reports, the result extends Davidovich Fokina's run in China after an injury-affected summer. A win on Sunday would give him a first Masters 1000 title; a loss would repeat his Monte Carlo 2022 outcome. His opponent remains unknown in the reports reviewed. For Zverev, his own comments about injury and fatigue raise questions about his schedule. Al Jazeera reports he has already secured the year-end top ranking, which could give him more flexibility to rest. Whether he plays in Vienna appears to depend on the fitness checks he described, and the reports do not settle that question.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.