Davidovich Fokina Beats Zverev to Reach Shanghai Final
The Spaniard, ranked 26th, beat the top seed in three sets
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain beat Alexander Zverev of Germany, the top seed, 5–7, 6–4, 6–3 in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters. He won on his third match point after 2 hours 2 minutes.
Zverev had won six of their seven previous matches. Davidovich Fokina, 27 and ranked 26th, had won one of his 11 matches against players ranked in the top three before this one. He has now won nine straight matches in China, including the title in Chengdu three weeks ago.
It is his second Masters final, after Monte Carlo in 2022, and he is the fourth-lowest-ranked player to reach the Shanghai final. The ATP projects him to rise to at least 15th when the rankings are next updated.
Zverev, ranked second, has already secured the No. 1 ranking for the end of the year. A win would have guaranteed him the weekly No. 1 ranking next month.
In the final, Davidovich Fokina plays the winner of the other semifinal, between Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Rafael Jodar of Spain.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain beat Alexander Zverev of Germany, the top seed, 5–7, 6–4, 6–3 in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters. He won on his third match point after 2 hours 2 minutes.
Zverev broke once to take the first set. Davidovich Fokina broke once in the second set to level the match and again early in the third. Leading 5–2, he missed two match points on Zverev's serve, then served out the match.
Zverev hit 18 aces to Davidovich Fokina's five. Davidovich Fokina made 82 percent of his first serves and won 85 percent of the points behind them. He lost his serve once in 16 service games and converted two of six break points. Zverev converted one of three.
"It doesn't matter the result, I am just thinking about every ball," Davidovich Fokina said in his on-court interview. "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. Then in the third set, I think I was better physically. The early break in the third set gave me a lot of power."
Zverev had won six of their seven previous matches, including both meetings last year, in Madrid and Paris. Davidovich Fokina, 27 and ranked 26th, had won one of his 11 matches against players ranked in the top three before this one. It was his sixth win over a top-five player and his first this season.
He has now won nine straight matches in China, including the title in Chengdu three weeks ago, his second title this year after Mallorca. In Shanghai he beat Frances Tiafoe, saving a match point, and Hubert Hurkacz, the 2023 champion, both in third-set tiebreaks. He missed the summer hard-court events in North America with an injury.
"At the end, it is not easy when you are out, you have a lot of time to think," he said. "We are very privileged to be here and play this sport. This time gave me a lot of thinking time to think what I want to do with my future."
It is his second Masters final, after Monte Carlo in 2022, where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas. He is the fourth-lowest-ranked player to reach the Shanghai final, after Valentin Vacherot, ranked 204th, and Arthur Rinderknech, 54th, last year and Gilles Simon, 29th, in 2014. The ATP projects him to rise to at least 15th when the rankings are next updated.
Zverev, 29, won the French Open and the US Open this year. He is ranked second, leads the men's tour this season with 62 match wins and has already secured the No. 1 ranking for the end of the year. A win would have guaranteed him the weekly No. 1 ranking next month, whatever his result in Vienna.
In the final, Davidovich Fokina plays the winner of the other semifinal, between Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Rafael Jodar of Spain. It is the first meeting between Medvedev and Jodar. Medvedev, the 2019 champion, beat Tommy Paul of the United States 6–3, 1–6, 6–3 in the quarterfinals. Jodar, 20, is the youngest semifinalist in the event's history.
If Medvedev wins, Ben Shelton of the United States qualifies for the ATP Finals. If Jodar wins, it will be the first all-Spanish Masters final since Rafael Nadal beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas in Monte Carlo in 2017.