Davidovich Fokina Stuns Top Seed Zverev to Reach Shanghai Masters Final

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina produced a major upset by defeating top seed Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final of the Shanghai Masters. He will face the winner of the other semifinal between former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev and fellow Spaniard Rafael Jodar.

The No. 25 seed struck 36 winners in a match lasting 2 hours 2 minutes on Saturday. It was only his second win over Zverev in eight meetings, the previous one coming in the round of 32 at the 2023 Canadian Open.

Davidovich Fokina secured the first break of the match to take the second set, forcing a decider with a stunning running backhand down the line that ended a heavy baseline exchange and brought the crowd to its feet.

Carrying that momentum into the third set, he broke Zverev's serve to lead 2-0 and never let his opponent back into the match. The win sends him to his second career ATP Masters 1000 final, having finished runner-up at Monte Carlo in 2022.

Landing 82% of his first serves and repeatedly targeting Zverev's backhand weakness, Davidovich Fokina claimed one of the biggest wins of his career.

"I knew that if I stayed patient throughout the match, I would get at least one chance, and I took it in the second set," Davidovich Fokina said afterwards.

"In the third set, I think I was physically stronger. The early break in the third set gave me a lot of strength. I just focused on playing the ball, not thinking about the result, and enjoyed the match."

Zverev, 29, admitted fitness had been an issue. "I think a break is really necessary right now," he told reporters, saying he would monitor his condition ahead of the Vienna tournament, which begins on October 24.

"I came in carrying a bit of an injury, I arrived at the tournament fatigued, and I'm okay with losing to a player like that today," Zverev said, adding that he had felt pain in his ankle at times during the week in Shanghai.

Davidovich Fokina, who missed the North American hard-court swing in August through injury, now has a nine-match winning streak in China after claiming his second career title at the ATP 250 in Chengdu last month.

For Zverev, it is a disappointing end in Shanghai, where his best result remains his 2019 runner-up finish after losing to Medvedev. Even so, the 29-year-old has had a notable season: he ended his Grand Slam drought with the French Open title, followed it with the US Open crown and secured the year-end world No. 1 ranking after Jannik Sinner was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

In the other semifinal, No. 5 seed Medvedev of Russia faces No. 12 seed Jodar, a 20-year-old Spaniard.