By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, October 17, 2026
Photo credit: Matthew Calvis
Alexander Zverev has already secured the season-ending world No. 1 ranking.
Today, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina made the top seed look second best.
A dynamic Davidovich Fokina toppled Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to his eighth career final at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
Elevating his level of play in each set, Davidovich Fokina won 20 of 23 points played on his serve in the final set to beat Zverev for the first time since the 2023 Toronto.
“Of course, I’m very happy how I performed today, how I come back from the first set,” Davidovich Fokina told the media in Shanghai. “So, I will have time tonight to realize all the match, and to see where I can improve for tomorrow and for the future.”
Afterward, Zverev said his heavy match load left him like a man running on empty tonight.
“I’m not a robot, I’m a human being (smiling), I get tired. It’s like this. After the US Open, I had one day off in total. I think I played a lot of tennis, which is very, very positive because that means I played well,” Zverev told the media in Shanghai. “I think even here I had tough matches. I personally feel like I was quite flat since the Bublik match, because I was losing energy.
“I played a phenomenal match against Alex de Minaur, but today I was flat. Even in the first set, even though I won the set, I was flatter, I was not reacting so well. I was returning quite badly. But I think, again, we’re all human beings, even the best players in the world.”
It is Davidovich Fokina’s ninth straight win on Chinese soil and propels the Chengdu champion into tomorrow’s Shanghai final. Davidovich Fokina will face either 2019 champion Daniil Medvedev or 20-year-old Spanish compatriot Rafael Jodar in the final.
World No. 26 Davidovich Fokina, who saved a match point fending off Frances Tiafoe in round three, is the fourth lowest-ranked finalist in tournament history. Mallorca and Chengdu champion Davidovich Fokina will play for his third title of the season tomorrow.
Tonight, Zverev broke for a 6-5 lead and ran off eight of the last 10 points of the opening set to take a one-set lead.
Whipping the wide serve on the deuce side and stretching the court, Davidovich Fokina protected serve with vigilance and broke Zverev for the first time in the last game of the second set to force a decider.
“I knew that he is serving there, but I still, I think the return is the most difficult shot when you’re a bit fatigued because the first thing that gets tired in tennis I think is your eyes,” Zverev said. “I knew that the serve was going there, I was with it on the racquet most of the time, but I was missing it, I was not
returning inside the court.
“So, again, credit to him, he played the way he was supposed to play. He played a pretty good match, I
thought.”
Early in the decider, Zverev missed a backhand long to face break point.
The reigning Roland Garros champion clanked his first double fault of the set into net gifting the break to the Spaniard after 100 minutes of play.
Davidovich Fokina stamped a love hold to back up the break for a 3-0 third-set lead.
A sharp Davidovich Fokina was not missing much at all as he sped through a third straight love hold stretching his lead to 5-2.
The top seed saved two match points holding for 3-5 and shifting pressure back on the Spaniard.
On his third match point, Davidovich Fokina induced the netted error to close in two hours, two minutes.
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