Alexander Zverev registered a comprehensive 6-4, 6-4 win against Alex de Minaur in the Rolex Shanghai Masters semifinal on Thursday. This is German’s third Shanghai semi-final, and his first since 2019. The lanky player, who has already secured ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours, was at his best with his serve and groundstrokes.
Zverev registered a 78-minute victory against the Australian inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena. The German was delighted with his performance as he brought his best to the court.
“I think it was a huge step up,” Zverev who could rise to World No. 1 for the first time as early as 2 November, said after his win. “I don’t know what the numbers were, but from playing the match and just being on the court I felt both of us were playing really well. I was, a lot of the time, outhitting Alex, which is difficult to do from the baseline because he is so fast and he loves this kind of court speed here. I felt good and I’m happy with the step up from the past couple of matches.”
After breaking de Minaur’s serve in the fifth game of the opening set, Zverev saved three break points to take a 4-2 lead.
Subsequently, the German broke the Australian serve in the seventh game of the second set. Zverev admitted that he has been handling pressure with guile in the ongoing season.
“I feel like I’ve been handling pressure quite okay this year,” he said. “In a way you play a bit more relaxed, but I don’t think about it that way. Once Jannik unfortunately announced he won’t play for the rest of the year, I’m 4,000 points ahead of everyone else, so I trust myself enough that I’m going to win [enough matches].
“So I wasn’t too worried about that, but I think every tournament that I’ve played this year, I had to find my range and rhythm in the first couple of matches. I feel like I did that well here and now I’m going into the semi-finals.”
Zverev will take on Davidovich Fokina for the final spot.
