Top seed Alexander Zverev rolls into Shanghai semifinals

No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany will meet No. 25 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain in the Rolex Shanghai Masters semifinals.

Zverev rolled to a 6-4, 6-4 win in 78 minutes against No. 9 Alex de Minaur of Australia in Thursday's quarterfinals, while Davidovich Fokina was leading 4-1 when France's Arthur Gea retired due to an injury.

Zverev, who will finish the year ranked No. 1 in the world, improved to 62-14 this season as he reached the final four in Shanghai for the first time since 2019.

"I think it was a huge step up," Zverev 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."

Zverev struck 10 aces, saved all five break points he faced and compiled a 24-17 advantage in winners against de Minaur, who made only 11 unforced errors but could not keep up with his opponent's powerful groundstrokes.

The 29-year-old Zverev said he is playing more freely after breaking through to win his first two Grand Slam titles this year at the French Open and U.S. Open, along with his impending rise to No. 1.

"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 (Sinner) 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 semifinals."

Davidovich Fokina will be playing in his fourth career ATP Masters 1000 semifinal. His first career meeting with Gea ended after just 23 minutes.

"I feel sorry for him, but I'm happy to be in the next round," Davidovich Fokina said. "I've been on court a lot of time, and my body has to recover. I'm blessed that I have two days more to recover better my body."