Alexander Zverev plans rest after Shanghai semi-final defeat, with Vienna undecided

Alexander Zverev said he would rest and assess whether to play in Vienna after losing his Shanghai Masters semi-final to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Shanghai on 17 October. The top seed won the first set but lost 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, leaving him to manage fatigue ahead of his next possible tournament.

‘I think a break is quite necessary now,’ Zverev said after the match. He said he would go home, avoid practice and take a couple of days off. With about 10 days before he might play in Vienna, he said he needed to see how his body responded before deciding whether to enter.

What Zverev said about his energy and ankle

The German said his ankle had been worse in Shanghai’s early rounds than during the semi-final, when he described it as okay. He also said he had carried some injury and fatigue into the tournament. He did not give a medical diagnosis.

How Davidovich Fokina reached the Shanghai final

Davidovich Fokina struck 36 winners in a match lasting two hours and two minutes. He took the second set with his first break of Zverev’s serve, finishing a long exchange with a running backhand passing shot, then broke early in the decider. The 25th seed landed 82% of his first serves and repeatedly exposed Zverev on the forehand side, according to the AFP and Reuters match report.

‘I knew that if I stayed there all match, I could get at least one chance,’ Davidovich Fokina said. He said he felt physically stronger in the third set and that the early break gave him momentum. It was his second victory over Zverev in eight meetings; the previous one came at the 2023 Canadian Open.

The Spaniard reached the second ATP Masters 1000 final of his career, following a runner-up finish in Monte Carlo in 2022. His Shanghai run extended his winning streak in China to nine matches after a Chengdu title the previous month. He will face Rafael Jodar in the final, BBC Sport reported.