Alexander Zverev beats de Minaur, sets up Shanghai semi vs Davidovich Fokina

Why Alexander Zverev is trending

Alexander Zverev is trending because he just played his best match of the week. He beat Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4 in the Shanghai Masters quarterfinals, a result that books him a semifinal spot against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. That semifinal has not been played yet. It is set for Saturday at 10:30 CET.

Here is what we know. Zverev's first three matches in Shanghai were shaky, two of them going the full distance. The win over de Minaur was different, controlled from start to finish, and it counted as a genuine result since de Minaur is a top-10 player. It was only Zverev's third win over a top-10 opponent in 11 tries this year, a stat that has drawn some criticism of him despite an otherwise solid season. What we don't know yet is whether that form carries into Saturday. Davidovich Fokina is playing some of the best tennis of his career right now, so this is not a formality.

The case for Zverev at the Masters level

Zverev has always played well at Masters events, even in years when the Grand Slams gave him trouble. He has seven Masters titles, and among active players only Novak Djokovic has reached more Masters semifinals than he has. Still, he hasn't won one of these since Paris in 2024, which counts as a drought by his own standard. With Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner both out of the Shanghai draw, this is as open a path to a title as he is likely to get.

Davidovich Fokina's story this season is the opposite of a drought. He had never won a tour-level final before this year and has now won two titles in the last four months. He is also closing out tight matches, including deciding-set tiebreaks, which used to be a weak spot for him. His route to this semifinal came with a break: in the quarterfinals, Arthur Gea retired hurt while trailing 4-1 in the first set, handing Davidovich Fokina the match and some badly needed rest after back-to-back three-set wins. The run already guarantees he moves back into the top 20 next week.

The rest of the bracket, and what happens next

The other semifinal pairs Daniil Medvedev against Rafael Jodar, who also fought his way into the final four and reportedly apologized for lashing out at a ball boy during the tournament. If Jodar and Davidovich Fokina had both reached the final, it would have been an all-Spanish title match. Zverev and Medvedev stand in the way of that, and a Zverev-Medvedev final is the matchup a lot of people expected out of this draw before it started.

None of that is decided. Saturday's two semifinals set the final, and Zverev's side of the draw is the tougher test on paper given the head-to-head history and Davidovich Fokina's recent form. We'll know more once the match is actually played.

Facts per Flashscore.com. Opinion is the taproom's.