By Adegboyega Adeleye Alexander Zverev celebrated securing the year-end world No. 1 ranking with a hard-fought victory over Alexander Bublik to reach the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday. According to Sky Sports, the German defeated Bublik 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 7-6 (7-1) in a fiercely contested encounter, despite struggling with an ankle problem during the match.
The victory marked Zverev’s 40th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final appearance and his first time reaching the last eight in Shanghai since 2019. The top seed had to dig deep against Bublik, saving four set points in the opening-set tie-break before taking it 8-6. The Kazakh responded by winning the second set 6-4, forcing a decider. Zverev, however, raised his level in the final tie-break, dominating 7-1 to seal victory after two hours and 41 minutes.
Despite progressing, the German admitted that his ankle was troubling him during the match, raising concerns about his fitness ahead of the quarter-finals. “My ankle was acting up, unfortunately,” Zverev said after the match, adding that he was beginning to feel the physical demands of his schedule. “I’m starting to feel my body more and more, but happy to be through because it was a difficult match.
He’s been playing amazing tennis this week. I think the most important thing was that I won today,” he added. Zverev will face Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals after the ninth seed produced an impressive performance to defeat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4 in straight sets.
De Minaur’s victory secured his place in the last eight, setting up a challenging encounter against Zverev, who will be looking to maintain his momentum despite his ankle concerns. Zverev secures year-end No. 1 ranking The Shanghai Masters victory was Zverev’s first match since he was confirmed as the year-end world No. 1 on