Spanish player Alejandro Focina halted German Alexander Zverev's winning streak at the Shanghai Masters "1000-point" category tournament on Saturday in the Chinese tournament's semifinals, after inflicting a surprising defeat on him in two sets to one.
Focina, ranked 26th in the world, won the match, which lasted two hours and two minutes, with a score of (5-7, 6-4, 6-3), recording his second victory in head-to-head meetings against Zverev, and the first since 2023, compared to six defeats.
Zverev started the match better, winning the first set 7-5, taking advantage of breaking his opponent's serve at a crucial moment. However, the Spanish player (27 years old) returned strongly in the second set, managed to break his opponent's serve, and won it 6-4, forcing a deciding set to determine who advances to the final.
Continuing Chinese Success
In the third set, Focina continued his pressure, exploiting the decline in the German player's performance and his making influential errors, winning it 6-3, and turning his deficit into a victory that placed him on the brink of winning the Chinese tournament title.
Focina continued his outstanding results on Chinese courts, raising his winning streak to 9 consecutive matches, after winning his second title in Professional Tennis Association tournaments last month, following his victory in the Chengdu 250-point category tournament.
His Path to the Final
The Spanish player carved his way to the semifinals after notable victories, most notably defeating American Frances Tiafoe and Polish Hubert Hurkacz, to reach the final of a 1000-point Masters tournament for the second time in his career, after losing the Monte Carlo final in 2022.
Focina awaits the winner of the other semifinal match, which pits Russian Daniil Medvedev against his young Spanish rival Rafael Jodar.
Meanwhile, Zverev (29 years old) failed to reach the tournament final, delaying again his quest to win a new Masters title, after his last triumph in this category was at the Paris tournament in 2024.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Comments (0)