Semifinal place in Shanghai

Alexander Zverev reached the semifinals of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai on Thursday, 15 October, with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinal. The 29-year-old German had lost both earlier meetings with the Australian, and both of those defeats came at the Laver Cup. His next opponent is Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, ranked 26 in the ATP list, who had played only five games in his own quarterfinal before Arthur Gea, ranked 56, retired with a muscle injury while trailing 4-1 in the first set. It is Zverev's first Shanghai semifinal in seven years, and his third win this season over a top-10 player, set against eight defeats by such opponents. According to AFP, the tournament carries total prize money of $9,415,725.

The race for the top ranking

Zverev has cut his gap to Jannik Sinner to under 1,000 ranking points. Sinner will miss the rest of the season because of a right knee injury. Zverev's rise to world No. 1 has been official since Monday, 12 October, but the timing depends on results. If he reaches the final and then wins the ATP 500 event in Vienna, held from 26 October to 1 November, he would top the rankings from 2 November. Even without a Shanghai title he could overtake Sinner in Vienna. Zverev has won 62 matches on the ATP Tour this year, according to n-tv.

Ankle problems and a postponed show event

Zverev has had problems with his right ankle during the tournament. He visibly struggled with it in a tight match against Alexander Bublik, but he showed no physical problems against de Minaur, breaking early and holding his serve when three break points came against him. Afterwards he said he had played a lot of tennis this year and was feeling his body more often. The Six Kings Slam show event in Saudi Arabia, where Zverev was due to play alongside Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, has been postponed to the end of December because of deadly Houthi attacks in the region. That leaves him an unplanned break that his team appears to need.

The ball-tapping controversy

Zverev acknowledged that critics were right about his habit of bouncing the ball before serving, a habit that drew complaints from opponents, experts and fans at the US Open over the time he took between serves. He admitted the habit has been on his mind.

“I don't know why, but I tap the ball very often this year.”

Asked whether he bounces the ball the same number of times before every serve, he gave a short answer.

“No, I just serve when it feels right.”

Online articles claim Zverev bounced the ball about 12,000 times on serve at the US Open this year, adding more than two hours on court, although no verifiable figures exist. He said he now does it less often than in New York, where he felt it had gone somewhat too far.