Alexander Zverev confirmed his ankle was “acting up” at the Shanghai Masters, but he still managed to beat Alexander Bublik in a three-set battle to reach the quarter-finals.
Three-set victory over Bublik
The top seed had been seen shaking his leg out during his previous match against Quentin Halys, and the issue resurfaced on Tuesday evening as Zverev faced 19th seed Bublik. The German pulled out of his service motion multiple times, wincing in pain. He also seemed to drop his level in the second set, but recovered to win 7-6(6) 4-6 7-6(1) in two hours and 37 minutes.
Afterwards, Zverev addressed the physical concerns that arose. “Yeah my ankle was acting up unfortunately again which kind of is also understandable. I mean, I’ve played a lot of tennis which is always a good sign. That means I’ve been playing well,” he explained.
Year-end No. 1 confirmed
“But 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. Again, I think the most important thing was that I won today.”
In the last 24 hours, it’s been confirmed that Zverev will claim the year-end No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career, as Carlos Alcaraz lost early here, while Jannik Sinner has ended his 2026 season early. The 29-year-old hasn’t actually reached the top of the rankings yet, but that year-end No. 1 title is guaranteed mathematically.
