Shanghai - 16/10
Good morning and welcome back to TIE-Breakfast: all the tennis you need with breakfast.
Ace Cream's daily newsletter during Masters 1000s and Grand Slams, brought forward to 6:00 every morning for this tournament.
Today is Friday, October 16, and in Shanghai it is 12:00 and 25 degrees. Ok, here we go.
Today at Breakfast
- 🇩🇪 Zverev beats de Minaur in straight sets and is back in a Shanghai semifinal
- 🇪🇸 Gea retires at 4-1, Davidovich Fokina into the semifinals
- 🇪🇸 Today Jodar against Ruud
- 🇷🇺 Then Medvedev against Paul
WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:
🇩🇪 Zverev beats de Minaur in straight sets and is back in a Shanghai semifinal
Alexander Zverev beat Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4 in under an hour and twenty minutes. He landed 80% of his first serves, finished with 10 aces and saved two break points at 3-2 in the second set. It is his first Shanghai semifinal since 2019.
After two matches that went to a third set and the ankle problems seen against Bublik, two clean sets are probably the answer he was looking for before Saturday. De Minaur had beaten him at the Laver Cup at the end of September, but Zverev leads their ATP head-to-head 9-4.
🇪🇸 Gea retires at 4-1, Davidovich Fokina into the semifinals
Arthur Gea retired trailing 1-4 in the first set of his quarterfinal against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, after a medical timeout. The Frenchman had already felt the psoas problem in the warm-up: "It was too painful to play at my best and have a chance to win. And with the end of the season coming, it was too dangerous to push".
For Davidovich Fokina it is a fourth Masters 1000 semifinal and the first by a Spaniard in Shanghai since 2017, the year of Rafael Nadal. In the summer a back problem made him miss Cincinnati and the US Open, and on his return he won straight away in Chengdu. After two third-set tiebreaks against Tiafoe and Hurkacz, a quarterfinal that lasted only a few games leaves him energy that could come in handy on Saturday, against a Zverev who has beaten him six times in seven meetings.
WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY:
- Jodar vs Ruud - Not before 8:30 Italian time on the Stadium. In Shanghai Rafael Jodar has lost the first set in each of his last three matches and won them all; Casper Ruud played just seven games against Auger-Aliassime and comes in much more rested.
- Medvedev vs Paul - Not before 12:00 Italian time. Daniil Medvedev, champion here in 2019, beat Tsitsipas in the round of 16; Tommy Paul comes off wins over Vacherot and Bergs. The winner will face the winner of Jodar-Ruud in the semifinals.
Read More
- ATP Shanghai: Gea retires after 5 games, Davidovich Fokina into the semifinals
- Zverev into the semifinals at ATP Shanghai 2026: De Minaur beaten 6-4, 6-4
- ATP Shanghai, Zverev doesn't slip up this time: he is in the semifinals
- ATP Shanghai: unstoppable Zverev dispatches De Minaur in just over an hour
- What time and where to watch Jódar against Ruud in Shanghai
Enjoy your breakfast and have a great day.
See you tomorrow at 06:00 with TIE-Breakfast.
