Shanghai - 18/10

Good morning and welcome back to TIE-Breakfast: all the tennis you need at breakfast.

Ace Cream's daily newsletter during Masters 1000s and Grand Slams, every morning at 8:30, and for this tournament moved up to 6:00 every morning.

Today is Sunday, October 18, and in Shanghai it is 12:00 and 24 degrees. Okay, let's go.

Today at Breakfast

• 🇪🇸 Jodar beats Medvedev in straight sets and becomes the youngest finalist in Shanghai history
• 🇪🇸 Davidovich Fokina comes back to beat Zverev and reaches nine straight wins in China
• 🇪🇸 At 10:30 Italian time, the all-Spanish final, the first at a hard-court Masters 1000
• 🇪🇸 Jodar and the Race to Turin

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

🇪🇸 Jodar Beats Medvedev In Straight Sets And Becomes The Youngest Finalist In Shanghai History

Rafael Jodar beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 and, at 20, is the youngest finalist in the tournament's history, in his first Masters 1000 final. He converted four of the seven break points he had. At 5-3 in the second set Medvedev saved three match points, then Jodar held serve at love.

In his four previous rounds in Shanghai Jodar had always lost the first set; yesterday he won it, with Medvedev forced to chase from the start. The Russian tried to change pace and spin in the second set, but could not find a way to push Jodar off his aggressive position.

🇪🇸 Davidovich Fokina Comes Back To Beat Zverev And Reaches Nine Straight Wins In China

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat top seed Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. It is his second win over the German in eight meetings, his ninth match won in a row in China, including the Chengdu title, and his second Masters 1000 final after Monte-Carlo 2022. Davidovich broke Zverev in the second set and again at the start of the third.

After the match Zverev said he had carried a bit of injury and fatigue through the tournament. Davidovich said he knew he had to stay in the match to get at least one chance. The whole week went more or less like that: against Tiafoe he saved a match point and won the third-set tie-break, and against Hurkacz he came back from 1-6 and again closed it out 7-6 in the third. He moves up the rankings on Monday, and it remains to be seen how much all those hours on court will cost him today.

WHAT'S ON TODAY:

• Jodar vs Davidovich Fokina, final - 10:30 Italian time, 16:30 in Shanghai. Jodar said he and Davidovich have trained together "a couple of times" and that practicing and playing a match "are two different things". It is the ninth Spanish derby in a Masters 1000 final, the first since Nadal and Ramos-Viñolas at Monte-Carlo 2017 and the first on hard courts. Shanghai will have its first Spanish champion after the lost finals of Nadal (2009 and 2017), Ferrer (2011) and Bautista Agut (2016), and for both men it would be a first title at a 1000.
• Jodar and the Race to Turin - Jodar is ninth in the Race, and with Sinner out for the rest of the season, that ninth place is worth an ATP Finals spot today.

Further Reading

• ATP Shanghai, Unstoppable Jodar: Crushes Medvedev and Grabs First 1000 Final
• Rafael Jodar Doesn't Tremble in Shanghai: Medvedev Tamed in Straight Sets, It Will Be an All-Spanish Final
• Masters 1000 Shanghai 2026: Zverev Runs Out of Steam, Davidovich Fokina in the Final
• Rafael Jodar: "There's still one match to play and I'll try to have the same mentality"
• Shanghai: Stunning Collapse for Zverev, Davidovich Fokina Goes Through to the Final
• Davidovich Fokina stuns top seed Zverev to reach Shanghai Masters final

Enjoy your breakfast and have a great day.

See you tomorrow at 6:00 with TIE-Breakfast