Alexander Zverev celebrated becoming the year-end No 1 with a 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 7-6 (7-1) victory over Alexander Bublik to reach the quarter-finals at the Shanghai Masters. Zverev, who won the French Open and US Open this year, never looked 100 per cent comfortable, and admitted his "ankle was acting up" following his win. The top seed will take on ninth seed Alex de Minaur next after the Australian produced one of his best performances of the year to beat Karen Khachanov in straight sets 6-3 6-4 to advance.
Zverev said: "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. I think the most important thing was that I won today." With current world No 1 Jannik Sinner out for the rest of 2026 due to a knee injury and Carlos Alcaraz unable to overtake Zverev this year, the German was competing for the first time since he clinched the year-end No 1 honours for the first time on Monday.
"It is very, very special. To finish the world No 1 is a different kind of feeling," said Zverev. "It's a different kind of responsibility on your shoulders.
I'm looking forward to that because I'm close to being 30 years old. It's a special feeling to achieve that." Former British No 1 Tim Henman was full of praise for Zverev at the Laver Cup in London last month. "You've got to earn the ranking points, and the way he's played this year has been absolutely phenomenal," he told the ATP Tour.
"He was a service game away from being in all four Slam finals. To have been working so hard and then not being able to win a Slam, and winning two this year and reaching the Wimbledon final, it's phenomenal. "Twelve months ago, he had a tough time.
He wasn't playing well, and he didn't play well in the Laver Cup. The transformation 12 months on is phenomenal." Henman added: "When you see the way he's been stepping up in the big matches, he hasn't always played his best, but he's found a way to win. Then you give yourself a chance to play better.
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