Zverev downs Shang, sets up meeting with the G.O.A.T

Alexander Zverev silenced the crowd for one home favorite on Saturday. Now he’ll face an even louder crowd for Beijing’s biggest fan favorite.

The tournament’s top seed cruised through home star Shang Juncheng in front of a subdued Diamond Court crowd. The German won 6-0, 6-3 in 55 minutes, securing a spot across the net from Novak Djokovic, who is yet to be proven mortal in Beijing.  

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Djokovic, a six-time China Open champion and 24-time Grand Slam winner, is 31-0 all-time in Beijing. And when it comes to fan support, no man in the draw compares.

“It’s definitely a court that he absolutely loves playing at,” Zverev said of Djokovic. “Still, I think in best-of-three sets he’s going to be one of the toughest challenges you can have in this sport. No question about it.” 

Djokovic leads the head-to-head against Zverev 9-5, winning their most recent matchup in the 2025 French Open quarterfinals.  

The 29-year-old Zverev is having the best year of his career, winning two slams and narrowing in on the No.1 world ranking. Zverev sits a little over 1,300 points behind Jannik Sinner, who currently holds the spot. Sinner announced that he will not play the Shanghai Masters, meaning that the German will snag the top spot if he’s able to win Beijing and Shanghai. 

“I think it’s no secret that it’s a goal for sure,” said Zverev about the No.1 ranking. “Right now, this second I’m thinking about Novak Djokovic.” 

Zverev got going quick against Shang, winning the first set 6-0 in just 22 minutes. The German had 86 percent of his serves unreturned in the first set, compared to only 6 percent from Shang. 

Shang requested a medical timeout following the first set.  

“Waking up today, I was feeling tight (in) the abs,” Shang said. “Slowly and gradually the pain got worse.” 

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Even if he wasn’t dealing with an injury, the southpaw had the odds stacked against him from the start. Zverev has an incredible record against left-handed players, winning a staggering 49 out of his last 50 matches against lefties.

Shang got broken early in the second, looking more physically compromised as the match went on. The crowd released a roar when Shang won the fourth game of the set, finally ending Zverev’s nine-game winning streak. Zverev lost some rhythm on return, but stayed dominant on serve, comfortably winning the final set.

By Ellis von Fintel