World No.2 Alexander Zverev qualified on Thursday for the final four of the Shanghai Masters 1000, of which he will play the semi-finals on Saturday for the first time since 2019.
The 29-year-old German, assured of becoming world No. 1 for the first time in his career in the coming weeks, won 6-4, 6-4 against Australian Alex de Minaur (9th), recording his third victory of the year against a member of the top 10 (for eight defeats).
The next opponent for the winner of Roland-Garros and the US Open will be the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich (26th), who only had to play five games in the quarter-finals before his French opponent Arthur Gea (56th) gave up on Thursday, victim of a muscle injury.
Thanks to his victory against de Minaur, Zverev reduced the gap to less than 1,000 points that separates him from world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who is out until the end of the season due to a right knee injury.
If a first title in Shanghai would not be enough for the German to establish himself on the world throne, he could supplant the Italian at the ATP 500 in Vienna (October 26-November 1).
The last two quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters 1000, scheduled for Friday, will pit the Norwegian Casper Ruud (24th) against the Spaniard Rafael Jodar (13th), then the American Tommy Paul (18th) against the Russian Daniil Medvedev (6th).
