2:03 p.m
delay
Tomás Martín Etcheverry and Zhizhen Zhang are currently still on the Stadium Court at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center. And the latter Chinese is now ensuring that the argument continues in a third sentence. Consequently, this means waiting time for us. It will probably be our turn around 2:45 p.m. CEST.
13:51
Zverev is almost in constant use
Zverev has been in strong form recently. The tournament victory in Chengdu meant his second title this year after the 500 in Hamburg and the 21st overall. The 26-year-old then took part in the top-class 500 in Beijing, where he had to bow to Daniil Medvedev in two sets on Tuesday despite a strong performance in the semi-finals. The tenth in the world rankings has positioned himself for the ATP Finals in November with his performances and is accepting an extremely tight program for this. Zverev is seventh in the Race to Turin. The currently weakest rival, Holger Rune, has already been eliminated in Shanghai. The top 8 of this ranking can play for the title of ATP champion as the best players of the season.
1:40 p.m
Top 50 players
For Safiullin, the match in Chengdu was his first final on the ATP tour, which temporarily pushed him to number 41 in the world rankings. The 26-year-old has never been higher. The Russian only won titles at Challenger level (four tournament wins) and at Future tournaments (19). The right-hander also won the junior Australian Open in 2015. The last Challenger success came in February in Koblenz. He also achieved his best Grand Slam result this season as a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon. The best Masters result for the current number 50 in the world is the third round in Madrid 2023.
13:29
Recently in the final in Chengdu
Both players are very familiar with each other and the memories of the final in Chengdu are still fresh. A week and a half ago there was a tough fight for the title at the 250 tournament, which Zverev won 6:7, 7:6 and 6:3 after being down one set. In the fifth duel between the two, this meant the fifth victory for the German, who, however, lost a set for the first time against Safiullin. The Hamburg native had previously prevailed more clearly at Roland Garros in 2021 and at three junior tournaments in 2013.
13:18
Welcome
Welcome to the Rolex Shanghai Masters! At the eighth and penultimate 1,000 tournament of the tennis season, Alexander Zverev is taking part in the action today after a bye. Roman Safiullin stands in his way as an opponent. The match is scheduled to start around 2:00 p.m. CEST.