Bergs Stuns Alcaraz For Biggest Career Win At Shanghai Masters

Zizou Bergs
Zizou Bergs (photo: Rolex Shanghai Masters)

SHANGHAI/WASHINGTON, October 12, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Shortly after Zizou Bergs achieved the biggest win of his professional career on the ATP Tour, defeating World No. 3 and second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, 7-5, 7-6 (4), Monday evening to advance to the round of 16 at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, he took a moment to gather his thoughts and let sink in what had just happened.

Not only had Bergs become the lowest-ranked player to defeat Alcaraz since fellow Belgian, former-No. 55 David Goffin last year at the Miami Open, to reach his third ATP Masters 1000 round of 16, it was only the third Top-10 victory of his career.

However, Bergs’s 23rd victory of the season is one for him to remember. The 27-year-old native of Lommel, Belgium, fired his ninth ace on match point during a tense, second-set tie-break against the seven-time major champion Alcaraz and raised his arms in celebration as soon as it was game, set, match for the Belgian No. 2.

After toweling off in front of his bench, as the crowd that filled Stadium Court at Qi Zhong Tennis Center continued to shower the 39th-ranked Belgian with congratulations on a job well done, it was time for Bergs to sign the camera lens. He scribbled “What Just Happened???” with a bemused look on his face.

“This is something that has been very tough for me,” Bergs said during his on-court interview with ATP Media after stunning the former World No. 1 Alcaraz and ending the 23-year-old Spaniard’s seven-match winning streak.

“I often have too much respect for these guys, which is part of my culture and I’m proud of that. But it gets a little bit in the way when you have to play them. I had a great moment here last year against [Novak] Djokovic where I was definitely playing the name, not the guy.”

Bergs added: “The more experience you have by practicing against them and playing matches, the more it becomes the new standard a little bit. To have this moment, for me it is a little bit of a relief. I feel like now I really can win against these guys. Not just I can play against them, but I can win against them. It’s a matter of staying in the process and trying to be better all the time. That’s the only way to do it, step by step.”

 

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During a mixed zone interview, Alcaraz, who arrived in Shanghai after winning the ATP 500 Japan Open last week, expressed his disappointment in the outcome. “Today it wasn’t a good match for my side. I didn’t play good,” he said. “I would say it was a really bad level for me, and it was a really good level from him.

“I would say, even like that, I think it was a close match. I would say, in few important moments I didn’t play my best. I could say there were a few moments that he was lucky as well, that’s what I think.”

The significance of Alcaraz’s defeat reverberated throughout Shanghai and the rest of the ATP Tour. With Bergs’s vicory over Alcaraz, it ensured that Alexander Zverev will finish 2026 with ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honors. The current World No. 2, Zverev will become the first German to finish as year-end No. 1.

On Wednesday, Bergs will be back on Stadium Court to face No. 15 seed Tommy Paul of the United States, the only American remaining in the draw, who ended the title defense of No. 17 seed Valentin Vacherot of Monaco, 6-4, 6-2, in one hour and 24 minutes on Stadium Court Monday evening. The loss ended Vacherot’s 10-match Shanghai winning streak dating back to his championship run last year.

“It’s a little bit of disbelief and also not feeling too much,” said Bergs, who leveled his career head-to-head against Alcaraz at 1-1. “It’s one of the moments where you don’t really realize what is going on, you’re just really in the moment and being focused on the points you have to play. Now one minute after the match, it is tough to calm down a little bit, but I will be very happy.”

Indeed, it’s a night Bergs will never forget. 

Statement win for Tsitsipas over Fritz

In a mid-afternoon battle of former Rolex Shanghai Masters semifinalists, Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 11 seed Taylor Fritz battled for three sets stretched across nearly two-and-a-quarter hours on Stadium Court Monday.

At the conclusion of their third-round tussle, it was the 43rd-ranked Greek star who walked off the court smiling. He had achieved a statement win over the No. 2 American, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, in two hours and 13 minutes to advance to the fourth round. After equaling his best ATP Masters 1000 result of the season, Tsitsipas improved his career head-to-head against Fritz to 5-2. It was also his 401st career tour-level win.

“It is a statement. It’s a great win, against a player who has earned his stripes on the highest level of the ATP Tour for many years now,” Tsitsipas said during a mixed zone interview after improving his 2026 win-loss record to 34-21 following a 2025 season marked by injuries and inconsistent results. “He’s been there consistently playing the finals, and playing the biggest, going deep in the Masters 1000s and Grand Slam tournaments.

“So, for me it is an important win that I was able to capture that today. I knew there were a lot of difficulties that were presented to me, especially given the serve. It’s easy to lose your focus for a split second, and suddenly you are not in control of your serve, you are a break down.

“That was the thing today with Taylor. Like, we both had to be careful with our serves. And, you know, there might be a window, one or two points, where you can might be able to do something, and it happened towards the very end.

“I’m extremely happy that I was able to really insert myself mentally into those few points and break the serve in that moment.”

Against Fritz, Tsitsipas finished with 15 aces and hit 45 winners to 25 unforced errors. He won 80 percent (55 of 69) of his first-serve points, was broken just once and converted two of eight break points. Total points were even at 103. Fritz, a 2024 Shanghai semifinalist, countered with 23 winners and 49 winners, but it wasn’t enough against Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas, a 2019 Shanghai semifinalist, will face 2019 champion and current No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the next round. It will be their 16th career meeting in a series Medvedev leads 10-5.

Medvedev moved past 126th-ranked qualifier Dalibor Svrcina of Czechia, 6-2, 6-3, in one hour and 14 minutes, after hitting 28 winners and converting five of nine break-point opportunities to collect his 32nd hard-court victory of the season, most on the ATP Tour.

One of two champions remaining in the Shanghai draw, along with No. 34 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, Medvedev is through to the round of 16 in China’s most populous city for the fourth time in his career (2019, 2024-26) and his win over Svrcina improved his record against players ranked outside the Top 100 to 12-0 since losing to China’s Wu Yibing in last year’s Hangzhou quarterfinals.

Auger-Aliassime reaches Shanghai round of 16 for second time

No. 4 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada is through to the fourth round at Shanghai for the second time after his run to last year’s quarterfinals. For the second-straight match, the Canadian No. 1 was forced to go the distance to win.

Opening play on Stadium Court Monday, Auger-Aliassime came on strong in the final set to defeat 65th-ranked Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, in one hour and 59 minutes to improve to 13-1 against players ranked outside the Top 50 on hard courts this season. He’s also through to the fourth round of his fourth ATP Masters 1000 event of the season following Indian Wells, Monte-Carlo and Cincinnati.

Auger-Aliassime struck 37 winners and won 80 percent (39 of 49) of his first-serve points. He converted four of nine break points and outpointed Carreño Busta 85-65.

“A great day on serve. Great day overall, actually, returning well as well,” Auger-Aliassime said during a mixed zone interview after winning his 37th match of the season. “Broke him, what, four times in a match? Had chances in the second set as well to come back from a break down, even to break first the first game.

“So, overall, great tennis, great match. Yeah, a fun way to go through.”

Next, Auger-Aliassime will face No. 20 seed Casper Ruud of Norway, who advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory over No. 14 seed Learner Tien of the United States in one hour and 42 minutes on Grandstand 2. Ruud hit 34 winners – including 13 aces – and won 89 percent (42 of 47) of his first-serve points. He saved both break points he faced and outpointed Tien 80-72. Ruud improved to 6-6 against Top-20 competition this season.

“I expect a tough one,” Auger-Aliassime said of his match-up with Ruud. “He’s one of those guys, when he’s locked in, he barely misses, and can hit huge off the forehand, so it’s going to be a good matchup.”

Around the Rolex Shanghai Masters

• Rafael Jodar of Spain became the eighth player on the ATP Tour this season to reach the 40-victory plateau. On Monday afternoon, the 12th-seeded Jodar recorded his 40th victory in his debut season, rallying from behind to beat No. 22 seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, in two hours and 42 minutes on Grandstand 2. It was the second time Jodar has defeated Lehecka in his career.

The victory advanced the 20-year-old Spaniard into the fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the fifth time this season. He’s the youngest man since Novak Djokovic in 2007 to achieve this feat at five consecutive events he has competed in.

Jodar withstood 10 aces and 34 winners overall from Lehecka. He hit 24 winners of his own, saved five of six break points he faced and out pointed his opponent 108-105.

During his post-match interview, Jodar was asked what he was most proud of in achieving his milestone triumph, he replied, “Hanging in there. It was very difficult today with the conditions. Jiri played very good from start to finish, serving very well. I had to give my best to win this match today.”

Jodar (40-16) is currently 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and in first place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Next Gen.

Next, Jodar will face No. 41 Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, who pulled off a 7-5, 6-4 upset victory over World No. 11 and eighth seed Arthur Fils of France, in the fourth round on Wednesday.

Van de Zandschulp earned his third Top-20 victory of the season and reached his fourth career ATP Masters 1000 round of 16 by saving eight of nine break points he faced while outpointing Fils 71-73.

• In doubles, No. 1 seeds Christian Harrison of the United States and Neal Skupski of Great Britain and No. 3 seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz of Germany won their respective matches to advance to the quarterfinal round. They are the highest-remaining seeded teams left in the draw.

Monday’s Shanghai Masters results

Tuesday’s Shanghai Masters order of play

By the numbers

When Alexander Zverev won his 60th ATP Tour match of the season on Sunday, he further distanced himself from both Jannik Sinner and Frances Tiafoe, who are tied for second with 44. Daniil Medvedev follows with 43, Tommy Paul has 41, and Alex de Minaur and Ben Shelton are tied for fifth with 40.

“Quotable …”

“On a hard court, for me he’s one of the best servers in the world because he can hide his serve so well with his ball toss. He can do so many things with the serve.

“So, his serve and plus one is probably Top 5 in the world. So credit to him, he’s playing amazing tennis, and made it difficult for me again.”

– Top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, during a post-match mixed zone interview commenting about Quentin Halys of France, whom he defeated, 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3, on Sunday. Halys finished the match with 13 aces.

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