Davidovich Fokina Making Most Of His Shanghai Opportunities, Through To Last Four Against Zverev

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (photo: Rolex Shanghai Masters)

SHANGHAI/WASHINGTON, October 15, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is in the midst of an eight-match winning streak in China, after winning his second ATP Tour title of the season three weeks ago in Chengdu and now reaching the semifinal round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters, the second-to-last ATP Masters 1000 event of what has been a long and grueling season for both the Spaniard and his opponents, too.

On Thursday afternoon, Davidovich Fokina reached the last four at Qi Zhong Tennis Center after his opponent, No. 56 Arthur Gea of France, was forced to retire in the opening set due to an injury. The 27-year-old Spaniard led 4-1 and was ahead on total points 22-8 when Gea pulled the plug on their quarterfinal match after just 22 minutes.

Earlier this week, Davidovich Fokina was pushed to the brink in earning back-to-back wins in deciding tie-breaks over World No. 10 Frances Tiafoe in the third round, saving one match point along the way during their two-hour, 47-minute tussle, and against 2023 Shanghai champion Hubert Hurkacz in the fourth round.

Now, Davidovich Fokina is through to his fourth semifinal of the season after ATP 250 events in Adelaide, Mallorca and Chengdu. It’s his first semifinal above the ATP 250 level since Basel last year.

“I feel sorry for Arthur,” Davidovich Fokina said during his mixed zone interview after improving his 2026 win-loss record to 31-16. “I was playing well, I wanted to play a good match against him, to see what where I am.

“And yeah, of course it’s pleasing, no, to have this kind of match here, because I had two matches that were very tough ones. So, yeah, I’m very happy to be in another semifinal, to enjoy this moment, and for everyone around my team. Now I’m going to take my day off today to enjoy myself.”

According to the ATP Tour website, Gea’s in jury was to his psoas muscle, which he said occurred earlier in the day in Shanghai.

“I tried from the beginning but it was not enough to play full,” Gea said, quoted by the ATP Tour website. “It would have been too dangerous for the end of the season, so I couldn’t continue. Of course, I’m really sad but it’s the best choice I could do.”

 

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Recently, Davidovich Fokina completed his return to the ATP Tour following an injury respite by winning his second title of the season at the Chengdu Open, where he defeated Hurkacz, 6-4, 7-6 (7). The 27-year-old Spaniard had been idle since Umag in July due to a back injury. However, he’s returned to form during the Asian Swing and added another ATP 250 title to go along with one he won in Mallorca in June.

It has marked quite a remarkable turnaround for Davidovich Fokina, who lost his first five ATP Tour finals, including at Washington, D.C., last year, when he squandered three championship points against Alex de Minaur and was left in tears.

Now, Davidovich Fokina seems to be enjoying his time on the tennis court, win or lose – and, lately, it’s been mostly winning. Garnering titles in Mallorca and Chengdu have changed his mental mindset and his body seems to be mostly holding up after a two-month time out earlier this season, which forced him to miss the entire North American Swing, including the US Open. 

“I had a lot of time, no, when I was back at home, two months. So, I was thinking about to how to improve myself on the match court,”Davidovich Fokina said. “I was thinking a lot about it with my wife and with my team, to see if I have 10 more years in my career, what I want to show to myself and what I want to show to the other ones.

“So, yeah, it was not easy decision, but now I want to express myself, how I want to play, who I want to show to the world who I am.”

When Davidovich Fokina was asked if having extra time off due being on court for such a short time against Gea might affect his rhythm, he smiled at the question. Then, he responded: “I’m good enough about tennis.

“So, yeah, I don’t need any more rhythm. My body needs to recover. I’ve been out a lot of time, and these kinds of matches at the end, my body has to recover better, because I was not liking the rhythm to these kinds of matches. So, now I’m blessed that I have two days more to recover better my body.”

Looking ahead, on Saturday, Davidovich Fokina will face World No. 2 and top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, who advanced to the semifinal round with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 9 seed de Minuar of Australia in an hour and 17 minutes. 

Following his successful run in Chengdu, and after handling the pressure of beating Tiafoe and Hurkacz in deciding-set tie-breaks earlier this week, playing against Zverev is a challenge that Davidovich Fokina seems ready to handle.

“So, I know how to handle, how to be calm,” he said, looking back at his time off the ATP Tour earlier this year while recovering from injury. “To be with my wife at home at the end was not that bad, because we don’t spend a lot of time at home. To spend two months at home was very good, no, with my wife, with the dog, with the team, so it was not that bad – but, of course, I wanted to play.”

Zverev through to third Shanghai semifinal

Top seed Alexander Zverev needed just 77 minutes to reach his third Rolex Shanghai Masters semifinal – and first one since 2019 – after defeating World No. 9 Alex de Minaur for the ninth time in 13 career meetings, 6-4, 6-4.

The World No. 2 from Germany parlayed a service break in each set and saved all five break points he faced from the Sydneysider to gain his ATP Tour-leading 62nd victory of the season in his 76th match.

The 29-year-old Zverev, who has already clinched the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF, leads the ATP Tour in match wins and he’s now tied with Jannik Sinner for most ATP Masters 1000 semifinals this season (five). He improved his win-loss record in quarterfinals this season to 11-1 after striking 24 winners, including 10 winners. Zverev outpointed de Minaur 58-46.

“I think it was a huge step up,” Zverev said during his on-court interview. “I don’t know what the numbers were, but from playing the match and just being on the court I felt both of us were playing really well. I was, a lot of the time, outhitting Alex, which is difficult to do from the baseline because he is so fast and he loves this kind of court speed here. I felt good and I’m happy with the step up from the past couple of matches.”

De Minaur, for one, was impressed by Zverev’s performance. “I thought Sascha served and played at an incredibly high level. I had two bad service games that were the real difference,” he said during a mixed zone interview, referring to Zverev’s breaks of de Minaur’s serve in the fifth game of the first set and the seventh game of the second set, which proved to be a difference maker.

“The way Sascha was serving today it was pretty hard to get a look and, yeah, all in all, I thought he went after it and played pretty big tennis.”

Meanwhile, the loss ended de Minaur’s 9-1 run since the end of US Open, including a win over Zverev in Laver Cup and a run to Beijing final. The 27-year-old Australian was denied in his attempt at a fifth semifinal berth this season.

Later, during his mixed zone interview, Zverev said he looks forward to the challenge of facing Davidovich Fokina in Saturday’s semifinal round. 

“Yeah, I feel like he’s playing really well, especially here in Asia right now. He’s playing unbelievably well,” said Zverev, who will take 6-1 head-to-head advantage into their match. “He won a tournament, as well as now he’s in the semifinals. So, yeah, I’m expecting a very high-level match from him, and hopefully from me as well, and I’m looking forward to the tough challenge ahead.”

Around the Rolex Shanghai Masters

In doubles, No. 1 seeds Christian Harrison of the United States and Neal Skupski of Great Britain were upset by unseeded German duo Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in an afternoon quarterfinal.

The victory advanced Schnaitter and Wallner, who have been a team since 2024, to their first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal. They saved all four break points they faced against Harrison and Skupski during the one-hour, 24-minute match on Stadium Court.

“I think today we were very focused and brave on the important points,” Schnaitter said, quoted by the ATP Tour website. “We managed to get the break points in the second set, and also on every break point that they had, we stayed tough and managed to play big, and I think that was the key today.”

The German’s win avenged earlier hard-court losses to Harrison and Skupski at the Australian Open and US Open and improved their 2026 win-loss record to 35-28. 

Then, in the evening session, in a match-up of unseeded teams, Lucas Miedler and Neil Oberleitner of Austria defeated Marc Polmans of Australia and Jan Zielinski of Poland, 7-6 (5), 6-4, in one hour and 18 minutes to set up a Saturday semifinal against Schnaitter and Wallner. Miedler and Oberleitner combined to hit nine aces and converted two of seven break points. They outpointed Polmans and Zielinski 69-60.

Thursday’s Shanghai Masters results 

Friday’s Shanghai Masters order of play

By the numbers

With his win over World No. 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada by injury retirement on Wednesday afternoon, No. 20 seed Casper Ruud of Norway completed the set of all nine ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinals. 

According to the ATP Tour website, the 27-year-old Norwegian is the 13th active player to achieve that feat. He joins: Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov, Daniil Medvedev, Hubert Hurkacz, Andrey Rublev, Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Jannik Sinner and Auger-Aliassime.

“Quotable …”

“Look, it’s all about results. If I played strong in Canada, quarters of, and continued my results here, and didn’t lose 200 points somewhere last week, I would probably be officially qualified.

“So, it’s just about results. If you lose first round, maybe you are not in Turin. If you make quarters every Masters of the year, you probably are in Turin. So just trying my best, and if I’m there, perfect. If not, Maldives is good as well.”

– World No. 6 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who is in the chase to secure a berth in the Nitto ATP Finals at Turin next month.

 

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