In the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament being held in China, Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Australia’s Alex de Minaur advanced to the quarterfinals. They will face each other there.
In the men’s singles pre-quarterfinal round, top seed Zverev defeated Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, who was ranked 17th, in sets of 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 7-6 (7/1).
During this match, Zverev, who suffered discomfort in his ankle in the second set and lost that set, made a superb comeback in the third set and won. With this, Zverev has advanced to the quarterfinals at the Shanghai Masters for the first time in seven years. This is the 40th time Zverev has reached the quarterfinals in Masters tournaments.
World No. 9 De Minaur easily knocked out Russia’s Karen Khachanov, ranked 26th, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. He has reached the quarterfinals in Masters tournaments for the 10th time.
In the quarterfinal clash between Zverev and De Minaur, the two have met 12 times so far, with Zverev leading with 8 wins. Meanwhile, Czech Republic’s Jakub Menšík, ranked 13th, suffered a shocking defeat to France’s Arthur Cazaux in straight sets, 6-7 (4/7), 4-6.
Kostyuk, Mertens lose in the first round
At the Wuhan Open, a 1000-point WTA tournament being held in China, top players Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk and Belgium’s Elise Mertens were knocked out in the first round itself.
In the women’s singles, Kostyuk, who was ranked 8th in the seedings, was defeated by Greece’s Maria Sakkari in sets of 6-4, 2-6, 2-6. Romania’s Sorana Cîrstea, ranked 12th, lost to China’s Guo Hanyu 6-1, 6-7 (6/8), 5-7.
Ranked 14th, Mertens was beaten by Ukraine’s Daria Snigur 4-6, 5-7. Former Grand Slam champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Australia’s Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-1.
Russia’s Ludmila Samsonova beat Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, and Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva defeated Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez 6-7 (1/7), 6-3, 7-5.
In other matches, Russia’s Diana Shnaider, Poland’s Maja Chwalinska, and the Czech Republic’s Nikola Bartunkova also advanced to the second round.
