After 16 years on Tour, Belgian Steve Darcis is bringing his fruitful career to a close.

The 35-year-old confirmed he plans to retire after next year’s Australian Open. He shared the news during Saturday’s draw ceremony at the European Open in Antwerp, which will be his final tournament on home soil.

“I made a successful comeback in 2019, but after Wimbledon, I got problems again with my shoulder. Mentally and physically, I’m no longer at my best,” Darcis said. “Plenty of strong career moments will stay with me forever and I hope to end the year in a nice way. This also goes for my last tournament here in Antwerp.”

Darcis enjoyed a breakout year in 2017, reaching a career-high of No. 38 in the ATP Rankings, but was forced to miss the 2018 season due to an elbow injury. He returned this January and recorded his first ATP Tour semi-final in seven years at his first tournament back in Pune.

The Belgian has had several high-profile wins, but his biggest to date came against Rafael Nadal in the opening round at Wimbledon in 2013. At No. 135 in the ATP Rankings, Darcis was the lowest-ranked player at the time to defeat Nadal in a Grand Slam.

Darcis has received main draw singles and doubles wild cards this year in Antwerp. He’ll take on Frenchman Gilles Simon in the opening round and team with fellow Belgian Arnaud Bovy to face Maximo Gonzalez/Pablo Cuevas.

Monumental changes can happen in a year on the ATP Tour. Fifth seed Alexander Zverev was the highest-ranked player on Tour under age 24 just 12 months ago, but third seed Daniil Medvedev has assumed that role with his inspired tennis this season. The pair will add a new chapter to their budding rivalry when they meet on Sunday in the championship match of the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

“I did say before this year and during this year in the beginning that Sascha was the best in our [age] group. He won three [ATP] Masters [1000 titles] when none of us were even close to doing this,” Medvedev said. “The positions have changed a little bit, so I think I can contest him now.”

When it comes to FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalries, numbers can sometimes be deceiving. Zverev holds a flawless 4-0 record over Medvedev and will take extra confidence from all of their matches being contested on hard courts. But their most recent clash came last year in Toronto, when Medvedev was a qualifier sitting at No. 68 in the ATP Rankings.

Fourteen months later, Medvedev arrived in Shanghai as the more in-form player between the pair. He’s at a career-high standing of No. 4 in the ATP Rankings and has added five additional ATP Tour titles on his resume since their Toronto meeting, including his first ATP Masters 1000 crown in Cincinnati (d. Goffin) and maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open (l. to Nadal). He’s also through to his sixth consecutive tour-level final and is only the fifth active player to achieve the feat.

Most Tour-level Finals In 2019

“He’s different this year than he was the previous years. The last time we played was in Toronto last year. So still a while ago, and he’s been playing some unbelievable tennis,” Zverev said. “In the past few months, he’s probably the best player in the world, making it to six finals in a row, winning an [ATP] Masters [1000 title], making it to the US Open final. He’s definitely been playing the best tennis of his life.”

The 23-year-old Medvedev continues to add to his astounding season. He has more wins (58) and more appearances in finals (9) than anyone else on Tour this year. The Russian has prevailed in 28 of his past 31 matches and is currently on an eight-match winning streak, all of which have come in straight sets. Medvedev believes his progress this season will enable him to approach Sunday’s final against Zverev with a clean slate.

“I think the [record] doesn’t mean anything. It’s a new match, new situations,” Medvedev said. “This year, I had a lot of matches against opponents I don’t like. I remember one against Lucas Pouille. I was 4-0 down in the [FedEx ATP Head2Head] series and still won the match in Queen’s Club.”

Medvedev’s return game has been on point and will need to be equally impressive against Zverev. The third seed converted 10 of 21 break point chances this week, but Zverev’s serve is the toughest he’ll face in Shanghai. Merely blocking a return back will result in a prompt winner from the German.

Who will win the latest @FedEx ATP Head2Head match between these players?#RolexShMasters

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 12, 2019

Although Zverev is the first to admit that portions of his season haven’t met his lofty standards, he is back to his best tennis in Shanghai. The German scored his first Top 10 victory in a thrilling quarter-final over Roger Federer and put on a dominant display in his semi-final win over Matteo Berrettini,.

The fifth seed dropped just seven points on serve (40/47) against the Italian and didn’t face a break point. It’s a stark contrast to the serving woes he experienced during the North American hard-court swing, which included 20 double faults in his Cincinnati loss to #NextGenATP Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.

But Medvedev possesses a far different style of play to Zverev’s previous two opponents. Zverev beat Federer and Berrettini to the punch in battles of first-strike tennis, but will need to be more patient against Medvedev and accept that the Russian will retrieve many shots that would be winners against most players.

Sunday’s final will also be crucial for Zverev as he looks to qualify for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, held from 10-17 November at The O2 in London. Zverev, the defending champion, is currently seventh place in the ATP Race to London (2,855) and holds a healthy lead over eighth-placed Berrettini (2,525). He’ll pick up an additional 400 points with a win over Medvedev.

ATP Race To London (after Shanghai semi-finals)

The doubles final will feature second seeds and defending champions Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo against eighth seeds Mate Pavic/Bruno Soares. Kubot/Melo defeated Soares/Jamie Murray in last year’s final.

Read More: Kubot/Melo Reach Third Straight Shanghai Final

The second seeds seek their second ATP Tour doubles title of the year after prevailing in August in Winston-Salem (d. Monroe/Sandgren). They’ve finished runner-up at three other events including Beijing (l. to Dodig/Polasek), Halle (l. to Klaasen/Venus) and Indian Wells (l. to Mektic/Zeballos). Kubot/Melo qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals on Friday with their quarter-final win over Ivan Dodig/Filip Polasek.

Pavic/Soares, who haven’t dropped a set this week, are looking for their first ATP Tour doubles title as a team. Pavic prevailed in Geneva (w/Marach), while Soares lifted titles in Sydney (w/J. Murray) and Stuttgart (w/Peers).

Three-time ATP Masters 1000 champion Alexander Zverev takes a 4-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead over Daniil Medvedev into Sunday’s Rolex Shanghai Masters final. But the German knows that the Russian, who is now ranked higher than him, is not the same player he was in those four matches.

“In the past few months, he’s probably the best player in the world, making it to six finals in a row, winning a Masters [1000], making it to the US Open final,” Zverev said. “So he’s definitely been playing the best tennis of his life.”

Zverev has won eight of his nine previous sets against Medvedev. But this year’s Cincinnati champion has now made six consecutive tour-level finals, becoming only the fifth active player to do so.

“He’s different this year than he was the previous years,” Zverev said. “Yeah, I’ve got what, 4-0? Whatever. But it was quite a while ago. Last time we played was in Toronto last year. So still a while ago, and he’s been playing some unbelievable tennis.”

The German has found some of his best tennis this week, too, reaching his first Masters 1000 final of the year and his sixth overall. He had not advanced past the quarter-finals at this level or at a Grand Slam this year.

But in the quarter-finals, he beat Roger Federer for his first Top 10 victory of 2019 and then followed that with a straight-sets triumph against Matteo Berrettini, a fellow contender in the ATP Race To London. Zverev believes he knows what has made the difference in Shanghai.

“My serve, obviously also the mental factor of coming back after you beat Roger and still being focussed and playing still good tennis,” Zverev said. “It was a much different match than against Roger. I mean, he’s obviously serving 230 [km/h] sometimes and not a lot of rallies. But when we got into the rallies I felt okay. I take a lot of positives from this into the final tomorrow.”

Zverev did not face a break point against Berrettini, the recent US Open semi-finalist. That was a marked improvement for the World No. 6, who was broken twice in each of his first three matches this week. And perhaps most importantly, he only struck one double fault, a far cry from the 17 he hit in his Flushing Meadows loss against Diego Schwartzman and the 20 he committed in a defeat to Miomir Kecmanovic in Cincinnati.

For Medvedev’s part, he knows the level of tennis Zverev is capable of, and he has held the 22-year-old in the highest regard.

“I did say before this year and during this year in the beginning that Sascha was the best in our, let’s say, Next Gen group. He won three Masters [1000 titles] when none of us were even close to doing this,” Medvedev said. “Positions has changed a little bit, so I think I can contest him right now.”

Zverev’s big week has also put him in a good position in the ATP Race To Milan. He has moved up from eighth place to seventh with his Shanghai efforts, and Zverev is 330 points ahead of eighth-placed Berrettini.

“It feels great, obviously. I felt like I’ve played some decent tennis this week and being in a Masters 1000 final here in Shanghai is also something very special for me,” Zverev said. “I’m looking forward to [the final] and hopefully I can play some good tennis tomorrow.”

Daniil Medvedev became just the fifth active player to reach six straight tour-level championship matches on Saturday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters with his straight-sets win against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

But following his match, the Russian was surprised to learn that he still has a ways to go to catch two of those men: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. While Andy Murray (7) and Rafael Nadal’s (9) personal-best finals streaks are not that far off, the Western & Southern Open champion will need to reach another 11 consecutive finals to match the record tallies of this year’s Wimbledon finalists.

“They have 17 in a row? Wow. That’s far ahead,” said Medvedev. “I do think it’s impossible, but there are two guys who have done it, which I actually didn’t know. It is just unbelievable. I don’t have any words to describe this.”

Medvedev’s achievements over the past three months have catapulted the Russian to a career-high No. 4 in the ATP Rankings. The 23-year-old has compiled a 28-3 record since returning to hard-court action at the Citi Open in July, with his only losses in that period coming in finals. Alongside trophies in Cincinnati and St. Petersburg, Medvedev finished as runner-up in Washington, D.C. (l. to Kyrgios), Montreal (l. to Nadal) and at the US Open (l. to Nadal).

“For myself, making six [finals] in a row — including three ATP Masters 1000’s and one Grand Slam — is something I could never dream of, to be honest,” said Medvedev. “But I want to keep the momentum going and hope I can make it to seven or eight. Let’s see about 17 later.”

Medvedev’s consistent results at the biggest events in recent months have made him one of the hottest players on the ATP Tour. If Medvedev were to claim his second Masters 1000 trophy on Sunday, he would overtake third-placed Roger Federer in the ATP Race To London.

“I have to say it’s a compliment [for people] to say [I will be the next big name after Novak, Rafa and Roger], and I’m happy about it because [it is] my results that make people talk in this way,” said Medvedev. “After, the most important is going to be continuing these results, this game that I’m showing, because the moment I drop, people forget good things quite fast. So I know that, and I want to work and improve every day.”

With a win in Sunday’s final, Medvedev would join Zverev as only the second non-Big Four member to win multiple Masters 1000 trophies in a single season since David Nalbandian in 2007. But first, he will need to overcome the German for the first time in five FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings.

However, the Russian has come a long way since facing Zverev most recently at last year’s Roger’s Cup. On that occasion, Medvedev was contesting only his second Masters 1000 third-round match while occupying the No. 68 position in the ATP Rankings.

Medvedev is aware that he will need to break new ground to get his hands on the Shanghai trophy, but that challenge is something the World No. 4 has become rather accustomed to in recent months.

Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev arrived at the Rolex Shanghai Masters in eighth place in the ATP Race To London, with little breathing room. But after already defeating Roger Federer on Friday in the quarter-finals, the German has put himself in strong position to qualify for the season finale for the third straight season.

Zverev beat fellow Race contender Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday evening to reach the Shanghai final for the first time. The 22-year-old now has 2,855 points in the Race, putting him 330 points ahead of eighth-placed Berrettini (2,525) and 370 points in front of ninth-placed Roberto Bautista Agut (2,485).

“It feels great, obviously. I felt like I’ve played some decent tennis this week and being in a Masters 1000 final here in Shanghai is also something very special for me,” said Zverev, who will face in-form Russian Daniil Medvedev for the title. “I’m looking forward to it and hopefully I can play some good tennis tomorrow.”

It is the 11-time ATP Tour champion’s first ATP Masters 1000 final of the season, having not advanced past the quarter-finals at this level this year. Zverev dismissed the first-time Masters 1000 semi-finalist, Berrettini, to take a 2-1 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

“Generally speaking against Matteo this year it’s been very, very difficult. I lost to him already once and he’s been playing some Top 10, Top 8 tennis this year,” Zverev said. “I wish him nothing but the best to qualify for London as well and we’ll see how it goes. But he’s been playing some decent tennis, so it was going to be difficult no matter what.”

Zverev put on a serving clinic in the early going, never allowing the big-hitting Italian to gain an aggressive posture in his return games. The fifth seed continued to put pressure on the 11th seed with his serve, staying on the front foot.

The three-time Masters 1000 titlist lost only two service points in the first set, benefitting from a forehand unforced error off Berrettini’s racquet to break for 3-1, and he never looked back, crushing an overhead to clinch the opener.

Berrettini played cleaner tennis to start the second set, not allowing Zverev to gain an early lead. The Italian was especially successful with his drop shot, but that shot was what haunted him in the set’s most crucial moment. After he recovered from 0/40 at 4-4, Berrettini faced another break point and used his drop shot, smartly following it to the net. But the 23-year-old was overly anxious to go after the ensuing forehand volley, swatting it long.

And Zverev did not let slip his opportunity, letting out a huge roar after serving out the match to clinch his 67-minute victory. The German struck 11 aces and did not face a break point. He takes a 4-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead into his showdown with Medvedev, although their most recent meeting came more than a year ago, in Toronto last year.

“We’ve played some fantastic matches, all going my way until now. I hope tomorrow that will not change. But he’s been playing some fantastic tennis, sixth final in a row, US Open finalist, won Cincinnati,” Zverev said. “He’s probably the best player in the world right now. I hope it’s just going to be a good match tomorrow.”

Did You Know?
All four semi-finalists in Shanghai were under the age of 24 for the first time at a Masters 1000 event since 1999 Hamburg.

After a series of surprises on Friday, one trend continued at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Saturday: Daniil Medvedev’s final streak.

The Russian advanced to his sixth straight tour-level final after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 7-5 in Shanghai, extending his FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against the Greek to 5-0. Medvedev saved four of five break points throughout the one-hour, 36-minute clash to reach an ATP Tour-leading ninth final of the season.

Most Tour-level Finals In 2019

Since arriving at the Citi Open in July, Medvedev has compiled a 28-3 record. The reigning Cincinnati and St. Petersburg titlist’s only losses during that period have occurred in championship matches. Medvedev also improves to 58-17 this year, which includes a Tour-leading 45 hard-court wins and 21 ATP Masters 1000 victories.

Medvedev will meet one of two Nitto ATP Finals contenders in the championship match, with Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini meeting in the second semi-final. The 23-year-old is yet to defeat Zverev in four FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters, but claimed victory in his only previous clash against Berrettini at last year’s BNP Paribas Open.

With the opening eight games dominated by serve, Tsitsipas created the first break opportunity at 4-4. The Greek dictated the first point of the game with a series of powerful forehands, but was unable to convert three consecutive break points. From 0/40, Medvedev served with power and precision to earn five straight points and a 5-4 lead.

The tie-break followed a similar trend, with the first 10 points won by the server. But Medvedev pounced at 5/5 to take the set. The Russian pushed Tsitsipas off balance with a deep second-serve return to gain a mini-break and captured the set as his opponent misfired on his backhand side.

Medvedev pounced early in the second set to increase his advantage, breaking in style to secure a 2-1 lead. The Western & Southern Open champion created his first break-point opportunity of the match with a crosscourt forehand passing shot on his return, before breaking serve with a pinpoint backhand passing shot after strong defensive play.

Serving for the match at 5-4, Medvedev committed four errors to concede his serve. But the US Open finalist quickly put the disappointment behind him, breaking Tsitsipas with a looping forehand return before booking his final spot with a commanding serve-volley combination.

Tsitsipas was bidding to reach his second final in as many weeks on the ATP Tour. The 21-year-old, who confirmed his debut appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals on Friday, advanced to the China Open final in Beijing last week (l. to Thiem).

Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo snapped Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin’s six-match win streak on Saturday, beating the Frenchmen 6-2, 6-4 to advance to their third straight championship match at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The Polish-Brazilian team won 85 per cent of their first-serve points (28/33) and did not face a break point during the 67-minute encounter against last week’s Tokyo titlists. Kubot and Melo are now one win away from becoming the first team to win back-to-back titles in this ATP Masters 1000 tournament’s history.

After falling to Henri Kontinen and John Peers in the 2017 championship match, the second seeds claimed their maiden Shanghai trophy as a team last year with a straight-sets victory against Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. Melo will try to claim his fourth Shanghai crown, having also lifted the trophy in 2013 (w/Dodig) and 2015 (w/Klaasen).

Kubot and Melo will face eighth seeds Mate Pavic and Soares for the title. Pavic and Soares overcame Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski 7-5, 6-4 in 85 minutes to reach their first final as a team.

Pavic and Soares began their partnership at the Fever-Tree Championships in June and have compiled an 11-7 record on the ATP Tour. The Croatian-Brazilian pairing is yet to drop a set in Shanghai this week.

This will be the first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting between the two teams. Melo and Soares won four ATP Tour doubles titles together from 2010-12.