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.

Russian players have dominated the VTB Kremlin Cup, and Daniil Medvedev, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev will look to carry on that tradition in 2019.

Since the inaugural tournament, Russians have won the Moscow title 15 times. Yevgeny Kafelnikov claimed a record five straight titles between 1997-2001, and three-time champion Nikolay Davydenko started another run of Russian dominance from 2004-09, which also featured winners Igor Andreev, Igor Kunitsyn and Mikhail Youzhny. 

Khachanov ended a nine-year title drought for the home country last year. “[Winning in Russia] was one of the dreams I had when I was a kid,” he said at the time. “Coming here [as a kid] I was asking top Russian players for autographs and dreaming one day to become a champion here. Today is the day and I am really happy. These are memories I will always keep in my head.”

Medvedev fell to Khachanov in the semi-finals last year and in the quarter-finals on his previous two main draw appearances. The World No. 4 celebrated his first title on home soil in September at the St. Petersburg Open, and is set to be the top seed in Moscow. Moscow native Rublev, who upset Roger Federer in August in Cincinnati, will be looking to record his first win in his hometown.

Here’s all you need to know about the Moscow tennis tournament: what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won and more. 

Established: 1990

Tournament Dates: 14-20 October 2019

Tournament Director: Amir Tarpischev

Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 12 October

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Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: Saturday at 10:00am, Sunday at 12:00pm.
* Main draw: Monday – Thursday at 11:00am and 6:30pm, Friday 12:00pm and 6:30pm, Saturday not before 3:00pm
* Doubles final: Saturday, 19 October not before 3:00pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 20 October not before 5:00pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
TV Schedule

Venue: Ice Palace «Krylatskoye»
Surface: Indoor Hard

Prize Money: US $840,130 (Total Financial Commitment: US $922,520)  

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Yevgeny Kafelnikov (5)
Most Titles, Doubles: Max Mirnyi (5)
Oldest Champion: Andreas Seppi, 28, in 2012
Youngest Champion: Andrei Cherkasov, 20, in 1990
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 107 Carl-Uwe Steeb in 1995
Most Match Wins: Yevgeny Kafelnikov (40)

2018 Finals
Singles: [3] [WC] Karen Khachanov (RUS) d Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 62 62   Read & Watch
Doubles: [2] Austin Krajicek (USA) / Rajeev Ram (USA) d [3] Max Mirnyi (BLR) / Philipp Oswald (AUT) 76(4) 64  Read More

Social
Hashtag: #kremlincup
Facebook: @kremlincup
Twitter: @tennisrussia
Instagram: @vtbkremlincup

Did You Know… The VTB Kremlin Cup became the country’s first pro international tennis tournament when it was founded in 1990. 

Fabio Fognini leads the charge at the Intrum Stockholm Open, the 2018 ATP 250 Tournament of the Year. The Italian, who reached a career-high World No. 9 earlier this season, will be making his third straight appearance in Stockholm. He reached the semi-finals on his previous two visits, falling to Grigor Dimitrov in 2017 and to eventual champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2018.

Dimitrov will look to reclaim the title he won in 2013 (d. Ferrer). The Bulgarian has reached the quarter-finals or better in six of his seven Stockholm appearances, including three finals.

#NextGenATP stars Denis Shapovalov, Casper Ruud and Mikael Ymer look to gain valuable points in the ATP Race To Milan as they look to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in November. Meanwhile, 35-year-old Janko Tipsarevic, who announced that he will retire at the end of this season, returns to Stockholm for the first time in 15 years. 

Here’s all you need to know about the Stockholm tennis tournament: what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won and more. 

Established: 1969

Tournament Dates: 14-20 October 2019

Tournament Director: Simon Aspelin

Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 12 October at 3:00pm on-site

Are You In? Subscribe To Get Tournament Updates In Your Inbox

Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: begins on Sunday at 11:00am
* Main draw: Monday – Friday at 12:00 noon and 6:30pm, Saturday at 1:00pm (doubles), 3:00pm (singles)
* Doubles final: Sunday, 20 October not before 1:00pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 20 October not before 3:00pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
TV Schedule

Venue: Kungliga Tennishallen
Main Court Seating: 3,500
Surface: Indoor Hard

Prize Money: € 635,750 (Total Financial Commitment: € 711,275)  

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: John McEnroe, Boris Becker (4)
Most Titles, Doubles: Kevin Ullyett (5)
Oldest Champion: Mark Cox, 33, in 1976
Youngest Champion: Mats Wilander, 19, in 1983
Lowest-Ranked Champion (since 1978): No. 66 Marcos Baghdatis in 2009
Most Match Wins: Stefan Edberg (34)

2018 Finals
Singles: [3] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) d [Q] Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 64 64   Read & Watch
Doubles: Luke Bambridge (GBR) / Jonny O’Mara (GBR) d [3] Marcus Daniell (NZL) / Wesley Koolhof (NED) 75 76(8)  Read More

Social
Hashtag: #sthlmopen
Facebook: @intrumstockholmopen
Twitter: @IntrumSthlmOpen
Instagram:@sthlmopen

Did You Know… The Intrum Stockholm Open won the Tournament of the Year award in the 250 category for the second time in 2018. It previously shared the honour with the Winston-Salem Open in 2016. Read More

David Goffin, Gael Monfils and Andy Murray headline the field at the fourth edition of the European Open, an ATP 250 tournament in Antwerp. Goffin, who enters his home country tournament at No. 10 in the ATP Race To London, will be looking to improve upon his semi-final run at the inaugural edition (l. to Schwartzman). 

Last year in Antwerp, Monfils came up just short of becoming the third straight French champion, falling to Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund in a third-set tie-break in the final. The first two winners, Richard Gasquet (2016) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2017), and 2016-17 finalist Diego Schwartzman also return in 2019.

Former World No. 1 Murray earned the first tour-level wins of his comeback during the Asian swing, including a quarter-final finish at the China Open, and will aim to carry that momentum into his tournament debut. 

Here’s all you need to know about the Antwerp tennis tournament: what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won and more. 

Established: 2016

Tournament Dates: 14-20 October 2019

Tournament Director: Dick Norman

Draw Ceremony: Saturday, 12 October

Are You In? Subscribe To Get Tournament Updates In Your Inbox

Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Qualifying: starts Sunday at 11:00am
* Main draw: Daily play begins Monday at 11:00am and 6:00pm, Tuesday – Friday at 12:00pm and 6:30pm, Saturday at 12.00pm
* Doubles final: Sunday, 20 October at 2:00pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 20 October not before 4:00pm

How To Watch
Watch Live On Tennis TV 
TV Schedule

Venue: Lotto Arena
Main Court Seating: 4,500
Surface: Indoor Hard

Prize Money: € 635,750 (Total Financial Commitment: € 711,275)  

Tickets On Sale: Buy Now

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Kyle Edmund, Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (1)
Most Titles, Doubles: Edouard Roger-Vasselin (2)
Oldest Champion: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 32, in 2017
Youngest Champion: Kyle Edmund, 23, in 2018
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 19 Richard Gasquet in 2016
Most Match Wins: Diego Schwartzman (9)

2018 Finals
Singles: [1] Kyle Edmund (GBR) d [6] Gael Monfils (FRA) 36 76(2) 76(4)   Read & Watch
Doubles: [2] Nicolas Mahut (FRA) / Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) d Marcelo Demoliner (BRA) / Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) 64 75  Read & Watch

Social
Hashtag: #EuropeanOpen
Facebook: @EuropeanTennisOpen
Twitter: @EuroTennisOpen
Instagram: @europeantennisopen

Did You Know… The European Open is the only ATP Tour tournament in Belgium.

Novak Djokovic (8-0) and Roger Federer (5-0) were a combined 13-0 in Rolex Shanghai Masters quarter-finals before Friday. But that was before the ATP Tour’s youth movement, led by 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas (d. Djokovic) and Germany’s Alexander Zverev (d. Federer), took over the season’s penultimate ATP Masters 1000 event.

Matteo Berrettini of Italy and Daniil Medvedev of Russia also did their part, beating No. 5 Dominic Thiem and No. 12 Fabio Fognini, respectively.

All four Shanghai semi-finalists are under the age of 24 for the first time at a Masters 1000 event since 20 years ago at 1999 Hamburg. The Big Three of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Federer – the top three players in the ATP Rankings – still dominate the Tour. But Shanghai shows once more that the gap between three of the best of all-time and the next wave continues to shrink.

“They’re knocking on the door big time… It’s exciting. They’re great. It’s really open now, I think, for the finish of this tournament,” said Federer, who fell to Zverev for the fourth time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (3-4).

“It was definitely surprising to see Novak lose a little bit, even though Tsitsipas has played great so far. Maybe I was still the favourite going into this match, but Sascha came out and had no serving issues today and really was able to produce a great game like he did against me already [at the Nitto ATP Finals].

“It’s an exciting time in tennis.”

Then Vs. Now: Comparing Masters 1000 Semi-finalists

The wins of Tsitsipas, Zverev, Berrettini and Medvedev were impressive. But what’s more noteworthy is how far all they’ve come in the past 12 months.

Last year in Shanghai, Tsitsipas fell in the third round, and two years ago he had to qualify. But on Friday, he stunned Djokovic for the second time at a Masters 1000 event (Toronto 2018) and will face Russian Daniil Medvedev for a place in the final.

“It’s the best comeback that I have ever had probably,” said Tsitsipas, who also ranked highly his comeback against Federer at the Australian Open.

Medvedev beat Italian Fabio Fognini to improve to 12-0 in tour-level quarter-finals this season. The Russian has been playing better than anyone since July.

Medvedev, who finished in third place at the inaugural 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, is trying to reach his sixth consecutive final after making title matches in Washington, Montreal, Cincinnati, the US Open and in St. Petersburg.

Twelve months ago, he was ranked outside the Top 20 when he fell to Federer in the second round of Shanghai. But the 23-year-old right-hander is into his third consecutive Masters 1000 semi-final and has already guaranteed his place at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 10-17 November at The O2 in London.

“I know I need to keep focus. I know I need to keep working every day hard in order not to lose this level,” said Medvedev, who is 4-0 against Tsitsipas.

Berrettini’s rise has been the most drastic of the four semi-finalists. On 14 April, he lost his fifth consecutive match. But he has since gone 33-9, reaching his maiden Grand Slam semi-final (US Open, l. to Nadal) and Masters 1000 semi-final (Shanghai) along the way.

Berrettini lost in the Shanghai qualifying one year ago and was 3-8 at Masters 1000 events before winning four matches this week.

Only Zverev, the 22-year-old reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion, has been there, done that in Shanghai. The three-time Masters 1000 titlist made the semi-finals last year before falling to eventual champion Djokovic.

His experience showed against Federer as the German stayed focussed despite seeing five match points come and go in the second set.

“It was a match to maybe turn my year around a little bit, and the [ATP] Race To London is also very important,” said Zverev, who is now in seventh place in the Race. “I’m happy to be in the semi-finals now and give myself the best chance to win maybe two more matches here.”

The future is now at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. Four of the most talented young stars in the sport have played inspired tennis this week to fill the semi-final lineup. Third seed Daniil Medvedev kicks off Saturday’s schedule against Stefanos Tsitsipas and fifth seed Alexander Zverev takes on No. 11 seed Matteo Berrettini.

Although Medvedev has a flawless 4-0 record against Tsitsipas in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, the #NextGenATP champion has taken a set in all of their previous matches. But Tsitsipas isn’t shy to admit that he’s struggled against the Russian’s style of play.

“He has a very weird game. It’s very sloppy, but a good sloppy. I don’t mean this in a bad way. He’s just very uncomfortable to play against,” Tsitsipas said in August. “He has this completely different way of playing, flat and low, without giving you much angle to work with. It can be very disturbing to play against him. He can make you miss without understanding why you missed.”

Read More: Why Medvedev Embraces His ‘Weird’ & ‘Sloppy’ Tennis

Although Medvedev’s style may be unorthodox, it’s clearly working. The Russian powered into the last four without dropping a set and is on track to reach his sixth consecutive ATP final. The 23-year-old’s staggering numbers this season including 57 match wins, more than any other player on Tour, and prevailing in 27 of his past 30 matches. He’s also riding a seven-match winning streak after taking the title last month in St. Petersburg (d. Coric) and has won his past 14 sets.

But despite his success, Medvedev said he doesn’t feel invincible. He’ll bring his typically workmanlike approach to Saturday’s match with Tsitsipas and come prepared for a hard-fought battle.

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

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 11, 2019

”Stefanos, even though I won all of the matches, they were all really tight. He’s also improving every week,” Medvedev said. “He’s still so young. He has two more years than me to improve, talking about age.”

Meanwhile. Tsitsipas looks to make one of his best weeks on Tour even more memorable. He enjoyed one of the best days of his career on Friday by fighting back for his first win over a current World No. 1 in Novak Djokovic, a match which he called “the best comeback I’ve ever had.” The 21-year-old then learned he’d qualified for his maiden appearance in the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, held from 10-17 November at The O2 in London. 

Despite his record against Medvedev, he’ll take confidence from overcoming some of his most challenging opponents all week. Prior to beating Djokovic, Tsitsipas scored his first win over #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and avenged a loss in Montreal to Pole Hubert Hurkacz. If he maintains his current level, he has the tools to score another breakthrough against Medvedev.

”[Medvedev] has a very different tennis from most of the players that I have been playing against this year. He’s a very mental player,” Tsitsipas said. “Tomorrow is going to be a new challenge for me. I hope I feel well. I hope it’s going to be a fresh, new Stefanos out on this court, showing his best tennis and playing smart and making him play out of his comfort zone.”

Zverev’s showdown with Berrettini has major implications on the remaining two qualification spots for London. With their performances this week, defending Nitto ATP Finals champion Zverev moved to seventh place (2,615) and Berrettini (2,545) jumped to eighth place in the ATP Race to London. The winner of Saturday’s match will receive an additional 240 points.

The German’s season of highs and lows is firmly on an upswing after he defeated Roger Federer in an epic quarter-final for his first Top 10 win of the year. Zverev is a confidence player and at his best once he gets a few matches under his belt at an ATP Tour event. If he brings the same form he did against Federer, he’ll put himself in position to break the 1-1 tie in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Berrettini.

Meanwhile, Berrettini is enjoying his own breakthrough week by reaching his first Masters 1000 semi-final. The hard-hitting Italian has routinely crunched forehand winners that exceed 150 kilometres per hour and consistently put his opponents on defence, racing into the semi-finals without dropping a set. If he can beat Zverev, the 23-year-old will make his debut in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings on Monday.

Beast mode from Matteo Berrettini ?

?: @TennisTV | #RolexShMasters pic.twitter.com/Av0MYQaA4x

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 10, 2019

The doubles semi-finals feature second seeds Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo taking on sixth seeds Nicolas Mahut/Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Kubot/Melo’s quarter-final win on Friday clinched their spot in the Nitto ATP Finals. Eighth seeds Mate Pavic/Bruno Soares will meet Jamie Murray/Neal Skupski in the last match of the day.

SCHEDULE – SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER 2019
CENTRE COURT 1 start 1:30 pm
[6] Nicolas Mahut (FRA) / Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs [2] Lukasz Kubot (POL) / Marcelo Melo (BRA)
[3] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) vs [6] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
Not Before 6:30 pm
[5] Alexander Zverev (GER) vs [11] Matteo Berrettini (ITA)
[8] Mate Pavic (CRO) / Bruno Soares (BRA) vs Jamie Murray (GBR) / Neal Skupski (GBR)