Alexander Zverev said he “overachieved” at the Shanghai Masters after a semi-final exit, blaming fatigue from a heavy competition schedule. The world number two lost to Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7 6-4 6-3 on Saturday.
The 29-year-old top seed has had little time to rest between the US Open, Laver Cup, Beijing Masters and Shanghai. The defeat was only Davidovich Fokina’s second win in eight meetings with the German. Zverev is guaranteed to end the season as world number one.
“I feel like I’ve actually, in a way, maybe overachieved this week because of how much tennis I played,” Zverev said.
“I carried a little bit of injury, I carried fatigue into the tournament, and I’m OK to lose to a player like this today.”
Davidovich Fokina turns the semi-final
Davidovich Fokina repeatedly found Zverev’s forehand side. He also took the match into a deciding set by breaking the German for the first time with an exquisite backhand passing shot on the run.
Zverev fell 2-0 behind in the third set after another break and could not regain control of the tie. The 25th seed advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 final since 2022.
“I’m not a robot”
Zverev could not repeat the performance that earned him a straight-set quarter-final win over Alex de Minaur. He said he has struggled since his fourth-round victory over Alexander Bublik, which went to a third-set tie-break.
“First, I’m not a robot, I’m a human being, I get tired,” Zverev said. “After the US Open, I had one day off in total. I think I played a lot of tennis, which is very, very positive because that means I played well.
“I think even here I had tough matches. I personally feel like I was quite flat since the Bublik match, because I was losing energy.
“I played a phenomenal match against Alex de Minaur, but today I was flat. Even in the first set, even though I won the set, I was flatter, I was not reacting so well. I was returning quite badly.
“We’re all human beings, even the best players in the world.”
A disappointing exception in a brilliant season
The semi-final loss is a rare setback in a brilliant season for Zverev. He claimed the first Grand Slam title of his career at the French Open in June, then won a second at the US Open in September.
Davidovich Fokina will face fellow Spaniard Rafael Jodar in the final on Sunday.