Fatigued Zverev 'overachieved' by reaching Shanghai semis

Alexander Zverev says he "overachieved" at the Shanghai Masters in reaching the semi-finals amid fatigue caused by his busy schedule. Alexander Zverev will be the first German man to end the year as world number one World number two Alexander Zverev said he "overachieved" at the Shanghai Masters in reaching the semi-finals amid fatigue caused by his busy competition schedule. The 29-year-old top seed exited in the last four on Saturday as Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina pulled off a surprise 5-7 6-4 6-3 win, only his second in eight meetings with Zverev. Germany's Zverev, who is guaranteed to end the season as world number one, has had little opportunity to rest between the US Open, Laver Cup, Beijing Masters and Shanghai.

"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." Repeatedly exposed on the forehand side, Zverev surrendered his first break of the match to an exquisite backhand passing shot on the run as Davidovich Fokina took the semi-final to a deciding set. Zverev was broken to trail 2-0 in the third set and could not recover control of the tie as the 25th