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SportsTennis

Bergs knocks Alcaraz out of Shanghai and hands Zverev the year-end No. 1

World No. 39 Zizou Bergs beat Carlos Alcaraz 7-5, 7-6(4). The result guarantees Alexander Zverev will be the first German to finish a year as world No. 1.

From the editorial desk · ShanghaiPublished
Belgian tennis player Zizou Bergs and Carlos Alcaraz (file photos)
Belgian tennis player Zizou Bergs and Carlos Alcaraz (file photos)Photos: si.robi / Wikimedia Commons; Like tears in rain / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 and CC BY-SA 4.0

Key points

  1. Zizou Bergs beat second seed Carlos Alcaraz 7-5, 7-6(4) for the biggest win of his career.
  2. Alexander Zverev is now certain to finish 2026 as year-end No. 1, the first German man to do so.
  3. Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Taylor Fritz after missing three match points in one game.

Zizou Bergs beat Carlos Alcaraz 7-5, 7-6(4) at the Shanghai Masters on Monday, the biggest win of the Belgian’s career. The world No. 39’s victory over the second seed also settled the year-end rankings: Alexander Zverev is now certain to finish 2026 as world No. 1, the first German man to do so.

How Bergs did it

Bergs broke Alcaraz three times in two hours and three minutes at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, and won 37 of his 47 first-serve points. He held his nerve in the second-set tie-break to level their head-to-head record at 1-1.

Alcaraz, the world No. 3, had arrived in Shanghai with a new moustache and beaten Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 6-3 in his opening match on Saturday.

Bergs said he had long been too deferential towards the game’s leading players. “I often have too much respect for these guys, which is part of my culture and I’m proud of that,” he said.

I feel like now I really can win against these guys. Not just I can play against them, but I can win against them.

Zizou Bergs, Belgian player, 12 October 2026

He plays defending champion Valentin Vacherot or 15th seed Tommy Paul in the fourth round.

Zverev’s year

The result rounds off a remarkable season for Zverev, the top seed in Shanghai. He has won Roland Garros and the US Open this year and reached the Wimbledon final. On Sunday he beat Quentin Halys 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-3 for his 60th tour-level win of 2026, and he faces Alexander Bublik next.

The world No. 1, Jannik Sinner, has ended his season early with a knee injury. Zverev cannot take over the top spot in the weekly rankings before 2 November.

Tsitsipas gets there at the fourth attempt

Stefanos Tsitsipas came from a set down to beat 11th seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Serving for the match, he missed three match points in a strange game in which the ball fell out of Fritz’s pocket on consecutive points, forcing replays. Fritz called one let on himself. Tsitsipas took his fourth chance.

“I was manifesting today’s match and trying to put myself in a victorious situation,” the Greek said. He meets fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, who beat qualifier Dalibor Svrčina 6-2, 6-3.

Fourth seed Félix Auger-Aliassime beat Pablo Carreño Busta 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 12th seed Rafael Jodar came from a set down to beat Jiří Lehečka 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4, and Casper Ruud beat Learner Tien 6-4, 7-6(3). The tournament ends on 18 October.

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