Alexander Zverev is guaranteed to finish 2026 as the world’s No. 1-ranked player at year-end. What that is doing to his body, however, is the question at this moment. On Tuesday, the top seed edged Alexander Bublik 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(1) in the Round of 16 at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
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It was his first match since the year-end No. 1 spot became his, after Carlos Alcaraz’s loss to Zizou Bergs on Monday. The victory took Zverev into the 120th quarterfinal of his career, including his 40th at the Masters 1000 level, and his first in Shanghai since 2019. It was also his ATP-best 61st win of the season. However, it was accompanied by a warning.
“Yeah my ankle was acting up unfortunately again, which kind of is also understandable. I mean, I’ve played a lot of tennis, which is always a good sign. That means I’ve been playing well,” the German explained in his on-court interview with Tennis TV.
Despite a serve-dominated opening set, Bublik squandered four set points. At 5-6, he pulled out of a forehand on Zverev’s serve, sending the ball into the net. Leading 6-3 in the tiebreak, the Kazakh then missed two drop shots and sent a forehand wide, allowing Zverev to take the opener with a volley on his first set point.
Bublik fought back in the second, becoming only the second player that week to break Zverev’s serve after the German fired a backhand wide. Cutting down his baseline errors to eight in the set, he levelled the match. Zverev, meanwhile, appeared to struggle physically, repeatedly clutching his right ankle. The top seed still rallied from a break down in the decider to secure the win with one of his 14 aces. The victory also narrowed his head-to-head deficit against Bublik to 2-3.
“But I’m starting to feel my body more and more. But happy to be through because it was a difficult match, he’s been playing amazing tennis this week. Again, I think the most important thing was that I won today,” Zverev stated.
The ankle issue has followed Zverev since his match against Wu Yibing.
During his Shanghai Masters match against Yibing on October 9, Zverev suffered a brief ankle scare late in the second set. Leading 6-4, 5-5 and holding a break point on Wu’s serve, the German stumbled while moving wide after hitting a backhand and appeared to tweak his left ankle.
AFP reported that Zverev grimaced and grabbed the ankle following the fall. He was able to get back up, continue playing, and hold serve to force a tiebreak, which he won 7-4 to secure a 6-4, 7-6(4) victory in one hour and 36 minutes. Per reports, he appeared to be moving relatively freely in the closing stages, and no confirmed diagnosis or severity of an ankle injury was reported then.
But the issue returned against his next opponent, though in the other ankle.
During his third-round match against Quentin Halys, Zverev appeared to experience further ankle discomfort, this time involving his right ankle, according to Sky Sport. The German moved uncomfortably in the closing stages and repeatedly held his right ankle during a break in play. Tennis Temple also reported that he was limping late in the third set, with a doctor standing courtside, although the doctor was not called onto the court.
As for why he kept playing through the pain against Bublik, Zverev added: “I’ve never retired from a tennis match in my life, except at Roland-Garros 2022, when I really couldn’t walk anymore. I want that to continue. I don’t want to retire without a reason.”
The semi-final he referred to here happened against Rafael Nadal. It was one of the most gripping matches of the season; however, after three hours and 13 minutes, Zverev ended up rolling his right ankle. He was trailing 6-7(8), 6-6, and had to retire, ending his chance to become just the fourth player to defeat Nadal at Roland Garros.
Back then, Zverev suffered a complete tear of all three lateral ligaments in his right ankle, and he subsequently underwent surgery. His rehabilitation, compounded by bone edema that developed in September, kept him out of competitive action for the remainder of the season.
That said, he is now all set to face 9th seed Aleax de Minaur in the quarterfinal, who also suffered an injury that ended his China Open run. It’s a duel between players who are managing their bodies as much as their games.