Alexander Zverev took a step closer to the world No. 1 ranking on Sunday, with the German reaching the Shanghai Masters fourth round with a 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-3 win over Quentin Halys to mark his 60th match victory of the season.

The reigning champion at Roland Garros and New York is closing in on the world top status of Jannik Sinner, who can do nothing from the sidelines after shutting down his season this week due to a knee injury.

Zverev will aim for the quarter-finals in China as he takes on volatile Alexander Bublik, who smashed a racquet five times and injuring himself slightly in the process as he beat Brandon Nakashima 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Against Frenchman Halys, who took the German to five sets at the US Open, Zverev missed out on two match points which could have given him a straight-sets victory.

 The winner is celebrating another season of more than 60 wins after 2-18 (60) and 2024 (69).

“This year I’ve been picking my places where I want to peak, and I feel like I did that quite well,” he said“In the early stages of my career. I wanted to play well in every single tournament.  I feel like this year I’ve been working through a lot of tournaments.

“I’ve had some losses I shouldn’t have had, but it paid off because I won two Grand Slams and peaked at the right moments and made another final at Wimbledon.”

2019 Zverev has the chance to claim No. 1 in early November with Sinner no longer active in 2026 but can streamline the process by reaching the Shanghai semis next week.

Main photo:-Alexander Zverev wins in Shanghai – by ATPTour.com

Fading former top 10 regular Stefanos Tsitsipas has lashed out at one-time coach Goran Ivanisevic, accusing the former Wimbledon winner of unfair criticism during their brief collaboration last season.

Greek Tsitsipas once stood among the big beasts of the ATP, achieving a top ranking of this in the world,  with Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Melbourne.

But with his ranking now at 49th, the 27-year-old remains in a struggle with his game and blames most of his troubles on a lingering back injury.

Croat Ivanisevic, 54, had a brief spell with Tsitsipas last summer as the player attempted to break away from his longtime coach, his father Apostolos.

But family ties proved to be too strong, with Ivanisevic given the elbow after a Wimbledon first-round retirement.

Tsitsipas has complained of unfair criticism from his one-time mentor after Ivanisevic – who formerly coached Novak Djokovic – let loose on the player’s work ethic.

“He has to find a solution for his back issue. I was shocked. I’ve never seen such a poorly prepared player in my life,” Ivanisevic told Croat outlet SportKlub recalling the incident.

“Me, at my age and with this bad knee, I’m three times in better shape than him,” the former world No. 2 added.  “In the end, I didn’t say anything bad. Everything I said was true and proved to be so.”

While Ivanisevic has moved on to work with French youngster Arthur Fils, Tsitsipas continues his comeback struggle.

“I didn’t see any point in it. If it was a way of him pushing me into working harder and getting my s*** together, it was definitely not the right tactic.

“I was really hurt,” he told London’s Times.

The top two in the world will clash on Monday for the Cincinnati Masters title as Jannik Sinner meets Carlos Alcaraz in their fourth final of the season.

Holder Sinner celebrated turning 24 with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 takedown of inspired qualifier Terence Atmane, with the Frenchman presenting his opponent with a Pokemon card from his Japanese collection before their semi-final.

Second seed Alcaraz, who lost the final here two years ago to Novak Djokovic, profitted as he prevailed over ailing Alexander Zverev, the 2021 winner here, who suffers from diabetes and was suffering in 32 Celsius heat.

While the German did finish the match after a medical time out, he lost the final 12 points of the match and could do little to stop a patchy Alcaraz, who struggled with four double-faults in a single second-set game.

Sinner and Alcaraz have played finals this season in Rome and Roland Garros – both won by the Spaniard – while Sinner triumphed last month at Wimbledon.

Sinner could become the first man since Roger Federer in 2014-2015 to win back-to-back titles in Cincinnati.

Alcaraz owns the ATP-best record of 53 match wins in 2025.

“It was a very, very tough challenge every time you play a new opponent,” Sinner said after beating the hard-hitting Atmane.

“In the later stages of the tournament,the pressure is on, they deserve to be there.”

Alcaraz said he will work to lift his level in time for the quirky Monday final.

“We started well with good rallies, a good level,” Alcaraz said of his semi-final. “All of a sudden he (Zverev) felt bad and I was thinking more about how he was feeling instead of playing good tennis.

“It was tough and I just wish him all the best.”