Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev has secured a spot in the ATP Finals next month with a 6-4 6-4 quarter-final win over Kyle Edmund at the Shanghai Masters.
Zverev is the fifth player to book a place in the season-ending tournament in London, joining Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro in the eight-player field.
Zverev has beaten Edmund all four times they’ve played. On Friday, he saved the one break point he faced and took advantage of the two chances the British player offered to secure passage to the semi-finals.
The victory over Edmund also gave the 21-year-old Zverev a tour-leading 49th match victory of the year. Dominic Thiem, despite losing his opening match this week, sits in second place with 48 match wins this season. Zverev will play second-seeded Djokovic or seventh-seeded Kevin Anderson in the semis.
Zverev has beaten Anderson all four times they’ve played, and won his only encounter against Djokovic in the 2017 Rome final.
Matthew Ebden has a golden opportunity to become Australian No.1 after progressing to the quarter-finals in Shanghai.
Ebden won through to the last eight with a 6-2 6-3 win over Peter Gojowczyk on Thursday and can leapfrog Alex de Minaur as the top-ranked Aussie player if he beats world No.19 Borna Coric on Friday.
The West Australian will rise to a career high 40 when the rankings are released next week, but reaching the semi-finals would catapult him up to 31 – the spot currently occupied by de Minaur.
The 21-year-old Coric booked his quarter-final spot after injury forced Juan Martin del Potro to retire from their third-round clash.
AAP