Alexander Zverev must avoid making the same mistake as Andy Murray after worrying comments in Shanghai

Alexander Zverev came through a very tough battle against Alexander Bublik to book his place in the Shanghai Masters final, but his body might be paying for it.

The German fell over during his opening round match against Wu Yibing and the next world No 1 seems to be feeling the effects of the tumble.

Speaking after his win against Bublik, Zverev said: “Yeah, I start to feel my ankle last match. I then actually, in the warm up, it was good. In the beginning, in the first set it was also good, I felt fine.

“But the longer the match went on, in the middle of the second set, it started to be a bit worse. But if you know, I’ve never retired in a tennis match in my life, except 2022 Roland Garros, where I really couldn’t walk.

“So I want to keep that going. I don’t want to retire with no reason. But, yeah. Again, I , I fought through, and I won, I’m happy about that.”

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Zverev’s fight to world No 1 has had plenty of similarities to Andy Murray’s rush to the summit of the ATP Tour back in 2016.

Murray capitalised on injuries to Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic to reach world No 1 for the only time in his career – and achieve the year-end world No 1.

Zverev has been confirmed to do the same in the absence of Jannik Sinner and it’s an achievement that he should be incredibly proud of.

The star should, however, refrain from putting his body through the ringer in order to prove himself as the true best player on the ATP Tour.

Many have questioned Zverev’s legitimacy as the world No 1 due to Sinner’s injury issues, but the star is a two-time Grand Slam champion.

He’s also in a better position as Murray as he does not have to gain ranking points until the end of the year in order to reach the ATP Tour summit.

While it is admirable that Zverev wants to continue playing, playing through pain is not the best idea. Murray’s decision to push his body through the end of the season is what many people believe is the reason for his injuries later on in his career.

Should Zverev make his way through the Shanghai Masters, he should absolutely refrain from playing the Six Kings Slam and the Vienna Open at the very least.

Zverev will want to stay as the world No 1 for as long as possible and he will not be able to do that if he enters the 2027 season with an injury.