The third round of the 2026 Shanghai Masters concluded on Monday, with Zizou Bergs producing the tournament’s biggest upset so far by defeating second seed Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets.
The Belgian’s victory also settled the race for year-end World No. 1, with Alexander Zverev now guaranteed to finish the season at the top of the rankings for the first time in his career.
Elsewhere, Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his return to form with a three-set victory over Taylor Fritz, while Rafael Jodar recorded his 40th win of the season by defeating Jiri Lehecka. Tommy Paul ended defending champion Valentin Vacherot’s run, and Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime also progressed.
See the full Day Six results and selected match recaps below.
Day Six Shanghai Masters Round of 32 Results
Key Match Recap
Zizou Bergs Def. Carlos Alcaraz 7-5, 7-6(4)
Zizou Bergs recorded the biggest victory of his career on Monday, defeating World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets to reach the fourth round in Shanghai.
The Belgian, ranked No. 39, played aggressively on the quick Shanghai courts, breaking Alcaraz’s serve three times and winning 79% of points behind his first serve.
Bergs took the opening set 7-5 and looked on course for a straightforward finish when he served for the match at 5-4 in the second.
However, Alcaraz fought back to break serve and force a tiebreak, and you figured he might pull off the comeback.
However, Bergs didn’t let the missed opportunity affect him. He moved ahead 3-1 in the breaker, briefly surrendered his advantage with a double fault, but won three consecutive points from 4-4 to seal victory in two hours and three minutes.
I often have too much respect for these guys, which is part of my culture and I’m proud of that. But it gets a little bit in the way when you have to play them.
Bergs admitted that previous encounters with the biggest names had sometimes left him playing the reputation rather than the opponent, something he felt he had overcome against Alcaraz.
I feel like now I really can win against these guys. Not just I can play against them, but I can win against them.
For Alcaraz, the defeat ends his seven-match winning streak following his Tokyo title and also settles the race for year-end No. 1 as Alexander Zverev is now guaranteed to finish 2026 at the top of the rankings after an excellent season.
It was a relatively poor day for Carlos, and he looked a bit flustered by the court speed, so his game isn’t quite back where it was.
Rafael Jodar Def. Jiri Lehecka 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4
Rafael Jodar continued his return to his earlier-season form with a comeback win over Jiri Lehecka, recording his 40th tour-level win of 2026.
The 20-year-old Spaniard dropped the opening set 6-4 to an opponent who arrived in Shanghai fresh off a Tokyo final appearance.
However, Jodar gradually worked his way into the match, taking the second-set tie-break 7-2 before completing the comeback with a 6-4 deciding set.
Hanging in there. It was very difficult today with the conditions. Jiri played very good from start to finish, serving very well. I had to give my best to win this match today.
The victory means Jodar has now reached the fourth round at five consecutive Masters 1000 tournaments, becoming the youngest man to do so since Novak Djokovic in 2007.
Jodar now holds a 40-16 record in his first full season on Tour and sits 11th in the live Race to Turin, leaving him with an outside chance of qualifying for the ATP Finals. He’ll face Botic van de Zandschulp next after the Dutchman defeated eighth seed Arthur Fils 7-5, 6-4.
I marked this as a poor loss for Lehecka, the kind of loss that shows why he won’t be a factor in the big events.
Stefanos Tsitsipas Def. Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his resurgence in Shanghai, recovering from a set down to defeat 11th seed Taylor Fritz and reach the fourth round.
Fritz took the opening set 6-3, and Tsitsipas struggled to make an impression on the American’s serve. However, the Greek gradually found his groove, taking the second set 7-5 before taking the decider.
A bizarre moment came late in the third set: at 2-5, Fritz served, and a ball fell out of his pocket on two consecutive points, so both were replayed.
The second incident came at 30-40, with Tsitsipas holding match point. The Greek had sent a forehand wide, but Fritz sportingly called a let on himself after noticing the ball had fallen from his pocket.
Tsitsipas eventually missed three match points in that game but made no mistake when serving for the match, completing the victory in two hours and 13 minutes.
The win improves his head-to-head record against Fritz to 5-2, and it’s interesting how these matchups work in his favour; this one marks his seventh victory over a top-20 opponent this season, compared with none in 2025.
So there are signs he’s getting back to his old form. He’s not quite at the level where you’d consider him a title contender at any event he enters, but his game is trending up.
He’ll face Daniil Medvedev next; Medvedev leads their head-to-head 10-5, although Tsitsipas won their only meeting this season in Doha.
Tommy Paul Def. Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-2
Tommy Paul ended Valentin Vacherot’s Shanghai title defence with a comfortable straight-sets victory.
The American took the opening set 6-4 before pulling away in the second, winning it 6-2 to reach the fourth round.
Vacherot returned to Shanghai after producing one of the most remarkable Masters 1000 title runs in recent memory last year, lifting the trophy as World No. 204.
Twelve months later, the Monegasque arrived ranked a career-high No. 14, but defending those ranking points would be difficult, and based on what I’d seen in his opening match, he didn’t look likely to defend his title.
Daniil Medvedev Def. Dalibor Svrcina 6-2, 6-3
Daniil Medvedev made short work of qualifier Dalibor Svrcina, advancing to the fourth round in straight sets.
The fifth seed took the first set 6-2 before closing out the match 6-3, ending Svrcina’s run after the Czech had defeated Cameron Norrie and Tomas Martin Etcheverry in his previous two matches.
Without looking at the numbers, I almost feel like Meddy has had another poor season, but he’s enjoyed a productive hard-court stint, winning titles in Brisbane, Dubai and Hangzhou, and arriving in Shanghai leading the Tour in hard-court match victories in 2026.
Highlights
Shanghai Masters Day 7 Round of 16 Matches
- (1) Alexander Zverev vs (19) Alexander Bublik
- (9) Alex de Minaur vs (26) Karen Khachanov
- Arthur Gea vs (13) Jakub Mensik
- Hubert Hurkacz vs (25) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
