Alexander Zverev continued his march towards the No 1 ranking after dismissing Juncheng Shang for the loss of just three games at the Beijing Open.
Zverev beat the young Chinese player 6-0, 6-3 on Saturday to set up an intriguing quarter-final clash with six-time champion Novak Djokovic.
After world No 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew from next week’s Shanghai Masters due to an ongoing knee injury, the German was in no mood to let up as he demolished the home favourite in 55 minutes.
This victory puts the 29-year-old within 1,300 points of Sinner in the live ATP Tour rankings, but in the Race, Zverev is now 800 points clear at the top.
Both Sinner and Zverev lost in the third round in Shanghai last year, so they will lose very few points at the 1000 event. But with the Italian pulling out entirely, the US Open champion has been handed a big opportunity to top the rankings for the first time.
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If Zverev can win in Beijing, he will jump up to 10,120, which is just 880 points adrift of Sinner.
And if the French Open champion can win the tournament in Shanghai, that will put him atop the pile for the first time in his career. However, Zverev will only gain the No 1 ranking if he lifts the trophies in both Beijing and Shanghai.
Even if he doesn’t do it by the end of the Asian Swing, there is still time for Zverev to grab top spot, though. Indeed, Sinner won the Vienna Open, the Paris Masters, and the ATP Tour Finals at the end of last year.
That is a whopping 3,000 points and as he hasn’t played since Wimbledon, it seems unlikely the 25-year-old will defend all of that in the coming months.
But before Zverev can contemplate that lofty goal, he has the small challenge of beating Djokovic, who has a perfect 31-0 record in Beijing.
While the 39-year-old has admitted to having some health problems this tournament, and throughout 2026, it is never easy beating the 24-time major winner.
After his last-16 win, Zverev said in his on-court interview, “I am excited about it. This is probably one of his [Djokovic’s] most favourite courts in his career, he’s never lost here.
“But of course I am going to do everything I can to make it a challenge and to be able to compete and hopefully be successful. That is what I am here for and I am looking forward to that challenge.”
When asked if he feels like the favourite, Zverev shrugged and said, “We will see tomorrow but I like my chances but again he loves the court.”
Djokovic leads their head to head 9-5, with the Serbian winning their last meeting in four sets at the 2025 French Open.
The veteran also leads their hard court clashes 7-4, so he too may fancy his chances against the 6ft 6in German. Either way, a lot is on the line in this encounter.
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