Alcaraz exits Shanghai as Zverev secures the year-end top spot

Carlos Alcaraz was eliminated in the second round of the Shanghai Masters, losing to Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in straight sets. The shock exit also affected the race for the ATP world No. 1 ranking at the end of the year: the result helped settle it in favour of Germany’s Alexander Zverev.

Ranked 39th in the world, Bergs won 7-5, 7-6. He handled the decisive moments better, while Alcaraz struggled to find his rhythm and made numerous errors. Alcaraz finished with 21 unforced errors and 7 winners, and his opponent gave him few chances to fight back.

The match added another chapter to their rivalry: a week earlier, at the Tokyo tournament, Alcaraz had beaten Bergs in the round of 16 before going on to win the title. In Shanghai, however, the Spaniard was under pressure from the first set. Despite saving two set points, he lost it 7-5.

The second set became a tight contest. At 5-5, Bergs converted a break opportunity, only for Alcaraz to break back immediately and force a tie-break. Bergs regained the initiative there and closed out the set 7-6.

Alcaraz’s frustration was particularly clear in the 11th game, as he struggled with the flow of the match and the condition of the balls. «I can’t play on instinct. I can’t play like this.» The defeat ends his Shanghai campaign and accompanies the shift in the year-end ranking race in Zverev’s favour.