AP
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina upset future No. 1 Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the Shanghai Masters final on Saturday.
The 25th-seeded Spaniard, who won the ATP 250 Chengdu Open in China last month, reached the second Masters final of his career after losing on clay at Monte Carlo in 2022.
He will try for his third title of the year – and of his career – against either 20-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar or 2019 champion Daniil Medvedev. They played their semifinal later Saturday.
The top-seeded Zverev, who recently clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking, served out the first set with an ace.
But the imposing German soon found himself under pressure, saving two break points in the fourth game of the second set.
Davidovich Fokina broke Zverev with a brilliant two-handed backhand down the line to level the match, and an ace put him 4-1 up in the deciding set.
At 15-40 down on serve in the eighth game, Zverev saved two match points. But Davidovich Fokina held his nerve and clinched victory on his third match point when Zverev could not return his sliced serve on forehand.
The No. 12-seeded Jodar is the youngest semifinalist in Shanghai Masters history, and has dropped the first set in each of his matches so far.
The former No. 1-ranked Medvedev, seeded No. 5, has won three titles this year.