Zverev survives injury scare to win in Shanghai, Rublev crashes out

VIDEO SHOWS: HIGHLIGHTS FROM SHANGHAI MASTERS – WINS FOR ALEXANDER ZVEREV,  ALEX DE MINAUR, FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME AND DENIS SHAPOVALOV; ANDREY RUBLEV DEFEATED RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: SHANGHAI, CHINA (OCTOBER 4, 2025) (ATP MEDIA/IMG – Editorial use only. No Monetisation. No resales.) ALEXANDER ZVEREV V VALENTIN ROYER (GREEN SHIRT) 1. ALEXANDER ZVEREV WALKING IN FIRST SET 2. ZVEREV HITS BACKHAND WINNER 3. ZVEREV SEALS SET WITH AN ACE  SECOND SET 4. VALENTIN ROYER HITS FOREHAND WINNER 5. CROWD CHEERING 6. ZVEREV WINS POINT WITH A LOB  7. ZVEREV CELEBRATING 8. ZVEREV BENDING DOWN AFTER SERVICE WINNER 9. SLOW-MOTION OF ZVEREV'S LANDING AFTER SERVE 10. PHYSIO ATTENDING TO ZVEREV 11. ZVEREV WINS MATCH AS ROYER NETS BACKHAND 12. ZVEREV HITTING BALL INTO STANDS IN CELEBRATION 13. PLAYERS SHAKE HANDS 14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD NUMBER THREE ALEXANDER ZVEREV WHEN ASKED IF HE LIKES PLAYING ON COURTS THAT PLAY SIMILAR, SAYING: “No, I hate when it's the same, to be honest. And I think I would like the tournament directors are going towards that direction because obviously they want Jannik (Sinner) and Carlos (Alcaraz) to do well every tournament, and that's what they prefer. But I've been on tour for 10 years, over 10 years, 11 years now, 12 years now actually. And we always had different surfaces. We always had tournaments which you liked; we always had tournaments which you didn't like so much. You couldn't play the same tennis the same way on the grass court, hard court, and the clay court. Nowadays you can play almost the same way on every surface. I don't like it, I'm not a fan of it. I think tennis needs game styles; tennis needs… It's a little bit of variety, and I think we're lacking that right now." ANDREY RUBLEV V YOSHIHITO NISHIOKA (BLUE SHIRT AND WHITE CAP) FIRST SET 15. ANDREY RUBLEV WINNING POINT WITH FOREHAND WINNER AND CELEBRATING 16. RUBLEV TAKES SET AS YOSHIHITO NISHIOKA SHANKS RETURN SECOND SET 17. NISHIOKA TAKES SET AS RUBLEV'S RETURN GOES LONG 18. NISHIOKA CELEBRATING / NISHIOKA TEAM CHEERING THIRD SET 19. NISHIOKA'S BACKHAND CATCHES THE LINE  20. NISHIOKA CELEBRATING WIN / NISHIOKA'S SUPPORT TEAM CELEBRATING 21. PLAYERS SHAKE HANDS AT NET 22. RUBLEV HITTING THE NET POST WITH RACKET 23. NISHIOKA WAVING TO CROWD AND CELEBRATING ALEX DE MINAUR  (GREEN SHIRT AND GREEN CAP) V CAMILO UGO CARABELLI FIRST SET 24. ALEX DE MINAUR TAKES SET WITH AN ACE SECOND SET 25. DE MINAUR WINS AS CAMILO UGO CARABELLI NETS BACKHAND 26. PLAYERS SHAKE HANDS AT THE NET FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME (WHITE SHIRT) V ALEJANDRO TABILO SECOND SET 27. FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME SERVING OUT THE MATCH WITH AN ACE 28. AUGER-ALIASSIME SHAKES HANDS WITH ALEJANDRO TABILO AT THE NET 29. AUGER-ALIASSIME TEAM CELEBRATING 30. AUGER-ALIASSIME WAVING TO CROWD DENIS SHAPOVALOV (BLUE SHIRT) V CHRISTOPHER O'CONNELL(WHITE SHIRT) SECOND SET 31. DENIS SHAPOVALOV WINS MATCH AS CHRISTOPHER O'CONNELL NETS RETURN 32. SHAPOVALOV WALKING TO THE NET AND SHAKING HANDS WITH O'CONNELL 33. SHAPOVALOV WAVING TO CROWD STORY: Germany's Alexander Zverev made a winning start at the ATP Shanghai Masters on Saturday (October 4), defeating France's Valentin Royer 6-4, 6-4 despite a late injury scare. The world number three required a medical timeout after winning the first point while serving for the match. The 28-year-old sought treatment on his right foot before returning to serve out the victory in straight sets. Zverev later criticised tournament organisers for creating courts that favour Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. "No, I hate when it's the same, to be honest," Zverev said in the post-match press conference. "I think tournament directors are going towards that direction because obviously they want Jannik and Carlos to do well every tournament, and that's what they prefer. "But I've been on tour for over 10 years now, 12 years actually. We always had different surfaces. You couldn't play the same tennis the same way on grass courts, hard courts, and clay courts. Nowadays you can play almost the same way on every surface. I don't like it; I'm not a fan of it. Tennis needs game styles; tennis needs variety, and I think we're lacking that right now." Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka secured the biggest result of the morning session by stunning Russia's Andrey Rublev in three sets. Nishioka triumphed 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. Australia's Alex de Minaur cruised past Argentina's Camilo Ugo Carabelli with a 6-4, 6-2 victory, while Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime overcame Chile's Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 6-3. Fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov eased past Australia's Christopher O'Connell 6-3, 6-2. (Production: Bhagya Ayyavoo)

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