The match pitted the top seed against the No. 19 seed. According to rank.tennis, Zverev is ranked second with 9870 points, while Bublik is 19th with 2275 points. The Shanghai tournament, which has a prize fund of $11.2 million, is played on hard courts and belongs to the ATP 1000 category.
Two tiebreak sets and one for Bublik
According to api.tennis, Zverev won the first set 7-6. Bublik took the second, 6-4, to level the match. The deciding set also went to 7-6, with Zverev coming out on top. The final set score was 2:1: two of the three sets ended 7-6, both in favor of the German.
Zverev’s route to the quarterfinals was a close one. In his first match at the tournament, he beat Yibing Wu 6-4, 7-6, then Quentin Halys 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. He defeated Bublik in three sets, making this Zverev’s third straight match in Shanghai to feature a 7-6 set. Before facing Zverev, Bublik beat Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-6 and Brandon Nakashima 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.
The rivals have had mixed results in their previous meetings. Zverev beat Bublik in Rotterdam in 2021 (7-5, 6-3), Montpellier in 2022 (6-4, 6-3) and Halle in 2023 (6-3, 7-5). Bublik won their match in Monte Carlo in 2023, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.