4 shocking results of the day from China Open & Shanghai Masters ft. Zheng Qinwen, Andrey Rublev
The end of Zheng Qinwen's promising campaign at the 2024 China Open was among the most notable results from today's tennis action. Over at the Shanghai Masters, Andrey Rublev was the highest-profile casualty on October 5.
The WTA 1000 China Open saw the conclusion of semifinal contests on October 5, with third seed Coco Gauff securing a nervy win over Paula Badosa. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz began their campaigns at the 2024 Shanghai Masters with straight-set wins. Other big winners from the day 4 of the Masters 1000 tournament included Alexander Zverev and Alexei Popyrin.
However, other star players at both these tournaments saw the end of the campaigns, including China's Zheng Qinwen. With that said, let's take a look at the four most shocking results of the day from the China Open & Shanghai Masters.
#4 Brandon Nakashima
Brandon Nakashima has made significant progress over the past three months, rising nearly 20 spots on the ATP rankings and earning the 32nd seeding at the Shanghai Masters. The American received a first-round bye and faced Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki in the second round on October 5.
Watanuki did well to go toe-to-toe with Nakashima's big serve and forced a tie-breaker in the first set. The Japanese mustered the one-set advantage and went on to break the American once in the second set to secure an impressive 7-6(4), 6-3 win. Watanuki hit 34 winners, which helped him offset his 40 unforced errors. Meanwhile, Nakashima only managed nine winners against 23 unforced errors.
#3 Francisco Cerundolo
Francisco Cerundolo came to the Shanghai Masters after a second round exit at the China Open and was seeded 27th at the Masters 1000 tournament. The Argentine faced Alexander Shevchenko in the second round in Shanghai after a first round bye and got out of the blocks quickly with a break of the Kazakh's serve in the first game. The lead was short-lived as Shevchenko broke back in the eighth game and eventually took the first set via the tie-breaker.
Shevchenko went on to break Cerundolo two more times in the second set to emerge victorious 7-6(7), 7-5 and win back-to-back matches on the ATP Tour for the first time since ABN AMRO Open in February. The Kazakh No. 2 had defeated Indian qualifier Ramkumar Ramanathan in the Shanghai Masters first round.
#2 Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev finished runner-up at the Shanghai Masters last year and was defending 600 points at the 2024 edition as the sixth seed. The Russian came up against talented Czech Jakub Mensik in the second round in Shanghai on October 5. A close first set went Rublev's way via a thrilling tie-breaker. However, Mensik restored parity in the second set with two breaks of the Russian's serve.
The NextGen star from the Czech Republic completed a stunning come-from-behind victory in the third set by breaking Rublev three more times. Mensik's 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3 win was his third top-10 win of the year, two of which have come against Rublev.
#1 Zheng Qinwen
Zheng Qinwen's dream of becoming the first homegrown player to win the China Open ended in the semifinals. The fifth seed faced World No. 49 Muchova in her maiden WTA 1000 semifinal and came up short in straight sets. Karolina Muchova broke Zheng Qinwen midway through the first set en route to a one-set advantage and once again early in the second set to emerge victorious 6-3, 6-4.
Zheng Qinwen, who recently became the first Chinese player to win a tennis gold medal at the Olympics, was the center of attention throughout the China Open. She had come back from a set down to beat Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals but could not do the same against Muchova. The Czech star will now face Coco Gauff in the title contest.