Bergs stuns Alcaraz and Shanghai's round of 16 opens without its big favourite: rackets of the survivors as Tsitsipas awaits Medvedev

The third round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters (7-18 October) claimed its biggest name on Monday: Zizou Bergs, ranked 39th, knocked out Carlos Alcaraz (2) 7-5, 7-6(4) in the biggest upset of the tournament. Between Sunday and Monday, the draw also lost Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, Arthur Fils, Jiri Lehecka, Learner Tien and defending champion Valentin Vacherot: the round of 16 gets under way this Tuesday with Alexander Zverev, already mathematically Year-End No. 1, as the only top seed left standing in the top half.

Bergs, the best match of his career

The 27-year-old Belgian converted his first match point with a ninth ace and signed the biggest win of his career against Alcaraz. «I'm very happy how I handled the tiebreak —he said afterwards—. It's never easy to get broken when you are serving for the match, but to get back in the tiebreak and play those key moments, serve big, I'm very happy with that one especially.»

Alcaraz arrived in form: champion of the Japan Open last week (final against Lehecka on October 6) on his return from months out with injury. Bergs will face Tommy Paul (15) in the round of 16; Paul ended the title defence of Valentin Vacherot (17) 6-4, 6-2 — the Monegasque had won Shanghai 2025 entering as world No. 204 and arrived this year at his career-high No. 14.

A Monday of seeds falling

Beyond Alcaraz's executioner, Monday produced these results, all checked against the ATP's official recap and AP:

• Stefanos Tsitsipas rallied past Taylor Fritz (11) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 and remains unbeaten in the tournament.
• Botic van de Zandschulp ousted Arthur Fils (8) 7-5, 6-4.
• Casper Ruud (20) got past Learner Tien (14) 6-4, 7-6(3).
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (4) beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
• Rafael Jodar (12) defeated Jiri Lehecka (22) 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4: the Spaniard moves to 40-16 in his first full season on Tour and sits 11th in the race for the ATP Finals in Turin.
• Daniil Medvedev (5) gave qualifier Dalibor Svrcina no chance: 6-2, 6-3.

Round of 16: today and tomorrow

Today Tuesday (top half), per the official order of play: Alex de Minaur (9)–Karen Khachanov (26) opens the morning session, followed by Arthur Gea–Jakub Mensik (13). In the night session (from 18:00 local, 12:00 in Spain): Alexander Zverev (1)–Alexander Bublik (19) and, to close, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina–Hubert Hurkacz — the two men who eliminated Tiafoe and Djokovic this week, respectively.

Tomorrow Wednesday (bottom half) brings the other four round-of-16 ties: Bergs–Paul (15), Jodar (12)–van de Zandschulp, Ruud (20)–Auger-Aliassime (4) and the match that looks set to steal the show, Tsitsipas–Medvedev (5). The quarter-finals are on Thursday 15 and the final on Sunday 18.

The rackets of the survivors

• Alexander Zverev — Head Gravity Tour Zverev 2026from 228,95 €: the World No. 1 plays his round of 16 against Bublik today.
• Daniil Medvedev — Tecnifibre TFight 305Sfrom 209,99 €: Tsitsipas awaits him tomorrow for a place in the quarters.
• Jakub Mensik — Wilson Blade 98 16x19 v10from 169,99 €: the same Blade that Tsitsipas, Medvedev's next opponent, plays with.
• Hubert Hurkacz — Yonex VCORE 98 (8th gen)from 236,95 €: Djokovic's executioner, one step from repeating his 2023 title.
• Arthur Gea — Yonex EZONE 98 (8th gen)from 247,99 €: the EZONE 98 he used to beat Shelton, against Mensik today.
• Rafael Jodar — Head Speed MP 2026from 195,49 €: the young Spaniard, 11th in the Turin race, takes on van de Zandschulp.
• Felix Auger-Aliassime — Babolat Pure Aero 98 (Gen 9)from 269,99 €: the fourth seed looks for the quarters against Ruud.

Not in the catalog yet: Alex de Minaur (Wilson Ultra Pro 99), Alexander Bublik (Diadem Project Bublik 98), Karen Khachanov (Wilson Defyer 98, his new spin frame per iq.tennis) and Davidovich Fokina (Head Extreme MP strung with Head Lynx Tour, per iq.tennis). If they ever get listed, we'll link them here.