Alexander Zverev had been in Beijing for two days when he walked out against Cameron Norrie on Thursday, a week after playing indoors for Team Europe at the Laver Cup in London. He and the British left-hander went through a full set without a decisive break, and then Zverev took the tie-break 7-1 on his way to a 7-6(1), 6-4 win at the China Open.
“I am surprised because I didn’t think I played well because I only arrived two days ago,” Zverev said, according to the ATP. “I feel a bit jet-lagged and came from an indoor tournament to an outdoor tournament, but I felt good on the court and I felt it was a high-level match.”
It was his ninth win in nine meetings with Norrie, and the ATP counts 47 wins in his past 48 matches against left-handers. Another one is next. Chinese wild card Shang Juncheng came from a set down to beat Sebastian Baez 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 for his first match win at the event, and the draw also placed six-time champion Novak Djokovic in Zverev’s quarter.
What is at stake. The ATP said this week that Zverev could become world No. 1 as soon as the Rolex Shanghai Masters ends on 18 October. The route is narrow. He would have to win Beijing for the first time, having reached the semifinals there three times, then win Shanghai, and Jannik Sinner would have to fall before the fourth round in Shanghai.
Where the points move. Sinner won Beijing last year and is not playing this week, so the 500 points from that title come off his total, while Zverev reached the quarterfinals in 2025 and defends 100, the ATP said. After the US Open, the ATP put Zverev 1,810 points behind Sinner in the rankings, but noted that Zverev had 1,080 points left to drop over the rest of the season against 3,550 for Sinner.
The Sinner question. Sinner has not played a tour match since he beat Zverev in the Wimbledon final in July. He withdrew from Cincinnati in August with a right knee injury, the ATP reported, then pulled out of the US Open and his Beijing title defense. He was on the Shanghai entry list the ATP published on 10 September and had not announced whether he will play. A withdrawal would mean he cannot reach the fourth round, which would leave the Shanghai part of the equation in Zverev’s hands.
“I think it’s a goal for anyone,” Zverev said of No. 1 at his pre-tournament press conference, as reported by the ATP. “I think at the beginning of the season everybody expected that battle to be between Carlos and Jannik, so I’m very pleased that I’m in that conversation.”
“There’s some of it in my head,” he said. “The only thing that I can control is play good tennis, play well on the court, try to feel well on the court, try to do everything I can to prepare myself to play good tennis. Everything else will fall into place.”
His season. Zverev, 29, won his first major at Roland Garros in June, beating Flavio Cobolli in five sets in the final, and added the US Open in September. The ATP lists him with a season-leading 56 match wins and a tour-leading 28 hard-court wins. He would be the 30th man to reach No. 1 in the history of the rankings. Sinner first reached the top in June 2024 and has spent 91 weeks there, according to the ATP.
Beyond Shanghai. If the top spot does not change hands in October, the year-end race stays open. After the US Open, the ATP’s Live Race to Turin had Zverev on 8,650 points and Sinner on 7,950, and the remaining Masters 1000 in Paris and the Nitto ATP Finals carry the largest offerings left on the calendar. GTN’s Race to Turin tracker explains how the field is decided, and the Shanghai Masters guide and ATP rankings explainer cover the event and the points system.
