Davidovich Fokina to Reach Shanghai Semis

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is into the Shanghai semis the hard way and the soft way at once. The 25th seed was leading Arthur Gea 4-1 in the first set at the Rolex Shanghai Masters when the Frenchman retired with pain in his psoas, sending the Spaniard into his first Shanghai semifinal and his fourth Masters 1000 semis.

It was not the finish either player wanted. For Davidovich Fokina, it was the rest his body needed after two deciding-set tiebreaks on consecutive days.

Gea's psoas, Foki's silver lining

Gea said he felt the psoas in the morning, got treatment, and still tried to start. "It would have been too dangerous for the end of the season, so I couldn't continue," he said. He had won 13 of his previous 15 tour-level matches and reached the Masters 1000 quarterfinals in his debut at the level, taking out Top 20 names along the way.

Davidovich Fokina did not pretend he needed another three-setter. He had already saved a match point against Frances Tiafoe and edged 2023 champion Hubert Hurkacz in deciding-set tiebreaks. "Do you think I need tennis after Tiafoe and Hurkacz? I don't think so," he said with a smile. "I'm good enough about tennis. I feel sorry for him, but I'm happy to be in the next round."

He also called the early exit a blessing for recovery. "I've been on court a lot of time, and my body has to recover. I'm blessed that I have two days more to recover better my body."

China streak and the Zverev date

The win stretches an eight-match winning streak on Chinese soil after Davidovich Fokina lifted the Chengdu title to open the Asian swing. He is 31-16 on the season per the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index and has locked a return toward the Top 20 after a back injury wiped out his North American hard-court swing earlier this year.

Saturday he meets top seed Alexander Zverev, who beat Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4 in the other half of the quarterfinals. A first Masters 1000 trophy is still on the board for the Malaga native if he can solve the year-end No. 1 lock in a best-of-three on this court speed.

The Qi Zhong Forest Sports City Arena crowd saw only about 22 minutes of tennis before Gea stopped. Davidovich Fokina said afterward he knew Gea had been playing well on the China swing and prepared for another battle. He still wanted court time to check his recovery, then pivoted to gratitude when the retirement came. The English quote that stuck was simple: sorry for him, happy to be through.

Spanish fans watched him grind through Tiafoe and Hurkacz, then catch a break when Gea could not go on. Two more wins in Shanghai, and the silver lining turns into hardware.