Federer given point penalty, then falls to Zverev in Shanghai quarters

On Friday in Shanghai, Alexander Zverev notched his first Top 10 victory of 2019 with a 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3 win over two-time champion Roger Federer in the Rolex Shanghai Masters quarterfinal.

“Finally starting to kind of play the way I should play, really," said Zverev. "I was playing really defensive the whole year, and I was not with a lot of confidence."

Zverev drew first blood to go up 4-2, taking the opening set in just 27 minutes. In that set, the 22-year-old German won 16 of his 18 first serve points and four of his five second serve points. Meanwhile, Federer won just 10 of 17 and four of seven, respectively.

The Swiss bounced back in the second set, winning the first two games, but Zverev retrieved the break right away, and gradually began to take control. He imposed his game enough to force Federer to save three match points, and win five straight points, just to send the set to a tiebreaker. It went Federer's way, not before saving five match points.

Zverev regrouped early in the deciding set, reeling off three consecutive games. Down 15-30 in the fourth game, a frustrated Federer was given a point penalty for hitting the ball into the crowd—as he had received a code violation earlier. An exchange of words between the Swiss and the umpire ensued. However, the second seed was able to claw his way out of trouble in that game.

But five games later, Zverev claimed the win on his sixth match point.

“He will always find a way. He will always make it tricky for you like he did today with me, and you always got to play your best tennis to have a chance,” Zverev said. “I knew if I'm going to keep playing the way I played the first two sets, I'm going to have a chance in the third as well.”

With the win, the 22-year-old hold onto his current eighth spot for the Nitto ATP Finals, where he is the defending champion. Earlier on Friday, 21-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas—who prevailed over defending champion in their quarterfinal encounter—punched his ticked to the year-end event.

Up next for Zverev is Matteo Berrettini, who upset No. 4 seed Dominic Thiem, 7-6 (8), 6-4.