The round of sixteen took place on Thursday at the Shanghai Rolex Masters with a couple of surprises setting up some unexpected quarterfinal match-ups. With the last eight now set, here’s what happened on day five in Shanghai.
Results
Novak Djokovic’s quarter was blown wide open in the first few days of the tournament and the world number one is taking advantage, reaching the quarterfinals without dropping a set. His round of sixteen victim was Vasek Pospisil, who fought well but eventually fell to the world number one 6-4, 6-4. Check out the full recap here. Djokovic’s quarterfinal will be one of the biggest surprises of the tournament. If a Zverev was going to make the quarterfinals, one would have expected it to be Alexander. Instead, it’s the older brother Mischa who reached the last eight in Shanghai. After dropping the first set of his round of sixteen clash against Marcel Granollers in a tiebreak, Granollers third in a row dating back to the second round, the German rallied to take the next two sets, steamrolling the third 6-1.
Alexander Zverev fell just short of joining his brother in the last eight, losing a hard-fought three setter to 2015 runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Despite leading by a break and having a chance to serve out the set at 5-4 and being broken, the young German took the opening set in a tiebreak, but was promptly blown out in the second set 6-2 as Tsonga forced a deciding set. Just like the first set, Zverev broke early but could not maintain the lead. Tsonga would break at 5-5 and attempted to serve out the match, where he fell behind 0-40. But the Frenchman was not deterred, battling for a tough 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 victory. In the quarterfinals, Tsonga will play Roberto Bautista Agut, who cruised past Viktor Troicki, who seemed unable to keep up his level that saw him stun Rafael Nadal in the round of sixteen, in straight sets.
The surprise quarterfinal will pit Jack Sock against Gilles Simon. Both men were massive underdogs entering their round of sixteen clashes, but were impressive and each achieved big upsets. Sock rallied after dropping the first set 6-0 and saved two match points to defeat Milos Raonic. Check out the full recap here. Simon was even more impressive, grinding away at Stan Wawrinka and being rewarded with a straight sets victory. After dropping serve early in the first set and falling behind 3-1, Simon bounced back to break Wawrinka twice and win five of the next six games to take the opening set 6-4. The pair exchanged breaks in the first two games of the second before the Frenchman grabbed the crucial break to take a 3-2 lead. He would hang on to take the set and the match 6-4, 6-4.
Andy Murray continued his stellar run in Asia, turning aside Lucas Pouille in a blowout. Murray only surrendered four games in the match, and has only lost nine on route to the quarterfinals. Check out the full recap here. In the quarters, Murray will take on another Race to London hopeful David Goffin, who scored an impressive comeback win over Gael Monfils. It was Monfils who got the early break in the first set and hung on to take the lead ad seemed to be in control when he broke twice on his way to a 4-1 lead in the second. But with his back against the wall, Goffin turned the tables completely breaking Monfils three times in a five-game run that saw him steal the second set. After saving break points to start the third, Goffin picked up steam late, breaking twice and winning four straight games from 2-2 to seal the upset and boost his Race to London hopes.
The quarterfinals will take place tomorrow.