Bergs stuns Alcaraz in Shanghai as Zverev clinches Year-End No. 1

Zizou Bergs knocked second seed Carlos Alcaraz out of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Monday, winning 7-5, 7-6(4) in the third round. The result also settled the race for the top of the 2026 season: Alexander Zverev will finish the year as ATP Year-End No. 1, the first German man to do so.

How Bergs beat Alcaraz

Bergs, No. 39 in the PIF ATP Rankings, needed two hours and three minutes to beat the World No. 3. The ATP described it as the biggest win of the Belgian’s career by ranking, and it levels his Head2Head with Alcaraz at 1-1.

Bergs broke the Spaniard’s serve three times and was strong behind his own delivery, winning 79 per cent (37/47) of his first-serve points according to Infosys ATP Stats. He looked set to close it out when he served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Alcaraz broke back and forced a tie-break.

The tie-break swung twice. Bergs led 3/1, then gave the advantage back with a double fault. From 4/4 he won three points in a row to seal the upset.

Speaking afterwards, Bergs admitted that his respect for the biggest names had held him back in the past. “This is something that has been very tough for me,” he said. He added: “I feel like now I really can win against these guys.”

He described feeling “a little bit of disbelief” as the match closed in, saying he had concentrated on playing point by point.

What comes next for Bergs

Bergs meets 15th seed Tommy Paul in the fourth round. Paul beat defending champion Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-2 on Monday. A win would put Bergs back in the Shanghai quarter-finals, matching his run at this event last year, when he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.

Zverev confirmed as Year-End No. 1

Alcaraz’s defeat completed the scenario that the ATP had set out before the tournament. Zverev, the top seed in Shanghai, would clinch year-end No. 1 if he reached the semi-finals, or if both Alcaraz and Ben Shelton lost at any stage. Shelton had already gone out to Arthur Gea on Sunday, and Jannik Sinner, second in the race, had ended his season through injury.

The ATP confirmed on Monday that Zverev has secured the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honour. It caps a season in which the 29-year-old won his first two Grand Slam titles, at Roland Garros and the US Open, and leads the tour with 60 match wins.

“It’s been a fantastic season for me winning in Paris and New York,” Zverev said in comments published by the ATP.

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi noted that Zverev “became just the 20th player to do so.” He will also be the oldest player to finish a year at No. 1 for the first time: on the ranking date of 23 November he will be 29 years and 217 days old, three days older than Andre Agassi in 1999 and 20 days older than Andy Murray in 2016.

Zverev is still in the Shanghai draw. He plays 19th seed Alexander Bublik in the fourth round on Tuesday evening, scheduled not before 18:00 local time on Stadium Court.

For more on how the points race works, see our guide to how tennis rankings work, and our look back at Alcaraz and the changing of the guard.

Sources: ATP Tour.