Shanghai Masters: Zizou Bergs knocks out Carlos Alcaraz 7-5, 7-6, and Zverev seals year-end No. 1

Zizou Bergs finished the match the way he played it: with an ace, on match point. The 27-year-old Belgian beat Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6(4), in two hours and three minutes on Monday on Stadium Court at Qizhong, in the third round of the Shanghai Masters. The world No. 39 has just recorded the biggest win of his career.

A one-way match

The match comes down to three numbers: Bergs won 37 of the 47 points played behind his first serve (79 per cent), served eight aces to five, and converted three of four break points, while Alcaraz managed two. He broke first in the opening set, was pulled back, then took it 7-5 on his fourth set point. In the second set he broke for 6-5, saw Alcaraz break back, then strung together three points in a row from 4-4 in the tie-break.

Alcaraz out of rhythm

On his bench at the end of the first set, Alcaraz told his team, as reported by RMC Sport: “I don’t understand anything. I can’t get it going, man, I can’t play like this. Damn it!” The world No. 3 had won the Tokyo title against Lehecka a week earlier, and stood on 32 wins and 5 defeats in 2026. Yet he had won only one match in China this season, against Cerundolo, and had never gone beyond the quarter-finals in Shanghai.

I read this defeat as a rhythm problem rather than tired legs: a week after the Tokyo title, Alcaraz leaned on his serve (67 per cent of first serves) and found no answer to Bergs’s first serve when returning.

Zverev to finish the year at No. 1

The defeat ends Alcaraz’s bid for the year-end top spot: Alexander Zverev will finish 2026 as world No. 1, the first German to get there, according to the ATP. In the last sixteen, for the third time in his career, Bergs will meet the winner of Tommy Paul against Valentin Vacherot, the defending champion. Alcaraz moves on to the European indoor swing.

The bet, lost at 1.07

At kickoff, the market had Alcaraz at 1.06 with Bet365 and Bergs at 11 with 1xbet: a Spanish defeat priced at roughly one match in ten. I had backed Alcaraz to win at 1.07 with Bet365 in our match preview, 0.25 units ($25), the minimum stake: at that price the Spaniard wins nine times out of ten, and no clear edge over the market justifies staking more. The tenth match arrived on Monday. The loss goes into the public record, like every bet we take. 18+. Only bet what you can afford to lose.