Zverev powers past De Minaur to reach Shanghai Masters semi-finals

Germany's Alexander Zverev eased his way past Australian Alex de Minaur on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.

The top seed, who has already secured year-end number one in the men's ranking, claimed a 6-4, 6-4 win.

"I think it was a huge step up. I don't know what the numbers were, but from playing the match and just being on the court I felt both of us were playing really well," Zverev said.

"I was, a lot of the time, outhitting Alex, which is difficult to do from the baseline because he is so fast and he loves this kind of court speed here. I felt good and I'm happy with the step up from the past couple of matches."

He will now face Spain's Davidovich Fokina on Saturday.

The French Open and US Open champion is currently second in the ranking, behind Jannik Sinner, but could rise to the top spot for the first time in his career as early as November 2.

For that to happen, Zverev would have to win the Shanghai Masters and reach the semi-finals of the tournament in Vienna at the end of October. Reaching the final in Shanghai and winning the title in Austria would also be enough.

Sinner suffered several setbacks this year and ended his season prematurely due to persistent knee problems and will not be able to defend his points tally from last year.

"I feel like I've been handling pressure quite okay this year. In a way you play a bit more relaxed, but I don't think about it that way," Zverev said.

"Once Jannik unfortunately announced he won't play for the rest of the year, I'm 4,000 points ahead of everyone else, so I trust myself enough that I'm going to win (enough matches).