SHANGHAI: Alexander Zverev was forced to dig deep in beating Quentin Halys in three sets at the Shanghai Masters on Sunday as he closes in on the world number one ranking.
The German top seed belatedly saw off the Frenchman 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 6-3 to reach the last 16, despite moving a little uncomfortably at the end.
"He plays unbelievably aggressive and serves incredibly," Zverev, himself one of the biggest servers on tour, said of his beaten opponent.
"This year I have been picking my tournaments and places where I want to peak, I did not do that early in my career.
