Sports developments: Zverev faces Djokovic in Beijing, Sinner withdraws, and Mercedes challenges in Malaysia

German Alexander Zverev booked his place in the quarter-finals of the China Open tennis tournament after defeating Chinese Shang Junzheng 6-0, 6-3 in their match on Saturday.

Zverev set up a meeting in the quarter-finals with Serbian Novak Djokovic, who won the title six times.

The official website of the World Tennis Association of Professional Tennis Players stated that Djokovic has a perfect record in the tournament, as he won all 31 matches he played in the tournament, but this series will face a difficult test when he faces the one with the highest number of victories on the ATP Tour during the year 2026.

Zverev, ranked second in the world, raised his tally this season to 58 victories against 14 defeats, after winning his first two major championship titles in the Roland Garros and US Open tournaments. He also topped the direct standings for the qualifying race for the final tournament in Turin.

Zverev said: “I will face a very difficult opponent tomorrow, but I am also looking forward to these challenges.” I'm excited about the showdown. This is one of his favorite stadiums, he hasn't lost here. Of course, I will do everything I can to make the match difficult, and the competition is intense, and I hope to achieve victory.”

Zverev reached the quarter-finals in Beijing for the sixth time, becoming the fourth player to reach this stage at least six times, after Djokovic and Spaniard Rafael Nadal with seven times each, and American John Isner with six times. Djokovic needed three sets to defeat Buenchaukite in his previous match on Friday evening.

In the rest of the matches, Australian Alex de Minaur defeated Frenchman Quentin Halys 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, Russian Andrey Rublev defeated his compatriot Roman Saviolin 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, and Russian Daniil Medvedev defeated German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-3.

Italian Jannik Sinner, ranked number one in the world, has withdrawn from the Shanghai Masters Tennis Championships as he continues to recover from a knee problem.

Sinner has not played since he defeated German Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final. Sinner withdrew from the US Open due to a right knee injury.

The Italian player wrote on his Instagram account on Saturday: “Unfortunately, I will not be able to play in the Shanghai Masters this year as I had hoped.”

He added: “I have always enjoyed playing in front of the Shanghai fans, and I am very sorry that I will not be able to do that next week. Thank you for your support. I look forward to seeing you again next year!”

Sinner announced last week that he would not be able to defend his title in Beijing. He said: “The condition of my knee is not at the level I aspire to, and I am not ready to compete yet, but I will do my best to return to the field as soon as possible.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is puzzled after the failure of the upgrade package that his team introduced in the qualifying trials for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia in the Formula 1 World Championship on Saturday, after Red Bull driver Max Verstappen succeeded in achieving pole position for the first time this season.

Verstappen became the first driver this year to achieve pole position in a car not powered by a Mercedes engine, and Lewis Hamilton from Ferrari joined him in the front row at the Sepang International Circuit.

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, the leader of the overall standings, was satisfied with achieving the fourth-fastest time in the qualifying trials, but he will advance to third place, after Red Bull driver Ishak Hajjar was subjected to a penalty of falling five places on the starting grid.

As for Antonelli's teammate, George Russell, he recorded the eighth fastest time in qualifying, and will start the race from seventh place on the starting grid.

Wolff told Sky Sports: “It is very difficult to understand what happened. We were a little surprised on Friday by the behavior of the car, which we have not seen all year. But it can be said that the weather is very hot and that the surface of the track is very different from other tracks.”

He added: “We showed up well in (the third free practice), at least with Kimi, but then those problems resurfaced again.”

He continued: “We face great air resistance, we lose time on straight tracks in front of Max, and then we suffer from front wheel slippage at low speeds, which is something we have not seen all year.”

The qualifying trials were a strong blow to Antonelli and Russell, who is ranked second in the overall drivers’ standings and was in a state of confidence after reducing the points difference with his teammate to 66 points in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix early last week.

It seemed that Antonelli had regained his level when he led the final free trials on Saturday, but he was unable to perform better in the qualifying trials.

“In general, we have to be happy because the situation could have been much worse,” said Antonelli, who leads the tournament with 302 points. “We will focus on the race tomorrow.”

Russell confirmed that he had not achieved any improvement since the first free trials, and said that tire wear harms Mercedes more than its competitors.

He added: “It is a very difficult track for the tires. The surface is completely cracked, it is very rough, the weather is very hot, and the tires are suffering greatly.”

He continued: “For some reason, this seems to affect us much more than others.”

Wolf remained confident in the capabilities of the package of improvements he introduced to the Mercedes car.

“There is something else going on that we have to understand,” he said. “We need to study the data and consult together, because we still believe in the effectiveness of the improvements we have made.”

He added: “We expected to be ahead by three tenths (of a second), but we are four or five tenths behind.”