Top seed Alexander Zverev fell to a relentless Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Shanghai Masters semi-finals on Saturday over three tense sets.

Davidovich Fokina, ranked world No 26, fought back to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 and will play fellow Spaniard Rafael Jodar in the final on Sunday.

The 20-year-old Jodar beat fifth-seed Daniil Medvedev, a decade his senior, 6-3, 6-4 to deny the Russian former world No 1 a chance to return to the championship match he won in 2019.

Jodar, ranked 13th, started the season ranked 168th. It is his first time in a final at the prestigious 1000 level.

Davidovich Fokina fired 36 winners in the two-hour, two-minute contest to secure only his second victory over Zverev in eight meetings. ‌His previous win against the German came in the round of 32 at the Canadian Open in 2023.

The 25th seed earned his first break of the match to take the second set, forcing a decider with a stunning backhand passing shot on the run that capped a bruising baseline exchange and brought the crowd to their feet.

Carrying that momentum into the final set, ⁠Davidovich Fokina broke Zverev for a 2-0 lead and never relinquished control, booking a place in the second ‌ATP Masters 1000 final of his career after finishing runner-up in Monte Carlo in 2022.

Landing 82 per cent of his first serves and repeatedly exposing Zverev on the ‌forehand side, he secured one of the biggest victories of his career.

“I knew that if ⁠I stayed there ⁠all match, I could get at least one chance and I took it there in the second set,” Davidovich Fokina said.

“Then ‌in the third set, I think I was better physically. The early break in the third set gave me a lot of power.

“I ‌focused ‌on just playing, not mattering about the result but enjoying.”

Davidovich Fokina, who missed the North American hard-court ‌swing in August because of injury, has now won nine consecutive matches in China after lifting his ⁠second tour-level title at the ATP 250 event in Chengdu last month.

It was a disappointing end to ⁠the week for Zverev, a seven-time ATP Masters 1000 champion whose best result in Shanghai remains his runner-up finish to Medvedev in 2019.

The 29-year-old has otherwise enjoyed a fine season, ‌ending his grand slam drought ‌at the French Open before claiming a second major title at the US Open and securing the ATP year-end world No 1 ranking after Jannik Sinner was sidelined for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.

Fifth-seeded Russian Medvedev was playing 12th-seeded Jodar, 20, in the second semi-final.

At the Wuhan Open, world number 170 Sonay Kartal became the lowest-ranked player to reach a WTA 1000 final when she knocked out Jelena Ostapenko with a gritty 7-6, 7-6 win on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Briton is playing just her second tour event since returning from a six-month injury lay-off, having suffered a spinal stress fracture that sidelined her from March to September.

Kartal, who was ranked a career-high 44 in the world 15 months ago, is the lowest-ranked WTA 1000 finalist since the format’s introduction in 2009.

In a close affair with 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko, Kartal showed tremendous composure and dug herself out of multiple holes to become the first British finalist in Wuhan Open history.

“Wow, that was probably one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played,” said Kartal, who survived 50 winners coming off Ostapenko’s racquet to reach the biggest final of her career.

“I knew exactly how she was going to play. At times she’s unplayable and sometimes you just have to ride that wave.

“Mentally I think this is one of the best performances I’ve had in my career. I’m very proud of that one.”

After dismissing three consecutive seeds in her previous rounds, including No 6 Elina Svitolina and No 9 Belinda Bencic, Kartal made the 35th-ranked Ostapenko her latest victim to reach her second career tour-level final, and first at the WTA 1000 level.

Kartal will face either Iga Swiatek or fellow Pole Maja Chwalinska.