SHANGHAI, Oct. 17 -- Alexander Zverev has locked up the year-end No. 1 ranking, and on Saturday he spent his post-match comments explaining what that has cost him. "I'm not a robot, I'm a human being," he said after losing his Shanghai Masters semifinal to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, according to the ATP Tour's account of his remarks.

It is an abrupt end for a player who won the 2026 US Open in September and, according to the tour, Roland Garros before that. Davidovich Fokina, 27, arrived in Shanghai ranked No. 26 and seeded 25th, which the tour says makes him the fourth lowest-ranked finalist in the tournament's history. He has won nine consecutive matches in China, and last month he took the Chengdu title.

The other sem...