Zverev qualifies for ATP Finals with victory over Edmund

Alexander Zverev became the fifth player to book a place at the season-ending ATP Finals by beating Kyle Edmund in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters.

The world number five joined Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro in sealing his spot for London after a routine 6-4 6-4 victory over the British number one in 71 minutes.

The 21-year-old fourth seed took his only break opportunity in both sets, hitting 23 winners and only 12 unforced errors in a supreme performance to maintain his 100 per cent record against Edmund.

Edmund has lost all four of their matches as well as the last seven sets against Zverev, who told the ATP’s official website: “It was a very good match for me.

“I’m very pleased to be through to my first semi-final here in Shanghai. I thought I had to be very aggressive from the baseline, the serving has to work well as well, so I’m very pleased with how it went.

“This is very special to me, qualifying (for the ATP Finals) for a second year in a row.

“But I don’t want to stop here, there’s a lot more tennis going on. I’m in the semi-final of the Masters here so I don’t want to be satisfied, I want to keep going.”

Zverev next takes on the in-form Djokovic, who was forced to dig deep in the first set before seeing off Kevin Anderson in a repeat of their Wimbledon final.

Second seed Djokovic prevailed over Anderson at the All England Club and took his winning run to 16 matches by beating the South African 7-6 (7/1) 6-3 in one hour and 44 minutes.

The Serbian, winner of the event in 2012, 2013 and 2015, staved off a set point against his seventh seeded opponent while trailing 5-6 in the opening set but did not look back after that.

He said: “I faced one [break point] and it was a set point. I managed to pull through that one, and I haven’t lost too many points on my serve.

“The conditions are very quick, so holding your serve comfortably is probably the key.”

Top seed and defending champion Federer was given another stern test before defeating Kei Nishikori 6-4 7-6 (7/4).

The Swiss has struggled to hit top gear this week, needing three sets to beat both Daniil Medvedev and Roberto Bautista Agut, but looked to be cruising when he went a set and a break up against the Japanese eighth seed.

Nishikori upped his level and Federer looked to be tiring before he rallied from 4-1 down in the second set tiebreak to reel off six straight points and triumph in one hour and 51 minutes.

Federer will take on Borna Coric for a place in the final after the highly-rated Croatian, seeded 13th, eased to a 7-5 6-4 victory over Matthew Ebden.