Shanghai
Turin contenders De Minaur, Zverev, Auger-Aliassime advance in Shanghai
Zverev survives late injury scare in Royer win
October 04, 2025
Hu Chengwei/Getty Images
Alex de Minaur overcomes Camilo Ugo Carabelli on Saturday in his opening match at the 2025 Rolex Shanghai Masters.
By ATP Staff
Alex de Minaur is treading new ground in 2025.
The No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings on Saturday eased past Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-4, 6-2 to kick-start his Rolex Shanghai Masters campaign. With his 88-minute victory against Argentine Carabelli, De Minaur registered a personal-best 48th tour-level win in a single season, making him the first Australian man to hit that tally since former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in 2004.
Best. Season. Ever 🙌@alexdeminaur notches up his 48th victory of the season, defeating Ugo Carabelli 6-4 6-2 to advance to round three.@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/U324TSmVsB
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 4, 2025
“I’m happy with myself. It’s a great achievement to show the consistency,” said De Minaur after victory in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Carabelli. “I feel like I probably could have broken that record last year if I hadn’t gotten injured. To come back this year and just show that consistency week-in and week-out, I’m very proud of my efforts.
“Saying that, there’s still a lot of tennis to be played, so hopefully I can keep adding wins to that tally. Keep doing what I’m doing, keep my head down, keep working hard, keep showing up, and just keep the confidence and momentum going.”
De Minaur, who did not face a break point against Carabelli according to Infosys ATP Stats, now owns a Tour-leading 35 wins on hard courts in 2025, ahead of Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz (both on 34). The Australian’s next challenge in Shanghai will be a fourth-round meeting with Kamil Majchrzak, who defeated 29th seed Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 6-0 to advance.
Another Top 10 star, Alexander Zverev, also notched a straight-sets victory in his Shanghai opener, although the German had to pull through a late injury scare before sinking Valentin Royer 6-4, 6-4.
Zverev appeared to injure his right toe when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, and he was treated by the ATP physio after the first point of the game. The injury did not stop the World No. 3 from comfortably serving out for his win, but he later acknowledged to feeling uncertainty regarding how serious a problem it could be.
“I’m very happy [to get through],” said Zverev. “I don’t know, I landed funny on my toe and after that I could barely do a step, so we’ll see what it is. Not happy to end the match like that, of course, but I think definitely happy with the level in the first round of a Masters. That was quite good. He is playing very well and moving forward, we will see if I will ever be healthy this year again, because it’s been a struggle. But I’m happy to be through.”
Watch Zverev Survive Injury Scare In Shanghai Opener:
In other early Saturday action, Felix Auger-Aliassime snapped the momentum of qualifier Alejandro Tabilo in commanding fashion with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph. The Canadian, playing his first match since the US Open and also his first since he got married on 20 September, saved all seven break points he faced to sink Chengdu champion Tabilo and set a meeting with 17th seed Jakub Mensik or Jesper de Jong.
With their second-round wins, Zverev, De Minaur and Auger-Aliassime have boosted their Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes. Zverev is third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and in strong contention to seal his spot at the prestigious season finale, while De Minaur is seventh, just 325 points behind Ben Shelton.
Auger-Aliassime remains in 10th place but is just 590 points behind Lorenzo Musetti in the final qualification spot. Zverev is aiming to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the eighth time, while both De Minaur and Auger-Aliassime are chasing a second appearance.
