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World number three Alexander Zverev said he was playing “terrible tennis” after he was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters by France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Monday.His exit leaves Novak Djokovic as the tournament’s top-ranked player, increasing the 38-year-old Serb’s chances of winning a record-extending fifth title in the Chinese financial hub.In stifling conditions, the 54th-ranked Rinderknech came back from a set down to stun an increasingly rattled Zverev into submission. It is the second time the Frenchman has beaten him, after bundling him out of Wimbledon earlier this year.A despondent Zverev told reporters the match had been “nothing unusual for me, unfortunately, these days”.“Just no confidence, no belief in the shots... My year has been terrible, I’m just playing terrible tennis all round,” he said, visibly emotional.The German had injured his big toe towards the end of his last match in Shanghai but on Monday showed no sign of discomfort as he broke Rinderknech in the third game with a forehand.He nearly went ahead early in the second set, but Rinderknech recovered his composure and broke in the fourth game.“I’m not very sure (how I managed to turn the game around),” he said.“I fought like hell, tried everything. (Zverev) is such a good player... I knew it was going to be a battle.“Starting in the second set... I was able to be offensive at the right moment, in a smarter way,” he said.Keeping up the momentum, in the third set the 30-year-old broke in the third game.Zverev had to pause to change his shoes because sweat was pouring out of them, as spectators wafted fans and wore cool packs on their foreheads to counter the suffocating humidity. But switching footwear was not enough to save the German, and a double fault in the seventh game led to Rinderknech breaking again.Holding with an ace to win, the Frenchman lolled his body in delighted disbelief, then danced around the court in glee.Top seeds vanquished Zverev’s loss means world number five Djokovic now leads ranking-wise as the tournament heads into the last 16, with the 24-time Grand Slam winner facing Spain’s Jaume Munar Tuesday.On Sunday the competition lost both defending champion Jannik Sinner, who was forced to retire with extreme leg cramps, and fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz.World number one Carlos Alcaraz withdrew at the last minute to rest.Alex de Minaur is the next highest seed after Djokovic through to the fourth round, comfortably getting past Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 6-1, 7-5.The Australian will next meet Portugal’s Nuno Borges, who put an end to the hopes of home favourite Shang Juncheng 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3.MEDVEDEV ADVANCESDaniil Medvedev, the 2019 Shanghai champion, is through too, after beating Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-6 (7/5).“I haven’t had a title since two years, so (I’m) not a favourite yet, but I will take it match by match, and I’m happy with the way I play so far,” he told AFP.The Russian broke early to take the first set, before edging a sweat-soaked tiebreak in the second.Medvedev said he relished the conditions.“Whenever it’s above 28 and humid, I suffer and many players don’t. Here everyone suffers,” he grinned.He will once again take on US teenager Learner Tien, who defeated him last week in the China Open semi-final.The 19-year-old beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to make the last 16 on Monday.

World number two Jannik Sinner launched his Shanghai Masters title defence Saturday by breezing past Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-3 while Alexander Zverev advanced despite toe trouble.Sinner, fresh from winning the China Open, broke early in both sets to take control and ease himself comfortably into the third round.The 49th-ranked Altmaier’s best chance came in the eighth game of the first set, but he failed to convert a breakpoint twice, allowing the Italian to hold with an ace.The second set provided even less opportunity to seriously bother the 24-year-old Wimbledon champion, but afterwards Sinner said it had been more difficult than it looked.“First match is never easy, especially when you don’t have a lot of time to adjust,” he said.“(Altmaier) is a very tough player, very talented... I just tried to stay mentally in a good point,” he added.“When I broke him twice very early in the set it gave me the confidence to serve the match out, so I’m very happy.”Sinner’s path to retaining the title has been made easier by the withdrawal of great rival Carlos Alcaraz, who dropped out last minute to rest.The Italian’s next match is Sunday against the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor.Four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic will take to the court again Sunday as well, facing Germany’s 150th-ranked Yannick Hanfmann.The tournament lost another top-10 player as Karen Khachanov was defeated by China’s Shang Juncheng 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.Shang, ranked 237th after slipping down the rankings due to injury, was egged on by an increasingly raucous crowd as ninth seed Khachanov flagged.Shang broke in the eighth game of the second set with a backhand.“I think I played well on the whole but I think everyone (in the crowd) must have put a lot of pressure on him,” the 20-year-old Shang laughed.World number three Zverev overcame an injury to his big toe to book his place in the third round, beating France’s Valentin Royer 6-4, 6-4.The German had a blistering start, breaking Royer in the first game and then sending down three aces to easily hold the second.The Frenchman found his feet but a crucial stumble saw him miss a break point in the eighth game, and Zverev took the set.Both players missed chances to break in the second, wowing the crowd with multiple tense rallies.Zverev finally broke in the ninth game then held the last game to win, despite having to take a medical break after limping off court.“It’s not a nice feeling to finish a match like that,” Zverev said afterwards, wincing.He said he sustained the injury during the follow-through of his serve, and would have it assessed Sunday.“I really don’t know what happened, so we’re going to check it out,” he said.World number seven Alex de Minaur comfortably dispatched Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-4, 6-2.Russian Andrey Rublev, ranked 14th, was upset by qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.But compatriot Daniil Medvedev dominated qualifier Dalibor Svrcina to advance 6-1, 6-1.

Taylor Fritz held off Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to seal Team World’s triumph in the Laver Cup Monday as two wins for Carlos Alcaraz on the final day proved too little for Team Europe.Fritz fired a backhand volley winner on his first match point to give Team World a 15-9 victory over Europe in the global tennis event, sparking jubilant celebrations from his teammates and World captain Andre Agassi at Chase Center – home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.“The energy from the team, it just feels the moments of winning feel so much better, the moments of losing feel so much worse because you’re doing it for all these guys,” Fritz said.“It just fires me up so much,” added the fifth-ranked American, who had beaten Alcaraz on Saturday when Team World swept all four matches to seize a 9-3 lead.Fritz had raced through the opening set against a weary-looking Zverev.The German stepped it up in the second set, but he was down a break and trailing 4-3 before he finally mustered his first break points of the night.He converted his third to level the set at 4-4 to the delight of his Europe teammates and captain Yannick Noah.A quick hold from Zverev left Fritz serving to stay in the set. He held to love and they battled to the tiebreaker, where Fritz took a 3-0 lead only for Zverev to win three straight points before Fritz won four of the final five.Alcaraz, fresh off his sixth Grand Slam title at the US Open, had kept Europe’s title defence alive with a blistering 6-2, 6-1 victory over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.Alcaraz and Casper Ruud had sliced Europe’s deficit with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 doubles victory over Reilly Opelka and Alex Michelsen to open Sunday’s action. But Australian world number eight Alex De Minaur then beat Czech Jakub Mensik 6-3, 6-4 to push Team World’s lead to 12-6, with 13 points needed to claim the Cup and each match on Sunday worth three points.De Minaur, a late replacement on Team World for Frances Tiafoe, had nabbed two wins on Saturday – beating Zverev in singles and coming through again in doubles.Team World regained the title they surrendered to Europe last year in Berlin.Europe have won five of eight editions of the event co-created by Swiss great Roger Federer, which will be held in London next year.