BEIJING - Big-serving Alexander Zverev trounced home hopeful Shang Juncheng 6-0, 6-3 at the China Open on Oct 3 to set up a quarter-final clash with Novak Djokovic in Beijing.

The German top seed needed just 55 minutes to brush aside the Chinese wildcard, ranked 250th, firing nine aces along the way.

“Happy with the win,” the world’s second-ranked player said, adding that his 21-year-old opponent had been “dangerous” and had “nothing to lose”.

“Looking forward to the next couple of weeks,” he said ahead of his tie with Djokovic – who has never lost a match in Beijing – on Oct 4.

Zverev’s cruise into the next round comes as he trains his sights on the number-one spot currently held by Jannik Sinner.

The Italian won in Beijing in 2025 but is not there this time around, and said on Oct 3 that he would not play at next week’s Shanghai Masters either.

He did not give a reason for his latest withdrawal, but has not played since his Wimbledon title in July due to a right knee injury.

Also in the men’s draw, third seed Daniil Medvedev eased into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.

Alex de Minaur, seeded fifth, and Andrey Rublev both needed three sets to advance and will play each other in the last eight.

‘Stop shouting’

Earlier, Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen rebuked rowdy fans at her home tournament before opponent Anna Kalinskaya retired with injury to give the Chinese player a 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 3-0 victory.

During a tight first-set tie-break, Zheng – a beloved figure in her home country – twice was heard telling spectators to “stop shouting” as she stepped up to serve.

“I thought the first set in particular was really difficult,” Zheng told the crowd in an on-court interv...