Tennis Tracker: Zverev & Shelton begin Shanghai campaigns, Zheng facing Svitolina in Beijing

[p][b]07:45 CET - [/b]Good morning, and welcome back to our coverage of the Shanghai Masters and the WTA 1000 event in Beijing, with a host of big names set to take the court in China today.[/p][p]Several of the world's best players will get their Shanghai campaigns underway this morning, including recent Beijing champion and four-time champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/djokovic-novak/AZg49Et9/"]Novak Djokovic[/a], soon-to-be world number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zverev-alexander/dGbUhw9m/"]Alexander Zverev[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bublik-alexander/t0WN9vR6/"]Alexander Bublik[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mensik-jakub/UFj257G8/"]Jakub Mensik[/a].[/p][p]Two players eyeing ATP Finals qualification, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cobolli-flavio/zDtaCcPe/"]Flavio Cobolli[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/shelton-ben/QNuG0Gzb/"]Ben Shelton[/a] are on court in second-set action. Meanwhile, 23rd seed and big favourite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rublev-andrey/AeAn4gP0/"]Andrey Rublev[/a] was stunned early on this morning in the first match of the day, losing in straight sets to Japan's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sakamoto-rei/AeBHWNls/"]Rei Sakamoto[/a].[/p][embed guid="edc63c80-e8c8-40c9-90be-58fa5dfab556" url="https://x.com/TennisTV/status/2108418551694446978" social-type="twitter" /][p]Over in Beijing, the final two semi-final spots are up for grabs, beginning with a clash between home favourite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zheng-qinwen/xCyEhjAS/"]Qinwen Zheng[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/monfils-elina/jyngIesG/"]Elina Svitolina[/a] at [b]09:00 CET.[/b][/p][p]The Ukrainian has enjoyed a superb 2026, and this is her fifth quarter-final at 1000 level. Meanwhile, Zheng has been in great form since the US Open, showing signs that the former world number four is returning to her best after a serious elbow injury.[/p][image alt="Zheng - Svitolina win probability" id="7b112fd7-6e84-4da9-8b5d-ebdff057e7c4" credit-line="Flashscore" hidden-attrs="alt, credit" guid="5338c7b6-8340-47f1-89ec-a53c52cfa72e" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]At midday, 2023 champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/swiatek-iga/jNyZsXZe/"]Iga Swiatek[/a] goes head-to-head with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mertens-elise/Y1ZrrUtl/"]Elise Mertens[/a]. The Pole is currently ranked 10th in the Race to the WTA Finals, so she will need a good few weeks to qualify for the tournament for an eighth straight year.[/p][p]The pair have played each other twice, with Swiatek winning comfortably on both occasions.[/p][p][b]Follow the action from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/atp-singles/shanghai/"]Shanghai[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/wta-singles/beijing/"]Beijing[/a] live with Flashscore[/b][/p]