Second seed Alexander Zverev scraped through to the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday, winning two tiebreaks against the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor in an ill-tempered match that ended 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 7-6 (7/5).
Novak Djokovic meanwhile powered through the third round, steamrolling Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour.
Zverev’s first set against 40th-ranked Griekspoor was overshadowed by the German’s prolonged, expletive-laden exchange with the umpire when he disagreed with a call.
“I cannot be bothered to go to China in October, for you to screw up this… I cannot, this is not possible,” Zverev ranted before tossing his racket across the court.”