Sunday, as a whole, was a concerning day for the Shanghai Masters players. One of those storylines occurred on the Stadium Court, where a quarterfinal-esque match came alive.

After winning over Frances Tiafoe, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina went straight to the sideline camera and wrote “I’m Back” in bright yellow ink. It was his first win over a top-ten player, after all. However, getting there wasn’t easy despite the momentum because of an early medical emergency no one saw coming.

In the opening set, with the score 3-2 in favor of Tiafoe, the Spaniard took a medical timeout. Apparently, he had applied a pain-relief cream before taking the court to manage his relentless back pain. But before he could settle into the match, he felt intense burning. The visuals were even worse.

When the tournament medics came over, Fokina pulled his T-shirt up to expose an area of his back that was completely red. The physio tried to ease the irritation with cold water, ice, and wet towels. Then, as if the scene needed a soundtrack, “Ice, Ice, Baby” by Vanilla Ice began playing over the stadium speakers while the Spaniard was visibly grimacing as the physio worked on his back. The interruption was brief, and Fokina continued his chase soon.

Fortunately, the treatment helped Fokina, and he did not need further attention at a later changeover. But the scarier part was that the Spaniard couldn’t be allergic to the ointment he used for one reason.

Fokina is no stranger to back issues. And so, in one of his previous matches against Jenson Brooksby, he had used the ointment on the same area. He did not experience an adverse reaction, ruling out an allergic reaction. For now, no medical cause has been established. Today’s episode was just another instance for Fokina, who has been facing a severe back issue during his upward trajectory.

In August, he withdrew from the US Open because of ongoing back problems that had also kept him out of the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Masters. That absence interrupted his summer campaign just months after he won his maiden ATP title in Mallorca. Interestingly, the Spaniard wasn’t the only one who raised everyone’s eyebrows.

On the same day in Grandstand 2, Alexander Bublik injured his hand after he hit a drinks cooler in frustration. The Kazakh was facing a tiebreaker after neither he nor his opponent Brandon Nakashima blinked in the first 12 games. However, he appeared poised to seize control. It didn’t go that way.

The American made a comeback to clinch the opener 7-6 (7), leaving Bublik frustrated and hitting the racket, the bench, and finally the cooler to call for a medical timeout. Bublik eventually won 6-7, 6-3, 7-6. Meanwhile, Fokina had no time to dwell on the strange interruption.

Across the net stood Frances Tiafoe, the seventh seed and a player capable of turning a tight match into a miserable afternoon for his opponent. The Spaniard had to put the discomfort behind him and focus on the contest. And he did just that.

What followed was a near three-hour battle that was deserving of a quarterfinal matchup, two tiebreaks, and a match point saved. Fokina won 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(6) to reach the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters. But his well-earned first win against a top-10 opponent in 2026 left Tiafoe furious.

Tiafoe’s Meltdown After Missed Chances Makes Shanghai Defeat Even More Frustrating

Tiafoe had opportunities to put the match away, and they kept slipping through his fingers. He created five break points in the final set but converted none of them. Then came the biggest chance of all: match point at 6-5 in the deciding tiebreak. Tiafoe slipped as Fokina fired a forehand winner, and the Spaniard survived. Two points later, Fokina sealed the victory with his first match point.

The American’s frustration spilled over after the handshake.

He smashed his racket repeatedly before regrouping and embracing Fokina at the net. It was a striking end to a match in which Tiafoe had hit more aces, but Fokina had been sharper on second serve and saved six of the seven break points he faced.

Fokina, meanwhile, marked the win by writing “I am back” on the camera lens. The words had a little more behind them than a routine victory celebration. After winning his first ATP title in Mallorca in June, he added a second in Chengdu in September. Beating Tiafoe, then, was another step in a season that has brought the Spaniard his best results on tour. His reward in Shanghai is a fourth-round meeting with Hubert Hurkacz, whom he recently beat in the Chengdu final. But the drama didn’t end with these two matches.

Stefanos Tsitsipas Stuns Taylor Fritz as ATP Finals Hopes Face Fresh Questions

Shanghai had no shortage of drama.

Stefanos Tsitsipas produced one of the tournament’s most notable results by rallying from a set down to defeat Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 and reach the round of 16. The win also gave the Greek a valuable boost after a difficult stretch that had seen him come close to falling out of the ATP’s top 100.

Fritz started strongly and took the opening set 6-3, but Tsitsipas found a way back into the match. He edged the second set 7-5 before pulling away in the decider, turning a tough afternoon into a significant victory over a player ranked inside the top 15. José Morgado highlighted the result on social media. He described it as a top-15 win for Tsitsipas, noting his progress to the last 16 in Shanghai.

For Tsitsipas, the victory meant more than simply surviving a difficult third-round match.

He later called it a “clear statement of intentions,” explaining that Fritz’s powerful serve forced him to stay alert and wait for small openings. Tsitsipas also credited his improved focus at crucial moments, particularly when he found the break that helped him take control. His comments offered a glimpse of the confidence behind his recent improvement.

The results have begun to support that optimism.

Tsitsipas had reached the round of 16 in three consecutive tournaments after coming close to slipping outside the top 100. His recent run included a title in Gstaad and a second-week appearance at the US Open, alongside wins against players such as Jiří Lehečka, Luciano Darderi, and now Fritz. Tsitsipas is starting to put together the sort of consistent results that had been missing from his season. Fritz, meanwhile, faces a different challenge as the season moves toward its European indoor swing.

Morgado suggested that the American would need “something very special” in the remaining tournaments to make it to Turin for the ATP Finals. The Shanghai loss does not by itself settle his qualification prospects, but it makes the upcoming events more significant. For a roundup of the tournament’s biggest talking points, the contrast is striking: Tsitsipas left Shanghai with renewed momentum, whereas Fritz must now look for a strong response.