Botic van de Zandschulp beat Arthur Fils 7-5, 6-4 in the Shanghai Masters third round on Monday. The 41st-ranked Dutchman won in one hour and 39 minutes after Fils, the Cincinnati champion, failed to convert any of seven break points in the first set. He meets Rafael Jodar next.
Arthur Fils arrived in Shanghai as the reigning Cincinnati Masters champion and left on Monday without taking a set. Botic van de Zandschulp, ranked 41st to Fils’s 11th, took the third-round match in straight sets and moved into the last 16.
Seven chances, no breaks
The first set turned on a statistic that Fils will not want to revisit. He created seven break points and converted none of them. Van de Zandschulp needed only one break to take the set 7-5.
Fils, who won his first Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati in August, never found a way to turn those openings into a lead. Van de Zandschulp broke again in the second set and closed it out 6-4.
Another big name gone
The defeat adds Fils to a Monday that already included second seed Carlos Alcaraz’s loss to Zizou Bergs. Van de Zandschulp now plays Rafael Jodar, who beat Jiri Lehecka 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 on Monday, in the fourth round.
Result: Botic van de Zandschulp (NED) bt Arthur Fils (FRA) 7-5, 6-4 in 1h 39m. Rolex Shanghai Masters (ATP Masters 1000), third round, Monday 12 October 2026.
Next: Van de Zandschulp v Rafael Jodar (ESP) in the fourth round.
