Alex de Minaur's Chinese resurgence has been halted ruthlessly by the rampant, soon-to-be-crowned world No.1 Alexander Zverev at the Shanghai Masters.
Yet even the German superstar conceded he had to find his very best tennis to down Australia's main man 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-final of the Masters 1000 event in China on Thursday.
Hoping to make another final just over a week after suffering an injury in Beijing's China Open final, the resilient de Minaur didn't do much wrong but couldn't crack the masterful serving of Zverev, who's guaranteed to end the year as the top-ranked men's player after a season-ending injury to Jannik Sinner.