Zverev loses racquet into crowd on way to Shanghai last 16

Shanghai: Alexander Zverev smashed and seethed into the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday with a dragged-out 7-6 (15/13), 7-6 (7/3) win over French underdog Jeremy Chardy.

An incident-packed match saw Zverev apologise to a television cameraman after the young German accidentally hit a ball square into his jaw in winning a point. The 22-year-old was also seen by a doctor in the first set and in another colourful moment, Zverev smashed his racquet on the floor during the mammoth first-set tie break.

Zverev, ranked sixth in the world but suffering a poor season, was pushed all the way by the 71st-ranked Chardy before finally emerging in one hour and 48 minutes. The second-set tiebreak also had a lighter moment -- Zverev losing his grip while hitting a shot, and his racquet flying into the crowd.

Zverev has long been talked about as the next big thing in men's tennis, but only one of his 11 career titles has come this year. He is yet to win a Grand Slam. The fifth seed will play Andrey Rublev of Russia next.