Daniil Medvedev reached a remarkable sixth consecutive final at the Shanghai Masters.
The Russian has not lost a match since his five-set defeat by Rafael Nadal in the final of the US Open and maintained his 100% record over Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 victory.
Medvedev said on atptour.com: "Making six in a row, including three Masters 1000s and one grand slam, is something I could never dream of, to be honest. But I want to keep the momentum going and hope I can make it to seven or eight."
Medvedev won his first Masters title in Cincinnati in August, and in the final in China he will face a man looking to claim his fourth.
SIX STRAIGHT FINALS FOR MEDVEDEV 😲
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 12, 2019
🇷🇺 @DaniilMedwed makes his sixth consecutive #ATPTour final after defeating Tsitsipas in Shanghai!
🎥: @TennisTV | @SH_RolexMasters pic.twitter.com/bWsQUYgchF
Alexander Zverev had failed to back up his ATP Finals title last November with an average season by his lofty standards, but the German has burst into life at the back end of the year and he followed up his win over Roger Federer by beating Matteo Berrettini 6-3 6-4.
Zverev's resurgence has been very timely given he was in danger of missing out on defending his title at London's O2 Arena.
He said: "It feels great, obviously. I felt like I've played some decent tennis this week and being in a Masters 1000 final here in Shanghai is also something very special for me. I'm looking forward to it and hopefully I can play some good tennis tomorrow."
It was the first time for 20 years at a Masters tournament that the semi-finals did not feature any players aged 24 or over.
