Medvedev beats Tsitsipas for 10th time after shot clock drama to reach Shanghai quarters

Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 5 seed, moved into the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters by winning against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 10 seed, 7-6 (3), 6-3 at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center on Wednesday.

Medvedev brought out his best tennis against Tsitsipas, hitting 10 aces, 28 winners, and threatening the latter’s serve 11 times. He will play world No 1 Jannik Sinner in the last eight.

Neither player could find a way to break in a tight opening set than went to a tiebreak, but the Russian claimed it 7-3, only for Tsitsipas to break early in the second set.

But Medvedev quickly recovered the break and snatched another break himself to win in one hour, 10 minutes. In a rivalry that turned bitter right after the first duel at the 2018 Miami Open, Medvedev now holds a head-to-head lead of 10-4.

Shot clock drama

Even though it was all cordial between Medvedev and Tsitsipas, the Wednesday match had its fair share of drama with the Greek taking on the chair umpire after a time violation on the shot clock in the second set.

Why are you doing this to me man?”

Stefanos Tsitsipas

“I’m the best about this on tour, the most consistent player about this on tour,” the world No 12 argued. “Why are you guys against me so much? The last few months have been terrible. I don’t understand what’s gotten into you. I haven’t seen any of my opponents get a time violation besides myself.”

The Greek lost his serve after the initial argument with the official and further continued to express his discontent over the call. While Medvedev prepared to serve, he refused to receive for the next game, demanding the tournament supervisor’s presence on the court.

Medvedev, ranked No 5, will face Italian Jannik Sinner, the top seed, next. This will be his third consecutive quarter-final clash with Sinner in 2024 and fifth overall.

Ahead of his victory, the Russian defeated Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild (7-5, 7-5) and edged out Italian Matteo Arnaldi, the No 29 seed (5-7, 6-4, 6-4).

Tsitsipas, ranked No 12, won against Japanese wildcard Kei Nishikori (7-6 (6), 6-4) and Frenchman Alexandre Muller (6-3, 7-5) earlier in the tournament.

Shanghai Masters 1000, other last 16 results (Qi Zhong Tennis Center, hard, USD 8.995.555, most recent results first):

• David Goffin vs. Alexander Zverev
• Taylor Fritz vs. Holger Rune
• Roman Safiullin vs. Novak Djokovic
• Jakub Mensik vs. Grigor Dimitrov
• Tommy Paul vs. Tomas Machac
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Gael Monfils
• Jannik Sinner beat Ben Shelton (14): 6-4, 7-6 (1)

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