Tsitsipas sets Medvedev showdown with confident Shanghai victory

Stefanos Tsitsipas will rekindle his rivalry with Daniil Medvedev after beating Alexandre Muller on Tuesday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The Greek's 6-3, 7-5 win set up a 14th Lexus ATP Head2Head matchup with Medvedev, their first meeting in nearly a year.

In a match delayed two days by rain, Tsitsipas was in command against Muller until he lost serve in his attempt to close out the match at 5-3 in set two. But he regrouped to break at love in the final game, finding the range on his forehand to bring up match points and then ripping the shot of the match — a wicked, running forehand pass — to seal the deal.

Hear him roar ?@steftsitsipas navigates Muller 6-3 7-5 to set up a Round of 16 clash with Daniil Medvedev.@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/rdhiFTKhOf

The 10th seed picked up his 200th hard-court win by beating Kei Nishikori in his opener and saved the first six break points he faced in Shanghai — three against Nishikori and three against Muller — before a net cord sent a groundstroke long to hand Muller a lifeline. After firing 14 aces against Nishikori, Tsitsipas managed seven against Muller according to Infosys ATP Stats. He expertly backed up his serve against the Frenchman, winning more than 70 per cent of points on both his first and second deliveries.

Through to the last 16 at an ATP Masters 1000 for the fourth time this year, the reigning Monte-Carlo champion will next face fifth seed Medvedev for a place in the Shanghai quarter-finals. Medvedev won his first five meetings against Tsitsipas before the Greek answered back with a group-stage win en route to the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals title. Medvedev leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head 9-4, including wins in both of their 2023 meetings, in the Rome and Vienna semi-finals.

In an all-French matchup, Gael Monfils upset 16th seed Ugo Humbert 7-6(7), 2-6, 6-1. The 38-year-old is the second-oldest player to reach the last 16 in Shanghai history, behind only Roger Federer (also 38) in 2019. Humbert was playing in his third straight match against a countryman after losing to Arthur Fils in the Tokyo final and beating Arthur Cazaux to open his Shanghai campaign.

"It's never easy to play Ugo, he's really aggressive, playing fast off both wings and takes a lot of time from you," said Monfils, who will next play third seed Carlos Alcaraz, whom he beat in three sets in Cincinnati. "Carlos is playing really well now, he's in a confident mood [having] just won a tournament [China Open], so that's going to be a tough one for sure."

A pair of Czechs also advanced in Tuesday's early action: #NextGenATP star Jakub Mensik beat Alexander Shevchenko 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2, while 30th seed Tomas Machac defeated Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic 6-4, 6-2. The 19-year-old Mensik sits comfortably in fourth place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah and could rise ahead of Shang Juncheng and Alex Michelsen into second place with a deep run this week.

Fourteenth seed Ben Shelton continued his perfect start in Shanghai with another straight-set win over Roberto Carballes Baena, prevailing 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and seven minutes. The American rattled down eight aces and 24 winners, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to setting up an intriguing fourth-round clash with top seed Jannik Sinner.

It is a repeat of last year’s round-of-sixteen clash, which Shelton claimed in a deciding-set tie-break. Sinner now leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 3-1, but Shelton will aim to take inspiration from last year’s triumph over the Italian.

Tomas Machac continues to enjoy his maiden appearance in Shanghai with another statement victory, defeating qualifier Aleksander Vukic 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round. The Czech will next play eleventh seed Tommy Paul, who produced one of the comebacks of the year against Alejandro Tabilo to reach this stage.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]