Stefanos Tsitsipas sets Daniil Medvedev showdown in Shanghai | ATP Tour

Match Report

Tsitsipas sets Medvedev showdown with confident Shanghai victory

Greek 10th seed beats Muller to open Tuesday’s play

October 08, 2024

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 by a day due to 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

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 8, 2024

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 meeting 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.