Jannik Sinner got revenge on Ben Shelton for his loss in the fourth round of last year’s Shanghai Masters, winning 6-4, 7-6 (1) and ruining the 22-year-old American’s birthday on Wednesday.
As in their previous match, this one showcased impressive shots and strong serving, but this time the 23-year-old Italian came out on top, improving his record against Shelton to 4-1.
“Happy how I handled this situation, it’s obviously a position where I have been last year, and where I am right now, it’s different, so I’m happy to be in the position where I am,” Sinner said.
Sinner’s break in the ninth game was the key difference in the first set. Both players then held strong on their serves in the second set, but Sinner surged ahead in the tiebreak, winning the last seven points to reach his seventh ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal of the year.
He will face fifth-ranked Daniil Medvedev, who defeated longtime rival Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (3), 6-3 in a match where the Greek player had a lengthy outburst against chair umpire Fergus Murphy over a time violation call and initially refused to keep playing.
“You have never played tennis in your life. You have no clue about tennis, it seems like,” Tsitsipas said to Murphy. “Definitely you’ve had no career. You probably played serve-and-volley every single time.
“Anyways, tennis is a physical sport and we need some time over there. You have to show some compassion because you aren’t showing any.
“It’s a physical sport. We are not throwing darts out here, okay?
“If it’s going to be unfair, I need to talk to the supervisor. You seem like you have no idea what you’re doing,” Tsitsipas continued as the crowd started to slow clap.
In a similar situation the day before, Frances Tiafoe shouted curses at a chair umpire after losing his third-round match and later apologized.
Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who recently won the China Open in a thrilling match against Sinner, continued his winning streak with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over French veteran Gael Monfils to advance to the quarterfinals.
Alcaraz relied on his shot-making skills to outplay the 38-year-old Monfils, hitting 22 winners and breaking serve in each set to finish the match in 87 minutes.
The French Open and Wimbledon champion will face Tomas Machac in the quarterfinals.
