Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev will face each other again after Tsitsipas defeated Alexandre Muller 6-3, 7-5 at the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday.
Tsitsipas, who is ranked 12th, will meet the former U.S. Open champion Medvedev, who is ranked 5th, for the 14th time. Medvedev leads their matches 9-4, and their rivalry has included some heated exchanges off the court in the past.
“I consider him someone that I respect on the tour, much more than I did before,” Tsitsipas said. “We’ve had some heated things on the court in the past, but I think those things have resolved themselves over time, and we also had the time to speak about those things and have a common understanding of why these things happen.
“What is missing is trying to get a good win under my belt, and that will redeem my efforts for so far of trying to get better. My whole goal is to get out there, play the best tennis that I can.”
After waiting two days due to rain, Tsitsipas played his third-round match against Muller and was in control until he lost his serve at 5-3 in the second set. However, he quickly broke back without losing a point to win the match and continue his long-standing rivalry with Medvedev.
In other matches, 16th-ranked Ben Shelton defeated Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-4, hitting eight aces and 24 winners, and will face top seed Jannik Sinner in the next round.
Seventh-ranked Taylor Fritz also moved forward easily, winning against Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki 6-3, 6-4, while Grigor Dimitrov, playing in his 100th Masters event, beat Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Gael Monfils upset 15th-ranked Ugo Humbert 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-1 in an all-French match. The 38-year-old Monfils, ranked 46th, is the second oldest player to reach the fourth round in Shanghai, following only Roger Federer (also 38) in 2019.
“It’s never easy to play Ugo, he’s really aggressive, playing fast off both wings and takes a lot of time from you,” Monfils said, adding that he will next face second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz. “Carlos is in a confident mood (having) just won a tournament (China Open), so that’s going to be a tough one for sure.”
