Jannik Sinner to face Daniil Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals

SHANGHAI – World No. 1 Jannik Sinner will face Daniil Medvedev in the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals after both clinched straight-set victories on Oct 9.

Italian star Sinner put some old demons to rest in overcoming American Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), while Russia’s Medvedev took out Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

World No. 16 Shelton knocked Sinner out at the same stage in 2023, but in their latest clash, the latter looked confident from the start as he won in 88 minutes.

Sinner pulled ahead in the ninth game of the first set, breaking when Shelton hit long, then dominated the second-set tiebreak.

“It was very tough, you don’t have so much control when you play against him,” said the two-time Major champion.

“I just tried to stay strong mentally.

“But if I look at the positive picture, how I ended the match, I tried to stay a bit more aggressive, which I’ve done, and this hopefully can give me confidence for the next round.”

World No. 5 Medvedev and Tsitsipas were meeting for the 14th time. Tsitsipas started the second set strongly, breaking in the first game, but Medvedev broke in the fourth and eighth to progress.

Medvedev and Sinner have met four times already in 2024 in the later stages of tournaments.

Sinner beat Medvedev in the semi-finals at Miami, the quarter-finals at the US Open and in the Australian Open final, but the Russian ended the Italian’s hopes in the last eight at Wimbledon in an epic five-set battle.

“I’m gonna bring the fight,” said Medvedev.

“I could have done much better in the US Open... I didn’t explore enough my potential during this match. So I’m going to try to explore this potential tomorrow.”

Also through to the quarter-finals is world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Sinner in the China Open final on Oct 2.

The 21-year-old was facing off against veteran Gael Monfils, winning 6-4, 7-5 for his 12th straight victory.

The 38-year-old Frenchman had upset Alcaraz at their last meeting in August at Cincinnati, and the Spaniard admitted that loss “was on his mind” during the match.

“I’m just really, really happy I won the match, and that I stayed calm through the whole match,” said the four-time Major champion.

“Playing against Gael is never easy... You need to be focused on every ball.”

Novak Djokovic, a four-time champion in Shanghai, made it through to the next round as well.

The Serbian 24-time Grand Slam champion defeated Russia’s Roman Safiullin 6-3, 6-2.

Meanwhile, Frances Tiafoe has apologised for his foul-mouthed tirade directed at a chair umpire after the American received a time violation and then lost to Safiullin in the third round on Oct 8.

Unseeded Safiullin beat the 13th seed 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) in a three-hour contest, in which the latter lost his cool when he received a time violation while serving with the score tied at 5-5 during the final-set tiebreak.

“No, no, I tossed the ball up... I was ready to serve. Dude, that’s the rule,” Tiafoe said repeatedly as he walked towards the net while trying to convince the Ecuadorian chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote.

“I’m not buying it, it’s the second serve,” the umpire said in response, putting an end to the discussion by announcing “second serve” on the microphone.

Tiafoe went on to lose the point and eventually the match.

After shaking Safiullin’s hand at the net, Tiafoe directed his anger at Pinoargote, repeatedly hurling expletives at the umpire as he walked back to his seat.

The ATP did not immediately comment on the incident but the rulebook says the 26-year-old can expect to be fined, with the amount going up to US$60,000 (S$78,300) for each violation at Masters 1000 tournaments.

Tiafoe later posted an apology on Instagram for the way he acted.

“That is not who I am and not how I ever want to treat people,” the world No. 17 said.

“I let my frustration in the heat of the moment get the best of me and I’m extremely disappointed with how I handled the situation.

“That’s not acceptable behaviour and I want to apologise to the umpire, the tournament and the fans.”

In women’s tennis, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and fourth-ranked Coco Gauff advanced in their respective matches to make the last 16 at the WTA event in Wuhan.

Belarus’ Sabalenka defeated Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4, while American Gauff – who won the China Open in Beijing in her previous tournament – eased past Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova 6-1, 6-2. AFP, REUTERS