Stefanos Tsitsipas has already erased his demons against Felix Auger-Aliassime at this week’s Rolex Shanghai Masters. He now has a chance to do the same with Daniil Medvedev on the other side of the net.
Tsitsipas and Medvedev will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers when they meet again in the Shanghai semifinals on Saturday afternoon. Medvedev has won all four of their previous encounters, but the rivalry is far more entertaining than the Russian’s 4-0 sweep suggests because there is absolutely no love lost between the two. They have faced each other once in 2019, when Medvedev prevailed 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
The clay-court swing was actually the low point of Medvedev’s season, but he is obviously on fire right now. The fourth-ranked Russian is one win away from a sixth consecutive final, having advanced that far in Washington, D.C., Montreal, Cincinnati (title), the U.S. Open, and St. Petersburg (title). He is showing no signs of slowing down with straight-set victories in Shanghai over Cameron Norrie, Vasek Pospisil, and Fabio Fognini.
“He has a very different tennis from most of the players that I have been playing against this year,” said Tsitsipas, who upset Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. “He’s a very mental player, I would say. So, this win over Novak is a boost. It does help. It makes me feel good about my tennis, about my game. Tomorrow is going to be a new challenge for me. I hope I feel well; I hope it’s going to be a fresh, new Stefanos out on this court showing his best tennis and playing smart and making him play out of his comfort zone.”
Tsitsipas’ defeat of Djokovic clinched a debut appearance in the Nitto ATP Finals, where he joins Djokovic, Medvedev, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Dominic Thiem. The seventh-ranked Greek has been in London position basically the entire year and he wrapped up a berth thanks to last week’s runner-up performance in Beijing followed by Shanghai wins at the expense of Auger-Aliassime (previously 0-5 lifetime in the head-to-head series), Hubert Hurkacz (in a third-set tiebreaker), and Djokovic.
Based on their past history against each other, Medvedev’s scintillating form, and Tsitsipas’ difficult third-round and quarterfinal contests, a clear edge once again goes to Medvedev.
Pick: Medvedev in 2
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Medvedev in 3 and I’m rooting for him, of course.
Medvedev in 2, both sets with tiebreakera
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Great match for the fans….Med in 3.
Med d Sisipa in two tiebreaks
These 2 are my favourites tennis players so far, however I still haven’t decided who and if one of them will substitute Fed (as my idol) when he retires.
Not really impressed by Tsitsi’s personality after I heard Medvedev speaking on Russian TV about their ‘conflict’. Of course, I am not taking Med’s version as absolute truth. Apparently the Greek called his opponent ‘bullshit Russian’ as well. Well, even though he is a professional tennis player, he is still a kid basically. These kind of immature acts shouldn’t surprise, but at the same time I will not become a fan of a player who is better than me only in tennis. It has to be more than that. It has to inspire and motivate to do better things/ strive to become a better self. That’s why I respect so much Fed and Nadal.
Medvedev, boy oh boy oh boy!!!! This is scary…….the big 3 will have their hands full in 2020!!!